Dealership employee crashes new car

TAOS — Police cited a Taos car dealership employee with careless driving after he crashed a recently purchased Dodge Viper while en route to fill up the gas tank for the vehicle's new owner, The Taos News reported Tuesday.

Scheid Motor Co. employee Hassan Gund, 22, was driving the sports car at a high rate of speed when he lost control and crashed into a wall at Rivera Hanlon Funeral Home, a Taos Police Department traffic officer told the newspaper.

No one was injured, the report said. While property-damage estimates weren't yet calculated, the Viper's value was estimated at $88,000, based on information on Dodge's Web site.

The officer, David Weaver, said police also arrested Gund on an outstanding warrant charging failure to appear in court in connection with another traffic citation.

The Taos News said neither Scheid nor Rivera Hanlon Funeral Home had a comment.

Hollywood magic to block traffic

If you see a slow-motion car chase with simulated gunfire Thursday around the Santa Fe Railyard, don't be afraid. It's for a film called The Keeper.

The filmmaking will take place between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Simulated gunfire is audible and car-chase scenes are filmed at a low rate of speed, according to a city news release.

The filming will affect traffic and parking around the Railyard. Intermittent traffic control will be set up on Manhattan Avenue. Market Street between Borders Books and Manhattan will be closed at times, but access to businesses in the rail yard should not be affected, says the release.

On Friday and Monday, The Keeper's production crew will film moving vehicles on streets just off of Henry Lynch Road, including Calle Marie, Richards Lane and Parkway Drive. On Monday, Parkway will be closed along the northern loop that goes from one end to the other of Calle Marie.

Water to be shut off temporarily

A planned water shut-off so crews can replace a broken water-main valve will leave a Santa Fe neighborhood without water from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday.

Don Gaspar south of Lupita, Camino Teresa, Camino Amado and West Lupita from Don Gaspar to Hospital Drive will be affected.

Residents should draw water and store it in bathtubs or other containers for personal use before the shut-off. City officials ask residents not to use water during the outage to avoid potential plumbing problems.

The city will attempt to restore water as quickly as possible, but unforeseen circumstances may cause delays.

In case of problems, call 955-4333 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays.

Get your easels out for annual painting festival

Artists are invited to set up their easels on the sidewalks of Canyon Road from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 for the inaugural Historic Canyon Road Paint Out and Festival sponsored by Santa Fean magazine.

According to a news release from the magazine, the event is aimed at re-creating and "celebrating the way art once was created here — in the streets."

"Spectators may also join area artists — including well-known painters sitting by the front doors of their respective galleries — in capturing their unique visions of Canyon Road at community easels set up outside Farnsworth Gallery, 716 Canyon Road," it says. A representative of Mayor David Coss will dedicate Historic Canyon Road Day at a 10 a.m. coffee-and-treats reception at Giacobbe Fritz Fine art, 702 Canyon Road.

Plein-air artwork created during the day can be entered in a juried competition by e-mailing photographs of the work to badams@santafean.com. First place wins a free full-page ad in Santa Fean. Second through fourth prizes include up to $400 in framing services from Perspective Fine Art Framing, art supplies from Artisan Santa Fe and a "head-shot session" with photographer Missy Wolf.

Big-game hunting rules could change

Big-game hunters may want to track the outcome of the State Game Commission meeting Thursday in Alamogordo.

The commission will set big-game hunting rules for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons at the meeting. Game department staff have recommended rule changes for deer, elk, bear, cougar and other big-game species. Changes proposed include more youth hunts, a separate archery hunt for javelina and boundary adjustments to some hunting units.

The commission also will consider a proposal to revise the Antelope Private Land Use System to establish procedures for allocating permits to private-land and public hunters. The commission will consider adopting the 2008 Biennial Review of species listed as threatened, endangered or restricted under the state's Wildlife Conservation Act.

The meeting will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Sgt. William Estrada Memorial Civic Center, 800 E. First St., Alamogordo. The agenda is available on the Department of Game and Fish Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us or by calling 476-8008.

Court lowers man's time in lockup

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered reduced time in lockup for an Albuquerque man who killed someone for parking in his space.

The high court said prosecutors failed to show Leonard D. Adonis acted with deliberation and premeditation when he fatally shot Harold Hittson on April 18, 2004.

Hittson was getting out of his car to visit his brother at a southeast Albuquerque apartment complex where Adonis also lived.

Adonis, who the court said suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was determined to be incompetent to stand trial. Following a hearing, a state district judge in Bernalillo County ordered him committed for 30 years to life in a secure treatment facility for first-degree murder. Adonis should instead have been criminally committed for second-degree murder, the Supreme Court said in a 4-1 decision.

That would reduce Adonis's time to a maximum of 15 years.

Teen arrested in fatal stabbing

LAS CRUCES — The Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department has arrested a teen accused of fatally stabbing a La Mesa man in a late-night brawl that began as a fight between two women.

Doña Ana County Sheriff's Sgt. Joe Reynaud says the victim was 31-year-old Michael Hernandez, who was stabbed about a dozen times with a knife as he tried to break up the fight Saturday.

Hernandez died at the scene. A second man also was stabbed, but is expected to recover.

The Sheriff's Department says 18-year-old Angel Dorado Alatorre of Del Cerro was arrested Monday after turning himself in to deputies. He's been charged with an open count of murder and one count of aggravated assault, and is being held without bond.

Reynaud says the fight started after one of the women was shoved by an unidentified man. About 10 people joined in the brawl.

State eyed for new solar power plants

Two California solar-energy developers have identified almost 21,400 acres of state trust lands in Luna, Hidalgo and Valencia counties as potential sites for utility-scale solar power plants.

State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons on Monday signed five-year option agreements with BrightSource Energy Inc. of Oakland, Calif., and NextLight Renewable Power of San Francisco. BrightSource paid $60,374 and Next Light paid $35,206.

The options give the companies two years to measure solar radiation, conduct environmental surveys, perform soil analyses, negotiate power purchase agreements and acquire transmission agreements.

New Mexico's renewable portfolio standard requires 15 percent of an electric utility's power supply must come from renewable sources by 2015. The requirement goes to 20 percent by 2020.