Tax holiday set for Aug. 7-9

New Mexico's annual back-to-school tax holiday is scheduled Aug. 7 through Aug. 9.

Qualifying nontaxable goods include items of clothing and pairs of shoes worth $100 or less; pens, paper and other school supplies of $15 or less; computers worth $1,000 or less; and various computer equipment worth $500 or less.

The deal is not just for students and their families; anyone may participate.

It's the fifth year for the Friday-through-Sunday gross-receipts tax holiday. It begins at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 7 and runs until midnight Aug. 9.

The state's basic tax rate on purchases is 5 percent, but local governments add on; a few communities top 8 percent.

LANS to give $100,000 to college

Los Alamos National Security is set to contribute $100,000 to the Sustainable Technologies Center at Santa Fe Community College. The funds will be presented to SFCC President Sheila Ortego by LANS Executive Staff Director Jerry Ethridge this morning.

SFCC breaks ground on the $11.4 million Sustainable Technologies Center on Aug. 14, but classes have already begun in areas such as solar, green building, biofuels, facility technologies and water conservation. The college currently offers degrees and certificates in biofuels, environmental technologies, facilities technologies, green building construction skills, green building systems and solar energy.

Ortego said the $100,000 investment comes as a welcome boost to the college as interest in renewable energy education rises among students and business developers.

Cops seize 5 pounds of meth

State police seized 5 pounds of crystal methamphetamines after a traffic stop last week on Interstate 25, according to a news release.

Claudia Lopez, 24, of Aurora, Colo., was pulled over June 9 for weaving in and out of her northbound lane near Glorieta. Officers searched her 1999 Lexus and discovered five bundles of the drug valued at about $70,000.

The methamphetamines were allegedly destined for a drug dealer in Colorado, and the seizure resulted in four more arrests in Colorado, the release says. Lopez will face federal charges, the release says.

New training for Las Cruces police

LAS CRUCES — Las Cruces police will begin training officers to better interact with people who have or seem to have mental disabilities.

It's part of an agreement between the police department and civil rights groups.

Las Cruces will pay $150,000. Part of it will be used to promote awareness of mental-health issues.

The agreement stems from a 2007 lawsuit filed by Disability Rights New Mexico, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and later the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

The groups alleged that 30 percent to 40 percent of the 800 to 900 inmates at the Doña Ana County Detention Center suffer from mental illness the jail inadequately monitored and cared for, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.