E-waste recycling day scheduled

Got an old computer, cell phone or other electronic device gathering dust?

The city of Santa Fe, Keep Santa Fe Beautiful and Albuquerque Recycling Inc. will take them off your hands from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 20 at 1142 Siler Road.

Most items will be taken for free, but there is a $5 charge for televisions to help defray the cost of taking these sets apart. Microwave ovens, bread machines and appliances, however, won't be accepted.

The city's "e-waste recycling" began years ago with the city's hazardous household waste day. The city quit accepting hazardous household waste, such as paint, pesticides and chemicals, several years ago. But it continues to accept e-waste — at a price, depending on size and amounts — at the city Transfer Station on Camino de las Crucitas.

Items accepted for free on March 20 include television satellite equipment, computers, monitors, laptops, LCD screens, DVD players, VCR players, printers, stereos, speakers, radios, phones, cell phones, hand-held electronic devices, computer battery backups, computer game assemblies and computer peripherals, like mice and keyboards.

Keep Santa Fe Beautiful Coordinator Gilda Montaño said cars will be directed into the city lot off Siler Road, where personnel will help unload items.

'Scoundrels' coming to New Mexico

A new television series about a family of criminals is coming to New Mexico.

Gov. Bill Richardson announced that a TV series called Scoundrels will base its operations in the state.

The ABC series, starring Virginia Madsen as the mother of a family of petty crooks, will start shooting later this month and continue through at least June in various locales around the state. It's due to air on the network sometime this summer.

Madsen has been acting in film and television since the early 1980s, including the films The Hot Spot (1990), The Rainmaker (1997) and The Astronaut Farmer (2006), which was filmed in New Mexico.

Scoundrels marks the sixth television series to film in New Mexico since 2003, when the governor signed film incentive bills into law. The other series include Wildfire, In Plain Sight, Breaking Bad and Crash.

City releases water into Santa Fe River

City water managers are releasing water into the Santa Fe River below Nichols Reservoir during installation of a valve at the Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant.

The water will flow through Thursday at a rate of about 2 cubic feet per second, according to a city announcement.

The two Santa Fe canyon reservoirs, which can provide as much as 40 percent of the community water supply, are about 55 percent full, according to the latest report by the city's Sangre de Cristo Water Division.

Estimated total storage as of March 1 is below the amounts reported on the same date in 2009 (74 percent) and 2008 (57 percent).

The estimated daily flow above McClure Reservoir, the largest of the two, was about 1.33 million gallons, which the report said is below the flows reported on the same date in recent years: 2.27 million gallons in 2009 and 2.38 million gallons in 2008.

Aamodt settlement meetings planned

Santa Fe County is hosting a series of public meetings to gather public input and provide information about the pending Aamodt settlement, which would settle a decades-long dispute over water in the Nambé-Tesuque-Pojoaque water basin.

All meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.

Meeting dates and locations are as follows:

Today: El Rancho Community Center

March 9: Pojoaque Parish Hall

March 10: Santa Fe County Pojoaque Satellite Office

March 16: Nambé Head Start

March 17: Santa Fe County Pojoaque Satellite Office

March 23: El Rancho Community Center

March 24: Santa Fe County Pojoaque Satellite Office

The settlement agreement is available for review on the Office of the State Engineer Web site at www.ose.state.nm.us under the heading "hot topics."

To register for one of the meetings (space is limited) or for more information, contact Darcy Bushnell at 505-277-0551or 877-775-8333.

Flags lowered to honor Betty Fiorina

Gov. Bill Richardson ordered flags lowered across the state of New Mexico in honor of former Secretary of State Betty Fiorina of Santa Fe, who died last week at the age of 90.

According to his executive order, flags will be flown at half-staff beginning today through sundown on Thursday.

Fiorina, a Democratic Party activist, was elected secretary of state three times, holding the office from 1959-60, 1961-62 and 1970-74.

Her career also included working as chief clerk for the House of Representatives and chief clerk of the New Mexico Constitutional Convention. In 2007, the New Mexico State Printing Office on Siringo Road was named after her.

Among surviving relatives are two sons, former Santa Fe city judge Tom Fiorina and Gary Fiorina.

Japanese swimmers training in Santa Fe

Two swim teams from Japan will once again be using the Genoveva Chavez Community Center for high-altitude training.

As a result, there will be limited lap lanes available on Tuesday and Thursday mornings through March 18, a city news release said. In addition, the pool will be changed to "Long Course" — 50 meters in length — for all weekend hours from Saturday through March 21.

The Itoman Swimming School and Japanese Swimming Federation teams were scheduled to hold their first workouts this week.

Each team of 10 swimmers brings a variety of support in the form of coaches, massage therapists, sports trainers and nutritionists, the announcement said.

They will be swimming at the city facility five to six days a week, in increments of two hours, twice each practice day, the statement said.

Water workshop to focus on latest science

Scientists, water managers and policymakers will gather Thursday to talk about water resources at the ninth annual Española Basin Workshop at Santa Fe Community College.

The free workshop includes a presentation of scientific posters explaining the latest water research in the basin.

Among the workshop speakers are Sandy Hurlocker of the Santa Fe National Forest on managing the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed; Claudia Borchert of the city discussing efforts to create a "living" Santa Fe River; and Carlos Ochoa of New Mexico State University with an update on his research into the interaction between surface and groundwater on irrigated farmlands around Alcalde.

"This workshop is a great opportunity for members of the community — scientists and nonscientists alike — to learn more about the research that improves our understanding and projects that affect water supplies in our area," said Borchert, chairwoman of the Española Basin Technical Advisory Group, which puts on the workshop.

The agenda is available at http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/ebtag/. On-site registration will begin at 7:45 a.m., and the workshop will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

S.F. school district enrollment up

At the 80-day mark, enrollment in Santa Fe public schools is up over last school year by roughly 600 students, school board members were told Tuesday.

Deputy Superintendent Mel Morgan presented the numbers, saying the figures represented "a break in a pattern I've seen in New Mexico over the past 12 years."

Elementary school attendance was up by 133 students from last year, and middle school attendance inched up by 12 students. Santa Fe High saw an increase of 57 students from last year, while both Capital High and Career Academy saw very slight drops.

The total enrollment number, including in charter and K-8 schools, rose by nearly 600 students.

School districts are funded based on the number of their students, so even the smallest change in enrollment can make a difference in planning next year's budget.

Polese becomes school board president

Santa Fe Public Schools' board members voted to reorganize the board Tuesday night in what seemed to be a surprise move.

Vice President Richard Polese was elected president, secretary Mary Ellen Gonzales was elected vice president, and board member Barbara Gudwin was elected secretary. All three will be officially sworn in at the next board meeting on March 16.

Board members, who are elected in odd-numbered years by voters, serve four-year terms. The board traditionally reconfigures itself every March in an election year, and has the option of reorganization in off-election years like this.

Tuesday evening's action came after school board member Frank Montaño said the board had always maintained an informal "gentleperson's agreement" to "take turns" at officer positions.