Could there be a last-ditch, surprise plan for the state to purchase the College of Santa Fe? Not yet, but the state is not giving up on figuring out how to help out the state’s financially shakiest institution of higher learning, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

Also in the New Mexican comes the report that the Santa Fe Opera won’t be getting a rehearsal hall built with state funds after all. The controversial legislation that caused an uproar won’t reach the state Senate by Saturday at noon, when the Legislature adjourns.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White wants the state to repeal the repeal of the death penalty, which Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law Wednesday. The Associated Press reports that White “is looking into the possibility of petitioning to put the repeal of New Mexico’s death penalty before the voters.” The new law will apply to crimes committed as of July 1.

Meanwhile, the Albuquerque Journal reports, an anti-death penalty group in Italy has invited Richardson to a ceremony in which members will light the Colosseum in Rome to celebrate New Mexico’s repeal of the death penalty.

For those of you who don’t subscribe to the Journal, here’s an excerpt:

The Community of Sant’Egidio — a leader in the international movement against the death penalty — has requested Richardson’s presence for the ceremony at the ancient Roman icon to celebrate “the great step New Mexico is undertaking, in the initiative of its legislators and with your leadership,” according to the letter from Sant’Egidio spokesman Mario Marazziti.

“A special ceremony in front of the world, will make your courage a special page of history to inspire others,” he says.

Richardson, a Democrat, signed House Bill 285 on Wednesday, which abolished the death penalty, making New Mexico the 15th state without capital punishment and the second state to ban executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1976.

New Jersey did so in 2007, and a Colosseum lighting ceremony was held then, too. The Colosseum, built in A.D. 80, was once the home of death and carnage, where gladiators fought to kill, public executions took place and many early Christians were slain. In the 18th century, Pope Benedict XIV declared it sanctified.