Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 16

Journal Staff Report Landowners in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District have the opportunity Tuesday to select three directors for the district board. The district is responsible for distributing irrigation water to farmers in a 150-mile stretch of the Rio Grande from Cochiti to Bosque del Apache. It also deals with flooding and drainage issues. All three seats are contested. In the Position 2 Bernalillo County race, current at-large board member Augusta Meyers is taking on Hector Gonzales, who has held one of the three Bernalillo County seats since 1984.

Adrian Oglesby, a North Valley water attorney is also seeking seat. Gonzales, a retired plumbing and heating contractor who lives in the South Valley and who owns agricultural land in Corrales and the valley, has said he wants another term because he is disappointed in the way the district has been run recently, particularly the failure to properly maintain and protect the ditches and trails. Meyers was appointed by the board to the at-large seat in 2004 and was the public relations director at the time. She is now communications manager for the Mid- Region Council of Governments and lives in the North Valley. She has said that, although she is not an irrigator, she believes in keeping the valley green and identifies with people who live near ditches and trails and use them for recreation.

Oglesby, who is a lawyer for the Interstate Stream Commission on matters relating to the Pecos and Gila rivers, has said he sees water as more of a community resource than a commodity. He has said he wants water rights within the district protected rather than having it viewed as a water bank for municipal and industrial use. Two farmers are running for the at-large Position 1 seat Gordon Herkenhoff and Cecil Eugene Abeita. Herkenhoff, who grows alfalfa and winter wheat north of Socorro in San Acacia, served on the board from 1988 to 1992. He has said he is running to protect irrigated agriculture and its access to water.

Abeita raises cattle and alfalfa in the Isleta Pueblo and works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has said his main con- cerns are water quality and equal water deliveries to all the farmers in the district, although the district should not forget its urban constituents. For Position 5 in Valencia County, board chairman Jose Otero, who raises cattle and alfalfa in Peralta and has served on the board since 1986, faces Janet Jarratt, a Los Lunas dairy farmer whom he defeated in 2003. Otero has said he is running to continue the good work the conservancy district does to get water to irrigators. Jarratt, a board member for the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, has said she sees room for improvement in the district.

Jarratt has said there are impacts and interactions between the district and water planning, transportation planning and land use and the district could go a long way to improve those interactions. To find out more about the district or the election, call the main office at 247-0234, or visit its updated Web site at www.mrgcd.com. METRO NM Monday une 4, 2007 B8 ALBUQUERQUEJOURNAL ABQjournal.com Contact us Charlie Moore City News823-3841 John Robertson State News823-3911 Conservancy District To Elect Leaders ABEITA: Main concern is water quality GONZALES: Wants to serve another term HERKENHOFF: Served on board from 1988 to 1992 JARRATT: New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau board member MEYERS: Appointed to board in 2004 OGLESBY: Says water is a community resource OTERO: Board chairman wants another term Voting information Voting is Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To view candidate questionnaires and voting locations, go to abqjournal.com.

7 Candidates Vie For 3 Open Seats FINE OFFERINGS ERIN Carnival of the Arts show at Historic Old San Ysidro Church drew dozens of area artists, including silver jewelry maker Juan Lopez. The arts carnival ran Saturday and Sunday Close to Deal ARTIN ALAZAR Journal Staff Writer UNM officials are nearing agreement on a plan to hand over the LodeStar Astronomy Center to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, effective July 1. The move would save the University of New Mexico about $500,000 a year, said David Harris, the executive vice president for administration. He said UNM has been having to dip into research and instruction and general funds to subsidize the astronomy center. a very logical said Adrian Hunt, executive director of the museum.

many win-win situations in Gary Friedman, president of the board of trustees, said he expects the astronomy center to be self sufficient. feel we can run it efficiently so we will not be losing he said. The LodeStar Astronomy Center is inside the museum, located on Mountain NW near Old Town. The astronomy center bills itself as offering a world class planetarium, interactive astronomy exhibits, and observatory and a motion simulation theater. The public will continue to have access to the astronomy center and all its programs, with the exception of the motion simulator, which will be discontinued, Friedman said.

As part of the agreement now being finalized, UNM would have free use of the center for research and educational programs for five years. The agreement contains an option to renew after the five years, Harris said. me, it was a Harris said. get all the benefits of using it without any of the The agreement will be presented to the UNM board of regents at its June 12 meeting, Harris said. The museum board will also have to sign off on the agreement.

The astronomy center is now staffed by six UNM employees, Harris said. The museum is trying to keep the technical director, and two others will take on other duties at the university. The other three have been placed on status, and UNM hopes to have them reassigned by July, Harris said. He said that, if all goes according to plan, the museum would take possession of the astronomy center on July 1. The center opened its doors to the public in December 1999.

It was built with a state appropriation and a U.S. Air Force grant, Harris said. The LodeStar Astronomy Center was to have been one of three centers around the state funded by the $15.8 million Air Force grant and by $12 million in state funds. UNM ended up returning about half of those funds after opting not to move forward with the remaining two centers. The university abandoned its effort to build an astronomy-based tourist and research center near Grants in 2001, deciding that it would never be financially self-supporting.

Money for the project, dubbed Enchanted Skies Park, was also running out. The third major component was to have been a large telescope west of Socorro to be connected over the Internet to New Mexico schools. Those plans were also canceled. Natural History May Run LodeStar JOURNAL FILE A telescope peers into space from the LodeStar Astronomy Center, located at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The museum could take charge of the center in July.

Off ice Inquiry Finds Evidence of Pr oblems RIP ENNINGS Journal Capitol Bureau SANTA FE An internal investigation at the State Personnel Office has found evidence of sexual harassment and possible time and attendance problems, according to an attorney for the agency. The findings and recommendations were reviewed by the State Personnel Board, which met in Grants on Friday. The report, compiled by Robert Caswell Investigations, found that three employees had engaged in including jokes and using inappropriate said Sean Fitting, the general counsel. Appropriate action, which could include discipline, was recommended against the employees accused of sexual harassment, Fitting said. The report also found evidence of possible time and attendance problems and recommended the board further investigate five employees, Fitting said.

It was unclear what the problems involved, but Fitting said a recommendation was made for the agency to use a check-out log at the front desk. The investigation was commissioned by the state agency after allegations were made of sexual harassment, favoritism, age discrimination and retaliation against employees. The report recommended the agency hire a human resources consultant to determine whether age discrimination occurred. And while no conclusive proof of favoritism was found, the report recommended the agency hire a human resources expert to examine three work history, Fitting said. He said the State Personnel Board appointed two members to ensure that the recommendations were carried out.

The board will have a special meeting for agency employees at 10a.m. on June15 at the State Personnel Office, Fitting said. Journal Staff and Wire Reports School Break-In Suspect Arrested A man was arrested Friday after he allegedly attempted to break into Mountain View Elementary School, according to police reports. Mario Romero, 19, was charged with aggravated burglary, possession of burglary tools and conspiracy to commit a felony, after officers found him in the boiler room. Officers found pry marks on the boiler room door, and several other doors in the kindergarten area of the school had been pried open.

When police searched Romero, they found a knife and a pair of leather gloves. According to police reports, another male was found in the boiler room with Romero, but no identifying information about him was available. Two BMX bicycles were found near the scene. Dylan Returning To Albuquerque Bob Dylan will play at the Journal Pavilion on July 22 on his summer tour. Albuquerque Journal Press Pass subscribers can purchase Dylan tickets in advance, beginning at 10 a.m.

Wednesday. The pre-sale will end at 10 p.m. Thursday. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday.

Tickets are $33.50 to $53.50 through www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 883-7800. Although the opening act been confirmed, Irish rockers The Frames will open for Dylan on his Australia and New Zealand leg of the tour. No Contest Plea Fr om eenager ALAMOGORDO An Alamogordo teenager has pleaded no contest to a charge of extreme cruelty to animals. Nicholas Stogden, 13, also pleaded no contest Friday in state district court to conspiracy and tampering with evidence. Stogden, 14-year-old James Manzanares and 15-year-old Dasha Lombard were arrested May 7 after they allegedly captured and tortured a puppy.

State District Judge James Waylon Counts ordered Stogden to undergo a psychological evaluation before a sentencing date is set. Stogden requested that he be released to the custody of his mother to prove that not a But Counts denied the request, saying that Stogden is a threat to the community and that he may be in danger because of the publicity surrounding the case. are probably one of the three most hated people in Otero Counts told the teen. AROUND NEW MEXICO.