DWI checkpoints set for Saturday

Checkpoints and a saturation patrol are planned Saturday in northern Santa Fe County and southern Rio Arriba County in an effort to spot drunken drivers.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office announced it will be the lead agency in a multi-jurisdictional operation intended to increase public awareness of the problem and combine resources of various agencies.

Other participants include New Mexico State Police District 1 and District 7; Santa Fe Police Department; Española Police Department; Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office; Pojoaque Tribal Police Department; Bureau of Indian Affairs Police Department; Tesuque Tribal Police Department; Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Department; and the Santa Clara Tribal Police Department.

In addition to looking for impaired drivers, the announcement said, officers will watch for other traffic violations as vehicles pass through checkpoint locations and the area of the saturation patrol, which weren't specified on Thursday.

Fall Clean-up Day volunteers sought

Volunteers will pick up litter and trash from city parks, school campuses and other visible public areas around Santa Fe on Saturday during the annual Fall Clean-up Day.

The nonprofit Keep Santa Fe Beautiful invites anyone to join fellow citizens, businesses and civic groups in the effort, sponsored in cooperation with the city of Santa Fe and New Mexico Clean and Beautiful.

Volunteers will meet at 1142 Siler Road between 7 and 9 a.m. to pick up refuse bags and gloves. Participants may clean areas they have identified or be assigned an area. City crews will pick up and dispose of the refuse collected by volunteers.

Organizers will host a picnic about noon at the Nancy Rodriguez Center, 1 Prairie Loop, to thank participants.

For more information, go to www.keepsantafebeautiful.org.

Santa Fe celebrates River Day

The Santa Fe Watershed Association is holding a celebration from noon to 12:30 p.m. Sunday just downstream from the Old Santa Fe Trail bridge at West Alameda Street.

The event is one of hundreds taking place around the world as part of World Rivers Day, which started in Canada.

Local singer Annette Cantor will perform a "water song" from her new CD, and other local artists are invited to perform a short song, dance, poem or other act to celebrate the Santa Fe River.

Coffee and rolls will be provided.

National forest fees waived

Campers, picnickers and outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy the Santa Fe National Forest fee-free this weekend to celebrate National Public Lands Day.

Forest officials encouraged people to enjoy the forest and help clean it up.

Fees at most day-use (picnic) areas and campgrounds will be waived on Saturday and Sunday. Fee waivers will not apply to Forest Group sites or to some day-use areas that are under contract with Recreation.gov, which provides a reservations service.

San Antonio Campground on Jemez Ranger district is undergoing construction and will not be available this weekend.

National Public Lands Day celebrates volunteer efforts to improve public lands for people to enjoy.

Women's book festival Saturday

A book festival on Museum Hill in Santa Fe on Saturday will feature 73 New Mexico women authors.

Among the authors scheduled to read from their works are Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Christine Barber, Sally Denton, Sally Bingham and Barbara Beasley Murphy.

A special topics pavilion will feature self-publishing, romance writing, memoir, revision and rewriting, according to a news release. For a full schedule, go to www.newmexicocreates.org.

Admission is free for the festival, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Milner Plaza.

State co-sponsors national parks series

A state agency paid $6,500 to help underwrite the local television broadcast of an upcoming documentary about national parks.

State Parks Director Dave Simon said Thursday it was fitting for the agency to support the TV program because state and national parks have what he called a common heritage. He expressed hope that the documentary would encourage New Mexicans to protect and enjoy state and national parks.

The six-part series, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, will start airing Sunday on PBS. The State Parks Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department sponsored broadcast of the series on KNME-TV.

The documentary is by filmmaker Ken Burns, whose other public TV series include The Civil War, Jazz and Baseball.




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