Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 19

An ancient discipline An exhibit of Japanese arranging sponsored by local ikebana organizations will be at the Rio Grande Botanic Garden showroom Saturday and Sunday. Come learn about the art form from the experts in this ancient discipline, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. free with Botanic Garden admission.

Find Voter Guide online The online Voter Guide is starting on our Web site. Go to ABQjournal.com/voter and click on the tab. already a sample ballot, links to important voter information and the start of many candidate profiles. More will be added daily as the Nov. 4 election nears.

Comics contest your chance to influence the Journal print-edition comics page. Vote for your favorite of these two comics or One is new, and keep the winner. Go to ABQjournal.com to vote. The poll stays open until Oct. 24.

Rosary rally is Saturday A rosary rally will be held at noon Saturday at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, at Lomas and Tennessee NE. The theme of the 2008 Public Square Rosary will be to ask God and His Holy Mother to save America. For more information, call Peter Eichenberg at 298-1328. METRO NM Friday, October 10, 2008 DAILY BRIEFING D2 CLASSIFIEDS D3 OBITUARIES D10 ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL ABQjournal.com Go figure N.Y. Times crossword puzzle D3 FBI Investigating Suspicious Voter Cards By Dan McKay Journal Staff Writer Bernalillo top election official will meet with the FBI today to discuss about 1,400 suspicious voter- registration cards turned in this year.

County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said election workers have set aside a growing pile of registration forms with problems, such as false Social Security numbers or names copied from a phone book. The state Attorney Office said also reviewing suspicious cards turned over by Toulouse Oliver, in charge of preparing the voter rolls for next election. The clerk said she also has spoken with District Attorney Kari Brandenburg. The head organizer of the local ACORN chapter, meanwhile, said that as many as 3,000 of the 80,000 new voter registrations the group turned in statewide are incomplete, duplicates or problematic. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is an advocacy group for low-income people.

The non- profit fired about 46 workers this year out of 600 after they turned in bad registrations, said Matthew Henderson, head organizer for the local chapter of ACORN. Toulouse Oliver said the FBI contacted her office this week. have (the voter forms) prepared and she said. (the FBI) want the records, we will hand those over and provide any other cooperation The suspicious cards been added to the voter rolls, she said, because election workers were unable to verify their legitimacy. The cards are turned in largely by outside groups, including ACORN, conducting registration drives.

Henderson said ACORN helped identify suspicious cards. ACORN had staff assigned to calling the names listed on voter-registration cards. Workers were fired when the quality-control staffers found irregularities. we have even the slightest inkling, we write it said Bianca Brown, local quality-control manager. The problematic cards were turned into elections bureaus Henderson said a legal requirement but were County Clerk To Meet With Agency See FBI on PAGE D2 Mom Found Not Guilty In Death Paralyzed 14-Year-Old Died From Bed Sore Infection By Clara Garcia Valencia County News-Bulletin LOS LUNAS A woman accused of placing her adopted 14-year-old daughter in a situation that caused her death was acquitted Thursday.

Nelda Anne Piggott, 60, wept as the jury read its verdict. The jury, which deliberated for more than three hours, found Piggott not guilty on one count of abandonment or abuse of a child resulting in death. Piggott and her son, Christopher, were arrested after Amanda Piggott died in what police described as a trash-filled house in Meadow Lake on Jan. 8, 2008. The teenager died of an infection caused by a fourth-degree pressure ulcer, also known as a bed sore, on her right buttock as well as chronic pneumonia, a medical examiner testified during the trial.

During the four-day trial, which was presided over by District Judge John Pope, Piggott testified that she had become severely depressed after a long battle with cancer, a separation from her husband, who ultimately died, and problems with two other adopted children. was either do for the kids or the house I have energy for Piggott said. was very The girl, who was paralyzed and had severe medical conditions including a brain injury, was first placed in the home as a foster child and was later adopted by Nelda Piggott. The injury was caused in 1995, when the girl, then known as Leandra, was 3 years old. She was beaten by her boyfriend and was left paralyzed, brain damaged and dependent on a feeding tube.

Christopher Piggott, 21, is awaiting a hearing to determine competency. Part-Time Resident Earns Nobel in Lit By Martin Salazar Journal Staff Writer The Nobel Prize for literature was awarded Thursday to French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le a part-time Albuquerque resident who has taught at the University of New Mexico. The Swedish academy that selected Le for the honor called him an of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning Since 1990, Le and his wife have split their time between Albuquerque, the island of Mauritius and his native Nice, according to the Nobel Prize Web site. Le 68, was a visiting professor in Modern and Classical Languages department in 1977-78 and again in 1984-85. He was a visiting professor of foreign languages and literature at UNM in 1992-93, when he held the PNM Endowed Chair.

very attached to New Mexico and Amerindian cultures and Hispanic UNM See PART-TIME on PAGE D2 LE MORGAN The Flying Cathedral prepares to head skyward during Special Shape Rodeo at the Balloon Fiesta. Special shapes rule again today with a Rodeo this morning and a Glowdeo this evening. Addison Florence, 2, checks out the action from atop her father shoulders as Azul prepares for liftoff. The Florences are from Tucson. Manzano Alum Earns Silver Star The Associated Press FORT BRAGG, N.C.

An 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper from New Mexico on Thursday received the third-highest medal for his heroism in combat against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Sgt. 1st Class James heroics in December saved the lives of at least four of his soldiers, earning him the Silver Star. Maj. Gen.

Curtis M. Scaparrotti awarded the medal to Brasher during a ceremony at the War Memorial Museum at Fort Bragg. The Fayetteville Observer reported that the description of the battle provided by soldiers for his nomination described him operating coolly in a hailstorm of enemy fire. But the 29-year-old Brasher, who graduated from Manzano High School in 1998, said his soldiers are the real heroes. adequately describe the feeling of pride that I felt when I looked back at them Paratrooper recognized for battle against Taliban See MANZANO on PAGE D2 Online From slide shows to videos to stories, the Journal has your Balloon Fiesta needs taken care of.

Go to ABQjournal.com/balloon for the Balloon Fiesta page. Today a.m.: Dawn Patrol 7-8 a.m.: Wells Fargo Special Shape Rodeo 8 a.m.-6 p.m.: Chainsaw Wood Carving Contest 8-9 a.m.: Honda Key Grab Competition p.m.: Wells Fargo Special Shape Glowdeo 8-9 p.m.: AfterGlow Fireworks Show presented by Albuquerque Journal Saturday a.m.: Dawn Patrol 7-8 a.m.: Mass Ascension 8 a.m.-6 p.m.: Chainsaw Wood Carving Contest p.m.: Night Magic Glow 6-7 p.m.: Chainsaw Carvers Auction 8-9 p.m.: AfterGlow Fireworks Show presented by Albuquerque Journal Opting for the bus More people are taking the bus to the Balloon Fiesta. D2 Contest winner See who won Photo Contest of the Day. D2 Balloon Fiesta Schedule HOLY COW! U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SPC.

STEPHEN Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, left, awards a Silver Star to Sgt. 1st Class James Brasher at the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum on Thursday at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Quote of the day continuing to entice the defendant into making statements to his detriment, the prosecution, specifically (Brandenburg), placed politics above Liane Kerr, attorney for slaying suspect Clifton Bloomfield, in a motion filed Thursday about how District Attorney Kari Brandenburg allegedly reneged on a plea deal for her client Flying the colors The flag is to be flown at full staff today..