Police seek driver in bus accident

State police said they are looking for a driver who forced a school bus off a narrow road near Cordova on Monday morning, causing minor injuries to nine students.

Anthony Baca, 40, was driving the bus on Rio Arriba County Road 80 to Mountain View Elementary in Española about 8:30 a.m. when a speeding vehicle traveling in the opposite drifted toward the bus on a curve, according to a news release from the state Department of Public Safety.

"Baca avoided the head-on collision by driving onto the shoulder," the release said. "The momentum kept the bus traveling off the shoulder and down a 25-foot embankment."

An Española Hospital spokesman said nine of the 13 student passengers were treated for minor injuries, then released.

The state police say the man driving the late '90s dark blue Honda Accord with a possible California license plate fled the scene. Anyone with more information is asked to call the Española state police office at 753-2277.

New anti-graffiti post proposed

The Santa Fe Police Department would have a new civilian employee whose job is to deal with graffiti under a resolution the city Finance Committee approved Monday.

Sponsored by Councilor Carmichael Dominguez, the measure is a substitute for an earlier version and would represent a compromise between a stretched-thin Police Department and the city's Anti-Graffiti Task Force, which wanted to move all cleanup and enforcement responsibilities regarding graffiti to the Police Department.

The new version proposes a full-time employee who would act as "anti-graffiti coordinator," serving as the central intake person for all reports of graffiti, whether they come to a city hot line, to police or through councilors. The coordinator, costing about $69,000 a year in salary and benefits, would work with the police gang unit on prosecution and with the Parks Division crew that does cleanup.

"There does not seem to be a way to attack or address graffiti in a comprehensive manner, so the purpose and intent of this coordinator is to somehow bring it all together," said Dominguez.

The resolution requires City Council approval and a budget change before it can be implemented.

Richardson to make bicoastal jaunt

Gov. Bill Richardson will visit both the East and West coasts this week, his office said.

Richardson will be in California on Wednesday to meet with leaders of 10 solar-energy companies, hoping to lure them to the state.

He also is expected to speak at a dinner hosted by New Enterprise Associates. That group is "a venture capital firm that represents several active investors in the energy technology sector," according to Richardson's office.

On Thursday, the governor will fly to Fairfield, Conn., to meet with the president and CEO of General Electric to talk about potential new uses for the GE plant in Albuquerque. That plant is expected to close next year.

On Friday, he will be in Washington to speak at the New Democrat Network about U.S.-Latin America relations and his recent trip to Cuba.

In addition, he will meet with members of the state's Congressional delegation.

Reward still offered on missing hunter

CrimeStoppers is continuing to offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information that would help state police locate missing hunter Mel Nadel. Nadel's family continues to ask for any and all information that will help state police find him.

Nadel disappeared from a hunting camp Sept. 6 while his friends were out hunting near Elk Mountain in the Santa Fe National Forest east of Santa Fe. His truck, camping equipment and supplies were found near the hunting camp he was sharing with friends. His bow and pistol were missing.

An extensive search by state-managed search and rescue crews, other state resources, volunteer searchers and the family have failed to find any trace of Nadel. Ground crews with specially trained dogs combed the area this past weekend.

Anyone with information should call CrimeStoppers at 505-955-5050.

N.M. orders first swine flu vaccine

The New Mexico Department of Health says the first shipment of swine flu vaccine is expected to start arriving this week.

The department said Monday it has ordered about 12,000 doses of nasal swine flu vaccine that will be shipped to providers statewide. Nasal flu vaccine can be given only to people between the ages of 2 and 49 who are not pregnant and do not have chronic health conditions.

Vaccine in the shot form will arrive in later shipments.

Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil is encouraging people who are at higher risk for developing serious complications from the flu to get vaccinated.

The department is advising pregnant women, caretakers of infants, children with certain chronic health conditions and health care workers to get vaccinated.

CSF: Dead tourist wasn't student here

A 25-year-old Albuquerque woman found dead near Honolulu last week was not a College of Santa Fe student as previously reported in a television news report, a college spokeswoman said Monday.

Bryanna Antone's nude body was found by a jogger at 6 a.m. Friday on Waikiki beach, where she was vacationing with her family, according to a Honolulu television station.

The station reported that Antone left the Waikiki Ohana Hotel with a man at 1:40 a.m. Friday and that police are looking for Aaron Susa, 31, who has 16 prior convictions on charges including harassment, indecent exposure and "terroristic threatening."

Honolulu police on Monday declined to say anything about the case other than they are investigating a possible homicide.

A College of Santa Fe spokeswoman said that when she heard that Antone was a student there, she wanted to reach out to her family, but soon determined she had not been enrolled there.

Man injured in fall from balloon

ALBUQUERQUE — An unidentified passenger dislocated his hip after tumbling from a hot air balloon Monday, falling about 25 feet when the balloon's gondola struck a vendor's tent and tipped.

The pilot remained in the gondola as the balloon rose to about 300 feet, then made a rapid descent at Albuquerque's balloon fiesta park.

The pilot sustained minor injuries in what officials described as a hard landing, but was able to walk away.

Domestic violence awareness sought

The city and county of Santa Fe will mark Domestic Violence Awareness month with several joint activities.

County Commissioners Harry Montoya and Liz Stefanics and other community officials plan a news conference at noon Wednesday in the County Commission Chambers to announce the details of a new partnership aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and holding perpetrators accountable.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the chambers, city and county officials will host a joint town hall meeting where a group of panelists will discuss the issue. Panelists will include Judge Raymond Ortiz, District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco, Sheriff Greg Solano, Police Chief Aric Wheeler, Mayor David Coss and representatives from Esperanza Shelter and the Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center.

A shrine commemorating domestic violence victims will be erected in the County Administration building at 102 Grant Ave. Organizers invite the public to bring mementos to honor family and friends touched by domestic violence to place on the shrine.

For more information, call Carol Horwitz at 955-5018 or e-mail cahorwitz@santafenm.gov.

Williams Exploration honored by BLM

Williams Exploration and Production Co., which operates in the San Juan Basin, was honored by the Bureau of Land Management for its efforts to restore public lands.

The award was made by BLM State Director Linda Rundell during the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association annual meeting this week in Santa Fe.

Williams Exploration was recognized for donated funding, equipment and labor in restoring and improving public lands in northwester New Mexico and along the San Juan River.

"Williams' interest in improving public lands and their willingness to lead by example have put them at the forefront of industry partners in the San Juan Basin," said Linda Rundell, the BLM's New Mexico State Director in Santa Fe.

Restore New Mexico awards are given to partners who go above and beyond responsible business and environmental practices in working with the BLM to actively contribute to the restoration and enhancement of degraded landscapes in New Mexico.

Report: No need for ATF project

LAS CRUCES — A federal review of an effort to curb the flow of guns going into Mexico from the United States has questioned whether resources should be assigned to two Southern New Mexico cities.

The report on Project Gunrunner, released Monday, found there hasn't been enough activity in Las Cruces or Roswell to justify placing agents who are dedicated to firearms trafficking investigations.

Project Gunrunner is the name of the plan by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to combat firearms trafficking to Mexico.

The report supports plans to place ATF agents in McAllen, Texas; El Centro, Calif.; and the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana.

However, ATF data shows Las Cruces and Roswell don't have large amounts of firearms trafficking or crime linked to Mexican drug cartels.

Car crashes into inmate bus

ALBUQUERQUE — Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies say 17 people were sent to the hospital after a car crashed into a bus transporting inmates Monday in Albuquerque.

A spokeswoman for the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, Erin Kinnard Thompson, says none of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening.

She says 14 inmates, a guard, the driver of the bus and a woman who was a passenger in the car were taken to the hospital.

A spokeswoman for the county, Nataura Powdrell, says those on the bus were sent to the hospital as a precaution.

Powdrell says the bus was carrying 54 inmates on their way to morning court appearances. She says the rest of the inmates were returned to the jail.