Datil’s Baldwin Cabin Public Library is both proud and pleased as punch to announce its lineup of summer children’s programs. The summer season opens with a bang July 7 with Cathy Bissey’s Original Origami which will include some easy figures for little hands as well as harder ones for the older kids. Suzan MacKenzie will be doing a double header this year with Lots of Leatherwork on July 14 and Animal Art – Drawing on July 21. We’re especially pleased to find someone to conduct a drawing program. On July 28 Linda Ravert will wrap up the season with her popular More Fun With Beads. All the programs will be tailored for all ages and will provide the children with something to take home to keep or use as a birthday present.
The programs, all on Wednesdays, will start at 1:00 p.m. with reading by Mother Goose and end at 2:30 pm after a snack. All children (and their parents) are welcome. BCPL is on Forest Road 100 off Highway 60 three miles west of downtown Datil. The library is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
In other library news, on Thursday evening, August 12, BCPL will sponsor a talk and book signing by well-known New Mexico mystery author Steven Havill whose hero is the unlikely Bill Gastner, once Sheriff of Posadas County and now New Mexico Livestock Inspector.
On Friday, August 20 at 8 a.m. Earl Harvey, author of ‘What Happened to Charlie,’ will lead a bird walk at the Datil Well Campground. Mr. Harvey, who used to live in Datil when he was a child, has led many a Bird Walk at the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque.
Mark your calendars and watch this paper for more information about these events.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Datil Library Schedule Announced
Tough District Awaits Socorro Football Team
SOCORRO – With the addition of Silver High School, Socorro football coach Damien Ocampo thinks the Warriors will be playing in the toughest district in the state.
“Silver has 3A enrollment according to the state but kids from their charter schools are allowed to play and that gives them 4A numbers,” Ocampo said. “It’s going to be 10 times tougher for everybody. And they have a great reputation and tradition in football. They are good in all sports but football is their thing. In fact, they are even bigger than (perennial power and defending AAA state champion) Lovington.”
Silver made it to the 4A quarterfinals before falling to Volcano Vista last season and in 2008, the Fighting Colts also made it to the state quarters before losing to Belen.
Ocampo said Silver is on the schedule this season in place of Robertson, which also added a school to its district. Taos will be playing in the Robertson district.
With the addition of Silver, Ocampo knows the Warriors have a tough task ahead of them if they want to repeat as district champions.
Ocampo said training in the summer has become much more crucial.
“We are into our lifting program now,” Ocampo said. “There are some kids who are not showing up on a regular basis and that concerns me. Some of them are in basketball and baseball camp now so are numbers are a little down.”
Ocampo and his staff held a seven-on-seven camp a couple of weeks ago that was well attended.
“In July, we will be really busy with camps,” Ocampo said.
Preseason practice begins Aug. 11. “And we will be having a midnight practice then,” he said. “Our first game is at home on Aug. 27.”
Golf Tourney
Players and sponsors are needed for the Warrior Football Golf Tournament Saturday at the New Mexico Tech Golf Course. The fee is $60 per player and signups will be conducted at the Tech Course. Call the course for more information.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Bust Nets Ton Of Marijuana
By John LarsonSOCORRO – In what may be the largest marijuana bust in New Mexico history, officers from six agencies working together confiscated an estimated ton of marijuana plants from three areas along the Rio Grande.
“At a minimum, there were fifteen hundred stalks brought out,” Socorro police detective Richard Lopez said.
Leading the raids was the Socorro Police Department, with assistance from the Socorro County Sheriff, New Mexico State Police, New Mexico National Guard Eradication Unit, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Region 7 Drug Task Force.
According to a Bureau Of Land Management official, the site has been under surveillance for several weeks.
Lopez said the main site – located three miles south of Escondida 200 yards from the banks of the Rio Grande - can only be found by maneuvering through the thick growth of the Bosque on numerous cow paths.
After the plantation was discovered - by researchers studying the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher in the riverine area - about two months ago, it was put under surveillance in hopes of making an arrest.
“It was decided that we would go ahead and secure the site last Saturday morning (June 19), and at least remove the plants before their harvest time,” Lopez said. “There were up to 30 officers on the initial raid at five o’clock in the morning.”
Similar operations were conducted at two other plantations; one five miles south of Bosquecito and the other 10 miles south of San Marcial.
Some of the marijuana stalks were as high as eight feet, planted in small plots throughout the undergrowth. Law enforcement officers and members of the New Mexico National Guard spent most of the day Saturday locating and cutting down the plants.
Chief Deputy Shorty Vaiza said the growers had invested “anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 in equipment in the elaborate set up on the three locations.
Confiscated were solar panels, generators, hundreds of yards of pipes and hoses, and personal belongings.
The growers were running an elaborate drip system for the plants which was spread out among the trees and underbrush. Solar panels charged marine batteries which powered the generators for motors and pumps for the drip irrigation system. The drip system was even hooked up to an electronic timer.
“They had tarps tied over some of the larger plots to hide them from the air,” Sheriff Philip Montoya said.
He said the area near the river is already humid, and with the drip system the plants were able to thrive.
“They lost all of that, in addition to the possibly between $750,000 to a million dollars worth of marijuana plants we took out,” he said. “This was no small time undertaking.”
Montoya said that although the operation was stopped, no arrests were made.
“There was one person at the site and he quickly disappeared into the woods as soon as officers arrived,” Montoya said.
Officers searched for the suspect for about two hours, he said.
Detective Richard Lopez said at one point the male suspect was only 30 to 40 feet in front of them,
“Along through there the underbrush is so thick you can hardly see anyone a few feet off the paths,” he said.
Along the same section of the river were two other sites, each with two camping sites complete with tents small hotplates, grills, and food.
“The second site at Bosquecito was cleared out, then the one south of San Marcial,” Lopez said. “Those other two sites were smaller.”
Detective Rocky Fernandez estimated the growers had been operating at the Escondida site for possibly seven years.
“We can assume the two other sites had been there about the same length of time,” Fernandez said. “And there could be several other sites between here and [Elephant Butte Reservoir].”
Law enforcement personnel and civilian volunteers were at the Escondida location until about midnight, collecting evidence and cutting and hauling out marijuana stalks.
The New Mexico National Guard has an eradication unit, which used a Blackhawk helicopter to remove the plants from the dense woods.
The marijuana stalks were delivered by the helicopters to the airport, and then transported to the police department for processing.
Tuesday the marijuana was spread out across the police department parking lot to dry.
“We had to secure the plants for evidence, and sitting in a room rotting was not going to secure it. It had to be dried,” he said.
He said processing the evidence was too much for the officers to handle by themselves, from the Escondida site to the police parking lot.
“We got help from different parts of the community, who went above and beyond what was needed to be done,” Lopez said. “Credit goes out to the Socorro Electric Cooperative, who brought a chipper and trucks and helped us haul it, and volunteers from the BLM who helped to pull the marijuana.
“Civilian volunteers like Peter Trujillo came out to help haul the stuff in their trucks. Sonic employees brought us burritos and drinks. One of our dispatchers, Carlos Valenzuela, and even our mechanic, Tom Stidstone, came out on their own time, not asking for anything in return. Just to help
“It makes you proud to live in Socorro. With all the bad there is, there’s also a lot of good,” Lopez said.
Pictures (from top):
Sheriff Philip Montoya and Chief Deputy Shorty Vaiza insepct two heaps of marijuana plants, ready for transporting by the National Guard’s Blackhawk helicopter.
Police Detective Rocky Fernandez leads the way down one of the many narrow trails leading to the camping area in the marijuana plantation.
A quickly abandoned campsite. Investigators were able to collect much evidence, which they believe will lead to the operators of the three marijuana plantations.
Detective Fernandez explains how unused plants were used for mulch for newer plots.
One of the solar panels used to power the drip system and other equipment.
Police Officer Brandi Perkins and city employee Tom Stidstone collect dried marijuana from the police parking lot Tuesday afternoon.
Left to right are Sean Moore, Levi Romero and Ricky Silva, who competed at the Sun Country Junior PGA Tournament on June 15 at Puerto de Sol golf course in Albuquerque. Competing in the 11-12 year old division, Romero finished in first place shooting a 3 under par 32. Moore was second shooting even par 35. Silva was in third place shooting one over par 36.Photo courtesy of Herman Romero
Murder Suspect Bound Over To District Court
SOCORRO - John James “Jack” Hayden, the man charged with being responsible for the death of Theresa Saiz-Chavez on June 8, was bound over to District Court Tuesday by Magistrate Judge Jim Naranjo.
Following closing arguments in Hayden’s preliminary hearing Tuesday, June 22, Naranjo said he had questions, but that there was probable cause for the bindover to District Court.
District Attorney Clint Wellborn called four witnesses for the prosecution including Lupe Tarango, the dispatcher who took the 911 call from Saiz-Chavez; Socorro Police Capt. Angel Garcia, who discovered Saiz-Chavez’s body in the trunk of her Dodge Neon; Gloria Vigil, an investigator from the Office of the Medical Investigator; and New Mexico State Police crime scene coordinator Steve Montano.
Defense Attorney Lee Deschamps called no witnesses.
Although Magistrate Court initiated a security alert with two sheriff’s deputies and two state police officers present, the only spectators were members of the victim’s family and friends of the defendant.
A major part of the testimony involved a recording of the 911 call made at 7 a.m., on June 8; and interviews with Hayden conducted at the State Police headquarters in Escondida.
Tarango testified that Saiz-Chavez sounded very scared and shaky. “Very excited.”
“She said she was in the trunk of her car and was unable to get out,” Tarango said. “She said she did not know where her car was.”
When Tarango asked her how she got in her trunk, “she was not sure how she got there.”
Tarango testified that she said a man named “Jack” was harassing her, stalking her.
“Then she added ‘Hayden’.” She identified her car as a dark green Dodge Neon.
Tarango testified that she told him he worked at Pizza Hut and that he lived in the Valverde, gave him his address and phone number. “She said [Hayden] was trying to be with her and was harassing her. She said she didn’t want to be with him.”
While he still had Saiz-Chavez on the line, Tarango called another officer on the radio to check the area around the Valverde.
He said the line went dead after about six minutes.
After a short recess, the recording of the call was played in court.
On cross examination, Deschamps asked Tarango that at any time “did Theresa say Jack put her in the trunk?”
Tarango said, “She did not know how she got in the trunk … She said Jack harassed her the night before.”
Deschamps said, “Her concern was that she could not get out of the car. Not that someone put her in the trunk?”
Tarango testified that she said Jack had been chasing her, that she didn’t know how long she had been in there, and that she hadn’t seen Jack “in the last hour or so.”
After Tarango was excused, Capt. Angel Garcia related how the Neon was discovered, and described the location of the bridge off Chaparral.
He said the car was located by Socorro County Deputy Sheriff Larry Smith, who contacted Garcia at 12:19 a.m. After the trunk was opened, calls were made to the State Police and the medical investigator.
Gloria Vigil, from OMI, testified about the condition of the body when she arrived at about 8 a.m., noting that the only marks were on the palm of one hand, and abrasions on two fingers.
She also said in the trunk were a purse, keys and cell phone.
Steve Montano of the state police investigative bureau testified that he interviewed Hayden three times that Tuesday. “He indicated that he got off work at Pizza Hut at 11 p.m. (Monday) and tried to locate Theresa through the night.
“He said someone told him she was cheating on him,” Montano said. “He said he was searching for her …and met up with her on Frontage Road, east of the interstate. He said he tried to get her to stop and rammed her car twice,” Montano said.
The second time he rammed her, she stopped and the two had a verbal exchange, and he asked her “why are you doing this?” he said.
Montano said Hayden told him he reached into her car and took a bracelet he had previously given her from the steering wheel area. The rear bumper was found on the road at that location.
Then Saiz-Chavez drove away and he chased her again and bumped her car a third time. near the bridge, Montano said. No debris was found at the spot he stated he rammed her the third time.
Paint from her car was found on his vehicle, and vice-versa, according to testimony.
Hayden told Montano that after the third collision near the bridge “they went their separate ways,” and that he left before she did.
Montano said he asked Hayden what his intentions were the night he was ramming her car. “He said he was very angry. He said his intentions (on the ramming) were to hurt her,” Montano said.
“He said ‘I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Montano said. “Then he said, ‘I mean her feelings’.”
Montano said Hayden had sent her threatening text messages, which were retrieved from Verizon.
The recording of the 911 call was played again. Although she at one point said she was not sure how she got in the trunk, Saiz-Chavez could heard saying somebody put her in the trunk, and at another point, “I knew he was going to do this to me.”
Deschamps questioned Montano as to whether Saiz-Chavez specifically said “Jack locked me in the trunk.”
Montano said no.
In closing arguments, Wellborn said there was more than enough evidence to find probable cause. “The phone call speaks for itself,” Wellborn said. “’Somebody locked me in my trunk. I was going home. He was chasing me and wouldn’t let me come home.’ She identified Jack by name.”
Deschamps closed with the argument that Saiz-Chavez entered the trunk under “her own volition. So he would think she was not there anymore.”
He then requested bail be reduced to $100,000, which Naranjo denied.
“I’m left with doubts, but today is about probable cause. I believe there is probable cause to bind the case over on all three counts,” Naranjo said.
At the close of the hearing, members of the victim’s family broke into tears.
Hayden will now go to trial on one open count of murder, one count of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated battery against a household member.
Picture: A cross and flowers mark the location where Theresa Saiz-Chavez's Dodge Neon was discovered under the bridge at the end of Chaparral Drive.
Deputies Recover 2 Pounds Of Heroin At Accident Site
By John Larson
SOCORRO - Thanks to an alleged deer running across Interstate 25 at mile marker 121, over two pounds of heroin was recovered by Socorro County Sheriff’s deputies.
Gabriel Alonzo Rodriguez-Loya, a Mexican national, was arrested after packets of heroin stuffed into two socks were linked to his vehicle at an accident scene early Thursday, June 17.
Rodriguez-Loya, 27, of Durango, Mex., admitted to deputies he was delivering the narcotic to a location in Chilili, in Torrance County.
Deputy Sheriff Casey Spurgin estimated the street value of the heroin to be as much as $25,000.
Spurgin said he was at home asleep when he was alerted to a rollover accident at about 3 a.m. Thursday, June 17.
“When I arrived at the scene, he was sitting against the guardrail. He said he lost control while swerving to avoid a deer crossing the roadway. There were a couple of truckers who stayed with him until I got there,” Spurgin said. “He had some lacerations from the accident. He said he was heading to Albuquerque to compete in a rodeo in Chilili.
“I looked over the vehicle, and he did not have any rodeo gear in his vehicle. No saddle or any other rodeo related gear with him,” he said. “There was nothing to substantiate his statement.”
Deputy James Nance, who was on another call in Veguita, was contacted to assist Spurgin.
Checking around the vehicle, which had rolled twice, Spurgin noticed boot tracks and evidence of someone crawling up the small hill in the wide median.
“I followed the tracks until I found two black socks in the bushes. The heroin packets were in the socks,” he said.
Rodriguez-Loya was arrested and transported by ambulance to Socorro General Hospital, where he told Spurgin he “knew he had to hide it.”
He was treated for lacerations and incarcerated at the Socorro County Detention Center.
Rodriguez-Loya appeared in Magistrate Court later that day, where Judge Jim Naranjo dismissed the case, on a “nolle prosequi” filing from the District Attorney.
The case will now be taken over by federal authorities.
Picture: Sheriff's Deputies James Nance and Casey Spurgin at Baca's Towing and Repair displaying the two pounds of heroin recovered.
Pool Reopens, Spa Stays Closed At Best Western Hotel
SOCORRO -- The New Mexico Environmental Board and Health Department reopened the pool at the Best Western Socorro Inn and Suites Tuesday, but the spa will remain closed until either the end of the week or beginning of next week.
The pool and the spa had been closed since May 7 after two people from South Carolina contracted Legionnaires Disease (a type of pneumonia) after staying at the hotel. Environmental Department program manager Raj Solomon said the firefighters, who were attending a seminar at EMRTC, had used the pool and spa, but he could not say definitively that the hotel was the source. Solomon said they were both hospitalized and one of them spent time in the intensive care unit but they are fine now.
“There is no definitive evidence,” Solomon said Tuesday. “It could be. It may be. It may be not. The health department did investigate and it found out these people had used the spa. It could be a likely source. But we can’t say definitely.”
Chad Smelser, who headed the investigation by the Health Department, is still waiting on some final reports. “We are done,” he said Wednesday.
When asked if the health department was going to investigate anywhere else in Socorro, Smelser said, “No.”
When asked what his final report was going to say, Smelser said, “The hotel is the likely source.”
The hotel owner, mayor Ravi Bhasker, said the spa did not pass the test because the water fell short of the 4 parts per million of bromine parameter.
“We had agreed to keep the level at 4 parts/million bromine,” Bhasker said Tuesday. “We had it up to 4.2 or 4.3. They tested it and it was at 3.6 something. We made a deal with them that it would be above four and it was not at four. We are going to raise the bromine levels and we are going to try to get them to come back as soon as possible to retest it.”
Bhasker said his hotel has gone through the remediation process, including 26 hours of hyperchlorination.
The Best Western hired a company that used high concentrates of chlorine and that was followed by a scrub and the surfaces were treated with disinfectants.
Bhasker said during the first month they will take cultures twice. Then it will be a monthly procedure and then quarterly.
“There were no other violations and we will inform you of when we will open the spa,” Bhasker said.
Solomon said it will be up to the hotel to follow its consultant’s (Evidence Based Solutions out of Chicago) recommendations.
Calls to EBSol consultant Gunner Lyslo were not returned.
Marie Yarroll from the Best Western headquarters in Phoenix said in an email, “Each Best Western hotel is independently owned and operated.
“We have been advised by the hotel’s owner that the New Mexico Department of Health has concluded its investigation, and that an independent third-party consultant did not find a link between the hotel and the health incident. It is also our understanding that the owner of the hotel cooperated fully with the investigation, and continues to safely operate his hotel.”
Legionnaires disease got its name in 1976 when many people who went to an American Legion convention in Philadelphia suffered from an outbreak of the disease, which is a type of pneumonia.
OBITUARY: De A. Gerard
July 9, 1925-June 14, 2010
De Alva Gerard, 84, passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus, Monday night, June 14, 2010 in Socorro.
She was a business owner and operator of several restaurants in Socorro, a volunteer at Socorro General Hospital Auxiliary, a Sunday school teacher and charter member of First Baptist Church in Socorro for many years. De was a loving and caring sister, aunt, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a devoted servant of the Lord.
De is survived by her sister, Barbara Hawkes and husband, Jimmy; brother, Gordon Stirling and wife Margaret; daughter, Lynn Pence and husband Ray; and sons, Blake Gerard and wife Sonja; and Blaine Gerard and companion, Miriam Champion; 4 nephews, 1 niece, 9 grandchildren, Dan Gerard (Luz Alvarez); Sam Gerard (Elizabeth); Amanda Gerard (Kyle Jones); Jaime Gerard; Stacy Bailey (Robert); Stephanie Tex (Jeff); Sara Goodman (Steve); Blaine Gerard II (Caramia); and Pamela Smith (Bill); a cherished daughter-in-law, Linda Gerard, and 10 2/3 great grandchildren.
She was a resident of Socorro since 1942. De was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. Gordon and Ollie Stirling, her sister, Belle White, and her husband, Shirley B. Gerard (1987). Her love and devotion for the Lord, her family, her friends, and for her church will always be remembered. The family would like to share a verse: Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. Proverbs 31:31. A Funeral Service was held on Friday, June 18, 2010 at 2:00 PM at The First Baptist Church in Socorro with Pastor Bob Farmer presiding. Interment took place in the Socorro Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Socorro, First Baptist Church of Socorro, or Socorro General Hospital Auxiliary. Those who wish to send condolences may do so at www.danielsfuneral.com. Services have been entrusted to: Daniels Family Funeral Services, 309 Garfield, Socorro, NM 87801, (575) 835-1530
OBITUARY: D. "Oleta" Hobbs-Burton
D. "Oleta" Hobbs-BurtonMay 13, 1919-June 19, 2010
D. “Oleta” Hobbs-Burton passed away June 19, 2010. Born on May 13, 1919 in Loop, Texas to Lonnie and Fannie Effie Wright.
She was preceded in death by her parents and husbands, George Allen Hobbs; and Fredrick J. Burton; her sisters, Alma Florence Merrick; Shirley Ilene Weatherbee; Meta Fay Groff; and her brothers, Willis Orbry Wright; Lonnie Lindburgh Wright; Herbert Wayne Wright; Oswald Lee Wright; and Bill Wright.
Oleta lived in Old Springs, Reserve, Quemado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. She also lived a short time in Colorado and Arizona. Oleta was a pioneering lady of many talents, she worked as a bartender at “Uncle Bills” for many years, she worked and managed the Sweet Shop Café and she worked as a furrier at Harpers Furs and seamstress for Sears Draperies. One of her passions was quilting at the Catron County Senior Center in her early retirement years; she made beautiful quilts for her children and grandchildren.
Oleta is survived by her sister, Laura Merrick of Portales, and four children, Doris Jean Norris of Las Cruces; Donald Lee and Caroline Hobbs of Quemado; Elvin “Al” Roy and Cheri Hobbs of El Paso, Tex.; Sharon Faye and Ron Malone of Albuquerque.
She is also survived by eight grandchildren, Dan; Laura; Kenny; Loretta; Todd; Cindy; Mark and Kelly; fourteen great grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A Funeral Service will be held Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 10 a.m. at The Community Center in Reserve with Mr. Jack Merrick presiding. Burial will take place in the Reserve Cemetery, Reserve, NM. Pallbearers are Danny Norris, Kenny Norris, Justin Smith, and Todd Hobbs.
Those who wish to send condolences may do so at www.danielsfuneral.com. Services have been entrusted to: Daniels Family Funeral Services, 309 Garfield, Socorro, NM 87801, (575) 835-1530
Posts
