Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 19

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL Friday, November 30, 1984 B-3 More new Mexico. Briefs. State Asked To Take On West Side Arterial By Michael Hartranft JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Unser interchange, in addition to El Pueblo. He said the latter facility would greatly relieve Coors traffic. Foltz said the West Side Council's position that the bridge should be built as soon as possible has not changed.

In a bridge progress report, Larranaga said the department hopes to persuade the 1985 state Legislature to authorize enough money about $31 million to complete the El Pueblo Bridge. Public hearings on designs are scheduled to be conducted by mid-1985. Construction could get started by the end of summer the following year if all proceeds on schedule, he said. started planning and design studies for connecting the road from the Unser interchange to Atrisco, roughly four miles of the proposed 12-mile length of the route. Commission Chairman Sosimo Padilla said it would be "almost impossible" to come up with the estimated $22 million to build the road at this time.

"We're scratching to come up with the money for El Pueblo," hejaid. State Highway Administrator Larry Lar-ranaga said the state already has sponsored transportation improvements in the metropolitan area, including the widening of the Bernalillo river crossing and the Pueblo bridge are getting Highway Department priority when it comes to funding. Greg Foltz, of the West Side Council of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, said traffic volumes on Coors Boulevard already are approaching interstate levels. "Traffic flows on Coors are in need of relief as soon as possible," he said. The West Side Council favors a north-south route extending from the Unser interchange at 1-40 to 20th Street in Rio Rancho.

Foltz said the city of Albuquerque has A group of West Side businessmen suggested Thursday that a proposed north-south road on the West Mesa be included in the State Highway network to help get it built. The State Highway Commission, which met in Paradise Hills, said the Highway Department would serve as the lead agency in the planning of a second north-south road, designed to ease Coors traffic. But it warned that other projects led by the El All-Day Session To Cover N.M. Water Pollution Mir By Talli Nauman JOURNAL STAFF WRITER JOURNAL PHOTO MARK POULSEN Rio Grande High Principal Larry Day in Front of School 'Swamp' Road to High School Isn't Easy FROM JOURNAL STAFF REPORTS Conference Center Planned in Canoncito SANTA FE Two Santa Fe men are planning an $8 million conference center near Apache Canyon, southeast of the city, for "programs that require stretch-, ing of mind and body." John Wallace told the County Development Review Committee Thursday that he and partner John Hulbert, a developer and contractor, want to build the center on 25 acres Wallace owns in Canoncito, where Wallace operates the Apache Canyon Nursery. The center eventually would have 200 guest rooms, eight meeting rooms with a seating capacity of 50 to 100 people each, and a recreation center with therapy rooms, hot tubs, steam and sauna rooms, a swimming pool and a gymnasium.

The plans also call for a social center, including dining rooms and offices, and a greenhouse. The proposal was submitted to the CDRC as an informational item and no action was taken Thursday on the plans. Wallace hopes to get preliminary approval in December. Wallace and Hulbert have formed the "Dawa Institute," which will be responsible for organizing programs at the center. Wallace said dawa is a Hopi word that means "sun" or "creative source." Tijeras Resident Held In Shooting Incident Metropolitan Judge Frederick Mowrer held a Tijeras man on $10,000 bond Thursday on a sheriff deputy's complaint that the man assaulted his neighbor with a gun, a truck and a flask of wine.

The incident. Deputy John Lyngen reported, began about 1 a.m. Thursday when James D. Sutton, 30, woke up his Tijeras neighbor Bruce Lipes, 49, and asked Lipes to type a document. When Lipes refused, the report continues, Sutton became angered and struck Lipes over the head with a flask of wine.

Lipes shut the door and Sutton, the officer states, began shooting through the door. Sutton then allegedly attempted to ram his pickup through the front door while Lipes was in the upper story of the house shooting at the truck with a rifle. Sutton returned the fire, the officer reported. Sutton was booked into the Bernalillo County Detention Center and was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery with firearms enhancement. 52 Accidents Snarl Santa Fe Rush Hour SANTA FE A thin sheet of snow and ice on Santa Fe streets Thursday morning caused at least 52 minor accidents, sent motorists sliding into ditches and created a major rush-hour traffic jam.

Thursday's storm sprinkled only about a half-inch of snow in the area. But, said Santa Fe Police Lt. Jim Salazar, "The result of the itty, bitty ice we had was devastating." The tally of 52 accidents didn't include vehicles that had to be pulled from ditches, he said. Salazar said there was only one minor injury in which a woman was treated and released for a neck pain. Icy conditions snarled traffic on St.

Francis Drive, Old Pecos Trail and the Old Las Vegas Highway. Rush-hour traffic backed up on the Old Las Vegas Highway and some motorists complained that the road should have been sanded. George Baca, State Highway Department engineer for District 5, said the early-morning snowfall caught the department by sur-v prise. By Patricia Gabbett JOURNAL STAFF WRITER South Valley water pollution is a concern of everybody in the Albuquerque area, not just Valley residents, a Valley community respresentative said Thursday. "If the aquifer in the Valley is polluted, then the entire metropolitan area of Albuquerque is affected," said Miguel Silva-Garcia, spokesman for People United for Justice.

To strengthen efforts to clean up Valley water, his organization, along with the United Church of Christ, is holding a public conference Saturday on water contamination and toxic pollution in New Mexico, he said in a press conference at the South Valley community center of Casa Armijo. The all-day event is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2801 Lomas NE. "A lot of the real negative areas of water contamination are to be found in minority communities, nationally," Silva-Garcia said.

"These minority communities have a lack of political clout, so maybe government and industry take advantage of them. But I think it's of broad-based concern." Valley water pollution problems have been around a long time, said Paul Robinson, spokesman for Southwest Research and Information Center, at the press conference. But the Saturday forum marks the first time a broad spectrum of community organizations will get together to discuss ways to solve the problem. Endorsing tne conference are the Peace Center, First Congregational Church, New Mexico Conference of Churches, Conservation Voters Alliance, Chicano Student Services at the University of New Mexico, League of United Latin American Citizens, G.I. Forum, I.M.A.G.E., Southwest Research and Information Center, American Indian Environmental Council and Mexican American Women's National Association.

Keynote speaker will be the Rev. Benjamin Chavis, deputy director of the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice. Dennis McQuillen, state Environmental Improvement Division spokesman, will make a presentation on the problems of toxic waste in New Mexico at 9:45 a.m. Also scheduled to speak is Diane Ortiz of the American Indian Environmental Council. Ortiz will address nitrate and phosphate pollution of Acoma Pueblo's irrigation canals due to human waste in the Rio San Jose.

"Water resources in the Valley have developed haphazardly," Silva-Garcia said. "The profit motive has dominated. That's why it's so If we can begin addressing that, we can begin to solve the problem." Better monitoring of Valley wells, a comprehensive public water system for the Valley and lobbying in the state Legislature are all strategies that could be effective in cleaning up polluted water in the Albuquerque area, Robinson said. Arenal and Tapia previously a four-way stop to relieve some of the congestion from the school in the mornings and afternoons, she said, but as of Tuesday, the lights weren't working. The complaints have sparked a response, and relief is in sight, say officials.

A sewer contractor has begun removing and replacing about 300 feet of sewer line on Arenal, clearing the way for county workers to begin an improvement project expected to total $250,000, according to Ramsey. While students are on their winter break in a few weeks, Ramsey hopes to have a continuous left-turn lane installed in front of the school. By the end of June, Arenal will be widened and, if enough money is left, curbs, gutters and sidewalks on the road's south side will be laid, he said. The project also includes some additional paving and grade modifications on the road. the fence on the other," said Rio Grande Principal Larry Day.

To enter the school's front gates, people "either have to walk in mud up to their knees, or they have to walk in the road and be in danger of getting hit by a car," he said. Mary Dudley lives down the street from the school, and her husband teaches there. "My husband likes walking to work but has to take the truck when the mud's too deep," she said. "But what's really bothered me are the horrible accidents there have been on that road," she said. "And on weekends, it's become a drag strip for teen-agers.

The roa'd narrows down and has some unexpected turns it's dangerous." Ramsey said he believes there has been at least one fatal accident on Arenal between the high school and Tapia in the last year. Traffic lights have been hung at Every time it rains, Arenal Road in front of Rio Grande High School turns into a swamp and students become mud monsters. When the swamp dries out, the road returns to normal but no one rejoices over its normal state, either. Arenal is a two-lane road and the only access to Rio Grande; there are no sidewalks. In addition to the road's drainage problem, there's at least one "bad curve" and there have been some serious accidents, said Bernalillo County Road Superintendent John Ramsey Jr.

The problems have concerned residents, students and school officials alike. "Every time it rains, we have water from the fence on one side of the road to APD Employee Goes to Court on Tickets ident of the Fraternal Order of Police; and Jackie Garcia, court clerk of Judge Tommy Jewell. The judge before whom Ms. Powdrell is to appear and the date will be determined today, said Metro Court Administrator Dennis Becker. Both Chief Hansen andlChief Administrative Officer Frank Klefihenz took issue with a story in Thursday's Journal which stated that Metro Court records as of Wednesday afternoon indicated that Ms.

Powdrell had taken no action on the tickets. Kleinhenz produced an inter-office memo from Ms. Powdrell to Hansen dated Thursday. In it, Ms. Powdrell said she called Judge Jewell on Monday after Hansen ordered her to take the "proper steps to clear up the issue of the tickets." The memo went on to say that Judge Jewell referred Ms.

Powdrell to Ms. Garcia, his clerk. It concluded that Ms. Garcia did not get back to Ms. Powdrell until Thursday.

Ms. Garcia said Thursday that she told Ms. Powdrell to come in anytime, and "had no idea why she waited until today (Thursday)." Four days after Albuquerque Police Chief E.L. Hansen ordered her to settle 13 overdue parking tickets issued to her city-owned car, the APD's education coordinator applied for a Metropolitan Court date on which to plead guilty with an explanation. Jane Powdrell, whose 13 overdue tickets had generated 10 arrest warrants, appeared before a case-setting clerk at 3:35 p.m.

Thursday. The education director was accompanied by her attorney, John Higgins; APD Officer Benny Salazar, pres rug Suspect Convicted; Claimed Entrapment about large-scale drug deals between Rivera and federal undercover narcotics agent Ismael Fuentes. Fuentes testified that Rivera promised to sell him two to three kilos of cocaine on a regular basis if Fuentes would agree to trade hundreds of pounds of marijuana for several Corvettes and condominiums Rivera owned. The deal never took place because Rivera wasn't satisfied with the quality of the marijuana, Fuentes said, but added that Rivera did sell him several grams of cocaine. Schoenburg, accusing federal authorities of "outrageous misconduct," said Fuentes lured Rivera into the drug deal by pretending to be seriously interested in buying a Corvette and by holding out the promise of lucrative real estate deals.

Fuentes, however, claimed Rivera was fully aware" the money he was considering investing was drug money and that Rivera wanted a contract to "launder" the money by opening a Santa Fe nightclub. conviction, but declined to say whether the appeal would be based on Rivera's contention that he was "entrapped" into the drug sale by an undercover narcotics agent. Rivera testified that the agent, posing as a Texas millionaire, promised to involve him in lucrative real estate deals. A seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated for five and a half hours before returning the guilty verdict about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The verdict was reached after a three-day trial in which government prosecutors played hours of tape-recorded discussions A federal jury found 28-year-old Billy Rivera of Santa Fe guilty of possessing and distributing cocaine and using a telephone in connection with drug dealing. Immediately after the verdict was returned late Wednesday, Rivera was handcuffed and transported to the Bernalillo County Detention Center, where he will await sentencing on Jan. 4. He faces up to 19 years in jail, according to his lawyer, Peter Schoenburg. U.S.

District Judge Bobby Baldock refused to release Rivera on bail. Schoenburg said he would appeal the Speech Tournament Opens at Manzano Grazing-Fee Increase Certain, Carruthers Says By Bill Diven The halls will be alive with' the" sound of voices at Manzano High School today and Saturday when 500 students from 32 high schools gather for the school's fifth annual speech tournament. It is the largest competition the school has ever held, according to Manzano speech coach Pat White. Schools from Colorado and Arizona will be represented, along with several others from around the state, Ms. White said.

Registration starts at 2 p.m. today, with competition beginning at 4 p.m. and continuing until 10 p.m. Competition will continue Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The awards ceremony will be at 6 p.IQf t. states. New Mexico's 13,500 farms and ranches generated nearly $1 billion in crop and livestock sales during 1983, almost half of it from cattle ranching excluding dairy herds, according to Mexico Department of Agriculture preliminary figures. Hov e- vriculture's net income in the st' 9S2, the most recent year for litres are available, was among the the last 20 years. Carruthers told an of about 200 that the Reagan administration may come up with a new concept for the 1985 farm bill.

Promoters are talking about a market-oriented, long-term comprehensive plan which would bring trade, conservation, credit, price supports, research and reserve levels into a single bill for the first time. "It sounds good, but is it doable?" he asked. "If it is doable, it would be an awesome legacy (for the Reagan administration) to leave to the country." gates to the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau's 65th annual convention. The pressure in Washington to raise the fees is building, urged on by those who think the fees are too low and others hoping increased costs will discourage cattle grazing on public lands altogether, he said. Carruthers warned the group to be prepared for the debate which will follow presentation to Congress of a range-appraisal study now under fhiy in Westen OF THE JOURNAL'S LAS CRUCES BUREAU LAS CRUCES President Reagan faces tough decisions in his second term including what to do about farm legislation and increased grazing fees, an administration official said Thursday.

"Grazing fees go up; the question is how much," Assu-cant Secretary tf the Interior Dr. Garry Carruthers told dele.