Two sections, 24 pages 164th year, No. 71Publication No. 596-440Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@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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Breaking news at www.santafenewmexican.com MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2009

Monday, March 12, 2009

New Mexico basketball fans’ biggest week starts today Hoops, insideHo ps

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TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013 WW

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Desert shining UNM, the regular-season champion, enters the Mountain West tournament looking to add more hardware.

SportS, B-1

PasapickAdrian Legg British fingerstyle master guitarist, 8 p.m., Garrett’s Desert Inn, 311 Old Santa Fe Trail, $20, brownpapertickets.com.More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

The Santa Fe County Commission will be asked Tuesday, March 12, to approve another $515,866 for the new District Court building at Montezuma Avenue and Sandoval Street — mostly for the parking garage that will be off limits to the general public.

A staff memo says the extra money — $476,826 plus $39,040 in gross-receipts taxes — is needed to pay for a number of “user requested changes” to the original contract with Bradbury Stamm Construction.

Neither First Judicial District Court Administrator Stephen Pacheco or Chief Judge Raymond Ortiz was available Monday to comment on the additional funds sought.

Most of the proposed changes are for security for the underground parking garage, including:

u Heating elements to melt snow on the ramp lead-ing to the underground parking structure.

Court seeks $515K more to alter new facilitiesProject cost will exceed $63M with request to pay for ‘functionality’ and parking structure upgradesBy Tom Sharpe and Phaedra HaywoodThe New Mexican

Please see CoUrt, Page A-5

Ex-cop among 3 arrested on forgery chargesA retired Santa Fe police sergeant now

working as a Tesuque Pueblo police officer is among three men charged with producing counterfeit $100 bills.

Santa Fe police say Anthony Rivera, 44, who retired from the city police department in 2011, his brother, Dominic

Rivera, 34, and their roommate Tyler Ament, 20, used more than $1,200 in phony currency at Santa Fe businesses within the past two months.

Anthony Rivera and his brother were arrested Sunday morning. Each faces three counts of forgery and one count of conspiracy to commit forgery. Ament, arrested Saturday, faces two counts of

todayPlenty of sunshine.High 57, low 31.

pAgE A-12

obituariesManuel Carrillo, 73, Feb. 28Emelina B. Gonzales, 90, Santa Fe, March 9Kenneth (Keith) Gray, 60, March 9Augustine Montoya, 66, March 7Eric Salazar, 44, March 7Alesandro T. (Alex) Valdez, 67, Española, March 8

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ROaD WORK BEGINS aT WaSHINGTON avENuE aND PaSEO DE PERaLTa

ABOVE: AUI Inc. of Albuquerque began work on the inter-section of Paseo de Peralta and Washington Avenue/ Bishops Lodge Road on Monday. The project is slated to take up to five months to complete.

LEFT: The intersec-tion as seen from the Scottish Rite Center on Monday. Motorists trying to drive downtown from Bish-ops Lodge Road will be detoured onto Murales Road and over to Old Taos Highway while work is under way.

Photos by Jane PhilliPs the new Mexican

House clears bill to soften marijuana penalties

Adults possessing less than 8 ounces of marijuana in New Mexico would no longer receive any jail time under a bill passed Monday by the House.

The House voted 37-33 in favor of House Bill 465, sponsored by Rep. Emily Kane, D-Albuquerque. The bill would reduce penalties for possession of up to 4 ounces to a civil penalty with increasing fines while eliminating the potential for jail time for any amount up to 8 ounces.

“Spending $5 million a year to arrest people with small amounts of marijuana is a waste of resources,” Kane said during the three-hour debate on the bill. “We could put that money to better use.”

Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, put it more strongly. “Why on God’s green Earth would we want to spend money throwing college kids in jail for having a few joints when we could be spending that money on early childhood education?” he said during the debate. He called current marijuana laws “institutional state stupidity.”

Advocates of the bill can claim bipartisan support. Two Republicans — House GOP Whip Nate Gentry and Rep. Terry McMillan of Las Cruces — joined 35 Democrats to vote in favor of the bill.

Tyler Ament

Anthony Rivera

Dominic Rivera

By Nico RoeslerThe New Mexican

Detail of one of the confis-cated fake $100 bills. courtesy santa Fe Police DePartMentPlease see ForgErY, Page A-5

Measure would nix jail time for possession of less than 8 ounces

By Steve TerrellThe New Mexican

Please see MArIJUANA, Page A-4