Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • 37

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL -f OK TO BUY PLANE AG: So Ugd barrier to purchase of new state jet Iff 0 Classified 4 E3 Road Warrior 3A To Oppose Cutting Sentence uUUU I ui i- -ii mTinrrii.nirniri.ri mnim 1 1 nr D'VAJLWESTPHAL Of the Journal argue this." And Gov. Bill Richardson said in a statement Friday that he supports Brandenburg's decision to oppose any reduction Blackmer might apply to Justin MishaH's sentence. Mis hail, 29, was convicted in January of killing 14-year-old Cibola High School student Reece Nord of Blackmer's plan to hold a hearing on the matter until reading about it in the Journal on Friday. "I felt very bad for the family," Brandenburg said. "We've been really close with this family through a very difficult trial a very hard-fought case.

"I can't imagine the emotions the family had when they heard this was not yet a concluded case." Blackmer could not be reached for comment Friday but wrote in his motion that the court would not make a decision on the sentence without hearing from the prosecution and the defense. Ranch and Montano NW. Blackmer gave Mis hail five years minus 69 days' time served. The judge could have given him 6V2 years. During his long, tearful sentencing, Mishail said he wouldn't file an appeal because he wanted to take full responsibility for his actions.

Blackmer, in a rare judge's motion filed last Friday, wrote that he is inclined to consider reducing the sentence because Mishail kept his promise not to appeal. The judge wrote that if after a hearing he decides to cut the prison term, it could not be more than a year. A two-hour hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26 at 1:30 p.m. Brandenburg said she was unaware Judge Could Reduce Time in Fatal DWI By Jeff Proctor Journal Staff Writer Not so fast, judge.

That' the message Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg is sending to District Judge James Blackmer, who is considering lowering a sentence for a man convicted of vehicular homicide in a high-profile DWI case. Brandenburg said Friday she will file a formal response opposing Blackmer's motion "first thing Monday morning. We'll go to court and MISHALL: Said he wouldn't appeal sentence Beauty Sleep Trumps Late Road Work while driving drunk in 2002. That Labor Day, Mis hall struck and killed Nord, who was riding his bicycle, at the intersection of Taylor DUE AT THE ZOO MARLA BROSEJOURNAL This 175-pound female bear from the Eagle Nest area was to spend Friday night at the Rio Grande Zoo before being relocated to the Gila National Forest. City officials have announced the zoo will house troublesome bears until they can be moved to a new area.

Police Focus on 4 in Wage-Petition Fraud CANT YOU GET THAT WORK DONE AT NIGHT? Shayna Jones asks in an e-mail "can you, or anyone, explain why the city of Albuquerque doesnt do the majority of road construction at night? I believe if drivers can get from point A to without major delays during normal working hours, then many drivers will not race through neighborhood streets to avoid construction." The short answer, Shayna, is folks who need their beauty sleep or they spend the next day complaining to the city. City public information officer Mark Motsko checked in with Joe Luehring, Construction Services Division manager, who says that "Wherever possible, the city encourages, and oftentimes requires, work on busy arterial roadways at night However, night work is not always acceptable due to noise concerns by nearby residents, temperature concerns in the winter, availability of materials (concrete and asphalt), and safety." For instance, "asphalt placement must be done when temperatures are 40 degrees or higher, therefore this type of operation during winter months in Albuquerque is not usually acceptable. Deep utility work is typically too dangerous without supplemental lighting. However, the biggest problem is typically with noise. As the summer months are typically the best for night work because of moderate temperatures and extended daylight hours, they are also the months when many people sleep with their windows open.

Sound tends to carry a very long distance on a calm, still summer night. It is not uncommon to receive complaints about construction noise over three blocks away from the work zone." For example, "The city recently had a contractor working 24 hours a day on Eubank south of Candelaria," Luehring says, "installing a new storm drain while another contractor was working 247 on a water line along Sequoia Road west of Coors. On both projects, this office received complaints from residents about noise disrupting their sleep." When nights don't work, Luehring says the city tries to avoid rush hours. WHAT'S UP WITH THE PRINCETON, CUTTER PAVING? An e-mail from GimMoeaol.com says "me and my coworkers are puzzled by the recent repaying of a few streets around our workplace. "Paving on Princeton from Menaul to almost Claremont was needed, but the part that needed it most was not done and that is from Claremont to Candelaria, which is 'washboard' quality in both north and south directions.

Also, Cutter from Princeton to the frontage road was done, and that street was just fine. On that stretch they also painted a large, white stopping stripe on both the east and west end that if you really used it to stop at you cannot see the oncoming traffic! So whaf the story on this? Why are they paving streets that don't needit?" Motsko got the three answers from StreetStorm Division manager Andre Houle. "1. Princeton had been scheduled for resurfacing from Menaul to Candelaria, but due to the SahJuan-Chama water line construction the section between Claremont and Candelaria had to be deleted. "2.

The condition rating on Cutter (was) defined as 'very poor" and had to be repaved. "3. The stop bar locations are set back based on traffic standards." But GimMoe isn't finished. "Switching to the other side of the city," GimMoe says, "the far right lane on San Mateo from Lomas to Constitution has sewer manholes that you can't avoid and need to be raised so that the right side of your car doesn't sink into every one of them." Houle makes it an even four. "4.

We'll check and need be, refer it to the Water Authority." Report manhole woes to Public Works at 7684653. D'VaJ Westphal, the Journal's news editor, tackles commute, Issues for West Skiers on Tuesdays and the rest of the Metro area on Saturdays. Reach her at 823-3858 or roadaNournal.com. required workers to attend a 40-minute training session and sign agreements acknowledging they could face prosecution if they forged signatures. Among the suspected forgeries was the signature of Bernalillo County Commissioner Tim Cummins, who filed a report last week that triggered the sheriffs Cummins opposes the wage initiative.

More than 20 workers in the City Clerk's Office are reviewing tures to see which are valid. For the time being, they have set aside the signatures that are suspicious and continued to count the rest. White hasn't publicly identified the suspects. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has cooperated with the investigation. It has shared records with investigators that allow petition signatures to be traced to the worker who collected them.

"You've got people that did something dishonest, and whatever action the sheriff wants to take, we will cooperate fully," ACORN spokesman William Kyser said. ACORN paid workers $1.25 to $1.50 for each valid signature. The group 3,000 petition signatures may be forged altogether. "It's safe to say the forgery was widespread," White said in an interview. Advocates of a $7.50 minimum wage, led by ACORN, turned in some 33,000 petition signatures to the City Clerk's Office earlier this month.

They need 13,393 valid signatures to get the proposal on the Oct. 4 municipal ballot. White said earlier this week that a woman who was a contract worker for ACORN had confessed to forging signatures. He said Friday that another contract worker has confessed and that two other workers are suspects. 3,000 Names May Have Been Forged By Dan McKay Journal Staff Writer Detectives are focusing on four suspects all with ties to the nonprofit group ACORN as they investigate forgery in the petition drive to get a minimum wage on the ballot this fall, Sheriff Darren White said Friday.

Two of the four have admitted forging signatures, White said, and roughly Success Story St. Pius grad beats the odds and is readying for his freshman year at Princeton Jacob Candelaria references a law book while making a database of case briefs for French Associates. The 18-year-old is working at the firm this summer as a law clerk a Job usually reserved for second-year law students. W- -J everything she could think of to protect him those early years. "Drugs.

AlcohoL We just don't go there," says Padilla. At 5 years old, Candelaria started showing interest in Einstein's "theory of relativity." He even asked Anthony Padilla, his future stepfather, what his thoughts were on the scientific puzzle. To keep his interest in learning strong, Anna Padilla's first goal was getting her son into St. Charles Bor-romeo Elementary. "They were going to put him in East San Jose (Elementary), but he didn't know Spanish," Padilla recalls.

"So we saved what we could to send him to private school." At St Charles, Candelaria excelled, especially in social studies. Candelaria says he was able to do well because he had support from his two homes his grandmother's and his mom's. Candelaria helps take care of his elder grandmother, Elodia Gloria. But it was at St. Pius High during a mock trial last year that Candelaria caught the eye of Stephen G.

French. The lawyer says he was impressed with how articulate Candelaria was and immediately offered him a summer job at French Associates law firm. Working at the firm the summer before his senior year, Candelaria By Russell Contreras Journal Staff Writer Mention you're a kid from the San Jose barrio, and people are likely to make these predictions about your life: You will struggle in school, you may drop out and you might just end up in jail 1 That wasn't the path taken by Jacob Candelaria. The 18-year-old St Pius High School graduate who racked up a national speech award this year is now working at French Associates law firm as a clerk a job typically pegged for second-year law students. In September, the San Jose teen will officially become a Princeton University student.

Just how this kid beat the odds is a story the future Ivy Leaguer and his family have no problem telling. Born in Albuquerque to a single mom, Candelaria says he was protected from the ills of the barrio by his supportive mom, grandmother and, later, a stepfather. "They set a very good example for me at an early age," Candelaria says. "They taught me I couldn't blame anyone for my failures, and that basically I'm in control of my own life." Anna Padilla, his morn, says she did MARLA BROSEJOURNAL for an undergraduate university. He set his sight on Princeton, the historic Ivy League college in New Jersey.

"I didn't want him to get accepted because of my own selfishness," says Padilla, hoping to keep him near home. "But once they accepted him, I was happy for him. My husband and I said we couldn't afford not to send him." Padilla works for the Department of See ST. PIUS on PAGE E2 helped out on a major piece of litigation, doing most of the research himself. "I remember another lawyer telling me, 'A high school kid did French says.

French was impressed, and Candelaria was hooked. The high school student had found his calling. "I love law. I love the practice," Candelaria says. "It brings all my joys together." Deciding that law school was in his future, Candelaria decided to aim high.