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Local News

  • Ex-interim chief working for sheriff

    William Cruz, the former interim chief of the Las Vegas Police Department, is now a San Miguel County sheriff’s deputy.

    This week, the County Commission unanimously approved hiring Cruz, who spent nearly two decades with the Las Vegas police.

    After Tim Gallegos resigned as chief in late 2006, then-Mayor Henry Sanchez appointed Cruz as the interim chief.

    Cruz applied for the permanent position and was a top candidate, receiving the endorsement of the police officers union.

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  • University called ‘fiscally strong’

    Highlands University is “fiscally strong in all respects,” a top official said last week, but the school expects budget cuts because of the declining economy.

    Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered all executive branch agencies to trim spending by 5 percent, a directive that doesn’t apply to the state’s universities.

    However, Highlands President Jim Fries warned the Board of Regents at its quarterly meeting on Friday that the Legislature may reduce universities’ budgets during the legislative session beginning in January.

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  • Rancher withdraws water offer

    A rancher who offered to lease wells to the city has withdrawn his proposal, saying he had been mistaken in his belief that the city wanted the water.

    In a letter to Mayor Tony Marquez this week, rancher Alexander Milliken noted that he got a team of professionals “at considerable effort and expense to me” to help in providing the city with all of the information it needed.

    Milliken was responding to a city request for proposals in February 2007.

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  • Football assault trial goes to SF

    Criminal proceedings in the Robertson High School football team rape and assault case will be held in Santa Fe.

    The parties agreed Thursday to a change of venue from San Miguel County.

    They concluded that fair proceedings couldn't take place in Las Vegas because the matter is “a singular topic of conversation,” according to one attorney.

    Meanwhile, the school district could face a civil lawsuit from the victims. A notice to seek damages has been issued to the superintendent of Las Vegas City Schools by the attorney for the victims.

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  • Official: Vets have much to teach

    Sometimes when veterans go to schools, the children see them only as old guys, the commander of a National Guard unit says, but the students should understand that they are much more than that.

    John David Sedillo, commander of the National Guard’s 615th Battalion, told a crowd at Tuesday’s Veterans Day ceremony that veterans have experienced much defending America’s freedoms, and they have valuable lessons to teach everyone else.

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  • Can’t make bail, still in jail

    Gilberto Reyes, the former professional baseball player, has been in the county jail for nearly 11 months, and he has yet to be tried on charges of distribution of drugs.

    It looks like he’ll be waiting a few months longer.

    On Wednesday, District Judge Gerald Baca rejected a petition from Reyes challenging his detention. Baca said such a request is normally reserved for after convictions.

    “Good luck,” the judge told Reyes at the end of the hearing.

    Reyes smiled and thanked Baca.

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  • Changes to city charter pushed

    Las Vegas resident Alex Aragon has repeatedly asked the city to form a commission to provide recommendations for the overhaul of the city’s charter. He did so again last week.

    The charter has been the city’s constitution since the two Las Vegases joined nearly four decades ago.

    Aragon told the City Council at its meeting last week that he understands the city has much on its plate but that it needs to form a commission soon, so it can place proposed changes on the ballot in time for the March 2010 municipal election.

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  • Commissioner-elect resigns from utility board

    Marcellino Ortiz, who will join the San Miguel County Commission in January, has resigned from a electric utility serving northeastern New Mexico.

    During the summer, members of the Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative enacted a bylaw requiring board members and the utility’s attorney to resign when they run for and hold partisan political offices.

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  • Man gets two years for his 10th DWI

    A local man got the mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for his 10th DWI.

    On Monday, prosecutor Tom Clayton argued to give Joseph Rodarte, 50, the maximum of three years because he already had been given enough chances.

    Rodarte’s convictions have taken place over the last quarter century in the Las Vegas and Albuquerque areas, Clayton said.

    The prosecutor said Rodarte had “zero excuses” for his actions.

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  • Six youths deny charges

    Prosecutors are seeking adult sanctions for the six former Robertson High School football players accused of assaulting others during a team camp in August.

    On Monday, the six made their first appearances in state District Court, with Judge Eugenio Mathis informing them of their charges and hearing their pleas. The six denied the state’s charges.

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The Las Vegas Optic is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in San Miguel County and Las Vegas, NM, and the surrounding area.