News in brief

| The New Mexican and wire services

12/9/2007 -

Montoya plans run for Congress

Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya plans to officially announce Wednesday that he's running for the 3rd Congressional District seat now held by U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M.

The event is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Pojoaque Pueblo Boys and Girls Club, 101 Lightning Loop Road.

Montoya joins fellow Democrat Don Wiviott, a Santa Fe developer, in the race, while others, including Ben Ray Luján, a Public Regulation Commission member, are still considering runs. Udall is running for the U.S. Senate seat long held by retiring Republican Pete Domenici.

Police: Robbery motive in couple's slayings

ALBUQUERQUE — Two traveling salesmen robbed an elderly Albuquerque couple before beating and suffocating the wife and stomping on the husband's head, according to criminal complaints.

Michael Lee, 21, who was born in Boston, and Travis Rowley, 23, a native of Glendora, Calif., have been charged with two open counts of murder and tampering with evidence in the killings.

Korean immigrants Tak Yi, 79, and his 69-year-old wife, Pung Yi, were killed in their home Tuesday.

Lee and Rowley worked for IntegrityPGM, a Las Vegas, Nev.-based company that contracts young people to sell magazine and book subscriptions nationwide.

The two men, who were booked as transients, arrived in Albuquerque on Dec. 2 with about 15 salesmen, who have since left town. They are being held on a $2 million bond.

Airline cancels Roswell service

ROSWELL — Mesa Airlines will end service to Roswell International Air Center on Jan. 1 because of rising fuel costs, airline officials said.

Tom Bacon, vice president of planning for Mesa, said the move will make the airline more profitable.

Mesa had asked to discontinue flights to Roswell and Alamogordo in April, but government regulations on essential air service markets kept Mesa flying to the towns until another carrier stepped in to serve them.

Mesa was let off the hook when American Eagle began flying from Roswell to Dallas-Fort Worth in September and the Hawaii-based Pacific Wings, which operates as New Mexico Airlines in the state, announced plans to take over service to Alamogordo on Jan. 1.

Roswell International Air Center manager Dennis Ybarra said the change will leave Roswell without flights to Albuquerque, but he hopes another airline will step in to fill that need.

Mesa also ended flights between Farmington and Albuquerque last month.

Mirror Lake too salty for trout

ROSWELL — Rainbow trout will not be stocked in Mirror Lake at Bottomless Lake State Park for the second year in a row because the water is too salty, a park superintendent said.

Steve Patterson said this is the first time in the 20 years he's worked at the park that Mirror Lake has not been stocked with the fish.

The salty water is a natural phenomenon. The water that feeds the lakes comes from the Sacramento Mountains and percolates up through salt and gypsum beds, Patterson said.

Because the lake's water level is low, the concentration of salt in the lake is higher than normal, he said.

The fish are stocked between November and March for the winter season.