It’s New Year’s Eve Day and that means law enforcement in New Mexico will be logging long hours, paying particular attention to impaired drivers. Ben Lewinger, executive director of the New Mexico chapter of MADD—Mothers Against Drunk Driving—says the New Year is the nation’s deadliest day for drunken driving: *****Dec. 31 Lewinger-1 :34*****Lewinger suggests people ringing in 2014 with alcohol make preparations prior to partying: *****Dec. 31 Lewinger-2 :22***** Locally, the Santa Fe County DWI Program has announced the availability of one-dollar taxi-cab rides until two-thirty a.m. on New Year’s Day.
Plans for a Roswell horse slaughterhouse to open New Year’s Day have been legally blocked, for now at least. The Albuquerque Journal reports that a state court on Friday will consider New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s request for a temporary restraining order to block Valley Meat Company from opening. King's suit says Valley Meat stands to violate state laws related to food safety, water quality and unfair business practices. An attorney for Valley Meat calls the lawsuit frivolous.
The U-S Census Bureau released state population-growth figures Monday, and New Mexico’s population is estimated to be more than two-million, 85-thousand people. The state’s growth rate over the 12-month period ending in July shows New Mexico gained just over 17-hundred people, an increase of less-than a tenth of on- percent from the previous year. That puts the state in the bottom five for growth, along with Vermont, Pennsylvania, Maine and West Virginia. The Census Bureau says the top five population-growth states were North Dakota, the District of Columbia, Utah, Colorado and Texas
Rio Rancho police have identified a man and woman killed in a two-vehicle collision at an intersection over the weekend. Police say 21-year-old Audree Jones was driving one of the vehicles involved in the collision Saturday and that 22-year-old Dakota Chino was her passenger. Police say they're not certain whether the two victims were living in Rio Rancho or visiting family for the holidays.
Thieves stole 320 feet of copper wire valued at nearly four-thousand dollars from the Water Boyz business on St. Michael’s Drive early Monday morning. The New Mexican reports that another copper wiring theft was attempted at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum on Old Pecos Trail, also early Monday. The museum is located next to St. John’s United Methodist Church, which was hit by copper thieves two weeks ago.
Santa Fe Weather: Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 21. New Year's Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46.