News in brief, 09/15/2007 - Fireball populates N.M. sky

Two flying objects populate skies Thursday

Thursday was a prime day for unidentified flying objects, with a fireball in the southwest sky in the wee morning hours and an apparent weather balloon in the west in the late afternoon.

Neither the Santa Fe city police nor the county sheriff’s office reported any calls about either phenomenon, but spokesmen for both agencies reported seeing a television report about the balloon.

Susan Burgess of Santa Fe reported seeing a light brighter than the full moon for about eight seconds around 3:20 a.m.

“It was terrifying,” she said. “(I) observed a brilliant fireball ... come over the house, streaking horizontally at about 40 degrees above (the) horizon till it disintegrated with a great deal of scatter in the northwest sky. ... After about a minute, I heard a (sound), like fireworks in the distance, for 1 to 2 seconds.”

Thomas Ashcraft, an amateur astronomer who lives between Lamy and Eldorado, captured the fireball, which he said was a large meteor, on videotape with his all-night camera. The video is available at www.heliotown.com/Fireball_Sep_13_2007_Ashcraft.html.

Sandia National Laboratories also caught the fireball on video, available at www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_65324.shtml.

Counties declared disaster areas

Rio Arriba and Taos counties have been declared disaster areas because of flash flooding between July 26 and Aug. 6.

The disaster declaration by Gov. Bill Richardson makes the two counties eligible for reimbursement for such expenses as overtime for public safety workers; road, water line and sewer repairs; and other public assistance needs. The state will pay 75 percent of the cost from its disaster relief fund.

Cerrillos Road section to be resurfaced

Resurfacing of Cerrillos Road between Lujan Street and Siler Road will begin at 7 p.m. Sunday and continue for about a week, according to a news release from the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Crews will mill and resurface the road in both directions between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. One lane will be closed during working hours, and pavement will be rough during the daytime.

The department said the work should make the surface more resistant to potholes.

Albuquerque man awarded in fake-child scam

A man who paid thousands of dollars in child support for a child who did not exist has been awarded $1.2 million in damages by an Albuquerque jury.

The jurors found Friday that Mobile Blood Services had given false DNA results to Steve Barreras, making him think he had fathered a child by his ex-wife. The company was found liable for $625,000 in compensatory damages and $575,000 in punitive damages for certifying the results of two DNA tests.

According to testimony, Barreras’ ex-wife, Viola Treviño, had the couple’s adult daughter provide DNA samples, and a former employee of Mobile Blood Services helped with the scam.

David Quintana, the owner of Mobile Blood Services, said he felt betrayed by the former employee, and his company has always been honest.

Treviño is in prison for making a false federal income tax return that claimed exemptions, Earned Income Credit, and child and dependent care expenses for the nonexistent child. A Bernalillo County grand jury also has indicted her on two dozen criminal counts that include kidnapping, perjury, conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit forgery.

Road work continues

Road work that began Sept. 10 on Jack’s Creek Road (Forest Service Road 555) off N.M. 63 in Pecos Canyon is scheduled to continue through Sept. 28, according to the Santa Fe National Forest.

The Jack’s Creek campground and trail head, as well as the road itself, are closed because of the work. The National Forest visitor parking area at Cowles along N.M. 63 also is closed because it is being used for the road project’s construction materials and equipment.

Trinity Site open house is Oct. 6

Trinity Site — where the world’s first nuclear device was detonated more than 62 years ago — will be open to the public Oct. 6.

The site, on the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range, is closed most of the year. But during the free open house, people can visit the stone obelisk marking the spot where Manhattan Project scientists detonated an atomic bomb July 16, 1945.

From the site, a bus will shuttle visitors two miles to the Schmidt/McDonald ranch house where the bomb’s plutonium core was assembled.

To reach the site, take Interstate 25 south to San Antonio, N.M., turn east on U.S. 380 and drive 12 miles to the Stallion Gate, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors will receive information at the gate and be allowed to drive unescorted for 17 miles to Trinity Site.

Adults must have photo identification. All vehicles are subject to search and should carry proof of insurance and current registration. For more information, call the White Sands Missile Range public-affairs office at 505-678-1134 or go to www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinitySite/trinst.htm.