Fiesta royalty to be crowned Sunday

The burning of Zozobra is still months away, but the knighting and coronation of Fiesta royalty takes place at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. It will be followed by the procession to Rosario Chapel with La Conquistadora, the revered statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was brought to New Mexico in Colonial times.

Novenas are scheduled daily at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the chapel from Monday to 28. Fiesta at the Rodeo is at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Rodeo Grounds.

The return procession from Rosario Chapel to the cathedral is June 28 at 4:30 p.m. There is a novena at 6 a.m. on June 29 at the cathedral.

CSF bond discussion to move forward

Nearly two months after Santa Fe city staff began negotiations with creditors of the College of Santa Fe, City Council will consider issuing $30 million in revenue bonds to buy most of the campus.

The first step in that process is to publish an ordinance outlining the bond sale, something the council will decide at its regular meeting on Wednesday.

The college owes about $40 million to three creditors including $25 million, plus interest, in bonds to Royal Bank of Canada; $6 million to First Community Bank; and $2.2 million to Laureate Education, Inc., a for-profit education company that is hoping to run an arts school on the campus.

City staff and state officials have negotiated with all of those parties, and Gov. Bill Richardson has pledged up to $11 million toward the purchase of the campus and operating expenses.

City officials plan to repay any bond debt with revenue from lease payments from Laureate and from funds from the state.

'Weather Underground' screening postponed

A screening of the documentary Weather Underground scheduled for Tuesday at Warehouse 21 has been postponed.

Mark Rudd, once a full-time organizer for the Students for a Democratic Society, founder of the radical Weather Underground and a fugitive from justice from 1970 to 1977, was scheduled to host the screening but canceled because of family circumstances. A new date for the event hasn't yet been set.

San Miguel reports hantavirus case

The Department of Health has confirmed hantavirus in a 65-year-old San Miguel County man. The man is in critical condition at The University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. He is the state's second hantavirus case of the year.

The department is conducting an environmental investigation to determine where the man might have been exposed. The disease is often spread through exposure to infected rodent droppings.

The first hantavirus case of the year was in a 25-year-old Santa Fe County woman who recovered. In 2008, the state had two fatal hantavirus cases, from Taos and Otero counties.

Panel seeks traffic plan for quadrant

The Santa Fe Planning Commission wants City Council to come up with a new traffic access proposal for its Northwest Quadrant housing plan.

The commission held a hearing Thursday night that stretched on until about 12:30 a.m. Friday, when the group voted to deny the city's own request for an amendment to the general plan and to rezone the property. The commission also turned down two requests for variances.

Despite the ruling, the matter is likely to soon appear before the City Council, said Tamara Baer, a planner with the Land Use Department.

The housing project on city-owned land would be concentrated on about 122 acres of the 540-acre Northwest Quadrant. The proposal calls for construction of more than 750 housing units, including single-family homes and multifamily complexes that would rise up to three stories tall as well as up to 110,000 square feet of mixed-use development that could include commercial uses.

Arrests made in Mora murder

New Mexico State Police said Friday they have arrested Michael Strand Jr., 22, and Lila A. Fresquez, 27, of Rainsville, N.M., in connection with the June 8 murder of a Mora-area man.

Roberto Mendez, 59, was found dead at the Buena Vista Ranch near Mora. Agents learned that a vehicle used by Mendez was missing.

Both Strand and Fresquez were booked into the San Miguel County jail and face multiple charges, state police said.

Strand was charged with homicide, aggravated burglary, aggravated arson, tampering with evidence (two counts), unlawful taking of a motor vehicle (two counts) and conspiracy (three counts).

Fresquez was charged with aggravated burglary, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence, conspiracy (three counts), abandonment/abuse of a child, and resisting, evading and obstructing.

President Griego to leave NNMC

Northern New Mexico College President Jose Griego has notified the school's board of regents that he will retire after Aug. 1.

Griego has served as president of the college for four-and-a-half years, covering the period when the school transitioned from a community college to a college.

The board voted to grant Griego President Emeritus status and to employ him to help the next president with the transition in leadership, according to a release from the school.

The board also decided to hire Griego as a consultant in the development of the NNMC El Rito campus as a treatment center for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The board will select an interim president before Griego's retirement, the release stated.

FBI IDs body found at Isleta Pueblo

Authorities identified a woman whose body was found on Isleta Pueblo and are looking into whether her case is connected with 11 human remains found on a desert mesa west of Albuquerque.

FBI spokesman Darrin Jones says Sonia Lente was identified by dental and DNA records.

Lente was 49 when she disappeared from Albuquerque in 2002. Jones says her body was found by hunters in 2004.






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