Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 1

RNA1 ALBU OU QUERQU1 108th Year No. 218 110 Pages In 8 Sections Friday Morning, August 5, 1988 Copyright 1988, Journal Publishing Co. Daily 35Z Sunday $1 Apprehensive PNM Employees Await Layoff News By Janelle Conaway Rumors Abound Pending Sept. 1 Announcement JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Leon King, PNM's group manager of human resources, said departments hold regular staff meetings to give out information and discuss and dispel rumors. "The anxiety level is high for all of us," said King, who has been with the company 27 years, since he was 18.

"Productivity's way down, of course," he said. Last week, PNM started distributing a weekly newsletter to employees, updating them on the corporate review process, and the company has held stress management classes over brown-bag lunches. King said the benefits package distributed to non- MORE: See RUMOR on PAGE A5 according to Phillip Ellis, a senior member of the consulting firm's team at PNM. "Our assignment is to assist PNM in becoming a more competitive enterprise," he said. Ellis said the firm is focusing on places PNM might cut operating and maintenance expenses, of which staff costs are an important part.

Although Ellis said these are "admittedly gut-wrenching times" for employees, he said PNM was seeking to make decisions that would be "as humane as possible under the circumstances." Working in an atmosphere of rumors and apprehension, Public Service Company of New Mexico's approximately 4,000 employees will have to wait almost a month to find out who will get laid off. Non-union employees were told this week what benefits they will get if their jobs are eliminated, but they will not be told who will be affected until Sept. 1. Rumors abound within the company, but PNM officials say they have not decided yet how many jobs will be cut or which departments will be affected. One lineman, who asked that his name not be used, said the rumors he had heard ranged anywhere from 100 to 900 employees losing their jobs.

PNM's chairman and president, Jerry Geist, told a reporter recently that any numbers being mentioned are purely speculative, since a consulting firm hired to examine the company hasn't finished its job yet. Booz, Allen Hamilton, of Bethesda, has been interviewing company managers, examining productivity compared to other utilities, scrutinizing the number of management layers top to bottom and searching for areas of overlapping responsibilities, 9 No urn Orai nance Advances Council Panel OKs Fireplace Restrictions if ii By Rene Kimball JOURNAL STAFF WRITER mm. 'A AW JIM THOMPSON JOURNAL Michael Dukakis loosens up by tossing a baseball to an aide during a refueling stop in Albuquerque Thursday. Albuquerque residents can expect to be ordered not to burn their fireplaces and wood stoves on smoggy nights this winter undqr the threat of a fine and jail sentence. The City Council's Public Works Committee on Thursday unanimously recommended approval of the proposed ordinance.

It now goes before the full council, probably on Aug. 15, where passage is virtually certain since the five-member committee comprises a majority of the council. Dealers who sell wood stoves won a concession under the version approved because stoves certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be exempt as long as they don't smoke. Concerns about the effect of mandatory no-burn nights on low-income people led to another amendment that will allow the city to exempt people for economic and health reasons.

The proposed ordinance is aimed at attacking the city's infamous "brown cloud" that forms on still winter mornings during temperature inversions. City environmental officials estimate the ban would be in effect 10 to 15 nights each winter. They are still working on details of how to notify the public of the no-burn nights, as well as exactly how they will enforce it. The bill originally would not have exempted EPA-certified stoves. But dealers successfully argued that people who have invested in the high-tech, mostly pollution-free devices should be able to use them throughout the winter.

"I think everybody feels good about it," said Floyd Williams, a partner in a wood stove business, after the vote. He said the ordinance puts the burden on dealers and customers to operate the stoves properly. The bill would allow EPA-certified stoves to smoke for 20 minutes after being started up a time period MORE: See COUNCIL on A3 Dukakis Catches Breath in Albuquerque By John Robertson A4 More politics JOURNAL POLITICS WRITER and former Gov. Toney Anaya, who campaigned in the primary for Jesse Jackson and subsequently was named to the Democratic National Committee. Others scheduled to attend include most Western Democratic governors and about 10 more members of Congress.

Dukakis is to arrive in Denver tonight for a fund-raiser at the governor's mansion. Proceeds are to go the Democratic National MORE: See DUKAKIS on A2 Democratic political leaders, including several from New Mexico. "It's a session for me to sit down and do some listening," the Massachusetts governor said. "There are some very important Western issues that I care very deeply about," Dukakis said. "I want a chance to sit and do a lot of question-asking myself." New Mexicans invited to attend the Denver meeting are Sen.

Jeff Bingaman, Rep. Bill Richardson, former Gov. Bruce King, who is Dukakis' New Mexico campaign chairman, Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, during a brief refueling stop in Albuquerque on Thursday, played catch on the apron at Cutter Flying Services and said he'll sit down this weekend in Denver to learn about Western issues. Tie loosened, shirt sleeves rolled up, and looking cool despite the heat, Dukakis took a break from ball-tossing to field questions from reporters. -He called the recent allegations that he in the past suffered debilitating mental depressions "absolute nonsense." And in response to President Reagan jokingly referring to him as an "invalid," Dukakis said, "The president apologized.

That's fine." Dukakis is to meet in a three-hour, closed-door session Saturday morning in Denver with about 32 Western Detectives Reopen 3-Year-Old Case By Ed Pierce JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT ft 4 I vVs-i fir this point is that it leads us to be very optimistic that we can solve this case." The Valencia County Sheriffs Department originally turned the case over to State Police in 1986 after a four-month invesigation failed to discover what became of Lansdell. State Police Sgt. Herman Silva said the Lansdell case remains open at this point, but he was unaware of any new information. "We've never treated this as a closed case," Silva said. "Our file on the matter is still open and it will continue to be until the case is solved." Lansdell's parents, who live in Peralta, said in an interview that they still have some hope that their daughter could be found alive, but after awaiting news of her fate for almost three years, MORE: See VALENCIA on PAGE A5 4New Leads' Surface On Vanished Nurse shook the city of Albuquerque.

In the aftermath, Lansdell's disappearance got intense public exposure, along with several other cases of women who had vanished or been killed. Lansdell was working as a nurse for the Lovelace Urgent Care Clinic on Isleta SW at the time of her disappearance. Her 1978 rust-colored Porsche 924 was found in an apartment parking lot on Gold SE in Albuquerque early in 1986. "What we're doing now is gathering every file on the case from the various law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation before we proceed," Romero said. "All I can say on the record about the new information we have at LOS LUNAS Valencia County sheriffs detectives will resume an investigation into the disappearance of a Belen nurse who vanished nearly three years ago after new information about the case turned up this week.

Valencia County Sheriff Lawrence Romero confirmed Thursday that his office is going to "take a hard look at some new leads" that have surfaced about the disappearance of Debra Lee Lansdell, who vanished Sept. 21, 1985, in Belen. Romero would not elaborate on the new information about Lansdell, but said he was "real confident" that a break would come in the case. Lansdell, 29, disappeared about three months before the abduction of Linda Lee Daniels from a Northeast Heights doorstep. Daniels' slaying Ex-Captain Accuses Chief Of Retaliating By Colleen Heild And John Yaeger JOURNAL STAFF WRITERS The former Internal Affairs captain who investigated the Albuquerque Police Intelligence Unit contends APD Chief Sam Baca tried to stop the audit from probing too deeply and tried to interfere when it focused on him.

Former Capt. Robert Casey also alleged in a tort claim notice filed with the city that he was forced to take early retirement in June because of retaliation against him for assisting Independent Counsel William Riordan in the probe. Casey said that despite assurances from Riordan and Mayor Ken Schultz, then-Chief Administrative Officer Gene Romo was "unable or unwilling" to prevent retaliation against him or other IA officers who helped in the audit. Baca said Casey's notice was "sour grapes" and nothing more than "a character assassination on me by a disgruntled, disloyal ex-employee." Casey's allegations are contained MORE: See EX-CAPTAIN on PAGE A8 Oebra Lansdell Car found in 1986 urRsDat At School Plan Casts Shadow on Summer By Patricia Gabbett JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Good Morning More scattered showers predicted. Who knows, New Mexico may someday boast rain forests.

Weather Partly cloudy through Saturday with scattered thunderstorms. Highs 70s to mid-90s. Lows upper 40s to near 70. CI 9. have a plan drawn up in about a month.

The idea got mixed reviews Thursday from students, parents and teachers. "She cried for an hour and a half this morning when I told her," said Alegra's mom, Madeleine Padilla. "Summer and swimming is her thing." Padilla, a teacher at Taylor Middle School, said she is uncertain how year-round schools will work. When the program begins in 1989, one MORE: See SCHOOL on PAGE A3 cided Wednesday to launch a pilot program a year from September that would have students attend classes year-round. Under similar programs in other states, students attend school in nine-week segments, with three weeks off in between.

Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Jack Bobroff is recommending that the program start at the elementary level at four or five schools. He told the school board that administrators can Dripping wet from the wave pool at The Beach Waterpark, an unhappy Aleg-ra Padilla plopped down on a yellow innertube at her mom's feet. "It's terrible. It's no fair. I like my summer," she said.

The 10-year-old had learned Thursday morning from her mother that this might be the end of summer vacation as she knows it. The Albuquerque School Board de ACTION LINE C2 COMICS C20 HAPPENINGS C14 ARNHOLZ A3 CROSSWORD C2 HOROSCOPE C2 ARTS C1-13 DAILY RECORD B6 METROPOLITAN Bl BRIDGE C2 DEAR ABBY C2 MOVIES F36-39 BUSINESS C15-18 DEATHS C19 NEW MEXICO B3 CLASSIFIED D6-E8 EDITORIALS A6-7 SPORTS D1-5 7.