Numbers of residents who live around a southeast side school are not happy with the school board’s plans to renovate the property. They turned out last night to protest the size, shape and other elements of Santa Fe’s Atalaya School now under construction. The school district is rebuilding much of the old facility at projected cost of more than $13 million. But nearby neighbors are asking for changes to be made to the plans that could turn out to be expensive. Superintendent Joel Boyd says he’ll go back to the drawing board and present alternatives at a future meeting.
All 33 of New Mexico’s county clerks have signed onto a petition asking the state supreme court to rule on the question of same-sex marriages. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the vote came yesterday as clerks in six of those counties continued to issue licenses to same-sex couples. The high court so far has left the issue to lower courts to decide and courts in Santa Fe and Albuquerque have ruled in favor of gay marriages.
The jobless rate in Santa Fe and the rest of New Mexico continues to improve. The latest numbers show the unemployment rate for Santa Fe at 5.8 percent. For the state as a whole it’s 7.5 percent. Both numbers are down slightly from last year at this time.
Battles over cell phone towers are heating up south of Santa Fe. KOB television reports that Rio Rancho’s city council has voted to deny an appeal by AT&T to build a 65-foot tower near a neighborhood playground. Meanwhile, the town officials in Corrales are facing a federal lawsuit for denying AT&T’s application for a tower to be built near a number of private homes.
Law enforcement agencies around the state are gearing up for the upcoming holiday weekend. It’s part of a nationwide effort to cut down on traffic fatalities as vacationers hit the road. New Mexico officials say they’re taking a particularly aggressive approach because of the state’s poor DWI record.
Weather: A slight chance for a thunderstorm today and tomorrow with highs in the mid 80s. But the national weather service says chances of precipitation look better on Saturday and Sunday.