El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 7

XS Mew LSD Page 1-B Monday, January 19, 1987 Snow still shuts some schools New Mexico loundup Thoreau said no classes were scheduled for today. Officials in Mountainair said classes there will not resume until Wednesday. Schools that scheduled shorter school days included those in Belen and Bernalillo, where "classes were scheduled to start about two hours later than which was buried under a record of at least 50 inches of snow, and the Moriarty area, where as much as 40 inches fell. Police said streets were passable Sunday in Los Alamos, a mountain community northwest of Santa Fe, and that traffic was moving. Please see Snow, 2B, Gov.

Garrey Carruthers Saturday declared four New Mexico counties disaster areas, and the weather-related death toll climbed to five. The storm began Thursday evening with high winds and blowing snow. More snow fell Friday and Saturday throughout the state. Hard-hit were Los Alamos, The Associated Press A winter storm that held New Mexico in its grip for three days has moved out of the state, but the snow and low temperatures it left behind still are causing trouble. At least four school districts in.

the state decided against conducting classes today because of the Icy roads in Texas 4B weather, and several others said they would have abbreviated sessions. Schools in Estancia, Moriarty, Lybrook and Mountainair will remain closed, and officials at the St. Bonaventure School in I in ii) i i mi ii in ll II HJMllll II tqilllllllllU. I mi, il mHwinmiiliillHHBM ii minium wmii 11111.x IN mmmtmm ffiirriiii 1 iinnm ri iriiinmri' -iiiininm 1 Starting life anew Crash survival called a miracle Warden wants right to lock up gang chiefs SANTA FE The warden iof the New Mexico penitentiary says he'll quit changes are made in a consent decree. George said Saturday the part of the Duran consent that he objects to takes away his 'discretion to lock up leaders.

a "If certain changes aren't forthcoming, I see no reason to in New Mexico," Sullivan said. The 1980 Duran consent, decree on prison conditions spells out about 460 points the state must comply with at four prisons. Sullivan said the ''decree interferes with his daily management duties by 0 dictating that inmates must certain overt acts before they can be locked in maximum security. "it. Pit house dates back 200 B.C., tests find FARMINGTON Carbon-dating tests on wood removed from a pit house excavated last ''year on Manzaneras.

Mesa indicate the ancient underground structure is 600 years older than archaeologists had estimated. Ron Hefner, staff 1 archaeologist for San Juan College's Cultural Resources Management Program, said test results indicate the Anasazi Indians carved the circular home 40 miles east of Farmington in about 200 B.C. Computer to track delinquent fathers SANTA FE New Mexico is buying a computer that will help speed the collection of delinquent child-support payments. Ben Silva of the Human Services Department said New Mexico bought the Computer-' On-Line-Tracking System for $250,000 using a grant under 'which the federal government pays 90 percent of the cost. The system, expected to bring in an extra $1 million in child-support payments during its first 12 months, is expected to be in place by April, Silva said.

-J- ngtmt By Marilyn Haddrill Times staff writer Vanda Levie Hood has no memory of a Dec. 14 accident in which a drunken driver crashed head-on into a van just south of Roswell. She was aboard that van, along with seven other young adults returning home to Roswell after attending a church-sponsored function in Carlsbad. The 16-year-old driver of the car that hit them, Toby Hopper of Roswell, was found guilty last week in Roswell District Court of driving while intoxicated and of two counts of causing great bodily harm. His sentencing will be Tuesday.

No one was killed in the pre-Christmas accident. But Hood was among three people critically injured. The last to leave the hospital. Hood was transported Tuesday to her parents' home in Roswell. She faces months of recuperation from a broken back, neck, jaw, arm, collarbone and foot.

Earlier, the 25-year-old had faced the prospect of paralysis, and possible amputation of an arm. Now, the prognosis is for recovery in a year to 18 months. "The only thing I remember is that cars scare me," Hood said, recalling the ordeal of her journey from the hospital to her parents' house. "I do wonder a lot why I lived. I have a daughter (2 years old).

I'm divorced. I'm feeling like maybe she needed to be raised by Maybe that's the reason I was spared." Her mother, Lani Levie of Roswell, said a nurse who visited her daughter's bedside the day after Christmas quietly explained: "I just wanted to come up and look at a miracle." "Several of the others (medical people) came in and said they felt they were part of a Christmas miracle," Levie said. The day after the accident, with five of the eight young people hospitalized, Roswell residents were observing the first day of National Drunk Drivers Awareness Week an irony that Wendell Wakefield painfully observed. Please see Crash, 2B Photos by The New Mexican at Santa Fe Than Piaa Downey, a second-grader in Tesuque Day School southeast of Santa Fe, studies in his reading class. Indian children learn of 2 worlds i i fun As a bureau employee, Smith cannot discuss the proposal, but she is proud of her school and her pupils, who must be at least one-quarter Indian and live in the Tesuque Pueblo school district.

Tesuque Day School, the principal said, is not a place where children perform below average. "If they can handle whatever they have to handle when they leave the reservation, then we've done our job," Smith said. After sixth grade, the students generally choose between Pojoaque Valley Middle School and Santa Fe Indian School. "We want them to do whatever it is they want to do, rather than feel they're stuck in one' place because they're afraid, or Please see Children, 2B Pueblo but raised in Taos, who she is reflects her origins. "I'm here because of the impact I can have on kids, and because I have a real specific, idea of what education should be like for Indian kids.

It's real 'important to give that back to people I come from," Smith said. But the future of the Tesuque Day School, like other Bureau of Indian Affairs schools that teach about 9,000 Indian children in New Mexico, is uncertain. Ross Swimmer, assistant secretary of the interior for Indian affairs, wants to hand over the schools to the tribes. Barring that, he wants to the state to take them over. Money to run them still will come from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but Swimmer said the way the children are taught must change.

Inez Russell Gannett News Service TESUQUE, N.M. Sam Charley's red head was bent with concentrated effort over his drawing of a slightly lopsided house and bright blue-green sun. Across the table, Greg Vigil shouted to his classmates: "You guys: blue and red it turns purple." The curious gathered to see for themselves, and Greg showed his discovery. Dolly Naranjo Smith, teacher and principal at the Tesuque Day School for the children of Tesuque Pueblo southeast of Santa Fe, smiled as the kindergarten children passed along this new bit of knowledge. She is a small woman, careful and precise in her words and actions.

Born at Santa Clara Penny Garcia teaches Kwathuu Montowine about computers. Stratton: Let buyers change their mind Dismantling may lie An Palo Verde's future A $615 million dismantling of the Palo Verde Nuclear generating Station after it its 40-year useful life is preferable to other alternatives for eliminating the plant's deadly radiation, Recording to a new report. Written for the Arizona Public Service Co. by Bridgewater, consultant Thomas LaGuardia, the report envisions workers protected by huge lead shields and using remote-controlled cutting torches to take apart the three reactors. The plant, 50 miles west of Phoenix, is owned by a consortium of seven Western -utilities, including El Paso Electric Co.

and Public Service Co. of New Mexico. Don't expect mail to be delivered today Federal offices will be closed today in New Mexico in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Many banks and other financial institutions will be closed.

The U.S. Postal Service will not deliver mail, but mail processing will continue. The observance of the slain civil rights leader's birthday is not a state holiday in New Mexico, so most city, county and state offices will be open. Schools will also be in session. Times wire reports Times numbers New Mexico news bureaus: Carlsbad 885-0844 Alamogordo 434-2204 LasCrucos 526-4211 Santa Fe 988-2937 Circulation: Alamogordo 437-3119 Artesia 748-2496 Carlsbad 885-9543 Deming 546-3591 Las Cruces 526-5444 RosweU 625-2670 Ruidoso (north) -257-9226 Ruidoso (south) 3 7 8-4806 Silver City 538-3249 hot line: 17 (800) 351-1677 Ext.

330 Arthur Tackman publishes the Courier. I Catron County Reserve, N.M., No blood, only ink 2 newspapers duel for a few readers By Sandra Griffin Times correspondent RESERVE, N.M. In a county as sparsely populated as Catron it's a wonder there's even one newspaper let alone enough for a "newspaper war," That's how Howard Hutchinson, co-editor and publisher of the Catron County Firestarter, described the emergence of the county's second newspaper, the Catron County Courier. But Arthur Tackman, who publishes the Courier With his wife, Mary, said, "We're not in any war. "We've been well-received, and far beyond my expectations," Arthur Tackman said of the Courier, which published its first issue Dec.

4. In a county with a population of about 3,500, Tackman said he believes the paper has been very successful, with a circulation of about 1,200 to 1,300. Tackman called the Fire-starter a rather than a newspaper and said the two are not in competition. That description annoyed Hutchinson, who said "it's not the size that defines a newspaper war Truth or Consequences By Bob Quick Times correspondent SANTA FE Attorney General Hal Stratton has some good news for consumers who make a bad buy and then decide they want their money back. There is presently no "cool-ing-off period" in New Mexico to rescind purchases of goods sold door-to-door.

But that will change soon if Stratton and Rep. Pauline Eisenstadt, D-Sandoval, have their way. The 60-day session of the New Mexico Legislature begins Tuesday. Eisenstadt said he will introduce a bill to provide consumers three days to make up their minds and get a refund for any door-to-door purchase more than $25 if they decide they don't want the merchandise. New Mexico is the only state without such a measure, and even though a Federal Trade Commission rule covers New Mexico, the proposed state law would make it' easier to enforce the statute in New Mexico courts.

Stratton said, "In general it seems like a pretty good idea. And it's not something that will defeat the free-enterprise system." Stratton expects the bill also to cover telephone solicitations. The "cooling-off period" protection proposal for consumers was one of 13 legislative steps urged by former Attorney General Paul Bardacke in October. And although Stratton doesn't expect to support all of those proposals, he is just as anxious as Bardacke was to protect New Mexico's consumers. Bardacke's top concern was the enactment of a health spa law.

He noted that "we have seen a spate of health spa closings around the state." Some consumers "are left out in the cold, sometimes having paid for full-year or even lifetime memberships just days before a spa suddenly closes its doors." Reps. Bob Hawk, D-Bernalillo, and Bill'Camp, R-Bernalillo, agree with Bardacke's concern and probably will introduce a bill calling for health spas to be bonded. Stratton was less enthusiastic about the need for such a measure. He said he will look at the proposal, but that he is not sure health spas need bonding requirements. Another New Mexico House member, Rep.

Alfonso Otero, D-Bernalillo, also is concerned about consumer legislation. And as the designated chairman of the Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, Otero said, "I think we'll be seeing a lot of consumer bills going through our committee." But Otero is more confident that Stratton will work for the consumer than some of his Democratic colleagues. "Hal's a fair and honest guy," he said. "He will make an excellent attorney general." X. Las CrucesX Times photos Howard Hutchinson publishes the Firestarter.

man." Hutchinson admitted he has had political aspirations of his own. He ran for county commissioner in November as a Libertarian write-in candidate. He was defeated by Republican Buddy Allred. Asked if the Courier indeed is devoted to praising county government, Arthur Tackman smiled and said, "Why shouldn't we?" He said the Courier's main purpose is to fill a gap in communication among the towns in the county, New Mexico's largest in area. Tackman said that with a network of reporters paid by the line from Glenwood, Reserve, Luna, Datil, Pie Town, Que-mado and Aragon, the Courier keeps the northern part of Catron in touch with the southern portion.

"The people here want to know when Quemado Please see Duel, 2B Times map Hutchinson said he believes the Courier was established to counter Firestarter editorials critical of county government, including county Administrative Assistant Larry Tackman, Arthur Tackman's son. By comparison, Hutchinson said, the "main theme of the Courier is how great county government is and going all out to defend Larry Tack-.