Pueblo woman killed crossing Cerrillos Road

A Kewa Pueblo woman was killed late Friday when she was struck by a car while crossing Cerrillos Road from the parking lot of Denny's Restaurant to Motel 6, where she was staying.

Annette Chavez, 42, died instantly when she was struck at 10:45 p.m. by a vehicle driven by an 18-year-old Santa Fe woman, said Deputy Chief Gillian Alessio.

The initial investigation indicates Chavez "stepped in front" of the vehicle, and there was no error by the driver, Alessio said.

The last pedestrian fatality in the city of Santa Fe occurred Dec. 28 on West Alameda Street, about a mile west of St. Francis Drive.

Sandoval County jail to ban all smoking

ALBUQUERQUE -- Commissioners in Sandoval County have decided to ban all tobacco products at the county's detention center. The ban on smoking at the jail in Bernalillo takes effect in June.

The commissioners voted Thursday to approve a proposal by Detention Center Director Al Casamento. It would bar tobacco use and possession by inmates, guards and contractors at the jail.

Casamento said employees can sign up for smoking cessation classes.

But he says inmates will have to go cold turkey. He promises to give out hard candy to help them get over the urge to smoke.

Violators could face felony criminal charges and staff could be fired if they are caught with tobacco.

The ban is modeled on a policy at the Bernalillo County jail.

San Juan deputies cleared in woman's shooting

FARMINGTON -- A San Juan County Sheriff's Office investigation has cleared two deputies who shot a woman coming at them with a handgun.

Sheriff's Capt. Tim Black said the deputies handled the recent confrontation professionally and within use-of-force guidelines.

Black says 55-year-old Donna Peace was threatening to kill herself and several children inside her mobile home when deputies were called.

Deputies Katie Macsalka and Emerson Charley were at a back door when Black came outside and pointed a 9 mm pistol at them. Macsalka fired her handgun three times, and Charley shot his Taser.

Peace was in good condition Friday at a Farmington hospital, recovering from a bullet wound to the abdomen. She faces two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer.

Hearing set in San Augustin Plains water case

SOCORRO -- A hearing is scheduled next week in Socorro on a proposal to pump what would amount to billions of gallons of water from the San Augustin Plains in Central New Mexico.

On Tuesday, a hearing officer with the State Engineer's Office will consider motions to dismiss a 2007 application by the Augustin Plains Ranch commercial venture to pump 54,000 acre-feet of water from the basin.

The company proposes moving the water to the Rio Grande Basin, where it could be used or sold.

More than 200 residents are protesting the application. More than 80 are represented by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and staff attorney Bruce Frederick.

He says the application doesn't comply with state law because Augustin Plains Ranch has failed to identify exactly how and where it intends to use the water.