A Santa Fe County Sheriff’s report from last night ends with that line, suggesting authorities are finally getting serious about their long-planned impound program.

A deputy arrested Jaime Dominguez-Gonzales, 36, on his third DWI. The report says Dominguez-Gonzales had open containers in the car and was sharing with an 18-year-old woman. Read the full report after the cut.

Now: Can you see what’s different in these two headlines about the recent horrific crash?

Teen Driver Had Pot in Blood (Journal North)

Fatal DWI: Sheriff says teen wasn’t impaired (Santa Fe New Mexican)

The Journal headline implies that 16-year-old Avree Koffman (daughter of SFR employee Dan Koffman, and the only teen to survive) was stoned at the time of the crash. The New Mex headline contains the real news from the state toxicology report. (If the driver of the other car, Scott Owens, now charged with vehicular homicide, had traces of mind-altering substances in his blood, but “wasn’t impaired,” that would be much bigger news.)

This is why copy editors matter.

The impressions left by headlines are important, because most people don’t read articles all the way through.

Finally, a story out of Virginia reminds that it’s always possible to add insult to injury.
Continue reading »

After the July 8 meeting to discuss the future of the memorial set up in Cathedral Park, friends and family reconvened on the park Friday, July 10, to begin moving pieces of remembrance from the park’s monument to a new location next to the gates of the park’s northeast side.

The memorial honors teenagers Rose Simmons, Julian Martinez, Kate Klein and Alyssa Trouw. The four youths were killed June 28 in a car crash. Scott Owens, the driver of the car that hit the teens, has been charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and had a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit, according to police.

The new location for the memorial is where Rose’s father, John Simmons, and a small group of friends have set up a new site with cinder blocks and a large marble sheet. It is currently not clear whether the city will allow this piece of the park to act as a permanent memorial or whether it is another temporary location. The mood was somber as candles, clothing, cards and other objects were taken from the monument and placed on and around this new shrine.

Simmons noted that he had spoken to the owners of the buildings directly east of the park and that they might consider allowing a permanent location on their land only a few feet from where the shrine now sits. Though it now seems hopeful that this memorial will find a place to stay in the near future, Simmons noted sadly, “This will happen again. We’ll all be doing this again, for others, until something drastic changes.”

Avree Koffman, who was driving the car carrying the teenagers, is now out of the University of New Mexico Hospital.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has released the official crash report, including witnesses, a narrative and a diagram of the accident.

You may download the report as a pdf with this link.

There isn’t a whole lot in the report that’s new, but it does provide, for the first time, a clear story of the incident with witnesses, the alleged sequence of events and the visual layout of the scene.

Mourners, classmates and friends of the four Santa Fe teenagers killed in the June 28 car accident gathered on Wednesday, July 8  afternoon at Cathedral Park, where a makeshift memorial for the teens had been furnished on and around the park’s central monument. Members of the city council and community were on hand to discuss future plans for a more permanent memorial.

The crowd swelled as city councilman Carmichael Dominguez began to speak about the status of the impromptu shrine, the damage it has done to the flagstone, and possible compromises between the city and those wishing to share public condolences.

Dominguez first expressed the sadness that the whole community has felt in the wake of the tragedy and his interest in hearing from and coming to solutions with those who have contributed to the memorial.

However, he made clear that there could be no permanent shrine to the lost students in Cathedral Park. To that end, the city will begin removing objects and writing found on and around the monument this week. Continue reading »

Dan Koffman has shared with us the printed results of daughter Avree’s blood-alcohol test following the fatal crash of June 28. It was zero, with no alcohol detected. This is just an analysis of blood-alcohol, not a complete toxicology.
Scott Owens, the driver accused of driving drunk and killing Kate Klein, Julian Martinez, Alyssa Trouw and Rose Simmons, had a BAC of .16, double the legal limit.
Addendum: Just spoke with SF County Sheriff Greg Solano, who says he was told by the DA to go ahead and release the BAC info, after DA Pacheco had initially said it would not be released, because a. they heard Larry Barker had it and was planning to release it tonight on the news and b. the Health Department had it and was planning to release it under public records’ request.