Jtf Syracuse Herald-Journal, Tuesday, December 31, 1983

News briefing

South

Mayor Qoodt calls for racial unityPHILADELPHIA-

Mayor W.WilsonGoode has met withcommunity leaders inan effort to come upwith a plan to defuse ra-cial tension in the Cityof Brotherly Love.

"This city wascreated as a model forreligious and racial

freedom, and we have to continue to be a model for this nation inthat regard," Goode said Monday, after the meeting in his office.

"We have to send a message... that in this city which WilliamPenn founded 303 years ago any person, regardless of color, canlive in any block he wants to live in."

Goode said he plans to announce a series of initiatives Friday tohelp ease tension in the Elmwood neighborhood of southwestPhiladelphia, letting him lift a five-week-old ban on gatherings ofmore than four people. . _

• • " - The Associated Press

School moment-of-silence law revisedBOSTON — Students in Massachusetts public schools will have

a daily moment of silence under a law that was revised to delete areference to prayer.

The new statute goes into effect 90 days after its signing Mon-day by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, and was in response to a U.S.Supreme Court decision in May in an Alabama case.

The high court ruled that the Alabama law, similar to onepassed in Massachusetts in 1980, Was unconstitutional because itcontained a specific reference to students using the time for medi-tation or prayer.

The revised Massachusetts law calls simply for "a period of si-lence not to exceed one minute in duration" to be observed at thestart of each school day.

- The Associated Press "

Fourth slaying blamed on police ringMIAMI —A fourth

slaying has been linkedto a police drug rip-offring already blamed forthe drownings of threesuspected drug dealers,and a fifth officer sur-rendered in connectionwith the ring, policesaid.

Rodolfo Arias, 29, aformer "Officer of the Month," was booked into Dade County Jailon Monday on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree mur-der, racketeering, two counts of armed trafficking of cocaine,grand theft and aggravated battery.

Four other Miami police officers, who prosecutors say were partof a ring known as "The Enterprise," have been charged since lastweek. A former officer also has been charged.

— The Associated Press

Mill worker held in abduction of 2 girlsSTAPLETON, Ga. — A textile mill worker has been arrested in

the abduction of two 12-year-old girls. Authorities say they be-lieve the man acted alone even though the girls originally saidthere were two kidnappers.

Buford Williams, 23, who lives in a rural area near Stapleton,was arrested at midnight Monday as he prepared to leave his jobat the J.P. Stevens plant, Jefferson County Sheriff Zollie Comptonsaid.

Jennifer Barrow and Elizabeth Tanner were released Mondayon the same dirt road where they had been abducted while ridingbicycles Dec. 22. The girls said they were raped during the weekthey were held captive.

— United Press International

Elections could shift council powerCHICAGO — A fed-

eral judge ordered spe-cial elections March 18in seven redrawn alder-manic wards that couldshift City Councilpower from the major-ity opposition bloc toMayor Harold Wash-ington's supporters.

— "There have been nofair aldermanic or committeeman elections in these wards since

• 1981," U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle said Monday.Norgle, who last week approved the compromise remap drawn

by attorneys for the council and the Justice Department, said thespecial elections should remedy the problem. The next regularlyscheduled aldermanic election is not until 1987.

The elections will coincide with the state primary and will de-cide the fate of at least five City Council seats currently held bymajority-bloc aldermen. The majority bloc, opposed to the Wash-ington administration, currently holds a 29-21 majority.

A number of minority plaintiffs filed suit in 1982, alleging a 1981ward map discriminated against minorities by diluting their vot-ing power.

- United Press International

Friends mourn freezing death of studentROCHESTER, Minn. — Students and teachers at Chosen Val-

ley High School are mourning the death of an honor student whodied wandering away from the scene of a traffic accident andspending 20 hours in temperatures that reached below zero.

"He tried his best in everything he did," football coach KenJacobson said of Scott Gardner, 18, of Chatfield.

Gardner, an honor roll student, starting defensive end on thefootball team and a member of this year's homecoming royalty,died Sunday in the intensive care unit of St. Mary's Hospital.Searchers had found him, clinically dead, Saturday in a ravinenortheast of Chatfield and rushed him by helicopter the 25 milesto Rochester.

Olmsted County authorities said Gardner wandered away fromthree friends on a county road early Saturday as they walked to afarm after their'pickup truck slid into a ditch.

— Tht Astocleted Press

Girl may know who buried her in desertPHOENIX, Ariz. — A

4-year-old girl who wasrescued from a 3-foot-deep, plywood-coveredhole in the desert mayknow who buried heralive and may be "try-'ing to protect the per-son," authorities say.

The child, JessicaAnne Hardesty, was in-

terviewed Monday by a woman detective, but "any time a manwalks in the room, she gets pretty obviously scared," said Cpl. JayEllison of the Maricpa County Sheriff's Department.

"We feel she knows the suspect," Ellison said. "The fact that •she's 4 years old and knows the suspect, that doesn't include a lotof people."

- The Associated Preu

Gunman robs California congressmanLOS ANGELES — A congressman was robbed while walking

to his car from a bank by a gunman who fired one shot that passedthrough the legislator's trouser leg without injuring him, policesaid.

Rep. Glenn Anderson, D-Calif., was confronted at about 11:30a.m. Monday, by a lone gunman outside a First Interstate Bank inthe Wilmington district, police said. Anderson,-72, is a former lieu-tenant governor of California.

"The gunman demanded money and subsequently fired one shotfrom a handgun at Mr. Anderson, which passed through his pantleg," Capt. Robert McVey said.

"The suspect grabbed Anderson's briefcase and fled in a whitevan," said McVey. Police later recovered the briefcase, which con-tained a small amount of monev.

— United Press International

West

Perspective

A BREED APARTPit bulls have killed 12 people since 1982By FredAssociated Press Writer

TIJERAS, N.M. - When the dogs finishedwith her, Angle Hands' right leg was gnawed tothe bone. Flesh and muscle had been gougedfrom her upper arms, and the 9-year-old's earwas ripped in half.

"She had lost so much blood the doctorscouldn't tell me if she was going to live," saidDonna Hands, her voice still breaking as sherecalled the afternoon her brother-in-law's fourpit-bull terriers attacked Angie on the path be-tween the school bus stop and her home.

The child survived, to face years of recon-structive surgery. But the incident fuels a de-bate growing well beyond this rural Albuquer-que suburb.

. Similar attacks have led Tijeras and morethan 30 other communities across the country toconsider special rules and outright bans on dogsknown as pit bulls.

Sponsors say the laws are necessary to pro-tect the public from animals bred for genera-tions to kill. Pit bull owners say laws singlingout their pets are unconstitutional. '

"WE DO NOT DEFEND the attacks. But atthe same time we feel it is unjust to punish all pitbull owners because of a few incidents," saidMargaret Amacker, president of the Duke CityPit Bull Terrier Club, which is challenging thelaw with the help of the American Dog OwnersAssociation. The case is due for trial in earlyspring. •

Known officially as Staffordshire Bull Ter-riers, American Staffordshire Terriers orAmerican Pit Bull Terriers, pit bulls are power-ful dogs weighing 40 to 60 pounds with squarejaws and muscular chests.

An estimated 25,000 pit bulls are registeredwith various dog associations, and their popu-larity is growing. Owners say they are smart,affectionate and loyal.

Pete, the dog in the Our Gang comedies, was apit bull, as were Tige, the pet of cartoon charac-ter Buster Brown, and the RCA Victor dog lis-tening to its master's voice at the phonograph.

But the breed has a darker history.

PIT BULLS WERE BRED for dog fighting,a bloody and now illegal sport that requires abattle to the death. Over generations, the dogshave been selected for the strength, aggressive-ness and tenacity needed to survive the fightingpit.

"Other dogs will bite, back off and attackagain," said Dennis White, director of animalprotection for the American Humane Associa- •tion. "Pit bulls are latchers and shakers. Oncethey attack, that's all she wrote."

Since 1982, at least a dozen people — seven ofthem children — have died and scores havebeen severely injured by pit bulls. The stories,bloody and 'sensational, have attracted publicattention:

• A 4-year-old girl falls off a porch in OregonCity, Ore., and.is killed by a pit bull chained inthe yard.

• An Edgemere, Md., woman is killed by hertwo pit bulls. Police find her body covered withbites, skin stripped from her legs and an armnearly severed.

• Two pit bulls attack a Houston w^man asshe steps outside to get her newspaper, thenthey maul a neighbor who tries to help. Thedogs are shot after they stand off rescuers andchase a police officer to his car.

Such incidents have understandably led toanti-pit bull regulations. When a 7-week-oldboy was killed by a dog in Davie, Fla., BrowardCounty commissioners ordered pit bulls pennedor leashed and muzzled. Owners were requiredto buy $100,000 in liability insurance.

Dog owners won an injunction against thelaw.

"THE DOG HAS BEEN raised for hundredsof years to kill," said William Bosch, assistantgeneral counsel to the county. "It only takes alittle to set them off."

But others argue there is no proof the pit bullsare a special threat. While an estimated 1 mil-lion Americans are bitten by dogs each year,little is known about the breeds involved. Dogsidentified as pit bulls often turn out to be otherbreeds.

Animal behaviorists split on the question ofwhether pit bulls are more dangerous thanother dogs.

Victoria Voith, director of the University of.Pennsylvania's animal behavior clinic, has stud-ied dog attacks, often observing the assailants.

While she noted that pit bulls involved in

AP Laserphoto

Margaret Amacker, president of the Duke City Pit Bull Terrier Club inAlbuquerque, N.M., gets a lick from Bluebelle, one of her four pit bulls.Amacker has raised pit bulls since 1970.

incidents were much easier to incite to attackthan other dogs, she said it was hard to drawconclusions about the entire breed.

"We just don't know if they are likely to bemore aggressive than other dogs," she said."But those who show aggression are very ag-gressive. If you are attacked by one, you justdon't have that much of a chance."

I. Lehr Brisbm Jr., an biologist and animalbehaviorist with the University of Georgia whouses pit bulls to trap wild boars, believes thebreed is less of a threat than are other dogs.

"FOR GENERATION AFTER generation,any dog that bit a man in the pit was shot,"Brisbin said. "This is probably the only breed ofdog that was culled if it bit a man."

Many feel the problem comes from owners,who, attracted to the dog's tough image, encour-age aggressiveness. Phil Lyons, a breeder inWhittier, Calif., calls such owners "MisterMacho and his dog Lunger."

"You'll see these guys walking their pit bullsdown the street to show everybody how badthey are," he said.

Peggy Allen, a Miami breeder, now screenspotential buyers.

"I've had a lot of people I considered drugdealers come around looking to buy the dog,"she said. "People have decided that this is thebiggest, strongest, meanest dog they couldown."

Kent Salazar, head of Albuquerque's animalcontrol division, believes no special laws areneeded. He noted that several years ago somepeople wanted regulations for Dobermanpinschers. "We have all the means to protect

people with clauses about vicious dogs," hesaid.

BUT COMMUNITY LEADERS often seepit bulls as a special threat. After the March1984 attack on Angie Hands, Tijeras, a close-knit community of 300, banned the dogs andgave officials the power to seize and destroy pitbulls. - •

"There are still dogs like these around, at-tacking other dogs, cattle and people. We can'thave that," said Mayor Felix Garcia, whose wifeonce babysat for Angie.

Pit bull owners say the publicity has broughta backlash. Amacker tells of pit bulls aban-doned and abused by owners who become fear-ful after hearing of attacks. In some cases, pitbulls have been poisoned or shot.

John Ulrich, an Albuquerque stockbroker,said that when his pit bull, Sugar, got loose andbegan frolicking with a neighbor's poodle, thew6man panicked and began beating the dogwith a piece of lumber.

"Sugar just laid down and cried," said Ulrich.•"I apologized to the woman for the dog gettingout, but I pointed out if Sugar was really thatvicious, she wouldn't have been able to hither."

Donna Hands was always taught that a baddog reflected a bad owner. But she said thecombination of careless owners'and aggressivedogs was too dangerous to permit.

"Picking on one breed of dog might be uncon-stitutional, but killing a human being is againstthe law," she said. "Have we sunk so low thatthe dogs' rights are more important than achild's right to go play in their yard?"

Alexander reflects on 16 years as mayorALEXANDER

Continued from Page AlToday is the last day people will call him

.Mayor Lee Alexander. Tomorrow, he will beformer Mayor Lee Alexander. After 16 years, itwon't be easy for some to say.

Sometime in February, he'll open a law officewith his son. Jamey.

Many in the press will miss seeing Mayor LeeAlexander at City Hall. But he may not miss thepress. The news media has not always beenkind.

Friday, at his last Board of Estimate meeting,a television reporter questioned Alexander overand over again to get him to share his inner-most feelings at what might seem to be a senti-mental time.

He would have none of it.What did he plan to do after this?"I plan to go to lunch," he answered.What did he want to do more than anything

else?"I want to go to lunch," he said laughing.What were all the reporter's questions keep-

ing him from doing?Going to lunch!When Alexander finally relented, his an-

swers were off-hand, low-key and cagey asever.

"I'm so busy right now, I haven't had time forreflection," he said.

What did he regret he didn't get to do in hisyears at City Hall?

Become U.S. senator, pave more city streetsand get along with a Republican-majority Com-mon Council, were his quick replies.

. Will he run for political office again?

"I can't rule that in or out at this time," hesaid.

Will he miss the excitement of battles in thepublic arena?

"I'm sure I'll find new ones in the courts," heanswered.

Alexander is doing his share of private remin-iscing with friends, however. Saturday, helaughed about old times over lunch with one-time campaign worker Hank Bersani, now NewYork State Thruway Authority chairman. Mon-day, Alexander lunched with Syracuse Univer-sity administrator Tom Cummings, who ran hisfirst campaign.

In an interview Monday, Alexander sat be-hind the mayor's desk and spoke with an energythat belied his departure. On his desktop werean empty wire basket and tape and string meantfor the empty boxes lying nearby.

Today, he planned to open the mail, answercalls, finish packing his personal files and go tothe dentist.

There won't be a last gathering of the troops.He already said goodbye to the City Hall stafflast summer, Alexander said, minutes before hepublicly announced he would not seek a fifthterm in office.

To make the office pleasant for Young, Alex-ander ordered the mayoral refrigerator stockedwith orange juice, Perrier, soda and some beer.He also asked Everson Museum curators to lendsome prints and oil paintings for the Office and'waiting room, so the walls wouldn't be barewhen Young sits in the mayor's chair for thefirst time on Wednesday.

Lastly, a de^k stand has been filled withdesk

freshly sharpened pencils. A cleaning crew willdust and vacuum the office after Alexanderleaves.

As he does in public, Alexander praises Youngin private. Young is a mayor for the 1980s, Alex-ander said, just as he himself was a mayor forthe 1970s.

"It's not the fun it used to be," he added. "The'70s were the challenging years, lots of greatfights. The real job was done in the '70s when we(urban mayors) woke up this nation to the crisisin the cities."

He's proud to leave the city fiscally stable,proud of the political battles that proved he wasright.

At a Christmas party last week at the Bene-dict-Moore housing project, a group of children—at the urging of their mothers — thanked himfor not backing down in the face of publicpressure against its construction.

"They didn't know who I was, but theythanked me for their beautiful housing," Alex-ander said. After the acrimonious debates, thecourt battle and the bad feelings, the neighbor-hood is peaceful, and the children have a decentplace to live, he said.

"I don't have to say 'I told you so,'" Alex-ander said. "I have the satisfaction of havingdone it."

When he walks out of the front door of CityHall today, Alexander leaves for a two-weekvacation in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. No inauguralceremony. No inaugural ball. No mushy, publicfarewells.

Just the sun, the beach and a new horizon.

_

: A-4 THE NEW MEXICAN Santa Fe. N.M., Monday, August 10, 1967

LocalAttorney: Teen should get new murder trialBy CHERYL WITTENAUERThe New Mexican Staff

A Santa Cruz teen-ager serving a lifeterm for murder is entitled to a newtrial, his attorney claims in an appealfiled Friday.

Winston Roberts-Hohl, who repre-sents 16-year-old Chris Taylor, claimsthe youth should not have been tried asan adult.

Taylor's first-degree murder convic-tion as an adult should be reversedbecause a hearing that resulted inTaylor's transfer from Children's Courtwas not conducted within a 30-day timeperiod required by law, according to a

brief filed with the state SupremeCourt.

Last November, an Albuquerque juryconvicted Taylor of first-degree mur-der, armed robbery and conspiracy aweek before his 16th birthday.

Taylor, two other youths and a boy'smother were charged in the fatalshooting of a Santa Fe laundry attend-ant in April 1986.

Earlier this year, District JudgePatricio Serna sentenced Taylor to lifein prison, which he said he was obligedto impose under state law.

Under state Jaw, Taylor will not beeligible for parole for 30 years.

Roberts-Hohl claims Taylor shouldnot have been tried as an adult becausehis transfer from Children's Courtcame nearly three months after pro-secutors asked that he be tried as anadult.

Prosecutors delayed the transferhearing in order to find a psychologistwho would recommend Taylor's place-ment in an adult correctional facility,Roberts-Hohl said.

The attorney also claims Taylorshould not have been tried for armedrobbery because of his age.

Roberts-Hohl cites a state law thatprohibits the prosecution of children

under 16 for armed robbery, whilethere is no provision to transfer aconspiracy charge from Children'sCourt to District Court, he said.

He also claims District Attorney ChetWalter's attempt to fix a minimum 12-year sentence on a plea offer interferedwith the discretion of the sentencingjudge.

Taylor turned down the plea offer andopted for a trial.

Roberts-Hohl also said Taylor wasdenied effective assistance of counselbecause the Public Defender's office,which paid for Taylor's representation,did not provide an investigator in atimely manner.

Three co-defendants pleaded guilty totheir roles in the fatal shooting of MaryAnn Romero.

Greg Roybal, 16, received a 15-year-sentence after admitting he shot Rom-ero in a robbery instigated by hismother, Gloria Bustos.

Glenn Herrera, 16, became thestate's chief witness in exchange forbeing allowed to plead guilty in Chil-dren's Court.

Bustos is serving a life prison termfor first-degree murder. She pleadedguilty a few days before her scheduledtrial date in July to spare her son fromhaving to testify against her.

Students Serena Lujan, left, and John Vigil, look over the gym floor plans. Leslie Tal!ant/The New Mexican

School supporters raise gymSoup labels, trading stamps lead sources to finance projectBy BOB QUICKThe New Mexican Staff

For a small place like the McCurdySchool in Santa Cruz near Espanola tobuild a $1.18 million, college-size gymnasi-um is a remarkable feat.

When you consider that a good part ofthat facility was financedwith soup labels andtrading stamps, the ac-complishment borders onthe miraculous.

No one talks aboutmiracles at McCurdy, asmall private school with415 students that wasfounded in 1915 and isadministered by the Unit-ed Methodist Church. SANDOVAL

The emphasis is on a fund-raising job welldone that resulted in a gym any highschool and most colleges would be pii,udof.

Sunday afternoon, McCurdy School ad-ministrators, teachers, students, parentsand supporters got views and tours of the24,000-square foot gymnasium. Hundredswalked across the maple floor, took one of1,800 seats in the bleachers and peered intothe as-yet unused locker rooms andcoaches' offices. The first event, a volley-ball game against Los Alamos HighSchool, will be played in a few weeks.

The new gymnasium replaces theschool's McCracken Gymnasium, whichwas built in 1932. The new gymnasium will

be officially dedicated at homecoming onOct. 10, according to to McCurdy's newsuperintendent, Sam Sandoval.

By then the gym should have a name,too, Sandoval said. Students will vote on it,with the most likely choice to be onereflecting the school's mascot, BobcatDen, he added.

"The board of trustees agreed that wewouldn't name it after one person," saidErnest Sanchez, McCurdy's athletic direc-tor. "So many people have done so much,we felt that too many people would be hurtif we named it after one person."

One person who might have been in therunning for the honor would have beenBetty Smith, the woman who suggestedusing trading stamps and soup labels tohelp pay for the gym.

"She conceived the idea," said LindaMutterspaugh, the principal of the highschool at McCurdy.

The word went out to McCurdy Schoolsupporters — send us your trading stamps,even the old, wrinkled ones stuffed in theback of drawers, and don't forget thoseCampbell soup labels.

"They're worth about a penny a label,"Mutterspaugh said, adding that the giantfood-products company allosved the moneyto be used from labels for the purchase ofathletic equipment.

The labels and stamps brought in

$244,000 of the of $1.8 million tab for thegym, an amount exceeding all othersources but the $423,000 contributed by theUnited Methodist Church.

"We need to pay another $312,000" on thegym, Sandoval said, adding that the schoolstill is accepting stamps and labels. "Likethe 'loaves and fishes,' these stamps haveall multiplied unbelievably as we all worktogether," he added.

For all the work done so far, McCurdySchool has a gym with some uniquefeatures. These include a floor largeenough for two high-school size basketballcourts that will allow varsity and juniorvarsity to practice at the same time.

There are also state-of-the art lightingand heating systems. Most importantly,perhaps, is the gym's floor, which wasbuilt using post and tension concrete slabs,a process that results in a "floating floor"and eliminates any buckling or shifting.

"It's a revolutionary process," saidMcCurdy's former board of trustees' presi-dent Harold Brock. "Few other buildingshave it."

Sanchez doesn't expect McCurdy's stu-dents to care as much about the fancy flooras they do about having a big new gymplay in, one that won't require some ofthem to wait until late evening to take thefloor to practice.

"It will result in an overall improvementin the school's sports program," he saidwith a smile and a gleam of anticipation inhis eye. "There will be a lot more interestin sports."

NM town's planto bar pit bullsdraws oppositionBy MARILYN HADDRILLFor The New Mexican

HAGERMAN — With an esti-mated 20 pit bull terriers in afarming town of less than 1,000,some Hagerman residents arepushing for an ordinance to banthe breed.

Hagerman Town Clerk DittaMcCullough said pit bull ter-riers elsewhere have attackedpeople.

Some of the publicity has beenhorrifying," she said, addingthat about 20 such dogs are inHagerman. We sure don't wantto allow anything like that tohappen here."

But pit bull terrier ownerCesar Rodriguez of Hagermansaid the town council can expectopposition when it meets Tues-day night to vote on the ordi-nance.

Rodriguez, a New MexicoState University student in LasCruces, visits his Hagermanhome during summers and holi-days. Relatives take care of thedog for him while he's away.

Confined to a wheelchair, Ro-driguez said the dog has beenmore friend than pet for thethree years he's owned her. Hesaid she's never been involvedin any attacks.

She's just like any of thesepeople's poodles that are com-plaining," he said. What theirpoodle means to them, shemeans tome."

McCullough said the ordi-nance under consideration ispatterned after one adopted in1984 in Tijeras, N.M., just eastof Albuquerque. Tijeras TownHall secretary Mary Reed saidher tiny community of severalhundred people was the first inthe nation to ban pit bull ter-riers.

She said she has receivedabout 25 requests for copies ofthe town ordinance fromthroughout the country. TheTijeras ordinance has beenchallenged in Albuquerque dis-trict court by a pit bull terrierowner in the town, and that casestill is pending, Reed said.

She said that in 1984 a smallTijeras girl walking home fromschool almost was killed by pitbull terriers. In the unprovokedattack, the child was mauledseverely, and must continue tohave surgery the rest of her life,Reed said.

Hagerman town councilmanTom King said his community'sproposed ordinance was moreor less spurred on with the largepit bull population in the area."

They're chained to doghouses,and in yards. When you're walk-ing down the street, those dogsget a little aggressive aboutpulling on the chains. And whenyou have kids, it makes youuneasy. Some (pit bull terriers)dp run loose, or get loose occa-sionally. I've had some in mybackyard, when my kids werethere," he said.

But Rodriguez said pit bull

PitbullsAccording to the HumaneSociety, five people have died inthe U.S. this year as a result ofattacks by pit bulls, tn 1986,13people died after being attackedby dogs, and seven of thosedogs were pit bulls. At least 35cities around the country haveproposed ordinances whichwould ban or restrict ownershipof vicious dogs.

DEATHS IN THE U.S.AS A RESULT OF PIT

BULL ATTACKS

1986 — 7 1987*—5

'As of June 25, 1987

InfoGrophics

-c:1967 North America Syndicate. Inc

SOURCE: Humane Society ol the U.S.

terriers, like other breeds ofdogs, can be brought up to beeither gentle or aggressive.

He said he will fight Hager-man in court before he willsurrender his long-time com-panion.

Hagerman is 23 miles south ofRoswell. Between Hagermanand Roswell is the farming townof Dexter, with about 1,300population. Dexter also is con-sidering a pit bull terrier ordi-nance although one has not yetbeen drafted, town clerk KayRoberts said.

Dexter town supervisor JoeAlvarez estimates that Dexterhas about 15 pit bull terriers.

While neither Hagerman norDexter report any major inci-dents involving the breed, otherarea cities have had problemswithin the last year.

In Roswell, resident DaveBlair told a Roswell newspaperin October 1986 that he pulledtwo pit bull terriers off anelderly man who had been at-tacked.

Marilyn Haddrill is a staffwriter for the El Paso Times.

NM Legal Services getsgrant from state Bar

The Northern New Mexico Legal Ser-vices is one of a dozen New Mexicoorganizations providing legal services topoor people to receive money this yearfrom the New Mexico Bar Foundation.

The foundation awards, announced lastweek, were made from the Interest onLawyers Trust Account Program.

Northern New Mexico Legal Services isreceiving $22,000 of the $154,000 distributedstatewide.

Police report six deathsin weekend traffic

State police said six people died inweekend traff ic accidents on New Mexicoroads.

The victims were identified as JosephLarry Montoya, 19, of Aztec; RandylynnMarie Allen, 15, of Flora Vista; ErickaJudson, 16, of Belen; Fulgencio Lopez, 45,

of Albuquerque; Bernice Smith, 47, ofLincoln; and Tommy Rodriguez Jr., 17, ofAlbuquerque.

Montoya and Allen were killed in a two-vehicle collision about 5:30 a.m. Sunday onState Road 173 near Farmington, policesaid.

Judson was killed in a one-vehicleaccident about 10:15 p.m. Saturday inBelen, police said. The vehicle she wasdriving went out of control, ran off the roadand overturned, police said.

Lopez died in a two-vehicle and pedestri-an accident in southeast Albuquerqueabout 9:30 p.m. Saturday, police said.Lopez was crossing a street on foot whenhe was struck by a vehicle. Police saidLopez bounced off the vehicle and was hitby a second vehicle.

Smith was killed in a two-vehicle head-oncollision about 5 a.m. Saturday on StateRoad 48 near Alamogordo, police said.

Rodriguez was killed Friday in a motor-cycle-pickup truck collision in Al-buquerque, police said.

RacingfansHorse-racing fansare a determinedlot from the looksof the faces of Wei-don Claunch, left,and Beverly Ganttafter the weathertook a turn for thecold. The pairdrove from Al-buquerque for Sun-day races at theSanta Fe Downs

Leslie TallantThe New Mexican

Taos museum benefitraises $50,000

The third annual benefit auction for theMillicent Roger Museum of Taos raised$50,000.

The auction, July 16 at the Hilton ofSanta Fe, was attended by 138 guests. Mostof the items sold at auction had asouthwestern theme.

Senior center offeringclasses in GED, ESL

Free high school equivalency classes arebeing offered to senior citizens at the MaryEsther Gonzales Senior Center at 1121 AltoStreet.

English as a Second Language classesalso are available. A minimum of 13students are required for each class.

For information,- call 471-8475.

Staff and Wire Reports