Local news in brief Jan. 6
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1/5/2009 -
Plane makes emergency landingA small plane carrying two people was forced to make an emergency landing Monday 10 miles northwest of Santa Fe Municipal Airport.
Pilot Rudolph Dollard, 27, and passenger Donald Garner, 52, were flying in from Greeley, Colo., and landed in a field in the Caja del Rio area. Neither man was injured.
The Cessna single-engine plane went down after 4 p.m., said Bob Wood, the airport's control-tower manager. He hadn't learned why the plane went down. He said flying conditions were good, with very little wind and a high cloud ceiling.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano Solano said the occupants made contact with the control tower and were immediately sure where they were. He said police initially thought the two might be in the Caja del Rio area.
Snowboarder lost in Los Alamos
LOS ALAMOS — Search and rescue crews have been combing Pajarito Mountain for a 19-year-old snowboarder who went missing Sunday afternoon.
Authorities say Sebastian Gomez of Albuquerque went to the ski area with two friends. After the last run of the day, his friends went to the car but Gomez never showed up, prompting the ski patrol to begin searching the area.
State police spokesman Peter Olson says about 30 people, including volunteers from Los Alamos and Santa Fe, were helping with the search Monday. He says the wooded areas between the ski runs were being searched, especially around tree wells where snow is deeper.
Olson says the ski area received about a foot of snow on Sunday, much of that falling after Gomez was reported missing.
Udall in Domenici's old N.M. offices
New Mexico's incoming U.S. senator has taken over three New Mexico offices of its outgoing one.
U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., will be sworn in as a senator, replacing Pete Domenici, R-N.M., today when Congress convenes.
Udall's staff has moved into Domenici's old Santa Fe office in Suite 302 of the Main Post Office, 120 S. Federal Place, Santa Fe, N.M. 87501. The telephone number is 988-6511.
Udall's staff also has moved into Domenici's former offices at Suite 710, Third St. NW, Albuquerque, N.M. 87102, 505-346-6791; and Suite 118, 505 S. Main St., Loretto Town Center, Las Cruces, N.M. 88001, 505-526-5475.
Udall also has opened a transition office at B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, 202-224-6621.
Forum to examine ethics proposals
The Santa Fe County League of Woman Voters on Jan. 14 will host a forum about proposed changes to the state's ethics laws in the upcoming legislative session.
Steve Kopelman, the general counsel for the New Mexico Association of Counties, will speak at a luncheon at 12:30 p.m. at the Hilton Santa Fe, 100 Sandoval St.
Lunch is available for $15 by reservation only. Interested parties should call 982-9766 by Friday.
Several changes to the New Mexico's ethics laws have been proposed for the session, which starts Jan. 20.
Report issued on air ambulance
ALBUQUERQUE — The pilot of a medical airplane was disoriented just before the plane crashed in the mountains of Southern New Mexico, killing all five people aboard, federal investigators say.
Scattered clouds dotted the night sky when the Southwest Med Evac air ambulance took off from the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso on Aug. 5, 2007. The pilot, Ricky Byers, made a left turn toward Albuquerque — where he and his crew were taking an ill toddler and her mother — and the plane disappeared.
Minutes later, the Beechcraft King Air E-90B plowed into trees on a hillside and burned. The wreckage, strewn over 1,100 feet, was found the next morning. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a Dec. 28 report that the pilot failed to maintain clearance from the terrain because of spatial disorientation.
The crash killed Byers, 56, of Ruidoso; flight nurse Brian Miller, 44, of Roswell; paramedic Deanna Palmer, 40, of Prescott, Ariz.; Tracy Smith, 41, of Ruidoso; and her 15-month-old daughter, Lilly.
After examining the wreckage, federal investigators determined there was no evidence of any mechanical malfunction before the crash. The plane's two engines were running when it crashed and the flaps and landing gear were retracted.
Colorado company to reclaim mines
A Colorado-based company will develop cleanup methods for abandoned coal mines on Ted Turner's Vermejo Park Ranch in northeastern New Mexico under a three-year contract with the state's Mining and Minerals Division.
The $400,000 contract to assess, develop cleanup methods and reclaim the sites was awarded to Water and Earth Technologies. The project is meant to protect the environment and the public from abandoned mines.
Old mines litter the New Mexico landscape. The coal mines at Vermejo Park Ranch near Raton were abandoned long before media mogul Turner bought the ranch.
"Abandoned coal mines in New Mexico have left a legacy of dangerous mine openings and, in some cases, contaminated soils and water," stated Bill Brancard, Division Director.
The Vermejo project will cover abandoned coal mines such as the Gardiner, Swastika, and Brilliant mines in Dillon Canyon near Raton.
Meeting to focus on stalking
Stalking is the topic of a community-awareness meeting planned in Santa Fe next week.
The Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center and Coordinated Community Response Council invite the public to the event from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 13 at the treatment center, 6601 Valentine Way.
Police, victim advocates and others will offer general education about stalking, a crime that affects one in four New Mexico women during their lifetime, according to an announcement about the event.
"If more people can recognize stalking, we have a better chance to hold offenders accountable. Knowledge can help communities support victims and prevent tragedies," said Carol A. Horwitz, the city's of Santa Fe's Domestic and Sexual Violence Liaison.
For more information, call 505-955-5018 or e-mail ahorwitz@santafenm.gov.
Police uncover cockfighting
BELEN — State police are searching for the owner of a building in Valencia County they say housed up to 100 roosters used in cockfighting.
State police say a neighbor's tip led them to the building in Highland Meadows, where they uncovered a scene they described as "horrible."
Senior patrolman Robert Carrejo says officers uncovered injured birds that were maimed and barely breathing. Four roosters had to be euthanized.
Heather Ferguson of the attorney general's Animal Task Force says roosters were found with blades strapped to their heels and then put into a pit so they could slash each other.
New Mexico outlawed cockfighting in 2007.
Participants in the cockfight could face extreme animal cruelty, cockfighting and gambling charges.
Five pueblos install new governors
New governors were installed at five of the eight pueblos north of Santa Fe at the first of the year.
At Tesuque Pueblo, the closest to Santa Fe, Mark Mitchell, a previous governor, replaced Robert Mora as governor.
At San Clara Pueblo, another longtime former governor, Walter Dasheno, replaced J. Michael Chavarria.
At Ohkay Owingeh, formerly known as San Juan, Marcelino Aguino replaced Earl Salazar.
At Picuris Pueblo, Richard Mermejo replaced Craig Mirabal.
At Taos Pueblo, Ruben A. Romero replaced Paul T. Martinez.
At Pojoaque, San Ildefonso and Nambé pueblos, respectively, George Rivera, Leon T. Roybal and Ernest Mirabal continue as governors.
Pueblos typically choose governors by a vote of the tribal council.
Nonresidents paying more for state museums
Admission prices for nonresidents at Santa Fe's four state museums rose at the beginning of 2009.
Nonresident admission to one museum for one day went from $8 to $9, while the resident price remains at $6. Nonresident admission to two museums for one day went from $12 to $15, while the resident price remains at $12. Nonresident admission to all four museums for four days went from $18 to $29, while the resident price remains $18.
The Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents agreed in November to raise admission prices to bring in more revenue for the new History Museum, which opens this spring.
The Palace of the Governors, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Art and Culture are free Sundays to all New Mexico residents with identification; to state residents 60 years or older on Wednesdays; and to children 16 or under and New Mexico Foundation members any day of the week.
In addition, the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Palace of the Governors are free to everyone from 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays.
