Public Safety

Two people were injured in a car accident N.M. 502 East near the Totavi 66 gas station Tuesday. Traffic was bottlenecked for one hour as cleanup crews narrowed parts of the highway down to one lane for clean up.

According to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department, there were two vehicles involved. A Nissan was traveling eastbound on N.M. 502 when a Chrysler, heading westbound, crossed traffic into the gas station. The Nissan hit the rear of the Chrysler, sending the driver of the Nissan and a passenger in the Chrysler to the hospital with undetermined injuries.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department said the driver of the Chrysler was cited for failure to yield and having no driver’s license. Alcohol or drugs were not believed to be factors in the crash, according to the sheriff’s department. The Los Alamos Police Department handled traffic control and the Los Alamos Fire Department also was on the scene.

The Nationa Weather Service has issued the following special statement:

A ONE TWO PUNCH OF WINTRY WEATHER APPEARS LIKELY FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE SYSTEM WILL ALSO BRING SHARPLY COLDER TEMPERATURES AND A 72 HOUR EAST CANYON WIND EVENT IN THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.

ONE WAVE OF PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AS A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT DIVES SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH THE STATE AND A BROAD UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM STALLS OFF THE COAST OF THE UPPER BAJA PENINSULA. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THE COLDEST AIR WILL BANK UP AGAINST THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN AND SPREAD ACROSS THE EASTERN PLAINS... WHERE EASTERLY UPSLOPE FLOW WILL LIKELY PRODUCE RAIN AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS AND PROBABLY FREEZING PRECIPITATION ALONG THE TEXAS BORDER. A GUSTY EAST WIND BELOW CANYONS OPENING INTO THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST THURSDAY NIGHT WITH ENOUGH COLD AIR WORKING ITS WAY INTO WESTERN NEW MEXICO FOR RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.

The National Weather Service has issued the following Special Weather Statement for the region:

UNSETTLED WEATHER WITH MOUNTAIN SNOW AND STRONGER WINDS EXPECTED INTO THE WEEKEND...

DISTURBANCES IN THE FLOW ALOFT WILL CREATE AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN OVER NEW MEXICO FRIDAY AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND. PRECIPITATION IS FIRST EXPECTED TO BREAK OUT OVER WESTERN NEW MEXICO FRIDAY MORNING... SPREADING INTO CENTRAL AREAS OF THE STATE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE OVERNIGHT. STRONGER BREEZES AND EVEN SOME WINDY CONDITIONS WILL ALSO DEVELOP FRIDAY WITH MANY OF THE HIGH TERRAIN AREAS OBSERVING OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO 30 TO 40 MPH.

SNOW LEVELS WILL BE QUITE HIGH DURING THE DAYTIME FRIDAY... LOWERING TO 7000 TO 8000 FEET IN MUCH OF NORTHERN NEW MEXICO BY FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY. THERE WILL BE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW INCHES OF SNOW IN THE HIGH TERRAIN... ESPECIALLY IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO ALONG WEST FACING SLOPES. WINDS ALOFT WILL STRENGTHEN MORE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. WIDESPREAD AREAS OF NEW MEXICO ARE EXPECTED TO OBSERVE GUSTS AS HIGH AS 40 TO 50 MPH SATURDAY AFTERNOON WITH SOME AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN OBSERVING GUSTS CLOSER TO 60 MPH.

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — More than 90 tons of ready-to-eat salads and sandwiches by a California catering company are being recalled after 26 people in three states were sickened by a bacterial strain of E. coli linked to its products, federal health officials said Sunday.

Richmond-based Glass Onion Catering are recalling approximately 181,620 pounds of salads and sandwich wraps containing cooked chicken and ham, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

The products were produced between Sept. 23 and Nov. 6, and were shipped to distribution centers in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Texas. The Contra Costa Times reports the company supplies food to Trader Joe's, Super Fresh Goods and Delish.

The FSIS said it began monitoring a cluster of illnesses involving E. coli O157:H7 on Oct. 29 and then was notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that California authorities had reported people sickened from eating pre-packaged salads with grilled chicken.

In Washington, three people who were sickened with the bacterium told investigators they ate ready-to-eat salads from Trader Joe's, said Tim Church, a spokesman with the state's Department of Health.