Santa Fe Police are looking for anyone who may have witnessed a fatal hit and run earlier this morning along St. Francis Drive between Cordova and San Mateo. Folks are being urged to call the Regional Emergency Communications Center as an investigation continues. Southbound St. Francis has been closed in the incident zone with traffic being diverted to Cerrillos Road.
Santa Fe Community College has graduated its largest class ever. More than 700 students got degrees and trade certificates in ceremonies at the college yesterday. The event was marked by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who made the commencement address. Castro is well known to college president Ana Guzman who came to Santa Fe from San Antonio last fall. Castro came to national prominence last September when he became the first Latino to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
The fate of a popular restaurant in Lamy may not be known until this weekend. The board of directors of the Lamy Railroad & History Museum has scheduled a special meeting tomorrow to debate whether the Legal Tender restaurant should be closed. The museum's founder and the museum's president have both called for the restaurant to shut down operations. The New Mexican reports that the operators of the restaurant wanted to put a cap on the amount they pay the museum.
The Department of Workforce Solutions says federal sequester cuts will affect New Mexicans applying for the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program as of June 2nd. Weekly benefits will be cut by 25% with the department estimating initial impacts to some 2100 individuals filing next month. The cuts affect the 28 weeks of federal benefits known as Tiers 1 and 2 that follow the state's maximum allotment of 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has been named to a National Governors Association task force panel on health care. A report by KOB-television says the job of the panel is to consider how states can improve the delivery of quality health care while controlling the costs of Medicaid.
This afternoon at Santa Fe City Hall, Erik Litzenberg, Assistant Fire Chief of the Santa Fe Fire Department, will be sworn as the replacement for retiring chief Barbara Salas. She steps down as of May 31st and will be given the department's traditional last-ride-home on that day. Assistant Chief Jan Snyder will be the new public information officer for the department with Paul Babcock as Chief of Operations.
An elementary school in Los Alamos was severely damaged by a freak wind event Wednesday afternoon. Barranca Mesa Elementary School will be closed for repairs until next Tuesday. Most students had already left the campus and there were no injuries to those who were still there. At approximately 1:30, sudden wind gusts ripped the roof off the school's gym, scattering debris over a wide area. Witnesses say it was all over and done with in just two minutes.
Weather for Santa Fe – mostly sunny today and through the Memorial Day weekend. Highs near 80 with overnight lows in the low 50s. Both tomorrow and Saturday sees a very slight chance for an afternoon thundershower.