Duncan helps Spurs rout Oklahoma City in series opener Sports, B-1
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ELECTION AD WATCH
Attack ads ignite state treasurer’s race
Zozobra truce called Kiwanis Club, Patti Bushee pledge to work together to ensure future of annual burning. PAge A-7
6 Sunport flights cut Southwest slashes three flights to Dallas and one each to Phoenix, Seattle and Las Vegas, Nev. PAge A-7
57 nuke containers could pose a threat
Wertheim alleges rival Eichenberg discriminates against Hispanics, women and same-sex couples charges of deception. One candidate, John Wertheim of Albuquerque, mailed out ads chargThe Democratic primary election ing that rival Tim Eichenberg has for the normally low-key office of “a record of discriminating against state treasurer exploded Monday with Hispanics.” Wertheim also wrote in the ad that Eichenberg had sided with allegations of bigotry and counterBy Milan Simonich The New Mexican
Republicans to permit discrimination against women and same-sex couples. Eichenberg said Wertheim is trailing in unspecified polls and so desperate that he has engaged in character assassination built on lies. Moreover, Eichenberg said, Wertheim merely regurgitated certain claims that were made by Republican H.
$2M deal relinquishes Dixon’s Apple Orchard to state
LANL has two days to propose plan for securing barrels. PAge A-6
Organ Mountains to become monument
John
Tim Eichenberg
Please see ADS, Page A-4 Wertheim
Apple growers sever ties with land, N.M.
Judge calls 911 following candidate encounter Bevacqua-Young claims Sena accused her of spreading false rumors By Uriel J. Garcia
By Jeri Clausing
The Associated Press
The New Mexican
ALBUQUERQUE — After a nearly 10-year campaign by environmentalists, hunters and tourism officials to gain wilderness protection for the Organ Mountains and Desert Peaks in Southern New Mexico, the White House said Monday that President Barack Obama will declare almost 500,000 acres of mountain ranges above the Chihuahuan Desert a national monument this week. Supporters hailed Obama’s announcement, planned for Wednesday, as crucial for preserving important historical, cultural and nature sites while creating new jobs and generating millions of dollars annually in new revenue from tourism and outdoor recreation.
Magistrate Court Judge Donna Bevacqua-Young filed a complaint Saturday against Donita Sena, a Magistrate Court judicial candidate, following an alleged confrontation between the two. Sena accused Bevacqua-Young’s friends of spreading false rumors about her. Both women are running for Magistrate Court judgeships, but for different seats. Bevacqua-Young is unopposed. Sena at first denied any verbal altercation took place, initially describing the conversation as friendly. Later, she declined to comment further until she had spoken with the investigating officer. Bevacqua-Young did not return a call seeking comment. The dispatch report shows she called police from outside the Attorney General’s Office at about 6:30 p.m., not from her home.
Please see ORgAN, Page A-5
Dixon’s Apple Orchard in Peña Blanca on July 6, 2011. The devastating Las Conchas Fire earlier that month and subsequent flooding in August 2011 destroyed many of the trees in the orchard.
By Anne Constable The New Mexican
T The landscape at the Organ Mountain Desert Peaks near Las Cruces. AP PHOTO/ORGAN MOUNTAINS DESERT PEAKS
Today Partly sunny and breezy. High 83, low 47. PAge A-12
Obituaries Noel Lawrence Camborde, 69, May 13 Jared L. Pompeo, 38, May 12 Michael H. Rice, 75, Santa Fe, May 15 PAge A-8
Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds B-5
he owners of Dixon’s Apple Orchard in Peña Blanca have agreed to relinquish their lease on the orchard and another 8,600 acres of land managed by the State Land Office in exchange for $2 million. The agreement brings to a close the family’s ties to the land that date back to 1944, when Fred and Faye Dixon moved to a dude ranch on the Spanish land grant known as Rancho de la Cañada and began developing an apple orchard. Dixon’s was known for its Champagne apples, a pale yellow variety prized by New Mexicans for being particularly crisp, juicy and sweet. People from all over the area made fall pilgrimages to the apple shed to buy bushels of Champagnes, as well as another popular variety, Sparkling Burgundy. In 2011, however, a devastating fire and subsequent flooding destroyed many of the trees in the orchard. The damage also broke the will of Fred Dixon’s granddaughter, Becky Mullane, and her family to
Comics B-12
Crosswords B-6, B-11
Please see JUDge, Page A-4
ON THe WeB u For a recording of the 911 call, go to www.santafenewmexican.com.
Pasapick Belva Chavez sorts apples and puts them in a bags while working at Dixon’s Apple Orchard in 2002. The orchard has since ceased operations, but somewhere, in an out-of-state nursery, there are some Champagne apple trees just in case the family that owns them decides to start an orchard again. NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTOS
continue growing apples on the land near Cochiti Lake. The Mullanes originally sought to reassign their lease on the 860acre orchard and the adjacent 8,500 acres of land to San Felipe Pueblo
Lotteries A-2
Opinion A-10
Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035
for $2.8 million. But the State Land Office opposed the idea. For more than two years, the family has been trying to find a solution and finally restart their lives.
Sports B-1
Please see APPLeS, Page A-6
Time Out B-11
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Assistance Dogs of the West graduation Cheer them on at 6 p.m., Greer Garson Theatre, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive, $10, 988-1234, ticketsantafe.org. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo
Two sections, 24 pages
Local Business A-9
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