Alamo Counselor Bound Over On Molestation Charges

By John Larson
SOCORRO – The man accused of sexually molesting a 15-year-old Alamo girl was bound over to District Court on Wednesday by Magistrate Judge Jim Naranjo.
Testimony from the victim, the victim’s brother and State Police officer Greg Valentino persuaded Naranjo to send the case to District Court on all 13 counts.
The defendant, Mark Shaddock, 44, a counselor at Alamo School, has been charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration, three counts of kidnapping, two counts of criminal sexual contact, four counts of child abuse and one count of aggravated stalking.
In her testimony, the victim described in detail Shaddock’s behavior with her in three separate episodes in her home over the period of June 22 through June 26.
Naranjo was compelled to halt the proceedings twice for several minutes to let the girl regain her composure outside the courtroom.
The victim’s older brother testified that he was given permission by Shaddock to use his car on the afternoons in question to go to the Alamo Wellness Center to play basketball.
“When I came back, the front door was locked, so I had to use the doorbell,” he said.
He also testified that he has removed the screens from one of the windows to sneak out at night with his sister to visit the Shaddock house.
Valentino testified that in his interview with the accused, Shaddock claimed that it was the girl who initiated intimate contact.
Defense Attorney Lee Deschamps produced no witnesses.
In her closing statement, Deputy District Attorney Stacey Ward told Naranjo “this is a terrified young child.”
“If you decide to bind this case over to District Court, I will be putting forth evidence showing why victims of this type of crime feel powerless,” she said. “Powerless to speak out even after the perpetrator has left, leaving her open to have it happen again.”
Ward said the victim “amply illustrated” in her testimony the repeated sexual assaults by Shaddock.
“This was a school counselor, a family friend, who was trusted,” she said.
Shaddock’s arraignment in District Court had not been set as of press time.

Alamo Counselor Bound Over On Molestation Charges

Artists Touch Up Logo, Paint Pillars At San Antonio School

By Mike Sievers
San Antonio Elementary now has a freshly painted logo in the middle of its gymnasium, as well as Character Counts pillars lining the hallway.
The logo was created about 10 years ago by the school’s principal, John Ray Dennis. It had faded from the years of use, so local students sanded it down and re-painted it to make it look bright. The paint came from Randy’s Ace Hardware and Rak’s Building Supply.
Jean-Paul Alvarez, Damien Baca, Leslie Ramzel, Gigi Alvarez, Antonio Gonzales and Andre Gonzales worked on the project with help from art teacher Elizabeth Alvarez. Jean-Paul is entering the sixth grade at Cottonwood Valley Charter School, while Baca and Gigi are going to be freshmen in high school. Ramzel will be a senior at Magdalena High, while the Gonzales brothers are students at the San Antonio School.
The pillars in the hallway are painted in the three different orders of classical architecture: Ionic, Doric and Corinthian. They represent the Six Pillars of Character Counts: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Gigi will attend the Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science, a charter school, this fall at the University of New Mexico.
Gigi decided to use her artistic talent for her 4-H Club community project, which she will submit to the 4-H office for a scholarship to Horse School. Scholarships are available from 4-H in varying amounts. She and Ramzel created the pillars from scratch.
Gigi has attended the school for the past three years. She said students at Horse School spend a week with their horse and other riders at the fairgrounds in Albuquerque, learning lots of different things, including rider-ship and teamwork. Gigi said Socorro County 4-H Extension agents Tom and Teresa Dean have been a big help in the process.
Gigi said she spent much of the week of July 27 to 31 working on the project, putting in about 40 hours of work overall doing the organizing, layout and purchasing of supplies. Gigi laid out the pillars by hand with a ruler.

Photo caption: Standing (from left) are Elizabeth Alvarez, Antonio Gonzales, 4-H coordinator Sonja Gerard, Leslie Ramzel and Gigi Alvarez. Kneeling on the logo are Andre Gonzales, left, and Jean-Paul Alvarez. Photo by Mike Sievers

Artists Touch Up Logo, Paint Pillars At San Antonio School

The Mountain Mail Presents Biography Of Evelyn Fite

By Brenda Wilkinson
Bureau of Land Management
NOTE: This is an introduction to an extensive oral autobiography of Evelyn Fite. To see the complete biography, log on to the special blog we created just for this story, www.evelynfitebiography.blogspot.com.

SOCORRO – As the 150th anniversary of the 1862 Homestead Act approaches, the Socorro Bureau of Land Management’s Cultural Resource Program is increasing emphasis on oral history collection, particularly as it relates to homesteading.
This interview with Socorro resident Evelyn Fite is a part of that effort. After years of struggle, a homestead claim eventually resulted in the development of a large ranch for Dean and Evelyn Fite. A 640-acre homestead claim under the Enlarged Stock Raising Homestead Act enabled the Fites to develop a large ranch by establishing a basewater, and to gain leasing preference on adjacent public lands after the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act.
They did without a lot in the early years, saving up to buy more private land as it became available. Early on, Evelyn wanted to build a house, but Dean told her, “You can’t make any money with a house.” So they bought more cattle and eventually more land.
Evelyn Fite’s oral history was collected April 24. A second visit was made June 29 to go through photos. Her comments on the photos were recorded, and a few questions were repeated that had been asked after the tape recorder had stopped on the first visit. Results of the two visits were combined and edited slightly for this document.
Evelyn was born Evelyn Agnes Galonzowfski in 1918 in Outlook, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her grandparents had moved there in 1904 from southern Russia. They were wheat farmers of German origin and moved to Canada to farm wheat. At that time, Evelyn’s mother, Emma (nee Brown), was 9 years old. She grew up, married Herman Galonzowfski and gave birth to Evelyn in Canada.

The Mountain Mail Presents Biography Of Evelyn Fite

It's That Time Again ...

Photo caption: Erasmo Garcia of Rosales Produce turns the green chile roaster at the Socorro Plaza on Tuesday during the Farmers Market, which is every Tuesday starting at 5 p.m. and Saturdays starting at 8 a.m. Photo by John Larson

It's That Time Again ...

Village Approves Utilities Rate Hike

By John Larson
MAGDALENA – The Village Board passed an ordinance Monday night that will raise the rates for water, sewer and trash pickup.
During a public hearing, Diane Allen asked if customers will be notified prior to the rate increases going into effect.
“We will let everybody know one month before they go into effect,” Clerk Rita Broaddus said. “The rate will be going into effect Oct. 1, so a notice will appear on the Sept. 1 bill.”
The ordinance passed 3-1, with Trustee Dolly Dawson casting the dissenting vote. Broaddus said the new rate structure is available to the public at village hall.
In other business:
• Mayor Jim Wolfe said he took advantage of an opportunity to apply for stimulus money.
“The governor made $22 million available out of the state’s stimulus money for small projects (under $400,000) that were shovel ready,” Wolfe said. “We have to show that the projects can be awarded within 60 days and must be completed within 12 months.”
He said two projects qualify for the stimulus money.
“One is to put in a new well, and the other is to repair the telemetry on the water tanks,” Wolfe said. “I feel confident we may get at least one of the projects funded, because they are both water related.”
He said he submitted requests for $75,000 for the new well and $45,000 to repair the telemetry.
“We probably won’t get them both, but one would help us,” Wolfe said.
• The board tabled a discussion about paying EMTs a $50 stipend for each ambulance run. Broaddus said she has researched the proposal and found that $50 per run would be too high to qualify for a stipend.
“A stipend is used to compensate for someone’s out-of-pocket expenses. With some EMT’s, it would run up to $6,500 a year, which would be more like a salary,” she said. “We could not justify that much for an EMT getting reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses.”
Broaddus said a range of $15 to $20 would be more realistic. Wolfe said he thought the stipend would encourage people would show up for a call.
“If you need three people and five showed up every time, there could be some confusion. You have to have some policy laid down that shows how this works,” he said.
Marshal Larry Cearley said he will draft out a stipend policy and present it at the next meeting. Broaddus said the stipend money would have to come out of the ambulance fund.

Village Approves Utilities Rate Hike

Senior Center To Cut Back On Transportation

By Mike Sievers
The Socorro Senior Center is cutting back on the transportation services it offers because of budgetary reasons, county senior centers Director Lewis Auerbach said at Tuesday night’s county commission meeting.
Auerbach said the centers’ transportation priorities will be transporting seniors from their homes to medical facilities and pharmacies; and transporting them from their homes to the senior center.
“I just don’t have the budget to do the things that the seniors want me to do, so I prioritized the things we can do,” Auerbach told the Socorro County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. “I don’t have the money to do the transportation that seniors want me to do – Wal-Mart, Smith’s – so I had to implement this policy.”
Seniors who have alternate means of transportation are not eligible under the policy. There is a two-stop limit, and transportation must be completed by 1 p.m.
In July, transportation costs used up 13.3 percent of the amount allocated in the centers’ transportation budget for the current fiscal year, according to a worksheet Auerbach provided to the commissioners. That number would have been about 8.3 percent if the centers were on track to meet their budget this fiscal year.
Auerbach said the centers were under budget for home-delivered meals in July, so after this month, he should have a good idea as to how the program is going, and he should be able to start addressing people on a waiting list for that service.
Auerbach said he also has had to cut back on homemaking services for seniors, stopping service for three seniors in Veguita and two in Magdalena, also because of his tight budget.
“I feel we should have more money in the budget for homemaking,” he told the commissioners. “Maybe next year we can get some more money for that.”
The commissioners said they agreed.
Auerbach said the centers have 11 vans total, most of them being older gas guzzlers. He said by the end of the year, the centers will be able to purchase four new vans and eliminate five gas guzzlers, which would cut down on transportation costs.
In other business:
• County Manager Delilah Walsh reported that she has applied for three federal stimulus grants through the State Government Services Fund.
Walsh sent in applications for: the Veguita Health Center for $181,674; improvements to County Road 91 for $109,588; and the EM Saiz Park in Polvadera for $400,000.
• Walsh said her office decided to re-bid for the new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the senior center so that “all bidders were bidding ‘apples to apples.’ … This will delay the project, but we’ll have an award recommendation for the commission soon,” Walsh wrote in a report to the commission.
• The county awarded a bid to Golden Equipment Co. for $194,781.64 for a much-discussed and badly needed new chip spreader for the Road Department.
• With Commission Vice Chairman Danny Monette recusing himself from discussion, the commission awarded three bids to the lowest bidder, Monette Ford: one for a sport utility vehicle for the DWI office for $28,110; another for a Ford Fusion for the Road Department for $14,500; and another for a diesel mechanics’ pickup for $43,611.
• The commission also awarded a bid for a 3,000-gallon water tender for the Abeytas Fire District to Freedom Fire Equipment of Marietta, Ga., for $154,300.
• The commission approved the annual roster of the Community Health Improvement Council for the county’s health council, Socorro Community Options, Prevention and Education, or SCOPE. The commissioners were concerned that all the members were from Socorro except two: one from Magdalena and one from San Antonio.
SCOPE coordinator Bobbi Jo McIntire said she wants to set up teleconferencing at the meetings so people from northern Socorro County and Magdalena could join in without having to make the trip.
“It seems a little unbalanced,” commissioner Rumaldo Griego said.
“Honestly, it’s a lot unbalanced,” McIntire replied.
McIntire said part of the problem is people don’t want to drive to a half-hour meeting just to make an hour-long drive back home. She said membership is open to any individual, organization, non-profit, or any group that wants to address health issues.
“Between myself and Leo Mendoza, I think we can get some people from up north to become members,” Griego said.
McIntire said it is easy to become a member; people just need to attend three meetings. “On the third meeting, I put them on the agenda for a vote. We’ve never turned anyone down,” she said.
SCOPE meets from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Thursday of every month at the state Human Services Department at 1014 N. California St., next to Socorro Springs.
• The commission canceled its next regular meeting, which was scheduled for Aug. 25. There will be a brief business meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21.

Senior Center To Cut Back On Transportation

Fire Academy

Photo caption: Firefighters work to contain a raging blaze at the New Mexico Firefighters Training Academy. Courtesy photo

Fire Academy

Community College Classes On Sale

By Kathleen Hedges
New Mexico Tech
Selected Community College classes at New Mexico Tech are on sale to community members. People who do not want college credit but just want to take classes for fun may sign up at a lower tuition rate.
“Tech employees have always been lucky, because Tech would pay their tuition,” said Lillian Armijo, director of Community College. “All they had to pay were fees. However, community members had to pay full price for tuition and fees, and as tuition rose, that was getting expensive. This is an effort to reduce prices for community members.”
Two-credit courses available for a flat fee of $200 are:
• Ceramics I – Handbuilding (Tuesday evenings, with Emma Lujan De Rison)
• Introduction to Drawing and Watercolor (Monday and Wednesday mornings, with Peter Rice)
• Acrylics Painting (Tuesday evenings, with Ramona Aragon)
• Stained Glass (Tuesday evenings, with Donna Nowicki).
One-credit courses available for a flat fee of $100 are:
• Pilates/Yoga Fusion (Tues-day and Thursday afternoons, with Camille Scielzi)
• Water Aerobics (Tuesday and Friday evenings, with Patricia Morgan)
• Jazzercise (Thursdays at noon with Rosa Armijo-Pemble)
• Jazzercise Circuit Training (Thursdays at noon with Rosa Armijo-Pemble)
In addition, Community College offers its normal full range of courses in fine arts and physical recreation, including golf, yoga, ballroom dancing, enameling, martial arts, knitting and wine-tasting. Classes begin Aug. 25 and go through Dec. 11.
For a full list of classes, or to sign up, visit www.distance.nmt.edu/cc or call 835-6581.

Community College Classes On Sale

CVCS Student Represents State During Leadership Tour

Mountain Mail reports
Cottonwood Valley Charter School student Matthew Lassey represented Gov. Bill Richardson and the state of New Mexico this summer with a group of his peers during the 2009 Leadership Tour that took place in late July and early August.
First place winners of art, essay and talent competitions from the 12th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Leadership Conference, held at the University of New Mexico in June, were invited to join the New Mexico MLK Jr. State Commission on the annual 2009 Leadership Tour.
The students, ages 10 to 17, joined the MLK Jr. State Commission for a trip that took the group on a chartered bus tour through nine states, including the cities of Atlanta and Memphis. Along the way, they visited the King Center, Martin Luther King’s birthplace; Ebenezer Baptist church, where Dr. King preached; World of Coca-Cola; Emery University; Spelman and Morehouse Colleges; Stone Mountain Park; Graceland; Mud Island River Park; the Georgia Aquarium; the National Civil Rights Museum; and the Burkle Estate.
Students also visited New Orleans, touring Hurricane Katrina sites and the French Quarter. Each stop along the way was chosen because it offered insight on Dr. King’s principles of non-violence and a tangible historical glimpse of the country and the civil rights movement.
Matthew, 13, is a transfer student from northern California, where he was part of the gifted and talented program. He currently is an eighth-grader in the Socorro School District and attends the Pre-College Science and Math Academy at the University of New Mexico.
He hopes to be selected for the next MLK International Leadership Tour to South Africa. Matthew is the son of Donna and Kelly Lassey of Sacramento, Calif., and the grandson of Mr. And Mrs. Pete Archuleta of Socorro.
The New Mexico State Martin Luther King Jr. Commission was established in 1991 by the Legislature of the state of New Mexico. The mission of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission is to promote cultural awareness and human rights through Dr. King’s life philosophy and six principles of nonviolent social action to all peoples of New Mexico. The Leadership Tour is an annual event.

CVCS Student Represents State During Leadership Tour

Socorro Police Aid Feds In Bust Of Mail Thief

By John Larson
SOCORRO – Officers from the Socorro Police Department aided U.S. Marshals in the apprehension of a man who they believe has been stealing mail from post office boxes across the state.
Socorro police Detective Richard Lopez and Capt. Lawrence Montano were alerted by federal agents that the suspect, Louie Sanchez, 28, had rented a room in a local motel.
“We were contacted by the U.S. Marshal’s office that these people were in Socorro. They were tracking a Citibank credit card,” Lopez said. “They had gone to Farmington and then found the credit card was used at (a motel) in Socorro. They provided me with a photo of Louie and a federal arrest warrant.”
Lopez and Montano proceeded to the motel and as they were about to knock on the door another man, Christopher Gomez, spotted them and “he looked at me and started to run,” Lopez said.
“I chased him to the parking lot of the Holiday Inn, arrested him and handed him over to Capt. Montano,” he said. “I ran back upstairs to the motel room with the key and found Mr. Sanchez in the room. He was on a laptop computer when I went in.”
Sanchez was arrested in the room without incident and escorted out of the room.
“He then escaped custody from the patrolman,” Lopez said. “He kicked the patrolman and began running, wearing handcuffs.”
He didn’t get far.
“We initially detained a total of six people,” Lopez said.
Officers executed search warrant on room and a rental car.
“There was overwhelming evidence in the room. We found mail from Farmington and Bloomfield area, and equipment for making fake IDs,” he said. “We also found meth in the purse of Rachel Sanchez. She was charged with meth possession.”
Louie Sanchez was arrested on charges through the U.S. Marshal’s office.
“Louie Sanchez had six felony warrants, including credit card fraud and two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer. He struck a federal agent with a car several months earlier,” Lopez said.
He said U.S. Marshals had been tracking the case since May. “They were constantly on the move,” he said
“They thought they were one step ahead of the feds. They’ll hit an area, like Farmington, breaking into boxes and take all the mail,” Lopez said. “Federal agents from the U.S. Postal Service told us these guys had been destructive in Farmington. They take whatever information they can get from your checking and savings accounts and credit card numbers.”
Lopez said all suspects were turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals.
“The investigation is continuing, and we were asked to be available to assist further, if needed,” he said.

Socorro Police Aid Feds In Bust Of Mail Thief