THE PAST 100 YEARS

From the Santa Fe New Mexican: March 2, 1920: Melquiades, Rafel and Fidel Martinez are in the jug at Albuquerque charged with stealing a horse from Mrs. Baracat. They should have been cautious about stealing from a woman with that name.

March 2, 1945: Mayor Manuel Lujan, organization chairman for the St. Michael’s College Expansion Program, announced today that Louis Hymel has been named chairman of the Santa Fe committee.

March 2, 1970: ALBUQUERQUE — Could New Mexico’s expanding hippie population become a factor in politics?

A social worker among hippie communes in Northern New Mexico, says it’s a possibility.

“There is no voting bloc, per se, now,” says Minor Van Arsdale, 34, an anthropologist who works for the State Health and Social Services Department.

“There is the possibility of a coalition with the Indians in Taos County,” he told a weekend meeting of social workers in Albuquerque.

The bearded Van Arsdale, who has lived among the hippies, said, “There are more hippies in Taos County than Indians.”

March 2, 1995: Gambling proponents say approval of a state lottery and gambling amendment by 54 percent of voters in the November election gave New Mexico legislators a mandate to expand gambling outside Indian reservations.

But a poll conducted this week for The New Mexican found most voters oppose allowing video gambling at bars and racetracks, and only a minority favor legalizing casino gambling outside Indian reservations.