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July 28 First News: Man Accused Of Tossing Banana Peel At Black Comedian Is Heading To Court-Listen

The man accused of throwing a banana peel at comedian Dave Chappelle during a New Mexico performance is heading to court. Assistant District Attorney Anastasia Martin told the New Mexican that jury selection is scheduled for September 23rd for Christian Englander's trial. Englander, who’s 31 and white, is facing charges of disturbing the peace and battery after the fruit-throwing disturbance in March. The petty misdemeanors each carry a jail sentence of up to six months and a possible fine of 500 dollars. Englander told police he threw a peel from a banana he'd eaten earlier because he took offense to jokes told by Chappelle, who is African-American. Englander told a judge at a hearing Monday that he'd take a plea deal if it were offered.

Authorities say a Chimayo man has been arrested in connection with the killing of a northern Santa Fe County woman. County sheriff's criminal investigators were dispatched early Monday to Boneyard Road in Arroyo Seco after receiving a call about a suspicious death. Sheriff's detectives say the body of 49-year-old Peggy Sue Padilla was discovered in a driveway on her property. They say it appears she received injuries consistent with begin struck by a vehicle. Homicide detectives say they have arrested 54-year-old Leonard Coriz on suspicion of an open count of murder. He's been booked into the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center. Authorities didn't disclose a possible motive for the killing.

New hotels are coming to the Santa Fe Rail Yard but not the kind you think. They’re wooden bee hotels that the nonprofit, Rail Yard Stewards, plans to build. The “hotels” will be built to accommodate honey bees and their reproductive needs. They’re among 27 around the state funded by a grant from Public Service Company of New Mexico grant. Populations of commercial honey bees have tumbled in recent years from colony collapse disorder. The U-S Department of Agriculture says this new syndrome along with other maladies have cut commercial honey bee populations by more than 50-percent in the last decade.

Meanwhile, an Albuquerque neighborhood is battling a neighbor and a set of aggressive bees living in his backyard. KOB-TV reports that the Ventana Ranch Neighborhood Association on the city’s west side is asking a homeowner to remove two hives from his backyard after neighbors have complained of feeling like they are under siege. When reporters arrived to ask about the buzzing nuisances, one was stung. The homeowner says he removed most of the bees Sunday morning, though neighbors still report many bees swarming the area. He says he is taking them to a farm in Corrales.

The next in a series of “Meet the Mayor” "events takes place later today from five until seven-pm in the Mayor’s office at City Hall.  Santa Feans can meet directly with Mayor Javier Gonzales at five-to-seven minute intervals to discuss the city issues they care most about. No appointment is necessary and meetings will be conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis. All residents of Santa Fe are invited.  

A bill approved on Capitol Hill would block some federal funding for police in sanctuary cities like Santa Fe. The House of Representatives has voted to penalize cities that don't cooperate with federal attempts to crack down on undocumented immigrants. This would affect Santa Fe and about 200 other cities. Santa Fe has been a sanctuary city since 1999. Police don't question the immigration status of people involved in low-level crimes and don't turn undocumented immigrants over to the feds for deportation. The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate. If it passes there, President Obama has promised to veto it.

Santa Fe Weather: Partly sunny today with the high near 83 and a 40-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with the overnight low down to 61 and a continued 40-percent chance for precipitation. Tomorrow:  Expect mostly cloudy skies with a high of 75 and afternoon showers and thunderstorms likely—there’s a 60-percent chance tomorrow—some of which could produce heavy rain.