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Santa Fe Searches For Next City Historian, Vandalized Religious Shrine Near Bisbee Repaired

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Santa Fe Searches For Next City Historian – Associated Press

New Mexico's capital city is searching for its next historian.

The job description on the city of Santa Fe's website calls for applicants to have an understanding of the city's cultural history from various perspectives as well as a passion for sharing information about the diverse groups and historical processes that combined to make Santa Fe what it is today.

Duties include giving lectures, producing educational resources and reviewing the historical content of city documents.

A position created in 2010, the historian receives a $10,000 stipend.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Mayor Javier Gonzales saluted writer and publisher Ana Pacheco, the most recent historian, and Jose Garcia, the city's first historian. Gonzales says the historian's importance will grow as the city continues to tackle some difficult conversations.

Vandalized Religious Shrine Near Bisbee Is Cleaned, Repaired – Associated Press

Authorities say a religious shrine near Bisbee that was vandalized has been cleaned and repaired.

Cochise County Sheriff's deputies responded to the State Route 80 location on Aug. 7 and found that a large statue of the Virgin Mary was broken off its base with the top portion missing.

Three other smaller statues had the heads broken off and missing.

Sheriff's officials say all of the statues were located inside of a shelter at a pullout area off the highway.

The shelter is open to the public.

Sheriff's officials say new statues now are in place, but they're still looking for information that could lead to the arrest of the vandals.

State Route 80 is a 120-mile stretch of highway in southeastern Arizona that runs to the New Mexico border.

The Latest: $500K Bond Stays For Sect Leaders In Abuse Case – Associated Press

A judge has refused to lower bond on two leaders of a New Mexico paramilitary religious sect who are both facing child sexual abuse charges.

Cibola County Magistrate Judge Larry Diaz said Friday he still felt that co-leader Deborah Green and high-ranking leader Peter Green of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training were flight risks and he wasn't comfortable with lowering their bond or changing the conditions of their release.

Both are being held on $500,000 cash surety bond in connection with child sexual abuses charges stemming for a Sunday raid of their secluded compound in western New Mexico.

Court records had mistakenly listed that Peter Green was being held on $5 million.

Cibola County Undersheriff Michael Munk says authorities believed were flight risks.

New Mexico Restructures Bond Deal After Mistake Uncovered – Associated Press

New Mexico finance officials say that the state will save substantially less money than anticipated as they fix a flawed effort to refinance state-issued bonds.

The state Board of Finance led by Gov. Susana Martinez held an emergency meeting Friday to revisit a bond deal designed to save the state as much as $9.5 million in interest by paying back creditors well ahead of a 2025 deadline.

Outside investment and legal advisers to the board realized in early August that the state was not allowed to pay off the bonds ahead of time and that interest would still be due for years to come.

In an embarrassing turn of events, further professional fees were waived as board members voted unanimously to restructure an escrow account to continue paying bond obligations.

Rio Rancho Police Identify Suspect Fatally Shot By Officers – Associated Press

Rio Rancho police have identified a man fatally shot by officers during an encounter in Albuquerque.

A statement released Friday by police Capt. Ron Vigil identifies 71-year-old Henry Rivera Sr. as the man fatally shot Tuesday by Rio Rancho officers following a pursuit after an unspecified "violent crime" at a Wal-Mart store.

Vigil's statement says Rivera rammed a police vehicle and another vehicle while being pursued from an Albuquerque residence and that he threatened officers with a shotgun.

Vigil said Friday that Rivera wasn't from Rio Rancho but he said no additional was available about Rivera or circumstances of the incident, during which no officers were seriously injured.

The officers involved in the shooting were placed on standard administrative leave pending an investigation by a multiagency task force.

Man Wanted In Fatal Shooting Of Woman In Roswell Surrenders – Associated Press

A secondary suspect wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman inside a Roswell hotel room has surrendered to police.

They say 29-year-old Frank Moss turned himself in to authorities Friday.

Moss has been charged with tampering with evidence and intimidation of a witness.

He also is facing a charge of being a felon in possession of a handgun.

Moss and 35-year-old Jeremy Hawkins are being held without bond.

Hawkins is accused in the death of his 31-year-old girlfriend, Ashley Sena.

He's being held on suspicion of murder and other charges.

Sena's body was found Aug. 4 and police say she had been shot once in the face.

Police say Moss allegedly went to the hotel room after the shooting, collected Hawkins' possessions and returned them to him.

UNM Basketball Suite Sales Fail To Cover Renovation Costs – Associated Press

Figures obtained by The Albuquerque Journal reveal that the University of New Mexico's plan to cover its yearly basketball arena renovation costs is not going as intended.

The university's original strategy was to have revenue from the sale of suites cover its yearly renovation bill of $2.4 million. But the Journal reported  Thursday that a document it obtained shows only about 28 percent of last season's bill was paid for by parties unaffiliated with the university purchasing suites.

University Associate Vice President Chris Vallejos says the athletics department reported generating $816,250 in suite revenue for the 2016-17 season, but the Journal states that $145,000 of that was money transferred from elsewhere within the university's domain.

Twenty-one and a half of the arena's 40 suites were occupied last season under season-long contracts.

Giant Marijuana Bundle Launched Over US-Mexico Border Fence – Associated Press

Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona have seized a nearly 100-pound bundle of marijuana after spotting it flying over the border fence.

Surveillance video on Wednesday captured the large package launching through the air over the fence from Mexico to the U.S. Agents on the ground found a large, plastic-wrapped bundle worth about $48,000.

Spokeswoman Stephanie Dixon said drug smugglers are increasingly launching massive bundles of pot over the border fence, posing a danger to nearby residents and businesses because of the weight of the bundles. She said she knew of one incident in which a bundle went through the roof of a dog house.

It's unclear what smugglers used to launch this particular package, but in the past they've used home-made catapults and air cannons.