Woman discovers bear in yard

Marisa del Rio was making a phone call at 7 o'clock Friday morning in her Don Gaspar neighborhood home when she looked out the window and saw a bear in her backyard.

After her heart started beating again, del Rio called the state Department of Game and Fish, but the office was closed. She called 911 and eventually reached Santa Fe Animal Control, which said it would send someone out.

Meanwhile, the bear wandered around to del Rio's front yard, leaned casually on her guest house wall for a while, went over several times to sip water out of her fountain and then ate some Chinese elm sprouts from her garden. "He was pretty calm. He kept drinking water, so he was clearly thirsty," del Rio said.

"Part of me was amused and part of me was scared," she said. "Thought he might break the window of my car."

Del Rio said the dark-brown bear looked large to her, but a neighbor told her it was a small, young bear. The bear stayed around for about an hour before wandering off. By the time Animal Control and then Game and Fish arrived shortly before 9 a.m., the bear was gone.

A state game officer captured the bear near Cordova Road and relocated it to the north side of the Jemez Mountains, according to Marty Frentzel, Game and Fish public information officer.

Counties ask voters to OK sales tax

Two of the four counties that are part of the North Central Regional Transit District have agreed to ask voters for approval of a sales tax to fund public transportation in the district.

Santa Fe is likely to be the last county to make that decision, if it does at all. Its officials have been debating whether to withdraw from the regional effort rather than ask voters to increase taxes by 1/8 percent.

Rio Arriba County commissioners decided Thursday to put the question on their November general election ballot, after a similar move by Los Alamos County last week. Taos County plans to hold its final meeting on the matter Tuesday.

Money from the tax would be spent to sustain and expand buses that connect Northern New Mexico communities, and a tentative agreement with the state Department of Transportation would use some of the cash to pay for operations of Rail Runner Express commuter trains.

Local critics have said the transit district is inefficient, and area governments should not continue in the partnership. City and county officials discussed the issue with the state and others Friday, and Mayor David Coss said the city probably won't vote Monday on whether to leave the district, as planned. A Santa Fe County meeting on the subject is planned for July 7.

Free ticket, rental scam targets S.F.

If you've recently been offered free airline tickets and car rentals, you might think twice before following through on the deal.

Attorney General Gary King's office is warning consumers that at least one outfit operating in Santa Fe is using such an offer to scam them. "The problem is ... the tickets and car rental are not really 'free, ' " a release from King's office states.

One savvy consumer researched the deal and found other people had "ended up paying more than $100 in processing fees for limited-use ticket vouchers at a very few select locations," according to the release.

If you think you've been scammed or want to report suspicious e-mails, call the Consumer Protection Division at 800-678-1508 or e-mail publicinformationoff@ago.state.nm.us.

Some Sandia forest to be shut down

ALBUQUERQUE — Much of Cibola National Forest's Sandia Ranger District is shutting down, the victim of high fire danger.

The southern portion already has closed, and much of the northern section will be off-limits as of Monday, district information officer Karen Takai said Friday.

The Sandia district stretches from Placitas south to Oak Flats, eight miles south of Interstate 40.

The closure bars the public from the backcountry and closes most trails, including La Luz on the west face of the Sandia Mountains. No hiking, biking or motorized vehicles are allowed in backcountry areas or trails.

Mesilla church gets basilica status

MESILLA — It was an answer to a prayer that came in the form of a fax.

That's how the Vatican notified Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces that Mesilla's historic San Albino Catholic Church had been elevated to the status of a basilica.

The pope gives the designation to honor churches known for their leadership in the faith and life of the people they serve or for their dedication to history, education or artworks.

The only other basilica in New Mexico is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, which received the designation in 2005.

"It's a great honor," Ramirez said Thursday, the day the diocese was notified by the Vatican. "It's really a tribute to the faith of the area and how that faith has been handed down generation to generation. To this day, the church community remains vibrant in faith and vibrant in religious practices. This is a tribute to all of that plus the church itself."

The Las Cruces Diocese applied for basilica status for the church in May 2007.

Woman's body found in house fire

ALBUQUERQUE — Firefighters found an elderly woman's body in her Albuquerque home when they were dousing flames Thursday that damaged a couple of rooms.

Authorities did not release the woman's identity. Bernalillo County Fire Chief John Garcia said she might have died from smoke inhalation, and investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.

Police believe pipe bomb kills man

ALBUQUERQUE — A man was killed Friday morning in an explosion at his Albuquerque home, and police say a pipe bomb appears to have been the source of the blast.

Albuquerque police officer Nadine Hamby said officers found the remnants of a pipe bomb in the home of 20-year-old Michael Rodriguez. She said he may have been manufacturing the bomb.

Hamby said investigators are checking to see if other pipe bombs are in the home, and Albuquerque police, the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating.

N.M. Airlines cuts flights

CARLSBAD — New Mexico Airlines will drop its flights between El Paso and Carlsbad on July 14.

Airline president Gabriel Kimbrell said the route was eliminated after Carlsbad and Eddy County authorized use of public money and resources to recruit an airline using 36-seat planes as competition. New Mexico Airlines operates a single-engine, nine-passenger aircraft.

The county and city joined Roswell and Hobbs to explore the possibility of attracting regional or intrastate air service.

New Mexico Airlines will continue flying between Carlsbad and Albuquerque.

It has a federal essential air service contract through next June.

Guard's end creates chance to develop

DEMING — Deming sees the end of National Guard participation in a border security operation as an opportunity to develop property the guardsmen are vacating.

The Guard, which has been augmenting the U.S. Border Patrol, will leave its Deming "forward operating base" July 15.

Deming Community Services Director Gene Paulk said a two-year lease with the Guard for the 10-acre property netted the city $100,000, with a defense contractor putting in improvements the city didn't pay for.

He said the property's security fence, lighting and utilities make it an attractive site for leasing, and the city can advertise it to potential businesses.

Wife pleads guilty in murder case

LOVINGTON — A Eunice woman whose husband was fatally shot two years ago has pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit first-degree murder.

State District Judge Don Maddox scheduled sentencing for Aug. 18 for 39-year-old Stephanie Blagg.

Authorities say 40-year-old Darrell Blagg was found shot to death Aug. 11, 2006, in his Eunice home.

State police say two men were arrested last month in the case: Billy Kelley, 39, of Lubbock, Texas, is being held in the Lea County jail on $250,000 bond on charges including solicitation to commit first-degree murder; 30-year-old Juan Muro of Eunice is being held in the jail on a $1 million bond on charges including first-degree murder.