Santo Domingo stop takes Kewa name

A Rail Runner Express news release Friday indicated Santo Domingo Pueblo is changing its name to Kewa.

Operators of the passenger trains between Santa Fe and metropolitan Albuquerque said a new station opening March 22 will be named "Kewa Pueblo Station (previously Santo Domingo Pueblo)."

Asked about the name change, Mid-Region Council of Governments spokeswoman August Meyers said, "My understanding is that the change is an effort to return to the original/traditional name of the pueblo, but ... I would verify that information with Kewa tribal officials (formerly Santo Domingo)."

Efforts to reach pueblo officials Friday evening were unsuccessful.

In the announcement, a Rail Runner official said the new train station "will not only serve residents of Kewa, but also those of people living at nearby Cochiti, Santa Ana Pueblo and Peña Blanca."

Another Northern New Mexico pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh, north of Española, in recent years changed its name from "San Juan Pueblo."

Burn planned in municipal watershed

Santa Fe National Forest fire crews plan to burn previously thinned and piled woody materials in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed from March 15 until May 30 as weather permits.

The work is part of a project to reduce chances of a catastrophic fire in the canyon east of the city, where reservoirs and a treatment plant provide a significant share of the community water supply.

The piles will be burned within an area three miles east of the city and about two miles south and southeast of Hyde Memorial State Park and Black Canyon campground. Piles within about 1,000 acres will be burned.

Smoke will be visible from the city of Santa Fe, east of the city, Tesuque, Interstate 25 and in Glorieta and the Pecos Canyon area. Smoke may settle into lower elevations and drainages in the evenings, but should lift by mid-morning after each day of a burn.

For more information and daily updates regarding prescribed burns, call 1-877-971-3473.

Men settle illegal logging case

Two Northern New Mexico men will pay a hefty fine to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for illegally removing old growth trees near Cuba.

The two men — John Y. Hernandez Jr. and his father, John S.Y. Hernandez Sr. — reached settlement agreements with the U.S. Attorney's Office recently in the case, a news release said. Hernandez Jr. agreed to pay $125,000 under a settlement reached this week. His father reached a $35,000 settlement on Feb. 2.

The U.S. Attorney's Office sued the men on behalf of BLM, alleging they illegally removed 48 ponderosa pines in 2005 from BLM land near Cuba. The men had a firewood permit for cutting up to one cord of dead wood but it prohibited cutting live trees.

Rangers found the tree stumps in November 2005 and Hernandez Jr.'s heavy logging equipment at the site. He later admitted to cutting and taking the trees, the agency said.

The illegal logging of the trees, some at least 200 years old, caused long-term damage, the BLM said, and settlement money will be used to reseed and plant trees.

Highway rebuilding detours start Monday

Starting Monday and continuing for about six months, southbound traffic on U.S. 84/285 in the Arroyo Seco area, south of Española, will be detoured to a newly built west frontage road.

The state Department of Transportation said the two-lane detour will start immediately south of the junction with N.M. 399 and extend south for about two miles.

Northbound drivers who need access to west-side driveways or businesses will need to U-turn at the N.M. 399 traffic signal, the announcement said. Southbound travelers needing access to the northbound U.S. 84/285 lanes will need to U-turn at Camino Arroyo Seco or County Road 88.

The speed limit will be reduced to 35 mph through the two-mile stretch while crews rebuild the main line of U.S. 84/285 as part of reconstruction of the Pojoaque-to-Española highway corridor.

Work on various aspects of $42 million worth of projects in that area is expected to extend into early 2011.

Police plan Neighborhood Watch meeting

Revitalizing existing Neighborhood Watch programs and establishing new ones in Santa Fe will be the focus of a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the Santa Fe City Council Chambers, 200 Lincoln Ave.

The session is the second monthly Neighborhood Watch Block Captain meeting hosted by the city Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit.

Representatives will be on hand to answer questions and will have area burglary and vandalism statistics available for any interested parties to review, an announcement said.

"We hope that Neighborhood Watch groups from throughout the city will attend to share success stories," the statement said.