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20-pound pet becomescenter of custody battleBy Nico RoeslerThe New Mexican

Santa Fe police onMonday foundthemselves at the center of a custodybattle over an African spurreddesert tortoise after investigating asupposed tortoise-napping from anorthwest-side home.The animal’s owner, city officers

and two caretakers of a tortoisenamedMister Turtle that wasreported stolen over the weekendeventually found it safe and sound inthe possession of a woman who hadbecome attached to the reptile whileliving in the same household withthe pet.Caretakers Joe Lovato and

Kimberly Hargrove said Monday thatLovato’s former roommate returnedto their house on Alamo Drive atabout 8 p.m. Saturday saying thatshe had forgotten something of hersPolitical, religious

leaders to congregateat pope’s investitureBy Nicole WinfieldThe Associated Press

VATICANCITY— Pope Fran-cis’ diplomatic skills will be put tothe test Tuesday as he hosts politi-cal leaders from130 nations andreligious repre-sentatives from avariety of faithswho are descend-ing on Rome for hisinstallationMass,with Latin Americastrongly repre-sented to celebratethe first pope fromthe NewWorld.Among the VIPs expected is the

spiritual leader of the world’s Ortho-dox Christians, Bartholomew I, whowill become the first patriarch fromthe Istanbul-based church to attenda papal investiture since the twobranches of Christianity split nearly1,000 years ago. His presence under-scores the broad hopes for ecumeni-cal and interfaith dialogue in this newpapacy given Francis’ namesake, St.Francis of Assisi, and his own history.Francis’ diplomatic mettle was

triedMonday as he held his firstaudience with a visiting head of state,having lunch with his political nem-esis, Argentine President CristinaFernández, who asked him to inter-vene in the dispute with Britain overthe Falkland Islands.

Pope Francis

Two sections, 24 pages

164th year, No. 78Publication No. 596-440Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Carlos A. López, clopez@sfnewmexican.com Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010

Calendar A-2 Classifieds B-6 Comics B-12 Lotteries A-2 Opinions A-10 Police notes A-9 Sports B-1 Time Out B-11 Local Business A-8Index

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Locally owned and independent Tuesday, March 19, 2013 www.santafenewmexican.com75¢

Projecttargetsinvasiveporkers

PasapickBanff Mountain FilmFestival 2013 World TourAnnual collection ofinternational films related toadventure sports, expeditionsand mountain cultures,7 p.m., the Lensic PerformingArts Center, $16, 988-1234,ticketsssantafe.org.More events in Calendar, PageA-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

TodayPartly cloudy.High 61, low 32.PAge A-12

ObituariesArthur Nelson Cox, 85,Santa Fe, March 12Paul De Domenico, March 14Marie Antoinette (Donahue)Griego, 90, Santa Fe, March 17Mannie P. Jiron, 49, Santa FeMary Jane Roybal, March 17

PAge A-9

Leadersof the pack

Installationpromises totest Francis’diplomacy

Please see POPe, Page A-5

State teams up with fedsto eradicate feral pigsBy Susan Montoya BryanThe Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE—Using thecover of darkness, feral pigs havelearned to outsmart even the mostseasoned hunters as they set abouton their nightly terrors, rootingup crops and suburban gardens,harassing native wildlife and turningwatering holes into pigsties.The invasive porkers have made

themselves at home across morethan three quarters of the U.S. andare responsible for an estimated$1.5 billion in damages each year.Most worrisome is their ability tolearn from each encounter with afrustrated human.Ask anyone who has had a run-in

with feral pigs. The conversationalways circles back to intelligence.“They’re much brighter than I am,”

said Ray Powell, a veterinarian andNewMexico’s land commissioner.“If they had the dexterity, they’d bedriving vehicles around. I mean,these guys are really smart.”Feral pigs have already taken

over Texas and are expanding their

By Steve TerrellThe New Mexican

T he Santa Fe area’s delegation accounted formany of the hundreds of bills that survivedthe NewMexico Legislature’s recent 60-daysession.

Two Senate committee chairmen—Sens. Phil Griego,D-San Jose, and PeterWirth, D-Santa Fe— led the packamong local lawmakers in sheer number of bills passed.Griego sponsored or co-sponsored 13 bills that passedboth the Senate and theHouse.Wirth got nine billsthrough before the session adjourned Saturday.Quantity is not necessarily the best way to measure

legislative accomplishments, however. For instance,while Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe, onlyshepherded four bills through the Legislature thisyear, one was the massive Public Employee Retire-ment Association pension overhaul — one of the mostimportant, most complex and most controversial billsto get passed this year.Most of the legislation still awaits a decision by

Gov. SusanaMartinez, who has until April 15 to eitherveto the bills or sign those she wants to become law.For the complete list of bills each member of the

local delegation successfully carried in the session, seePage A-4. All are Democrats and all are from Santa Feexcept where noted.

2013 LEGISLATURE

Please see PORKeRS, Page A-4

Santa Fe legislators see shareof measures survive session

Sen. Phil Griego — 13 Sen. Peter Wirth — 9 Sen. Nancy Rodriguez — 6

Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela — 4 Rep. Brian Egolf — 3 Rep. Stephen Easley — 3

Rep. Jim Trujillo — 2 Rep. Carl Trujillo — 2 Rep. Stephanie G. Richard — 2

Santa Fe-area lawmakers and the total number of bills they sponsored that passed during the 2013 leg-islative session, according to the New Mexico Legislature website. NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTOS

Social media scores big at RoundhouseBy Julie Ann GrimmThe New Mexican

Social media’s ever-increasingrole in worldwide public discourseplayed out in a major way dur-ing this year’s session of the NewMexico Legislature.Even though the 60-day session

ended Saturday, Twitter and Face-book are still jammed with refer-ences to #nmleg, the hashtag thathelped people track happenings atthe Capitol.Pundits credit social media with

engaging a broader audience in thesometimes obscure sausage-mak-

ing of how a bill becomes law— orin the case of numerous popularefforts this session, how it dies.They also say exchanges via socialmedia had a significant role inhelping organize rallies,getting people to testifyat committee hearingsand even persuadinglegislators to take cer-tain actions.Take House Bill

77, for example. Themeasure to imposebackground checkson all firearms buy-ers at gun shows

had made it through the House,but Sen. RichardMartinez, D-Espa-ñola, hadn’t put it on the SenateJudiciary Committee’s agenda for a

The hashtag#nmleghelped Twit-ter userskeep track ofhappeningsat the Capi-tol duringthe legisla-tive session.

Please see SOCIAL, Page A-4

Missingtortoisereturnshome

Mister Turtle was reported stolenover the weekend and eventuallywas found safe and sound, report-edly with his caretaker’s formerroommate. COURTESY JOE LOVATO

Please see TORTOISe, Page A-5

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