BetterBelen.com

County questions problems at dispatch center

July 23, 2010

Valencia County Sheriff’s Department Captain Don Donges told county commissioners on Wednesday night that problems with “missed calls” at the county’s emergency dispatch center mean officers aren’t being dispatched to address crime. “This is ridiculous,” he told the commissioners. Donges has been defending his department against accusations that it failed to respond to calls about [...]

City to purchase fire and brush trucks

June 29, 2010

The Belen City Council last night approved a grant-loan for the purchase a fire truck and brush truck for the fire department. The total cost allotted for the purchase is $460,000, though the trucks could cost much less after bids are received. The city will receive 15% of the total purchase as a grant. The [...]

Fire chief offers detailed improvement plan

June 01, 2010

City of Belen Fire Chief Manny Garcia last month gave the city council a detailed improvement plan, highlighting the fire department’s needs. Improvement plans were requested by Mayor Rudy Jaramillo and the city council as a part of the appointment of the police chief, fire chief and airport director in March. Mike Chavez resigned as [...]

Weh fundraises for new campaign bus

December 09, 2009

Gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh today began raising funds to put another campaign bus on the road, less than two weeks after the RV being used as a mobile campaign headquarters was destroyed in a Rio Communities fire. The original campaign bus, called Freedom1, was owned by Tom Greer, a local who works with the Weh [...]

Campaign bus fire destroyed 9/11 history

December 01, 2009

The Allen Weh for Governor campaign bus, which was destroyed in a storage facility fire in Rio Communities on Friday night, didn’t just destroy a local man’s RV, but also claimed miles of 9/11 memories and more than 30 hours of another local’s artwork. “The history of this bus and it’s 40,000 miles on the [...]

Los Lunas describes project wish list

October 09, 2009

The Village of Los Lunas has prepared its wish list of major projects, highlighting the direction the village will take in the coming years. The village’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP) will be submitted to the State of New Mexico, so the state and legislators know what projects Los Lunas wants funded. Typically, only the [...]

Driver whose wreck caused church sparks dies

August 04, 2009

The driver of a car that wrecked into a power pole sending a dangerous electrical surge into San Francisco Xavier Mission Chapel in Jarales died late last month. Efren Chavez-Mendoza’s crash caused sparks to fly from the electrical panel inside the Catholic church. At the time, the church’s caretaker, Susan Cordova, said the church was saved [...]

Bottled water saves church from fire

June 05, 2009

Susan Cordova is crediting a singed and melted case of bottled drinking water for saving the San Francisco Xavier Mission Chapel in Jarales from burning down. On Sunday night, a gold Nissan Infinity traveling north on Jarales Road in front of the Catholic church swerved off the road and wrapped itself around a power pole, [...]