Nambé drops 'Star Trek' casino

NAMBÉ PUEBLO — Tribal officials have decided to abandon plans for a 50,000-square-foot Star Trek-themed casino because of economic concerns.

Nambé will focus instead on a much smaller casino with 200 slot machines. Plans call for the Nambé Falls Casino to be adjacent to the tribe's new travel center north of Santa Fe.

The travel center and the 8,400-square-foot casino are the first such commercial ventures for the pueblo.

George Yates, president of the Nambé Pueblo Development Corp., said the chief reason why the tribal council voted to postpone the larger casino was the difficulty in securing financing for the project.

Pueblo officials said they will study the larger casino project in the future.

The smaller casino is expected to open April 4.

Husband charged in teacher's death

DEMING — The husband of a Deming High School English teacher whose body was found in a remote area of southern New Mexico has been accused of her death.

George Grattan faces charges of murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, 29-year-old Suzanne Grattan. Her body was found Wednesday, a day after she failed to show up for work and was reported missing.

George Grattan has been in custody since Wednesday, when he was booked on unrelated charges of passing two bad checks last June.

Officers from Deming, the Luna County Sheriff's Department and officials with the state Office of the Medical Investigator discovered Grattan's body after receiving information about a possible location on Tuesday. Police have not released any details about how Grattan died.

Grattan was a 1997 graduate of Deming High School, where she played softball and basketball. She graduated from New Mexico State University in 2003 with a double major in English and journalism. She had worked at the Deming Headlight as a reporter.