Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 13

METROPOLITAN Friday, July 21, 1989 Albuquerque Journal Page 1, Section ay Sought Coca-Cola's Water Passes Lab Tests For Cancer Agent In Killi By Rene Kimball JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Memorial Service Held for Victim By Glen Rosales JOURNAL STAFF WRITER sa 3 rm rl lU I iw Sxi ill. YAi A sst -44 i Jul vices Division. Bennett said plant officials were cooperating with the city. "They were reacting very responsibly to this finding," he said. The plant has city water available because it switches to the municipal system when it is doing work on its own water system or flushing its water filters, he said.

In addition to the analysis at the state lab, the plant is sending samples of water from its filter system to Coca-Cola labs in Georgia, Hauf said. Results will be available today. The company probably will continue a rigorous, frequent sampling procedure on the water coming through the filter on its own, Sheyka said. Officials don't know the source or the dimensions of the contamination plume affecting the Coke well, but they have not picked up signs of TCE at other nearby wells. A private well used by a nearby water bottling company, Southeast Public Service turned up no sign of compound when it was tested in late June, according to Sheyka.

Other soda bottling companies in Albuquerque rely on city water. The state Environmental Improvement Division's Superfund section on Wednesday agreed to investigate the source of the contamination, but it can't begin the probe until more funds become available with the start of the federal fiscal year Oct. 1, Bennett said. The city doesn't have money to drill test wells, he added. Albuquerque police are searching for a gray Volkswagen they say may be connected to the shooting of Kaitlyn Arquette.

Kaitlyn died Monday after being shot twice in the head Sunday night. Thursday afternoon, she was honored in a memorial service. At a news conference earlier Thursday, police said they were following a variety of leads but still had no firm suspects in the case. Police are asking the owners of the Volkswagen to come forward in case they may have seen something that would be helpful to the investigation. "We are not saying this is a suspect's car," police Chief Sam Baca said, during a news conference Thursday.

"It was seen around the area around the time of the shooting." Water used by a local soft drink bottling company shows no contamination by a chemical compound suspected of causing cancer, a city health official said Thursday. The state scientific laboratory reported no detectable level of trichloroethene in the water being used to produce Coca-Cola, said Jeff Sheyka, manager of the city Consumer Protection Division. "Our water's fine," said Brad Hauf, quality control manager for the Coca-Cola -Dr Pepper Bottling Co. near downtown Albuquerque. "What's going into our product has zero." Trichloroethene, usually known by the initials TCE, is a volatile organic compound often used in solvents such as dry cleaning chemicals and engine cleaning solutions.

City tests done in the spring and earlier this month found TCE in amounts three times the federal standard in water being pumped from the plant's private well near downtown. Officials had said they did not expect to find any of the compound in water being used to produce Coke because it first goes through a state-of-the-art carbon filtration system. The Coke plant switched to city water temporarily on Wednesday night pending the outcome of the water tests, said Bill Bennett, manager of the city Environmental Ser fcjr- V. 4 fcJ iif'' Trio Draw City Pay While at Legislature The Volkswagen does not have an engine cover and has a loud muffler, Baca said. During the news conference, Ray Baca, deputy chief administrative officer for public safety, said the general public is not in danger, despite a recent wave of drive-by shootings.

Chief Baca agreed, adding, "The overall crime rate is down. Most of the drive-by shootings are gang-related." Chief Baca said the Kaitlyn Arquette shooting is being investigated by homicide detectives and the gang-unit because of the apparently random, drive-by nature of the killing. Kaitlyn was found Sunday night in her red Ford Tempo after the car hit a pole on the 400 block of Lomas NE. Chief Baca said at least three bullets had been fired at the car, with two hitting Kaitlyn in the head and another lodging in the left door post. A small-caliber weapon was used, Baca said.

Besides the car, detectives are investigating other leads in the case, Baca said, but he declined to give specifics. Outside the funeral, Kaitlyn's girlfriends filed past Dung Nguyen, Kaitlyn's boyfriend, hugging and consoling him. Later, he talked about the night Kaitlyn was shot. "I waited and waited and waited for her," Nguyen said. "But she never came home.

Nobody called me. Nobody told me nothing." "Then police came to the door," he said. "They started searching my house, and going through everything. They asked my whereabouts that night. They asked if I had a gun.

I kept asking them 'What happened? What "When they told me, I went down there, but she had already been taken to the hospital. I went to the hospital. It wasn't like her, it didn't look like her. I didn't know who she was," Nguyen said. By Jim Martin JOURNAL STAFF WRITER JEFF SCOTT JOURNAL Friends of Kaitlyn Arquette, an 18-year-old victim of a drive-by shooting, offer condolences to her family during the funeral Thursday afternoon.

Nguyen said he enjoyed singing and playing music with Kaitlyn. "And we used to ride around together," he said. Nguyen said the couple had bought a cat on Saturday. "We didn't even name her," he said. "I would give her a name, and she wouldn't like it and change it, then she would change it again." One of Kaitlyn's childhood friends remembered family summer vacations together.

"Our families went camping together in the Pecos Mountains," said Molly O'Nan, 23. "I've known her since we were kids." "I remember painting her face white like a clown's face," O'Nan said. "That's the way she was. She was always just a very happy person. This is really tragic." The Albuquerque police were represented by six motorcycle officers, more than the usual escort complement.

"It is important that we come out and show that we do care," said traffic Sgt. John B. Gallegos. "This is just sad." Vargas had 84. "Legislators are representing their constituents when they're in Santa Fe, not working for the city," Dinelli said.

"The city shouldn't be paying their salary if they aren't doing their city job." Yntema agreed with Dinelli that the pay arrangement needs to be stopped. "This is a scandal and a fraud," Yntema said. "The elected representatives with the connivance of Mayor (Ken) Schultz are being given privileged treatment over other city employees." Chief Administrative Officer Clarence Lithgow answered questions posed to Schultz. Lithgow said it's his job not the mayor's to oversee personnel matters. "The practice has been in effect many years before this administration," Lithgow said through a spokesman.

Saavedra, who is assistant Parks and Recreation director; and Silva, who is a water utility supervisor, said they work weekends and evenings at their city jobs to make up the time they serve in Santa Fe. Vargas is on leave following a traffic accident and couldn't be reached for comment. While Saavedra said he carefully documents the extra hours he works and reports it to the mayor's office, Silva admitted that he doesn't always record the time. However, Dinelli and Yntema pointed out that the city doesn't have an official "comp time" policy that allows employees to take off when they work extra hours. Three state lawmakers working full time at City Hall continue drawing paychecks while away at the Legislature a practice some councilors say makes a sham of personnel rules.

Mayor Ken Schultz's top aide said Thursday that legislators aren't abusing the system, adding the pay policy has been followed by previous administrations as well. A section of the city's Merit System Ordinance reads, "Sufficient leave of absence without pay may be granted to a permanent employee to enable him to hold a public office to which he has been elected or appointed." Councilors Pete Dinelli and Hess Yntema interpret that rule to only give legislators the option of taking leave without pay or using vacation time when they are in Santa Fe for weeks at a time. The Legislature meets 60 days one year and 30 days the next. City payroll records show state Reps. Henry "Kiki" Saavedra, Daniel P.

Silva and Ray Vargas, all Democrats from Bernalillo County, collected their regular paychecks during the 60-day session ending in March. Saavedra's biweekly gross pay during the session averaged around Silva's around $1,600 and Vargas' around $1,700. They also continued to accrue vacation time from the city. At the end of the session, Saavedra had 329 hours coming, Silva had 343 and Panel Named in Search for May Successor By Nancy Tipton JOURNAL STAFF WRITER 200 placements in colleges and universities across the country, including recent appointments at Arizona State University and the University of Oklahoma. In addition to the committee and search firm, six university presidents and other higher education officials have agreed to help identify candidates for the job.

The advisory group includes Wesley Posvar, president of the University of Pittsburgh; Wilma Martinez of the University of California board of regents; Hans Mark, chancellor of the University of Texas system; Clark Kerr, former president of the University of California and chancellor of its Berkeley campus; Kenneth Pye, president of Southern Methodist University; and Philip E. Austin, president of Colorado State University. Other committee members are regents Sig Hecker and Sanchez; B. Hobson Wildenthal, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; English professor Rudolfo Anaya; Microbiology Department chairwoman Ellen Goldberg; student Bliss McCracken; and alumnus John P. Salazar.

"We want to keep politics as far from this process as possible and I think we have succeeded," Sanchez said. The regents also voted to hire the consulting firm of Heidrick and Struggles at a cost of $30,000 plus out-of-pocket expenses of not more than $7,500 to help in the search. The firm was selected because of its "outstanding record of higher education searches nationwide," said regent Ken Johns. R. William Funk, a partner and manager with Heidrick and Struggles, said the firm has made The search for a successor to University of New Mexico President Gerald May began Thursday as the regents named a committee of eight people and a national consulting firm to find candidates for the job.

Regent Roberta Cooper Ramo was selected to chair the committee, which will select at least five finalists. The regents will choose the new president after finalists have been interviewed. Regents President Robert Sanchez has said he would like to see a new president in office by the time May leaves. May, who has been president since July 1986, announced two weeks ago he will step down in June 1990. Homeless Find Future With City Corps By Rene Kimball JOURNAL STAFF WRITER It also was sinking a monitoring well to track the water table over a year's time.

Next winter, the corps will help renew the area by planting cottonwood poles that must reach the water table to survive. Ramirez' six-month stint with the corps may lead to a temporary job in the city's Fark Management Division. He was to take a physical for the job last week. That's all part of the plan to train and encourage the men during their time in the program, with the ultimate goal of getting those who are qualified onto the city's payroll. Barron said if they snag temporary jobs they will be able to bid for permanent city posts.

Funding for the program was channeled through the city's Human Services Department. "This was such a cooperative effort because everybody wanted these folks to succeed," said Nancy Roope, who coordinates St Martin's jobs program. "The project became important to the men as well. They took pride that they were paving the way for other homeless people," she added. $100,000 Community Grant Funding Bosque Cleanup meals, a clothing exchange service and help finding jobs.

The idea behind the Conservation Corps was to use part of a $100,000 community block grant earmarked for bosque cleanup to offer a hand up to homeless people and others struggling to get into the work force, said Tony Barron, an Open Space supervisor overseeing the project. "Our thrust in doing the project was to create a sense of pride, give them a feeling of responsibility, give them some training and also give some restoration to the bosque," Barron said. The project started in January and will continue through this year. The $30,000 contract with St Martin's may be renewed for future years, Barron said. Last week, the crew stacked and removed charred brush, branches and debris left in the Cottonwood forest near Central Avenue during the Fourth of July fire two years ago.

The work is hot and physically demanding, but Francisco Ramirez says he's glad to have it. He's part of the city Open Space Division's Conservation Corps, helping clean up and restore parts of the Rio Grande bosque that have been dumped on and burned by fires in recent years. The corps is made up of formerly homeless men who hooked up with the city through St. Martin's Hospitality Center's Alliance Job Service. Ramirez, 37, who worked as a dishwasher before joining the bosque crew, said he hopes bis efforts will lead to a more secure future.

He is married with two children. "I try my best. I don't miss. I come out here and work really hard, showing them I really want to work," he said. Ramirez and five other men in the corps also are getting a chance to improve their work skills and possibly their future work prospects.

St Martin's provides an array of services to homeless people, including a day shelter, OOtf JIM THOMPSON JOURNAL Larry Harjo a member of the city Open Space Division's Conservation Corps, stacks up tree limbs to be chipped and used by the city Parks and Rec xation Department. 1 1 (I.