Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 15

River cleanup Join the city of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Open Space Division, REI, Kirtland Air Force Recreation and other local organizations for the annual National River Cleanup event from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 19. There will be cleanup activities for all ages in the bosque along the Central Avenue bridge. Pre-register with REI online at www.rei.com/ albuquerque or call 247-1191.

Heinrich has money edge U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich has almost four times more campaign money than state Auditor Hector Balderas in the primary race for U.S. Senate. Page C2 Al energy tips Some readers have asked: Does it make energy sense to hang my clothes up to dry on an inside- the-house rack if I have a clothesline? Well, it depends.

In the late spring through early summer, the answer is Drying clothes inside will tend to cool (and humidify) your house. In the winter, your furnace is essentially providing the energy to dry your clothes. But still, clothes last longer when not beaten into lint by the tumble dryer. Alan Zelicoff is a former senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories. If you have an energy question or tip for Dr.

Zelicoff, you can email him at Runoff elections in Rio Rancho Runoff elections today in Rio Rancho will determine who will represent City Council Districts 4 and 6 for the next four years. Voters can cast ballots between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at any one of the polling stations: Rio Rancho City Hall, 3200 Civic Center Circle; Meadowlark Senior Center, 4330 Meadowlark Lane; Mountain View Middle School, 4101 Montreal Loop, or Soul Rio Community Church, 2003 Southern. For more information, go to www.ci.rio-rancho.nm.us/.

Flying the colors The flag is to be flown at full staff today. Quote of the day keep coming back to that word something that differentiates us from a lot of Tourism Secretary Monique Jacobson about a new ad campaign touting New Mexico as a vacation destination. METRO NM Tuesday, April 17, 2012 OBITUARIES C3 CLASSIFIEDS C4 COMICS C8 ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL ABQjournal.com Silver screen See playing at a theater near you. C4 slug: Flag Mast where: news artist: Cathryn size: 1 col 20p7 date of proof: April 29, 2009 color bw Gov. Seeks More Names for Judgeship By Barry Massey The Associated Press SANTA FE Republican Gov.

Susana Martinez, like her Democratic predecessor, wants a choice of candidates when it comes to appointing judges, and flexing her gubernatorial power to make her point. Martinez has asked an independent judicial nominating commission to go back to work and send her more than one candidate for a judicial vacancy in southern New Mexico. Former Gov. Bill Richardson took a similar approach in 2007, and the dispute ended up before the state Supreme Court. Richardson, however, never got the extra judicial candidates he sought.

In New Mexico, the governor appoints district judges from candidates recommended by a bipartisan nominating commission, which is made up of judges, lawyers and members of the public who are not lawyers. Unlike many other boards and commissions, the governor names only a few members of a nominating commission. Judges, legislative leaders and a statewide organization of lawyers select most members. A screening commission last month interviewed four applicants for a judgeship in the 6th Judicial District, which covers Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties, but recommended only one person Deming lawyer Jennifer DeLaney, a Democrat. All the applicants are running for the judgeship in this elections two Democrats and two Republicans.

Scott Darnell, a spokesman for the governor, said request for more nominees nothing to do with the particular applicant who was governor simply wants to uphold the separate con- stitutional duties assigned to the judicial nominating commission and the governor, respectively. State law affords her the opportunity to fill the vacancy as opposed to the judicial nominating commission, in effect, making the Darnell said in a statement. The commission is to meet Vacancy Is In Southern N.M. See GOV. on PAGE C2 By James Monteleone Journal Staff Writer Republican congressional candidate Janice Arnold-Jones will run unopposed in the June 5 primary after a state district judge on Monday removed opponent Gary Smith from the race for submitting invalid voter petitions.

District Judge Shannon Bacon ruled Smith fell short of the required 1,579 voter signatures after 410 of the 1,823 signatures Smith submitted were determined to be invalid. Bacon said those signatures count because they were either duplicated on other petitions voters cannot sign more than one petition in a race or they came from voters who registered as Republicans in the 1st Congressional District. A group of eight Republican voters filed the lawsuit to oust Smith from the ballot after reviewing his petitions. Arnold-Jones described the group as and for her campaign. feel getting a fair said Smith, a retired Army veteran who had no political experience when he became a candidate for the Albuquerque-area U.S.

House seat. Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis dropped out of the Republican race last month. Arnold-Jones, a former state representative, Republican Off U.S. House Ballot Judge Says Smith Had Too Few Valid Voter Signatures SMITH: Says he was by GOP lawyers See SMITH on PAGE C2 Journal Staff Report Albuquerque resident Robert taxes might be a little harder to do next year. Before working on his 2011 taxes Sunday morning, Platt checked his Powerball and Hot Lotto tickets on the state website and discovered he had won $1.54 million Hot Lotto jackpot.

started looking at the numbers, and I realized I have all these Platt told state lottery officials Monday when he claimed his prize. was quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers of 7, 16, 18, 32, 35 and the Hot Ball of 8, beating the odds of 1 in nearly 11 million. Platt, who said he began playing the 15-state Hot Lotto four months ago, elected to take the pre-tax cash option of $1.15 million. He said he plans to pay off his mortgage and his loans for law school in California. Platt bought his winning ticket at the 7-Elev- Duke City Man Claims Hot Lotto Prize See $1M on PAGE C2 DANCE OF GOOD FORTUNE JOHN Tiny eagle dancers from Laguna Head Start program dance a prayer for the rains that have sustained the community for centuries during a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for new municipal water system.

Turn on the Laguna Pueblo Gov. Richard Luarkie, left, looks at a display of old broken water pipes with Jonathan Adelstein, center, and Terry Brunner, right, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The pueblo and the federal agency are teaming up to fund a new municipal water system for the rural community west of Albuquerque. waterworks Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal By John Fleck Journal Staff Writer AGUNA PUEBLO Where other kids are used to getting time off for at Laguna Pueblo sometimes when the pipes serving the school break.

At the pueblo west of Albuquerque, a rickety municipal water system prone to frequent main breaks has made residents accustomed to losing their water supply. Laguna Gov. Richard Luarkie said Monday. For Luarkie, it happened last weekend, when a main up the street from his house broke and he and his neighbors were without water for three hours. Laguna Pueblo breaks ground on $30 million water system See LAGUNA on PAGE C2 City Councilors, Mayor Battle Over Police Shootings By Dan McKay Journal Staff Writer A familiar question dominated much of City Council meeting: How should City Hall respond to the number of people shot by Albuquerque police? Few clear answers emerged, but there was plenty of debate.

City Councilor Isaac Benton said he took to the mayoral administration questioning whether he and other council Democrats support the men and woman of the Albuquerque Police Department. Benton said he takes issue with the leadership of the department, not its rank and file. The administration, in turn, said Benton and other critics had failed to offer any constructive recommendations on how to respond to the police shootings. And yet again, the relatives of those shot by police added their voices to the debate, calling for a review of the police-oversight system. One speaker broached the idea of seeking a national boycott of Albuquerque because of the shootings.

The emotional debate is becoming a familiar one at council meetings. See COUNCILORS on PAGE C2.