State employees on furlough today

If you have business at a state office today, you'll probably have to wait until next week. Almost all state agencies are closed because of the furloughs for state employees mandated by Gov. Bill Richardson as money-saving method.

Most offices under the control of the governor are closed. This includes state museums.

The Department of Workforce Solutions — formerly known as the Labor Department — is among those closed. A news release from that agency said its Unemployment Insurance Call Center will be closed today, but the department's Web site (www.dws.state.nm.us), and automated phone system will be open "for normal self service functions."

Late last year, Richardson ordered five days of furloughs to save money. Upcoming furlough days are April 2 and May 28.

The unpaid days affect an estimated 17,000 employees and save about $8.1 million. Exempted from the plan are state police officers, dispatchers and those who work for prisons and state hospitals.

The Governor's Office issued a statement Thursday saying agency heads have been instructed to turn off lights, heating systems and computers before the long weekend.

Man arrested in apartment beating

Police arrested a 27-year-old blood-soaked man found unconscious early Thursday morning in a Hopewell Street apartment and charged him with beating an incoherent man discovered earlier in front of a local convenience store, according to court documents.

Officers were dispatched to Allsup's, 1899 St. Michael's Drive, about 1:15 a.m. where a man was mumbling and unable to walk or stand on his own in front of the store, according to a police report filed at Santa Fe County Magistrate Court on Thursday. The man told paramedics he'd been beaten at an apartment in the Los Palomas Apartments in the 2000 block of Hopewell Street.

When officers went to the apartments, they discovered the door open and found Julian Chavez-Gonzalez lying unconscious on the floor, the report says. Chavez-Gonzalez "was covered in blood," the report states, including his hands, face, clothes and shoes. Blood was also splattered on the floor and walls and there was a 7-inch-by-7-inch pool of blood in the bedroom, according to the report.

The victim suffered two skull fractures and had bleeds in his brain. Chavez-Gonzalez was charged with aggravated battery and ordered held in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

Blue Bell expands to Santa Fe market

Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries says it will begin distributing its ice cream in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe markets.

The company announced this week that it has opened a transfer station in leased space in Albuquerque and is hiring drivers to serve potential customers who will be added between Roswell and Santa Fe. The products will be available at Albertsons, Sunflower Farmers Markets and other grocery stores, drugstores and convenience stores.

Eventually, Blue Bell, based for more than a century in Brenham, Texas, about 70 miles northwest of Houston, plans to buy land in Albuquerque and build its own transfer station, using a format that can be converted into a full-fledged distribution center.

Blue Bell is the third best-selling brand of ice cream in the U.S. (behind Dreyer's and Breyers) even though it's only sold in parts of 19 states. The nearest Blue Bell branch office to Albuquerque is in El Paso.

Just how old is Santa Fe?

Historian Tom Chávez will try to settle the controversy over the date of the founding of Santa Fe in a lecture Saturday at the New Mexico History Museum.

The lecture is at 2 p.m. in the museum auditorium and is free with museum admission.

Chávez will talk about the story behind Juan Martínez de Montoya, sometimes regarded as the "first" founder of Santa Fe. Martínez de Montoya, a Castilian-born captain who opposed Don Juan de Oñate, left family papers showing he and a small group of soldiers settled Santa Fe between 1604 and 1608. Appointed governor by the viceroy in June 1608, he was rejected as a leader by the Oñate loyalists. According to a news release, he then persuaded the viceroy to send Pedro de Peralta to Santa Fe to establish a permanent settlement and in 1610 Peralta did so, naming the new capital La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis.

Chávez is the former director of the Palace of the Governors.

City hosts river park meeting

The city of Santa Fe is holding a public meeting Thursday at the main library, 145 Washington Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to discuss restoration along the Santa Fe River from Patrick Smith Park to Camino Alire. The city wants public input regarding priorities for brush and tree thinning along the river to provide safe access.

The Santa Fe Fire Department has received a New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps grant to form a wildland fire hand crew. The Santa Fe Fire Department YCC hand crew is assigned to work on the El Parque del Rio restoration project when not on an active burning wildfire.