Hometown hero Bronze likeness of city’s own Medal of Honor recipient ready for unveiling this week Page A-4
Locally owned and independent
City: Legal questions surround mosque
Sunday, June 23, 2013
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Building for tomorrow
South Capitol gathering place lacks appropriate permit for assembly By Julie Ann Grimm The New Mexican
TaHa Mosque has been a house of worship for Santa Fe’s Muslim community since 2007, but leaders there are now undergoing a city review process to determine the legality of the gathering place. Area residents and members of the faith community attended an early neighborhood notification meeting Thursday, the first step in the process for the mosque, also the home of the Islamic Center of Santa Fe, to get permission to keep operating in the South Capitol neighborhood. Next, TaHa will be the subject of a public hearing and a vote by the city Board of Adjustment, which makes the final decision. Worshippers gather each Friday for services at 302 Barcelona Road, kneeling on the floor of a room that was designed as a household parlor with a picture window facing east toward Mecca. About a year ago, city Land Use Director Matt O’Reilly said the city received a complaint that the call to prayer for those services was “disturbing people in the neighborhood.”
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Mug shot sites make escaping past costly By Adam Geller
The Associated Press
After more than seven years and a move 2,800 miles across the country, Christopher Jones thought he’d left behind reminders of the arrest that capped a bitter break-up. That was, until he searched the Internet last month and came face-to-face with his 2006 police mug shot. The information below the photo, one of millions posted on commercial website mugshots.com, did not mention that the apartment Jones was arrested for burglarizing was the one he’d recently moved out of, or that Florida prosecutors decided shortly afterward to drop the case. But, otherwise, the digital media artist’s run-in with the law was there for anyone, anywhere, to see. And if he wanted to erase the evidence, says Jones, now a resident of Livermore, Calif., the site’s operator told him it would cost $399. Jones said he was angered by the terms of the offer, but no more so than scores of other people across the country discovering that past arrests — many for charges eventually dismissed or that resulted in convictions
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Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds E-9
An excavator operated by a TLC of Albuquerque crew works recently on the demolition of Atalaya Elementary School. The scrap metal taken during the excavation will be recycled. PHOTOS BY CLYDE MUELLER/THE NEW MEXICAN
$120M worth of bond-funded construction underway at Santa Fe Public Schools By Robert Nott The New Mexican
S
anta Fe Public Schools is in the midst of one of its busiest construction seasons in years. Crews are at work on a new Agua Fría school scheduled to open in the fall of 2014 off N.M. 599. On July 1, the district will break ground near Capital High School on the Nina Otero Community School, named after the late suffragist, educator and community activist. At Atalaya Elementary School, construction workers are tearing out the building’s innards as part of an extensive one-year remodel. For the upcoming school year, students and teachers will be at the now-vacant Kaune Elementary School. Kearny Elementary School is getting a pre-K addition, classroom upgrades and a kitchen remodel. Principal Jennifer Baca said Kearny students have told her, “Our school is going to look like the White House when it’s all done.” Other schools are receiving heating and cooling overhauls, new roofs, drainage improvements, new synthetic turf on athletic fields and technological upgrades. There are plans for a renovation at César Chávez Community School next year. The district is paying for the improvements from proceeds of general obligation bonds approved by voters in both 2009 ($160 million) and 2013 ($130 million). As the result of these improvements, the district will eventually be able to remove portable classrooms at Kearny, Nava and Piñon elementary schools. Once the new Agua Fría school is finished, the old Agua Fría Elementary School will be renovated to house the Nye Early Childhood Center, which is currently located at Ramirez Thomas Elementary School. That move will free up more space at Ramirez Thomas for pre-K classrooms and programs.
Diego Mulligan, radio host, dies
Pride on parade Hundreds gather for city’s annual LBGT celebration. LOCAL NEws, C-1
Neighbors C-6
“All in all, I think we are moving forward the way we said we would. There will be a lot of good facilities in the next couple of years,” said school board President Linda Trujillo. Board Vice President Steven Carrillo agreed. “Construction projects are going great; just drive by any of the school sites and you can see the work we are doing.” uuu
“We will see a significant improvement in nearly every elementary school in Santa Fe,” said Kristy Janda-Wagner, the district’s executive director of
Obituaries
KSFR personality remembered for tackling climate issues on the airwaves. PAgE C-3
Lotteries A-2
The Atalaya Elementary School remodel will cost about $13.5 million.
Opinions B-1
Caroline Trevelyan Chavez, 84, Santa Fe, March 27 Tommy Chavez, 68, June 14 Magdalena “Mae” Delgado, 92, June 10 Laverne Imogene Gillette, 86, Santa Fe, June 11 Ruth Finley Gravely, 84, Santa Fe, June 17
Police notes C-3
Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com
operations, who oversees capital-improvement projects. She said the current projects are relying on about $70 million in remaining funds from the 2009 general obligation bond election and about $50 million from the 2013 bond election. Some summer fix-up jobs and security upgrades are being funded with mill levy funds, she said. Janda-Wagner said the district had no construction projects “ready to hit the ground running” when voters passed the 2009 bond. But since then, she said, the district has laid out an aggressive construction campaign.
Therese M. Janowski, 81, Santa Fe, May 8
Pasapick
John D. Seagrave, 86, June 11 Helen Annabelle Martinez, 96, Albuquerque, June 19
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Today
Alex E. Romero (Barela), 24, Santa Fe, June 18
Mostly sunny and warm. High 90, low 55.
PAgEs C-2, C-3
PAgE D-6
Real Estate E-1
Sports D-1
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Time Out/puzzles E-16
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Concordia santa Fe Primary Colors, full-ensemble concert featuring music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Ticheli and Mackey, 2 p.m., New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., donations accepted, 913-7211.
Six sections, 44 pages 164th year, No. 174 Publication No. 596-440