S.F. High grad leads field in City Golf Championship Sports, B-1
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A servant of the church for 50 years A congregation of 1,000 celebrates Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan’s milestone at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi with standing ovations, Eagle Dance and song. LOCAL NEWS, A-6
Efforts to curb bridge suicides in Taos falter
Trail Dust: A story of state’s strange borders Four of New Mexico’s counties once extended in a sweep from Texas to California. Socorro was the nation’s largest county. PAGE A-6
Police identify members of Santa Fe-based TriState CareFlight
Colleagues mourn helicopter crew
New group advocates for prevention, barriers at Rio Grande Gorge By Andrew Oxford The Taos News
TAOS — Curly O’Connor clearly recalls watching her son commit suicide at the Rio Grande Gorge. “I just see him wafting off the edge of the bridge,” she recounted in an interview earlier this month. “It’s just unbelievable.” Unbelievable, too, was how easy it seemed. Cooper Beacom, 23, leaped from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in April as his mother, brother and friend watched. After her son’s death, O’Connor founded the Gorge Bridge Safety Network to advocate for suicide prevention measures at the structure, which stands approximately 650 feet above the Rio Grande. Plans to erect barriers or nets at the site, which is both a tourist attraction and a draw for those seeking an accessible option to end their own lives, were last mulled in 2009. The deaths continue, however, with more than 115 in the past 20 years. Many victims have no connections to the local community, and some even travel across the country to jump from the bridge. The last known victim, in June, was from California. But Beacom was a Santa Fe resident with roots in Taos, and his death has renewed local interest in the issue and left O’Connor asking how something so wrong can be so easy.
A shrine took shape Friday in the center of Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center’s helipad, where colleagues and loved ones gathered to honor the crew of the TriState CareFlight helicopter that crashed Thursday in Eastern New Mexico. PHOTOS BY CLYDE MUELLER/THE NEW MEXICAN
By Uriel J. Garcia
A
bout 200 people gathered at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on Friday night for a candlelight vigil to remember the three people killed when a medical helicopter crashed early Thursday in Eastern New Mexico. Earlier Friday, state police identified the three-member crew of the Santa Fe-based TriState CareFlight helicopter as pilot David Cavigneaux, 46, of Rio Rancho; Rebecca Serkey, 29, of Rio Rancho; and James Butler, 46, of Albuquerque. Some at the vigil were dressed in red TriState CareFlight uniforms, and they expressed condolences to relatives and friends of the victims as they gathered around a red TriState CareFlight helicopter on a helipad next to the hospital. Most of the people who attended carried
‘On great paths’ “He had moved back home with another chap from Taos — both on great paths,” said O’Connor, a New Zealand native but longtime New Mexico resident. “He was going to community college. He wanted to become a drug and alcohol counselor. He was going to AA, helping other kids in the community.” Recovering from alcohol and drug addiction himself, Beacom relapsed
Please see BRIDGE, Page A-5
Tennis instructor, 28, faces child sex charges By Uriel J. Garcia The New Mexican
A tennis instructor accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student is facing criminal charges. Victor Hugo Villarreal II, 28, an instructor with First Serve New Mexico, was arrested July 1 and released July 8 from the Santa Fe County jail on a $25,000 surety bond, online records show. He faces two felony counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child 13 to 18 years old and one misdemeanor count of enticement of a child, court records show.
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Karen Armigo and her daughter Aliyah Borrego, place flowers in the fence surrounding Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center’s helipad Friday to honor the crew of the TriState CareFlight.
The New Mexican
Two emails seeking comment from the nonprofit organization Friday were not immediately returned. First Serve New Mexico, Victor Hugo founded in 2003, Villarreal provides tennis instruction for more than 100 students in third through 12th grade, according to the group’s website. A police affidavit used to
white candles. “We at TriState CareFlight are grieving the loss of three admired members of our emergency medical transport family,” said John Cole, marketing director for the Arizona-based company. “Our thoughts are for their families and friends in remembering the com-
Pot spurs gold rush Legal marijuana beckons thousands of entrepreneurs. PAGE A-9
Pasapick
Comics B-12
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Crosswords B-7, B-11
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Zozobra organizers seek more help Kiwanis Club recruits volunteers, looks to increase safety measures for 90th annual event. PAGE A-6
Today
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Afternoon thunderstorms. High 90, low 60.
Unsettled Landscapes SITElines 2014, SITE Santa Fe’s biennial exhibit of works by contemporary international artists, opens at 2 p.m., 1606 Paseo de Peralta, 505-989-1199, no charge. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo
PAGE A-12
Obituaries Helen Viola Long, 87, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., June 15 PAGE A-10
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Classifieds B-6
mitment to saving lives.” The helicopter that crashed had left the Santa Fe Municipal Airport around midnight and was headed to Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari to pick up a patient when it slammed into the side of what is known as Mesa Rica.
Lotteries A-2
Opinion A-11
Sports B-1
Time Out B-11
MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT MH17
U.S. cites Russian links to downing Separatists boast, then deny shooting; Obama urges end to violence By Karen DeYoung The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The United States on Friday began building a circumstantial case against Russia for the downing of a Malaysian airliner, as President Barack Obama said Russian supplies of sophisticated weapons to Ukrainian separatists were “not an accident.” Confirming widespread reports of preliminary U.S. conclusions, Obama said the plane “was shot down” Thursday by a surface-to-air missile fired from separatist territory. All 298 aboard, including one U.S. citizen, were killed. Obama stopped short of publicly accusing the separatists, or their Russian patrons, of pulling the trigger. But he left little doubt whom he believed was to blame for what he called “an outrage of unspeakable proportions.” As an international inquiry was organized, and investigators struggled to reach the wreckage and bodies strewn across fields of wheat and sunflowers in separatist-held territory, Obama said Russian President Vladimir Putin has the power to end the escalating violence in Ukraine.
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INSIDE u Leading AIDS researcher, on way to conference, killed in crash. PAGE A-4 u Carriers around globe reroute flights to avoid Ukraine. PAGE A-4
Israel readies for expanded Gaza offensive By Sudarsan Raghavan, William Booth and Ruth Eglash The Washington Post
JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers and tanks fanned out along Gaza’s borders Friday seeking out Hamas tunnel networks while pounding residential buildings with artillery and clashing with militants, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a possible “significant expansion” of Israel’s ground offensive in the enclave. The intensification of the conflict heightened concern about mounting Palestinian civilian casualties, even as the United States, Europe and several influential Muslim countries expressed support for Israel’s offensive to weaken the Islamist militant group Hamas. In Washington, President Barack Obama said he had spoken to Netanyahu earlier Friday and affirmed strong U.S. backing for Israel’s right of self-defense. But Obama said he “also made clear that the United States and our friends and allies are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life.” The president said Washington has been assured that the ground offensive is aimed at reducing the threat to Israel from Hamas-built tunnels on
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Markets B-5
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Two sections, 24 pages TV Book, 32 pages 165th year, No. 200 Publication No. 596-440