Jail guard, inmate's wife face drug charges

Investigators have arrested a 21-year-old Santa Fe County jail corrections officer and charged her with bringing drugs into the facility, Sheriff Greg Solano said Monday.

Detectives also arrested a 25-year-old Santa Fe woman, who's husband is incarcerated in the jail, last week and charged her with supplying the drugs, according to court documents.

Leah Fragua, the corrections officer, was arrested Oct. 31 after jail officials received information she was trafficking drugs in the jail, Solano said. She was arrested and confessed, then provided information that led to the arrest of Alishia Marquez on Nov. 3, according to Solano and a probable cause statement filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

Marquez told police she met Fragua three or four times and gave her packages of marijuana and tobacco to bring to the jail, the statement says. Cocaine also was included in the packages, though Marquez claimed not to know about it, according to the statement.

Fragua told detectives that jail inmate Patrick Marquez, Alishia Marquez's husband, told her to meet his wife and bring the drugs to the jail, the statement says. She was paid $150 for each drop.

Fragua was charged with nine counts of drug trafficking, while Alishia Marquez was charged with eight counts of drug trafficking and four counts of conspiracy. Patrick Marquez and another inmate have not yet been charged in the case, Solano said.

Hyde Park Estates under boil-water alert

The New Mexico Environment Department has issued a boil-water alert for customers of the Hyde Park Estates Water Users Association because E. coli bacteria was detected in the system's water during a routine monthly test. The system is in a subdivision about five miles north of Santa Fe and serves approximately 183 people.

"The presence of E. coli in water indicates that they water may have been in contact with sewage or animal wastes, and could contain disease-causing organisms," according to the alert released by the state.

Hyde Park water-system users are advised to boil their water for five minutes before drinking, cooking or washing dishes with it.

Mike Huber, a compliance officer for the Environment Department's Drinking Water Bureau, said the cause of the E. coli contamination isn't known but is being investigated.

"Sometimes it's as simple as a line break," Huber said. "Sometimes it's more complex, like contamination from a septic system."

Huber said the system will be flushed with chlorine and retested before the boil alert is lifted.

S.F. musicians win fellowship

Two Santa Fe musicians are among 50 artists honored as recipients of a $50,000 fellowship from the national artists' group United States Artists.

Chris Jonas and Molly Sturges were among the fellows chosen this year by USA, which started in 2005 with the financial support of a number of nationally known foundations. Jonas is program director at Warehouse 21 and, along with Sturges, a founding member of the local musical groups BING and Rrake. Sturges directed and produced the contemporary folk opera Memorylines: Santa Fe, las voces de un viaje colectivo in 2007. The couple, who are married, moved here in 2001.

USA, founded in 2005, chooses 50 artists to spotlight in creative fields including dance, music, theater, visual arts and architecture. Recipients have to be nominated by their peers. Among the 2008 recipients is former Santa Fe poet and musician Joy Harjo. The recipients were honored at a celebration at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art on Monday night. Visit unitedstatesartists.org for the full list of this year's awardees.

Voters pass 5 of 6 county bonds

Santa Fe County voters approved five of the six general-obligation bonds placed on the ballot by Santa Fe County to pay for infrastructure such as roads and water-system improvements.

The bonds — which will not raise property taxes because old bonds were retired simultaneously — will generate about $33.5 million for the following county uses:

• $3.5 million for open space, trails and parks.

• $15.5 million for roads.

• $5 million for fire-safety facilities.

• $8 million for water projects.

• $1.5 million for waste-transfer stations.

The bond that did not pass would have gone toward the construction of a new building at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds. It was for $1.5 million.

County spokesman Stephen Ulibarri said the county has been trying since 2002 to get funding for a new building at the fairgrounds.

Buckman planners get EPA permit

As earthwork continues for construction of the Buckman Direct Diversion project, planners announced Friday that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has issued a permit they had been waiting for.

The new EPA permit will allow the city, county and Las Campanas to return sediment to the river after gravity removes it from water. The plan means diversion operators won't have to truck sediment to the landfill, which until now had been the backup plan.

"This permit means that we will not have to needlessly shorten the landfill's life span or cause additional dust, diesel fuel consumption or carbon emissions from additional truck traffic," said Rick Carpenter, project manager.

The diversion is expected to go online in the spring of 2011, pulling water from the Rio Grande, treating it and pumping it to municipal taps. Under the conditions of the permit, diversion staff will monitor and report on the water and sediment discharged from the project on a quarterly basis for the first year.

For more information, log on to the project Web site at www.bddproject.org.

Volunteers needed for land-use panel

Santa Fe County is seeking volunteers to serve on the County Open Land and Trails Planning and Advisory Committee.

Committee members would be responsible for representing their geographic area when advising the county on possible acquisitions, management of open space and trails and implementing the County Open Lands and Trails Plan.

Positions are available for representatives from the north, central, south and city regions of the county. Committee members will be required to attend evening meetings at least once per month in downtown Santa Fe.

Interested residents should send a résumé and a letter outlining their qualifications and interests to: Santa Fe County Open Space and Trail Program, Attention: Colleen Baker, P.O. Box 276, Santa Fe, NM 87504, or e-mail ebaker@co.santa-fe.nm.us.

The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Nov. 25.

Colorado casinos cash in on new rules

CORTEZ, Colo. — Tribal casinos in southwestern Colorado could see higher bet limits, more games and longer hours now that state voters have agreed to loosen gambling rules.

The rules, approved last week, were written for state-licensed casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek, but they open the door for identical changes at casinos owned by the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes.

The tribes have a compact with the state that says gambling rules for the tribal casinos can be no stricter than rules for the state-licensed casinos.

The Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs says it's working with the tribes to adopt the new rules.

The rules allow casinos to raise the bet limit to $100 from $5, add craps and roulette tables and stay open 24 hours.

Columbus loses another police chief

COLUMBUS, N.M. — The Southern New Mexico village of Columbus is without a police chief — again.

Robert Santana, who had been chief for about three months, resigned last week. He's the sixth chief Columbus has had since March 2006, when Mayor Eddie Espinoza was elected.

Mayor Pro Tem Allen Rosenberg said he could not discuss the situation since Espinoza is hospitalized with pneumonia.

Santana, who retired from the state police, said he had no trust in most of the department's personnel. He said one officer was suspended and another was fired, but he did not identify them.

Rosenberg says state police and the Luna County Sheriff's Department will patrol the area and assist with coverage.