Category: Happening In The Desert

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Partying In Rio Rancho

Fun stuff happening around these parts. Here are some choice bits from the article.

A loud party last month led to the citation of nine minors for underage drinking and possible charges for the “passed out” mother who allowed it. Marcus Riggs, 18, whose mother rented the apartment, let police in. Riggs told officer Chris French that “he and some of his friends got together and had a few beers”. It is unclear if Riggs’ mother Lynda, 36, would have objected to the party, as she was in no condition to break it up. “Lynda Riggs was found passed out in one of the back rooms”. Still, the officers suspected that Mrs. Riggs facilitated the party, leading to the possible charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The district attorney’s office will decide whether or not to file that charge. This arrest was part of a Sandoval County DWI Task Force underage-drinking sweep run by the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Department.

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Stupid Law Tricks

This is really giving New Mexico a good name.

Late last week, a Santa Fe District Court judge signed a temporary restraining order against talk-show host David Letterman alleging he has tormented a city resident for more than 10 years by using code words on his television program .

Apparently David Letterman is using his eyes and other gestures to send secret signals to this woman. The judge apparently agreed!

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Think Of The Animals

It’s a sad, sad situation when you have animals and don’t think of them after your death. It even worse when you died in your home with those animals and no one knows it. If your dead for a while and your animals have to eat, well I guess you can still provide for them.

Apparently that’s what happened to a lady in Albuquerque with her 33 cats and 4 dogs. It’s pretty likely that the animals were eating her after she died. Of course eating a decomposing body is probably not such a good thing for ones health.

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New Mexico Space Port Moves Forward

Good news for New Mexico’s space port. Virgin Atlantic has agreed to set up shop there being known as Virgin Galactic.

The first customer has been secured for the planned $225 million spaceport in southern New Mexico and state officials plan to announce Wednesday that construction of the facility will now move forward.

State officials, including Gov. Bill Richardson, also will announce tomorrow that London-based Virgin Galactic, a subsidiary of Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., will be the facility’s first lease holder and plans to pay $1 million a year for the first five years of its 20-year lease.

I’m getting excited about this. I’ve always wanted to be a astronaut but I never had the “right stuff” (namely not being a Air Force pilot). This may provide me an opportunity to participate in the space race.

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Another Ski Lift

I’ve seen a new ski lift in the plans for the last few years at the Santa Fe Ski area. I wonder if this means that they actually built it over the summer. I look forward to a new lift but I believe in the rights of Native Americans. I don’t really know what the right answer is here.

The pueblo filed suit in August against the U.S. Forest Service, which had approved the expansion of the ski area. The ski company, which was not named as a defendant, recently intervened in the case.The pueblo contends the new lift will give skiers access to the tribe’s holiest shrines and locations, places where members conduct rituals and ceremonies that are necessary for the pueblo’s survival. Skiers presence in the area increases the risk that important shrines will be tampered with or destroyed the lawsuit says.

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X Prize Cup Preview

Sunday 9 October 2005 the X Prize foundation will be showing off the the ships for the next X Cup. Tickets are $6 for adults and $2 for kids. I will be there, will you?

Come meet the astronauts who will fly them and imagine yourself inside them, watching the earth turn below you. The future is closer than you think. We’re not talking about models. We’re talking about the real thing.

Last year the X PRIZE Foundation gave away $10 million for the first private spaceflight a history-making achievement that blanketed the front pages of newspapers across the globe. This year we’re unveiling a new generation of private spaceships at the X PRIZE CUP in New Mexico.

Bring your friends and family to the Las Cruces Airport on Sunday Oct 9th See six different spaceships currently in testing. Watch them fly. Meet the pioneers, pilots and astronauts who conceived them.

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Rita Evacuees Camp Free At NM State Parks

This is a great idea. All the states should do this.

Evacuees of Hurricane Rita will not be charged a fee to stay at any of New Mexico’s 32 state parks. New Mexico State Parks Director Dave Simon says the usual 14-day limit on stays, electrical fees and charges for campgrounds will be waived for as long as neccesary.

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Gruesome Grizzly Attack

“I felt her tooth go into my scalp,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh, this is no good.’ ” Then he felt his scalp rip clean away.

The scary story of Johan Otter, who lured a bear away from his daughter. Besides the loss of his scalp he also had five broken vertebrae, three shattered ribs and other various injuries. The bear attacked his daughter anyways but didn’t do nearly the that it did to him.

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NM Spaceports First Launch

I drove by the New Mexico Space Port a few years ago, it was a sign with a dirt field behind it. Apparently they are going to launch their first rocket into space next year. I will have to check it out again.

The first launch from New Mexico’s Southwest Regional Spaceport is on — and set for March 27, according to Gov. Bill Richardson. Richardson’s office announced Tuesday that UP Aerospace, of Connecticut, will launch its SpaceLoft rocket on a sub-orbital flight from the New Mexico Spaceport on that date. The flight will carry seven experimental and commercial payloads for a variety of scholastic and business entities and, after traveling into space, the rocket and its payloads will land in the downrange area of the Spaceport, Richardson’s office announced.