Parking scofflaws can avoid warrant fee

Drivers who have outstanding bench warrants from Santa Fe Municipal Court for parking violations can take advantage of the court's "Parking Safe Surrender" program through noon Thursday.

A city announcement said participants can have their bench warrants resolved, "which can clear your record and give you the chance to speak to the judge."

By showing up at court, people with an active bench warrant can avoid potential arrest and the $100 bench-warrant fee per case will be waived, the statement said.

For more information, call the court at 955-5073 or 955-5112.

Attorney General's Office warns of time-share scam

The state Attorney General's Office issued an alert about a time-share scam that cost one New Mexico victim several thousand dollars.

Market Value Properties contacts owners of time-share properties and offers to help them sell their interest, advising the owner that the company is working with an escrow company that will serve as agent for the transfer of the money, the warning states.

Both Market Value Properties and Diamond International Escrow are fraudulent companies, according to the Attorney General's Office.

To enhance the legitimacy of their solicitation, the statement says, the companies use a website with a host that operates outside the United States.

"If you are contacted about buying or selling timeshares without initiating that contact," the statement says, "the Attorney General's Office advises you to thoroughly check out the company prior to sending any money."

Talk set on gems in prehistoric cultures

Frances Joan Mathiend, a retired National Park Service archaeologist, will lecture on "The Role of Gems and Minerals in the Pueblo Worlds" on Sept. 24 at the New Mexico History Museum in downtown Santa Fe.

Tickets for the 2 p.m. event cost $5 and are available at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. Call 988-1234 or visit www.ticketssantafe.org.

Mathiend, a research associate for the state's Office of Archaeological Studies, worked on the Chaco Project, analyzing ornaments and minerals, and was editor for many of the project's publications.

An announcement said she will talk about how Native Americans in the Southwest used gems and minerals for beads, pendants and mosaic pieces. She will also talk about mineral sources; possible trade relationships that moved items between different cultural groups; and emerging science that can "fingerprint" where a piece of turquoise came from.

Her lecture will coincide with the weekend of the Palace Gem and Mineral Show, a free event in the Palace of the Governors Courtyard, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24-25.