News Briefs

State

Origen of 25-acre fire in Pojoaque still a mystery

POJOAQUE PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) - Firefighters were watching for embers Tuesday from a blaze that burned about 25 acres of bosque on the northwestern edge of Pojoaque Pueblo and forced evacuations.

Santa Fe County firefighters were turning the final control of the blaze over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Hank Blackwell, Santa Fe County fire marshal, said Tuesday.

The blaze was about 90 percent extinguished, but firefighters were checking for hot spots "to make sure we don't get any embers," he said.

He said the fire burned between 20 and 25 acres.

Investigators did not immediately know what caused it.

The fire, battled by 40 to 50 firefighters using about half a dozen engines, began around 8 p.m. Monday.

Wind-driven flames swept through mostly cottonwood and junipers and some grass along the Pojoaque River, threatening several homes in the Jacona area.

The fire burned a barn and an old pump house in that area, Blackwell said.

The fire also threatened a small mobile-home community about a mile from Jacona about 11 p.m. Monday. Up to 200 people were evacuated when easterly wind threatened to move flames closer to the homes, said James Leach, a Santa Fe County emergency manager.

Those who left their homes were offered a place to stay at a gymnasium in Jacona and the pueblo's casino. They all returned home by Tuesday morning, Blackwell said. No injuries were reported.

Horseback patrol reduced due to city budget crunch

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Cash-strapped Albuquerque has reduced its horseback police patrol.

The unit, which once had a dozen officers and as many horses, now consists of three patrolmen, a sergeant and six horses, Lt. Bob Huntsman said Monday.

The horse patrol, a familiar sight in the city's Old Town, has cost Albuquerque about $63,000 a year: $7,000 for a veterinarian, $15,000 for a farrier and $41,000 for stable and feed bills, he said.

Police officers on horseback can do some things better than officers in cars.

"They're really good for crowd control," Huntsman said. "The officers are now manning the new Old Town substation . . . and one officer on horseback is worth about 10 on foot."

The patrol also works major events like the New Mexico State Fair and Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Huntsman said.

"They (the officers) sit up so high that they can really see everything that's going on around them, and people can see them," he said.

City public safety director Nick Bakas said the Police Department is shifting its focus to basic patrol duties and faster response times for common crimes, such as burglaries.

The horse patrol has been well-received by Old Town merchants, who say it adds to the Western flavor tourists love.

"I think it blends in and makes sense with the ambiance of Old Town," said gift shop owner Barbara Hummel. "It's part of who we are . we love having them down here."

Bakas said the city would like to find an independent sponsor for the horse unit.

Albuquerque police also cut other specialized units, including police helicopter patrol time.

National

Government OKs new eye surgery using radio waves

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government has approved a new surgical device to treat farsightedness that uses radio frequency waves, instead of a laser, to zap the cornea into shape.

The new "conductive keratoplasty," or CK, is a little less invasive than today's laser surgery.

Farsightedness is the inability to see clearly at close distances, such as while reading. To correct it, doctors plump up a flattened cornea, using the popular LASIK surgery or a similar method that uses a laser to heat the edge of the cornea.

Refractec Inc. says its CK system causes fewer side effects. Heat-causing radio frequency waves pass through a tiny probe as thin as a human hair that doctors guide in a circle around the edge of the cornea.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the CK equipment last week, the Irvine, Calif., company announced Tuesday.

In one study, 56 percent of treated eyes had 20/20 vision or better without glasses a year after surgery.

But the FDA cautioned that CK offers temporary vision correction, because vision can deteriorate for at least a year after surgery.

Some visual regression is expected after any farsightedness correction, but LASIK patients' vision typically stabilizes between three and six months post-treatment, said FDA ophthalmic device chief Dr. Everette Beers. CK patients' vision doesn't stabilize then - and between six and 12 months post-surgery, they lose, on average, another 11 percent of vision, he said.

"It gives patients another option," Beers said. But "there is regression with this . Some people may have a little bit, others may have more."

There is no data showing whether retreatment is safe or works, he added.

The surgery will cost patients $1,500 to $2,000 per eye, about the same as LASIK, Refractec said. Doctors can buy the CK system for $48,500.

Ohio man to serve 21 years in prison for grisly murder

CLEVELAND (AP) - A judge sentenced a man to 21 years to life in prison for killing his live-in girlfriend, dismembering her body and putting it in an acid-filled garbage can on their apartment balcony.

Gerald Lee Thompson, 37, was sentenced Monday in the death of Nancy Pimentel, 26, whose badly decayed body was found June 10 at the apartment the couple shared.

An autopsy showed Pimentel had 40 bruises on her body that occurred before she died. It was unclear what led to Pimentel's murder, although Thompson told one witness that his girlfriend was holding him back and that he was tired of her.

Thompson was convicted of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and domestic violence.

Pimentel's mother, Maria, told the judge through tears: "I miss her so much. I love her so much. Day and night I think about her.

"Why kill her, my beautiful daughter?" she asked, looking at the handcuffed Thompson.

Judge Judith Kilbane Koch said she was "absolutely shocked by the total lack of remorse" Thompson had shown. She also noted that Thompson had a lengthy police record, including a conviction for raping a 19-year-old woman.

Second recipient of an artificial heart heads home

CENTRAL CITY, Ky. (AP) - The longest-surviving recipient of a self-contained artificial heart returned home Tuesday seven months after his operation, waving to well-wishers as he rode a wailing fire truck through town.

"It's good to be home," 71-year-old Tom Christerson said after the caravan of dozens of vehicles finally pulled up to his house.

He was given a plastic-and-titanium AbioCor heart at Jewish Hospital in Louisville on Sept. 13.

Christerson, the second recipient of the device, was released from the hospital March 20 and had been living at a hotel one block away.

"I feel like I'm pretty back to normal and I can do as I please," Christerson said at the hospital.

After the news conference, he and his wife drove to their home in Central City, about 125 miles southwest of Louisville.

Christenson sat in the passenger seat of the minivan, which was fitted with an electrical outlet so he could recharge the heart on the road.

When he got to Central City, Christerson was helped up the four steps onto the fire truck. People spilled out from businesses to greet him as the caravan crept along.

Christerson already had spent a weekend at home, and had made frequent outings in Louisville.

"I have quite a few friends" in Central City, Christerson said. "I miss them a lot. We've been known to play a hand or two of poker."

One of his surgeons, Dr. Robert Dowling, said Christerson is doing "very-well medically and emotionally."

Christerson recalled his first encounter with the artificial heart, saying he saw one of the devices on the desk of one of his surgeons. Christerson said he pointed at it and told the doctor: "I'll do anything but that."

"Now I've got that," he said.

He will continue physical therapy in Central City and return to Louisville for checkups.

Seven people have been given the Abiocor heart. Christerson is one of two still living. The device is made by Abiomed Inc. of Danvers, Mass.

International

U.S. troops in Philippines battle Muslim extremists

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) - Expanded American support of the Philippines' fight against Muslim extremists will continue as Southeast Asia faces new threats of "lawlessness," a top U.S. military official said Tuesday.

Adm. Dennis Blair, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Washington remains committed to the Philippine campaign of crushing the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which has been holding American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham on the southern island of Basilan for more than 10 months.

"The important thing that we have is the commitment of the U.S. to help the Philippines beat the Abu Sayyaf," he said.

Blair, who retires May 2, arrived in the southern Philippines on Monday to meet with U.S. troops conducting a six-month counterterrorism exercises for local forces.

"I'm very encouraged by the progress made," said Blair. "What I've seen has exceeded my expectations."

He called the anti-terror campaign a "winning combination" of U.S. high-tech military strength and Philippine "local knowledge."

More than 600 U.S. troops, including 160 from the Special Forces, have been here since January as part of a significant U.S. expansion of its war on terrorism.

Blair declined to comment on reports that Washington is helping broker negotiations on the Burnhams' release, but repeated that the U.S.-backed Philippine campaign against the rebels has been stepped up.

"The goal with regard to the Burnhams is to keep increasing the pressure on the Abu Sayyaf. Keep them on the run. Make them realize it's in their interests to release the hostages unharmed," he said. The Burnhams are from Wichita, Kan.

The threats to peace and stability in Southeast Asia have changed, Blair said.

"The threats now are the seams of lawlessness which exist in various parts of the region, from international terrorists to crime and narcotics, and illegal migration," he said.

The common campaign against terrorism has yielded "extraordinary" results as countries come together, Blair said, pointing to the cooperation with the Philippines.

Talks are ongoing between Manila and Washington about extending the U.S. presence by six months, but Blair said he doesn't see troops staying "for years and years."

Blair said there are plans to send an additional 300 troops to assist in engineering and infrastructure projects "soon," but did not elaborate.

Mainland Chinese migrants fight to stay in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AP) - A mainland Chinese woman ordered to leave Hong Kong slashed her wrist in front of immigration officers, slightly injuring herself amid an escalating residency dispute involving thousands of migrants.

After being told she had to go, 32-year-old Wong Lai-kwan went to the Immigration Department headquarters on Monday and cut herself with an 8-inch knife, immigration spokesman Alvin Tam said Tuesday.

Immigration officers tried to stop Wong from harming herself further, setting off a scuffle in which she kicked and slightly injured three of them, Tam said. She was arrested for obstruction and assault, but was released on $64 bail.

Wong is among some 4,300 migrants defying an order to leave Hong Kong by March 31. The deadline was set after they lost a legal fight to stay here with parents or siblings who have residency.

Some have said they would rather die in Hong Kong than return to China.

In August 2000, migrants threw firebombs in an Immigration Department office, killing two people and injuring almost 50.

A Roman Catholic priest who campaigns for migrants, the Rev. Franco Mella, confirmed Wong had cut herself.

Activists have expressed concern that some of those ordered to leave could behave irrationally and that some parents could turn violent as Hong Kong tries to forcibly remove their children.

At least six migrants have been forcibly deported since the deadline passed, and Security Secretary Regina Ip said 2,000 would be removed within coming weeks.

In a rare show of leniency, authorities approved residency Monday for an 18-year-old who had feared separation from her identical twin sister.

In most cases, parents of the migrants moved to Hong Kong to find work and eventually got residency. Children who came later were sometimes refused the right of abode, so many came on visitor visas and simply stayed.

Even though Hong Kong is now part of China, separate legal systems and tight border controls have remained in place since Britain returned this affluent former colony to Chinese rule in 1997.