Fatal shooting on Hopewell Street

All’s not well on Hopewell

A shooting at a house party on Hopewell Street late on Saturday marks yet another homicide by gun in Santa Fe. Police say that 64-year-old Beverley Melendez ($ TNM), who lives on Quapaw Street, fired toward the party, hitting 19-year-old Rodrigo Enriquez-Garay. He later died at the hospital.

With logos in hand

One of the Word's favorite taxpayer-funded boondoggles of recent years in Santa Fe is the Santa Fe County logo. The current logo, which features a covered wagon, a clay pot and an adobe church, was to be replaced in 2017 by a new design that county officials paid $59,000 for … and then rejected ($ TNM). The new minimalist logo features a pot, an adobe building and a mountain scene. Let's see if this one sticks.

Blame game

The Word told you Friday about a car crash near Taos in which a country singer and a 16-year-old Taos High student were killed; investigators are now saying they believe the 30-year-old singer involved was at fault and possibly drunk, but are awaiting toxicology reports. A story from KRQE focuses on the life of the teen, who was beloved by those around her.

Rise ‘n’ shine ‘n’ search

If you're an early-to-bed type, you were likely awakened around 10:30 pm by an Amber Alert on your phone. Five-year-old Renezmae Calzada went missing yesterday morning in Rio Arriba County, and cops are asking for help locating her safely.

Technobabble

The Taos Vortex music festival, which went down last month courtesy of Meow Wolf, may have thrilled concertgoers. But it didn't have the same impact on townsfolk. Taos residents have filed a number of complaints about noise and people camping outside designated camping zones ($ TNM), and have wondered aloud whether it brought any actual financial benefit to the town. One resident, Sam Richardson, wrote to the Taos News ($): "Some of what was heard during the Meow Wolf Taos Vortex event was recognizable as music, the rest was some sort of pulsating, high-tech, thumping turbulence. … And it was constant. The babble could be heard and felt for miles around."

Fancy fence

Highway 550 near Farmington features a pretty fancy wildlife deterrent fence, and a story from the Albuquerque Journal breaks down how it works and who paid for it. The federally funded project cost a total of $3,594,479.14 to construct. That link also has some info about roadblocks that will be put up during hunting season, so get all your driving-around-the-state info there.

Keep the mice away

A 15-year-old boy from McKinley County (that's the county that contains Gallup) has died of hantavirus, and KOB 4 has some tips on how to prevent getting sick; basically, just keep mice out of your environment, and use bleach and wear a face mask if you ever have to clean up droppings, and you should be good to go. In the past 45 years, there have been 53 cases of hantavirus in McKinley County. Comparatively, in Bernalillo County, there have only been two cases in that same amount of time.

Cool it

The downward trend continues: It'll be a little cooler and a lot drier in Santa Fe today, with highs around 83 and only an 11% chance of precipitation. Yesterday was the first day below 90 degrees that Albuquerque saw since Aug. 14.

Thanks for reading! The Word finally saw the original The Dark Crystal this weekend. Let the Netflix binge commence.