Prosecutor charged with DWI to step down

A Santa Fe prosecutor who was charged with drunken driving and a firearm violation in January resigned last week, said District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco.

Barbara Romo, 49, submitted her letter of resignation Feb. 25, though she will continue to wrap up her caseload until next week, Pacheco said. Pacheco characterized the resignation as a mutual decision between her and Romo. Romo did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

Romo almost solely prosecutes defendants accused of sexually abusing children and has for several years. Pacheco, who called Romo a "hard worker with a strong commitment," said the "tough caseload ... has taken an emotional toll on her."

"She really strives hard to do right by the victims," Pacheco said. "It was time for her to make a change."

Romo was charged with driving while intoxicated and negligent use of a firearm Jan. 9 after she was pulled over by a Rio Rancho police officer. Her breath-alcohol content was .12, more than the legal driving limit of .08, and she had a loaded .38-caliber handgun on the front seat next to her at the time.

Alleged gunman loses Capitol job

A Santa Fe man accused of shooting at another car during a weekend road-rage incident has lost his job at the Legislature, according to his supervisor.

"Well, he's not going to come back, so I guess he's fired," Lenore Naranjo, chief clerk for the state Senate, said Monday of Gabryl Romero, who worked as a senior page.

Romero, 22, is jailed on attempted murder and other charges in Saturday night's incident on Cerrillos Road. Police say he fired twice on the car of a driver who cussed at him, and one bullet hit the other driver's rear window, spraying glass on a 7-month-old boy. Romero told police he fired in self-defense.

Naranjo said the loss of Romero makes things hard for her staff of temporary workers. She hired six senior pages at the start of the session and is down to three, after two others took permanent jobs elsewhere.

Meetings to center on St. Francis planning

Got ideas on how to improve St. Francis Drive?

Highway planners have scheduled two public hearings this month — 5 to 7 p.m. March 11 at Gonzales Community School and March 18 at Capshaw Middle School — regarding the major north-south highway through Santa Fe.

David Quintana of the New Mexico Department of Transportation said no specific changes have yet been proposed for the section of U.S. 285/84 that cuts through the city.

"We're at the very, very beginning stages of the study process, and the process requires us to garner a lot of public input as well as keeping the public appraised of how the process is moving forward," he said.

Panel sends governor more names for judgeship

A judicial nominating commission has sent two additional names to Gov. Bill Richardson for possible nomination to the vacant state District Court judgeship for Rio Arriba County.

The commission sent one nominee to the governor in January, prompting him to ask for more names.

The commission met Friday and evaluated seven new names, as well as five original applicants.

It recommended two additional applicants to Richardson: Francis J. Mathew and Sarah M. Singleton. Mathew is a civil attorney who served the rest of Ann Yalman's term as county probate judge after Yalman was appointed to the Santa Fe Municipal Court in 2006. Singleton, also a civil attorney in Santa Fe, serves on the federal Legal Services Corp. board.

They join the original nominee, Sheri A. Raphaelson.

The new judge will replace state District Judge Tim Garcia, who was appointed to the state Court of Appeals.

The judge would have to seek election in 2010 to keep the seat.

Changes to comics page in the works

Some changes are coming to The New Mexican's comics page.

Ricardo Cata, the artist behind the popular Without Reservations, has taken off for a couple weeks to tend to tribal business. His strip will return before the end of the month.

Taking its place is a new panel by Leigh Rubin called Rubes. Rubin will make a presentation to readers about his creative process from 7 to 9 tonight at The Santa Fe New Mexican. Park in the lot across from the Marcy Street entrance and enter the main doors starting at 6:30 p.m.

Rubes will stay in the newspaper and replace another strip — still to be determined. Readers who have comments about these changes should e-mail Bruce Krasnow at brucek@sfnewmexican.com or call 986-3034.

City to snatch up 13 foreclosures

The city of Santa Fe is moving toward using $2 million in federal money to buy some 13 houses under foreclosure for affordable housing.

Kathy McCormick, city Housing and Community Development Department director, said no properties have yet been identified.

"We have to work out the mechanics on how we find those homes and buy them," she said. "They could be anywhere in town."

The City Council last week unanimously agreed to accept the grant from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The plan calls for the city Office of Affordable Housing or an approved nonprofit — Homewise, The Housing Trust, Habitat for Humanity, the Life Link/La Luz or the Coalition to End Homelessness — to buy the houses, fix them up and either sell or rent them.

McCormick said both Homewise and The Housing Trust have arranged for people qualified for affordable housing to buy existing houses before. She said the city could move toward buying its first foreclosed property in 30 days.

Man makes plea in cousin's death

A 31-year-old Mexican man who was caught trying to cross into the United States a month ago pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe on Monday.

Saul Pena, 31, is facing more than 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges, which include murder, conspiracy and tampering with evidence, said Deputy District Attorney Doug Couleur. Pena allegedly shot his cousin, Noe Gonzalez, in the head during the early morning hours of July 27, 2007, and dumped his body in the parking lot of Silva Lanes bowling alley.

A Santa Fe County jury acquitted Pena's brother, Hector Luis Pena, of second-degree murder and other charges in connection with the case in August. Couleur and defense attorney Tom Clark both said they were waiting for transcripts of the trial before going forward with the case.

Nine indicted in burglary ring case

Nine young adults and teens were indicted last week on a total of 264 counts related to a burglary ring that stole $100,000 in property and $30,000 in cash from Santa Fe homes and businesses in the last year.

And District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco said she expects more indictments stemming from the burglaries to be handed down in the near future.

Police have said the ring used juveniles to target homes during the day, while a group of adults hit businesses at night. Much of the stolen property, including flat-screen televisions, laptop computers and other electronics, was traded for cocaine, police have said.

Those indicted were: Jeremy Chavez, 21, Daryl Romero, 20, Trevor Alarid-Heidel, age unavailable, Monique Ortega, 18, Alberto Treto-Rodriguez, 20, Santos Treto, 18, Alfred Sereno, 19, Manuel Candelaria, 16, and Enrique Treto, 17.

Pojoaque schools warn of raffle scam

Pojoaque school officials are warning residents of a raffle scam being operated by a woman in her late 20s.

Diane Katzenmeyer-Delgado, principal at Pablo Roybal Elementary School, said the woman approached the grandmother of a student Sunday evening in Nambé, purporting to be selling raffle tickets to buy new playground equipment. The tickets were green.

"She was very clean-cut, had a medium build and pretty eyes," Delgado said. She was driving a late-model, white, long-bed pickup.

Superintendent Art Blea said the schools have had raffles for various student projects over the years "but this isn't one of them."

He said the district plans to buy new playground equipment for the school, but that it's being funded through bonds approved by voters last fall.

Unemployed to get stimulus boost

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico labor officials say all eligible unemployment benefit claimants will get an additional $25 per week thanks to the federal stimulus package.

The state Department of Workforce Solutions says the additional money will be included in their weekly payments starting Monday.

Labor officials say, however, that the stimulus package doesn't provide additional weeks of benefits for those who have or will exhaust their Extended Unemployment Compensation benefits. Eligible New Mexican claimants can currently receive up to 46 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits.

Tennessee sends waste to WIPP

CARLSBAD — Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee has sent its first remote-handled radioactive waste to Southern New Mexico for disposal.

The shipment left the Oak Ridge processing center last Thursday on its 1,300-mile journey and arrived at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad on Friday.

Five months ago, Oak Ridge sent its first contact-handled waste to the repository, known as WIPP.

WIPP received its first remote-handled shipment two years ago. Such waste is so radioactive it must be handled by robotic machines. Contact-handled waste has a lower level of radioactivity.

Republican Congressman Zach Wamp of Tennessee says that for the first time since Oak Ridge began in 1943, it's shipping out the highest level waste from manmade nuclear materials.