News in brief

Staff and wire reports |

2/16/2008 - 2/17/08

Police seek suspect in drive-by shooting

State police are looking for a suspect in an early morning drive-by shooting in Hernández that injured an Ojo Caliente man on Monday. According to a New Mexico State Police statement, Jerry Vasquez of Ojo Caliente was driving southbound on U.S. 285 near U.S. 84 when a bullet flew through the driver's side window into his jaw.

Investigators suspect the shooter might have headed toward Española or toward Abiquiú after the incident. The suspect reportedly drove a white or gray truck and might have been driving erratically, the police statement said.

Ski weekends give youths chance to learn

Ski New Mexico, the statewide organization representing the state's ski industry, and KOAT-7 are providing an opportunity for New Mexico youths to learn to ski.

Next weekend and on the weekends of March 1-2 and March 8-9, kids ages 7-14 will be able to purchase a special Alpine package, which includes lesson, rentals and lifts, for only $30 per day. A Nordic package is also available for $20. Eight ski areas will be participating.

Sponsors say reservations are required in order to enroll, as each ski area is holding a limited number of spots for the program. No walk-ups will be accepted, according to Ski New Mexico officials. For reservations, call the ski areas directly: Angel Fire, 800-633-7463; Pajarito 662-5725; Red River, 754-2223; Sandia Peak, 242-9052; Santa Fe, 982-4429; Sipapu, 800-587-2240; Taos, 575-776-2291; and Enchanted Forest Nordic Ski Park, 754-6112.

Presidents Day closings

Federal offices, post offices and Santa Fe public schools will be closed Mondayin observance of Presidents Day.

Many banks and financial institutions also will be closed, and only express mail will be delivered.

However, city and county operations are scheduled to operate as usual, as are most state government offices.

Monument opens after bridge repairs

SILVER CITY — Temporary repairs to a bridge damaged by flooding more than two weeks ago allowed the reopening of Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, monument Superintendent Steve Riley said Saturday.

The state Department of Transportation completed temporary repairs to the West Fork bridge on Thursday, allowing access to the cliff dwellings, Upper and Lower Scorpion Campgrounds and other sites in the area.

However, monument officials say that although the U.S. Forest Service has lifted the closure along the West Fork flood plain, wilderness trails along the river have been severely damaged. They said the West Fork trail is not recommended right now, and trails in canyon bottoms could be difficult to follow or even impassible.

Officials also recommended that travelers check in advance with the Gila Visitors Center because the cliff dwellings could be closed off and on over the next several months because of ongoing bridge repairs.

Track coach faces sex charges

ESTANCIA — A longtime track coach at Estancia High School has been accused of criminal sexual conduct with four teenage girls.

Grey "Jimmy" Nevelos, 56, turned himself in to authorities Friday.

He was charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and three of contributing to delinquency of a minor.

A criminal complaint accuses Nevelos of buying alcohol for the high-school girls, then massaging and touching them and engaging them in graphic conversations.

Estancia police also accused him of showing one girl a sexually explicit videotape, which, according to an affidavit, was of sexual acts involving her classmates. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in 2006 and 2007.

Police Chief Jimmy Chavez said an investigation began a few months ago "because there were rumors circulating in the high school."

The Estancia school district said Nevelos was put on paid leave last November.

Nevelos, who spent two decades coaching Estancia's cross-country program, was booked and released on $50,000 bond. He was ordered to wear an ankle bracelet and to stay out of Torrance County except for court appearances.

Body recovered from Grand Canyon

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK — A helicopter rescue team on Saturday recovered the body of a man who might have fallen off the edge of the Grand Canyon from about 300 feet below the rim.

National Park Service spokeswoman Shannan Marcak says park rangers found what appeared to be an abandoned rental car near a picnic area Wednesday, and began a search Friday when the car was still there.

They discovered a chair, camera and other items they believed to belong to the rental car's driver near the picnic area, then later found a body below the edge of the canyon's South Rim. Conditions were reported to be very icy.

The man is believed to be from Minnesota and in his early 40s. Marcak says an investigation is under way and an autopsy pending.

Biomass firm gets plant tax credit

ESTANCIA — The state secretary of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources has overruled her staff and has granted a tax credit worth $2.74 million a year to a company that wants to build a biomass plant near here.

Staff members of the agency's Energy Conservation and Management Division told Western Water and Power in two letters last year that its application for the renewable energy production tax credit was incomplete.

The company appealed in September, and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary Joanna Prukop upheld the appeal Thursday.

Western Water and Power plans a $90 million, 35-megawatt electrical plant that would be fueled by wood and forest byproducts.

David Cohen, co-owner of Western Water and Power, said Friday that the firm hopes to have money for construction by the end of April and plans to begin building by June.