Local news in brief Dec. 4

| The New Mexican and wire services

12/3/2008 - 12/4/08

Water rate hike moves forward

The city's Public Utilities Committee held a second public hearing Wednesday regarding a proposed water rate increase.

The public was silent.

The committee voted to approve publication of an ordinance increasing the water rate 9.5 percent each year for five years. Councilor Matthew Ortiz, who is opposed to the proposal, said he wants the public to have an opportunity to look at all five possible scenarios that staff presented to the council regarding the water rate increase.

They will, said committee Chairwoman Rebecca Wurzberger, at a public workshop planned for sometime in January before the council votes on the measure. Staff and councilors will be there to talk about why the water rate increase is needed and why 9.5 percent yearly is the suggested hike.

Wurzberger and Councilor Rosemary Romero said they've been surprised by the lack of public turnout at two hearings and two meetings on the issue. They said they also aren't receiving many calls from their constituents.

The Finance Committee and the Public Utilities Committee have split over the rate increase amount.

City committee: End water lease

Santa Fe's Public Utilities Committee voted Wednesday to recommend to the full City Council that the city terminate a major water rights lease with the Jicarilla Apache tribe.

Councilor Matthew Ortiz voted against the recommendation.

Claudia Borchert, the city's water resources coordinator, said the city could still meet its water budget without the lease.

The city voted in 2004 to lease up to 3,000 acre-feet of Rio Grande water a year from the Jicarilla Apache Nation for up to 50 years. (One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons.) The water was used to offset impacts the city's pumping at the Buckman Wells might have on the Rio Grande.

Under the lease terms, the city was to pay the tribe $150,000 in 2004, $300,000 in 2005 and $300,000 in 2006, and then a hefty jump to more than $1.5 million in 2007. Those costs were expected to increase.

Man sues over gasoline soaking

A Santa Fe man is suing an owner of a combination filling station/fast-food restaurant for soaking him with gasoline two and a half years ago.

Dennis M. Kramer, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, says on March 10, 2006, he stopped at the Amigo Petroleum station that shares a building with a Burger King at 100 N. St. Francis Drive.

While fueling his vehicle, "he felt something wet and noticed gas was leaking from the hose and leaking from the nozzle," says the complaint filed in state District Court on Monday. Before he could stop the leak, "he was sprayed from head to toe with gasoline."

Kramer suffered "physical injury, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional damages and medical expenses," says the complaint. His lawyer, Frances Crockett, said the gasoline burned Kramer's skin and caused "toxic after effects" such as blurred vision and "an altered sense of smell."

John Faust, named as the owner of Amigo Petroleum in Farmington, was not available for comment Tuesday.

Youth Shelters holds open house

Youth Shelters and Family Services will offer a public tour of its new Street Outreach Resource Center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at 402 St. Francis Drive.

Youth Shelters, which serves hundreds of homeless young people, has been searching for a home for the Street Outreach Resource Center for more than a year.

Bad connection led to waterline break

A waterline break that interrupted service to about 100 homes Sunday in the Eldorado subdivision was caused by an incorrectly installed connection, Eldorado Water and Sanitation District Secretary Steve Wust said Tuesday.

"They had connected the meter to the house in the wrong place and tightened it too tight," Wust said.

He said the connection was installed years ago, when the water system that serves Eldorado was privately owned.

Wust said the break, near the intersection of Avenida Eldorado and Bosque Loop, was reported Sunday evening but couldn't be repaired until Monday morning because more information was needed about other utilities that might have been placed in the same trench as the waterline.

Wust said the waterline was repaired and service was restored by about 2:30 p.m. Monday.

Credit union hit by phishing scam

Guadalupe Credit Union received hundreds of calls Wednesday from members concerned about a scam involving cell phones and credit cards.

Winona Nava, president of Guadalupe Credit Union, said Zia Credit Union also was a victim of the scam.

The scam had someone calling local cell phones from an unknown location — and in some cases using the telephone numbers of legitimate businesses — with claims that credit cards had been deactivated.

To reactivate the cards, card holders were asked for credit-card numbers and other information.

"Sounds like a modified phishing scam for sure," said Phil Sisneros of the state Attorney General's Office. "But it's definitely a scam."

Phishing involves the attempt to scam a credit-card holder into surrendering private information to be used for identity theft.

Sisneros said similar activity went on in Albuquerque on Wednesday.

Press republishes 'Student's History'

Sunstone Press has republished L. Bradford Prince's primer, The Student's History of New Mexico.

Prince, New Mexico territorial governor from 1889 to 1893, first published his history a year after statehood. "His purpose in 1913 was to provide a 'little volume' that might be of use in the now-required teaching of New Mexico history in the state's public school," says a news release from Sunstone Press.

A year later, he wrote "an even more focused" edition, says the release. The republication follows Prince's second edition in 1921, which was updated with information about New Mexico's first years as a state.

"The second edition of The Student's History is offered as a brief history of New Mexico of value to the general reader sophisticated enough to recognize its biases, but astute enough to appreciate its many facts," says the release.

The 204-page soft-cover reprint is priced at $26.95. For more information, call Sunstone Press at 988-4418 or visit www.sunstonepress.com.

Acequia groups meet in Santa Fe

Mayordomos — the people who control irrigation from historic ditches — will be honored during the annual gathering of acequia leaders from around New Mexico on Friday and Saturday at The Lodge, 750 N. St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe.

"Making sure irrigators get a fair share of irrigation water is not only a skill but an art," said Paula Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association, which hosts the annual conference.

The Congreso de las Acequias will feature workshops on acequia governance, agriculture, farmland protection and water law.

New Mexico State Engineer John D'Antonio will speak at the conference Saturday. "Acequias are eager to hear from the state engineer about his approach to managing water," Garcia said.

Friday's meeting begins at 1 p.m. with a banquet in the evening. Saturday's events begin at 9:30 a.m. with a blessing of the waters, followed by D'Antonio's talk.

For more information or to pre-register, visit www.lasacequias.org or call 995-9644.

Cafe seeks help serving free dinner

Carolyn Sigstedt is looking for volunteers to serve the Mission Café and Sweet Shop's free Christmas Eve community dinner.

This is the third year for the event, which drew 1,500 people last year, said Sigstedt, who owns the business.

Volunteers, who receive a Virgin of Guadalupe calendar, should come in and sign up or call the cafe at 983-3033.

The event runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Dec. 24.

Mission Café is at 239 E. DeVargas St., behind the San Miguel Mission and Upper Crust Pizza.

New Deal market coming Saturday

The National New Deal Preservation Association will sponsor a market for antiques from the 1930s and '40s from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Banquet Room of Garrett's Desert Inn, 311 Old Santa Fe Trail.

The sale will include a dozen dealers in antiques, including furniture, clothes, jewelry, art and ephemera as well as rare books from and about the era. Association executive director Kathy Flynn will be on hand to sign copies of her recent book, The New Deal: A 75th Anniversary Celebration.

Indian School land now in trust

Nine more acres of the old Albuquerque Indian School campus on 12th Street have been transferred into a trust for New Mexico's 19 pueblos.

U.S. Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman sponsored the legislation aimed at creating new economic opportunities for American Indians.

Similar to the transfer of the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School, the Albuquerque property will be managed by the All Indian Pueblo Council. The transfer legislation prohibits gaming, but otherwise leaves the use open for "educational, health, cultural, business or economic development purposes of the 19 pueblos," according to a Domenici news release.

About 44 acres of the campus north of Interstate 40 was transferred into the trust in the early 1980s, following the closure of the Albuquerque Indian School, which was established in 1881. Since then, the acreage has been redeveloped for two Interior Department office buildings that house the Bureau of Indian Affairs Southwest Regional Office, the National BIA Training Center and the BIA Data Center.

New shelter serves homeless

More than 50 people have been seeking a meal and a bed every night at the homeless shelter, 1601 St. Michael's Drive, as word gets out and temperatures drop.

Susan Odiseos, chairwoman of the Interfaith Shelter Group, said when the facility opened last month, about 20 to 25 individuals were seeking services. The number rose quickly to the mid-40s and on several recent nights approached 60. The number includes 10 to 15 women per night.

Volunteers manage the shelter from 6 to 9 p.m. each night. They're relieved by paid staff from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Various faith communities take turns staffing the facility. The shelter group is working with Adelante, the school system's program for homeless students and families, and Youth Shelters and Family Services. Faith at Work accepts donations of clothes and other items.

N.M. official to chair arts board

The director of education at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe has been named chairwoman of the national Indian Arts and Crafts Board.

Joyce Begay-Foss, an accomplished Navajo weaver, has won numerous awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market, Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show, and the San Felipe Arts and Crafts Show.

The Interior Department announced Begay-Foss' appointment Tuesday.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board combats counterfeit activity in the Native American arts market. The board also operates three Indian museums in the Plains Region.