Driver held after stolen car chased

A homeless man who led Santa Fe police on a chase Tuesday in a stolen car later admitted to burglarizing a rental car business and using some of the stolen cash to gamble at a nearby casino, according to a police report.

An employee at St. Elizabeth Shelter initially alerted police that Joshua Dyar, 28, was driving a blue Chevrolet Impala around the shelter, even though he didn't own a car or money, the report says. Police arrived and determined the car had been stolen the same day from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, then officers tried to pull Dyar over.

Dyar fled, crashed the car and ran over a set of spike strips before stopping. He later admitted to burglarizing the rental car business with another man, stealing keys to vehicles and $3,000 in cash, the report states. The men gambled away some of the money at Buffalo Thunder Casino in Pojoaque, Dyar told police.

Dyar, who had a South Carolina address but told a Santa Fe County magistrate he was homeless, said he was at the shelter to pick up his girlfriend. He was charged with aggravated fleeing from police, commercial burglary, stealing a car, larceny and driving without a license.

Council advances Railyard bond idea

City councilors on Wednesday authorized Santa Fe City Manager Galen Buller and other city staff to begin work on a plan to resume redevelopment of the Santa Fe Railyard with more public financial assistance.

A resolution approved Wednesday orders staff to "investigate the possibility of issuance and sale of gross receipts tax revenue bonds and other options" to bridge financing gaps for incomplete projects there that are called for in the city master plan.

Among such projects is a partially underground movie theater slated for operation by Maya Cinemas and developed by Railyard LLC, and restoration of the Santa Fe Depot train station and associated areas for bus and other transit connections.

The resolution asks the city manager to discuss solutions with the Railyard LLC as well as the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp., a nonprofit overseeing the Railyard site development, and the state government.

Councilors unanimously voted for the resolution as a part of the Wednesday agenda's "consent calendar" and did not discuss the item.

Trick-or-treating at community college

It's two days before Halloween, and your kids are already yappin' about wanting to go trick-or-treating. Who ya' gonna call? Why, the Santa Fe Community College, of course. The college, at 6401 Richards Ave., hosts a pre-Halloween trick-or-treating celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. today. While SFCC students and staff give out candy, coloring books and toothbrushes (you're responsible for any dental bills), kids can enjoy a ghost walk (that's like a cake walk, only with sheets) and face-painting. To ensure that some educational aspect is presented, the college will have booths set up showing how death is observed in various cultures around the world. The event takes place in the campus center and main entry, and is free; call 428-1665 or visit sfccnm.edu.

Stimulus funds set for green buildings

Both Santa Fe County and the city of Santa Fe will use federal stimulus funds to make improvements in energy-efficiency at government buildings.

The city got $500,000, and the county received $475,520 from Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants awarded recently by the state Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department.

In the city, the money will pay for new lighting, heating and cooling systems, water heating and other retrofits in 11 buildings including City Hall and the Genoveva Chavez Community Center. In addition to reducing the city's carbon footprint, the projects are expected to save Santa Fe over $75,000 each year in energy costs and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 849 tons per year, according to a city announcement.

In the county, the funds will enable energy audits in about 30 buildings, retrofitting of streetlights with light-emitting diodes and enhancement to global positioning software that will save gas for field workers, said Duncan Sill, economic development director.

Groups get community funds

Santa Fe County commissioners approved spending about $17,500 in "community funds" at a meeting Tuesday. The money comes from the $40,000 allocated annually to each commission district.

New approvals include:

• $1,000 for the Pojoaque baseball athletics and $2,500 for the Chimayó Boys and Girls Club after-school and recreation programs, District 1, Commissioner Harry Montoya.

• $500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters to support screening and follow-up and $500 to Warehouse 21 for the production of anti-graffiti materials, District 2, Commissioner Virginia Vigil.

• $5,000 for the Vista Grande Public Library, $5,000 for the Turquoise Trail Charter School and $3,000 for the Santa Fe Mountain Center, District 3, Commissioner Liz Stefanics.

DA: Ruling guts law on drug-free zones

A New Mexico court says drug sellers must know they are in drug-free school zones in order to face the more serious penalties for trafficking in those areas.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg says the Court of Appeals ruling issued last week effectively guts the law on drug-free school zones. But she says it will affect only a small number of cases.

Her office handled more than 30,000 cases last year, and the school zone drug enhancement applied in only about 15.

State law says whoever knowingly sells drugs within 1,000 feet of a school on nonresidential property can be charged with a first-degree felony and face up to 18 years in prison. Otherwise, it's a second-degree felony and nine years.

The ruling could be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Changes to bus service planned

Service changes are set to go into effect Nov. 2 on Santa Fe Trails bus routes and the Santa Fe Ride paratransit system.

The paratransit system will have the same operating hours as the regular bus system — 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sundays.

There will be no service on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Both systems will operate on a Saturday schedule on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve day, according to a city announcement.

Some buses will also run less frequently, such as the Route 2 buses, which will run only every half-hour in the evenings instead of every 15 minutes.

The changes are part of the city's budget for fiscal year 2009/2010.