A nearly three-decade old cold-case in the murder of an Albuquerque man got hot Monday with the west Texas arrest of a man accused of using aliases for 27 years to avoid apprehension. Albuquerque police say 47-year-old Ramone Astorga-Ramirez was identified in 1986 after the shooting of 27-year-old Paul Dubose during a Duke City altercation. He was indicted in the case in 1987, and faces first-degree murder charges when he’s returned to New Mexico. The Albuquerque Police Department's Cold Case Unit recently took the case and received help from several agencies, including the FBI.
Attorney General Gary King has announced a multimillion dollar settlement with drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline over misrepresentations of their diabetes drug Avandia. King says that New Mexico should net close to 19-million dollars from the agreement that returns 15 million to consumer claims and the rest to Medicaid. The A-G says multistate action on the same claims would have returned only about one-point-five million to New Mexico consumers. Reports of life-threatening complications, including heart attacks, from Avandia caused tens of thousands of patients in the U.S. to file lawsuits against the company.
Santa Fe’s traditional Farolito Walk takes place from six-to-nine-tonight in the historic neighborhood of Canyon Road and Acequia Madre. Thousands of people attend the annual Christmas Eve event, and the City of Santa Fe says it’s taking every precaution to protect and ensure the safety of all participants. City officials say the neighborhood where the walk occurs will be closed to vehicular traffic during the event. In addition, the city’s police and fire officials will restrict access to the area to residents and business owners only.
Also on the topic of walking in Santa Fe… the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization reminds the public to fill out its pedestrian survey now… as it will only be taking your opinion for another week. MPO Director Mark Tibbets says planners are developing a pedestrian master plan and want your opinion to: *****Dec. 24 Tibbets-1 :12*****Tibbets says the survey is available on the MPO website: Santa-Fe-MPO-dot-org. He says a draft of the pedestrian master plan will be released in mid-2014.
Next time you’re driving in western New Mexico in your pricey Tesla electric vehicle, you can be rest assured that you can re-charge in Gallup and soon, Farmington too. Tesla Motors has announced that Gallup has opened a supercharger station last week and that Farmington is scheduled to open one next month. The two new stations are part of firm’s mission to expand its supercharger stations nationally. It’s not known how many Tesla vehicles are registered in New Mexico. They range in price from 69-thousand to 130-thousand dollars.
Santa Fe Weather: Sunny today, with a high near 43. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 20. Christmas Day: Sunny, with a high near 39