Navajos consider Arizona ski resort

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation wants to buy the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort to stop snowmaking on one of the tribe's most sacred mountains.

The Navajo Nation Council voted Wednesday to consider legislation that would allow the tribe to negotiate with the partners who own the resort outside Flagstaff.

The Navajo and several other tribes fought in court for several years to stop the Snowbowl's plan to use reclaimed wastewater to make snow. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down the tribes' final appeal in June, and the resort's owners plan to begin adding the snowmaking equipment next year.

The tribes consider the San Francisco Peaks where the Snowbowl is located to be sacred.

The council could take a final vote on the legislation later this week.

Shelter cuts rates on dog adoptions

Adult dogs are available at a reduced adoption rate this week as the Santa Fe shelter tries to make room for even more homeless canines.

For the first time in a long while, the Santa Fe Shelter & Humane Society is doubling up on kennels, and sometimes crowding even more into the space, said Bill Hutchison, the shelter's director of communications. Starting today, the shelter will drop its adoption fee for dogs six months and older to $35. The discounted fee runs through Sunday.

"We just have litters of puppies and a ton of adult dogs," he said. Plus, the shelter's taking on more dogs from the already over-extended Española Valley Humane Society.

Visit the shelter at 100 Caja del Rio Road from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. You can view adoptable animals at the shelter's Web site, www.sfhumanesociety.org, or call the adoption supervisor to learn more at 983-4309, ext. 106.

Panel announces arts awards

The mayor and the city of Santa Fe Arts Commission announced the recipients of this year's Mayor's Recognition Awards for Excellence in the Arts.

Winners include the Santa Fe Art Institute (contemporary arts), Chrissie Orr (community art), Elias Rivera (visual arts), Mara and Charles Robinson (arts philanthropy) and Ellen Zieselman (arts education).

Sarah Livingston, a Santa Fe High senior, won the Melissa Engestrom Youth Artist Award.

The ceremony is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Reservations are required, and tickets are $55 per person. The event includes music by the Nacha Mendez Trio and dinner prepared by James Campbell Caruso of La Boca Restaurant.

Lease sales net BLM $13 million

The Bureau of Land Management netted more than $13 million from its quarterly sale of 48 oil and natural gas leases in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas.

More than 30 bidders registered for Wednesday's auction in Santa Fe.

Bids for two parcels in Texas brought in more than $9.4 million, while 38 parcels in New Mexico sold for more than $3.7 million. Seven Oklahoma parcels brought in $69,000, and a single parcel in Kansas brought in $160.

The highest overall bid per parcel, $9.4 million, came from Narenta Oil Company of Santa Fe for 1,264 acres in Shelby County, Texas.

Fifty-two percent of revenues from federal lease sales is returned to the U.S. government and 48 percent goes to the state where the mineral lease occurs. The BLM says New Mexico will receive $1.7 million from Wednesday's sale.