E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Around New Mexico
Duke City Nurse Headed to Haiti
An Albuquerque nurse expects to spend much of this month in tents helping surgeons in Haiti.
Lisa Friesen, 43, is headed for the Caribbean nation, which was devastated by a Jan. 12 earthquake.
Friesen, organ recovery coordinator for New Mexico Donor Services, will remain in Haiti through Feb. 13.
She will work in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, helping orthopedic surgeons at a tent hospital operated by Operation Smile, a nonprofit based in Norfolk, Va.
Friesen plans to blog about her experiences. To view her posts, visit www.donatelifenm.org and link to the New Mexico Donor Services Facebook page.
Ex-State Rep. Germany-Bound
Corrales resident and former state Rep. Bob Perls has been assigned to a Foreign Service posting at the U.S. General Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany.
His consular job will involve processing visas and assisting U.S. citizens who are in need or in trouble.
Obtaining a Foreign Service position involved nearly a year of tests and interviews. Perls began training with the Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va., in January. He will undergo about seven more months of training, including learning German, before he leaves to take his new post.
Man Sentenced in Brutal Slaying
ROSWELL — A man who pleaded no contest to six felony charges, including second-degree murder, in the slaying and dismemberment of a Roswell woman has been sentenced to 49 1/2 years in prison.
Alan Dale Bruce of Roswell had been doing odd jobs for Leatha Tidwell until he killed her in an argument over money.
Tidwell's body parts were discovered last spring under a camper shell covering the bed of her pickup truck, which had been towed to a Clovis impound yard after Texas police arrested Bruce on a parole violation, authorities said.
Prosecutors said Bruce hit Tidwell over the head with an ax, then chopped her body into pieces.
Bruce was sentenced Monday.
DWI Driver Gets Three Years
FARMINGTON — A woman who was driving drunk when she struck and dragged an Aztec man was sentenced this week to three years in prison.
Fannie Etcitty, 46, was sentenced in state District Court in Farmington two weeks before the 72-year-old victim, Paul Hardy, will celebrate his own mark of sobriety.
Etcitty pleaded guilty Jan. 19 to third-degree gross bodily harm by a vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and careless driving.
Hardy was critically injured Nov. 25 when he was struck by Etcitty while crossing Aztec Boulevard on foot. Etcitty was drunk when she turned right from Light Plant Road onto Aztec Boulevard and hit Hardy, Aztec police Sgt. Joseph Gonzales said.
Etcitty's blood-alcohol level registered a 0.10. The presumed level of intoxication is 0.08.
Hardy spent approximately two months recovering at San Juan Regional Medical Center before he was taken to a long-term acute care facility in Albuquerque.
Hardy, who lived independently before the accident, will be unable to live by himself again. He is waiting to be released to a residential nursing home.
Third Weather-Related Death
CRYSTAL — An 88-year-old woman was recently found dead near the Crystal Chapter on the Navajo Nation, police reported.
The woman, whose name was not released, was found in the middle of the road Jan. 27 about seven miles north of Crystal.
The Chinle Police District of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety reports that the woman insisted on visiting her sister at 4 a.m., and when her vehicle got stuck in the mud, she continued on foot. A road-grader operator discovered the woman's body about 25 yards from her vehicle.
The death is the third on the reservation during the past weeks believed to be weather-related, said Selena Manychildren, spokeswoman for the Navajo Nation Emergency Operation Center.
Winter weather often presents the Navajo Nation with two emergencies, Manychildren said. Deep snow and ice conditions are often followed by soft mud that makes travel impossible. Officials continue to warn residents of muddy conditions.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
