Tony Stewart’s return after fatal accident ends with blowout Sports, B-1
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Zappos CEO to give talk on city’s growth
Ready for the rigors of military school
Germs go where you go Research shows an individual’s unique microbial fingerprint is nearly impossible to leave behind. LIFE & SCIENCE, A-7
Tough admissions process first step for N.M. students with sights set on elite academies
The Internet mogul responsible for the online shoe outlet and an expansive urban renovation project in downtown Las Vegas, Nev., is heading to Santa Fe to discuss the science of city growth. PAGE A-8
From left, Santa Fe High School Junior ROTC students Miguel Pantano and Skyler Rodriguez are applying to elite military academies.
Young state senator turns personal pain into strength
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tate Sen. Jacob Candelaria never was just one of the guys. “I was the chubby, gay kid growing up. I was bullied in middle school,” he said in an interview, explaining how he was called derogatory words. For Candelaria, that virulent strain of abuse was half a lifetime ago. Now he is a Princeton graduate, a law student at The University of New Mexico and an excellent orator who comMilan mands attention, even Simonich though, at 27, he is the Ringside Seat youngest member of the state Legislature. Geared toward intellectual pursuits, Candelaria never had much interest in sports. But he watched intently this holiday weekend as National Football League teams set their rosters. Candelaria was rooting for Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team, to win a job. He didn’t. The St. Louis Rams cut Sam, but Candelaria said his tryout was a step forward. “It’s an important story,” Candelaria said. “Role models are important, whether it’s in the church, professional athletics or politics.” Long before Sam, the NFL had gay players. Unlike Sam, they didn’t talk about it. Two of them, Jerry Smith and Dave Kopay, played for legendary coach Vince Lombardi as members of the Washington Redskins. No coach was fairer than Lombardi. His brother, Harold, was gay, and this shaped Lombardi’s view of the world. The hard-nosed, winning-is-everything coach saw his gay players as he saw all the rest — talented men trying to make a living in one of the most competitive enterprises anywhere. Born in 1913, Lombardi was far ahead of his time. When his teams played exhibitions in the segregated South, certain
Please see RINGSIDE, Page A-4
Ferguson a flashpoint for outrage over police shootings Teen’s name invoked to express disgust over use of force across country By Brian Melley The Associated Press
From left, Rodriguez and Pantano run through weapons drills Friday in the Junior ROTC room at Santa Fe High School. PHOTOS BY LUKE E. MONTAVON/THE NEW MEXICAN
By Milan Simonich The New Mexican
here’s no rest on Labor Day for one driven group of high school students. Those who hope to attend elite military academies and graduate as officers are in the midst of a two-tiered application process that lasts for months and takes more work than Advanced Placement calculus. An aspiring cadet or midshipman must obtain a political nomination and also apply directly to the academy. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., advises applicants to send a nomination request to both U.S. senators from their state, their congressman and Vice President Joe Biden. In addition to obtaining the nomination, applicants must interview before a committee and complete an extensive written application. Skyler Rodriguez, a senior at Santa Fe High School, is devoting himself to the application process in hopes of being admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He once thought he would
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like to be either an FBI agent or a member of the Secret Service. Then, Rodriguez said, he decided he could combine the best of both if he became a Navy SEAL. Rodriguez said his chances of being selected for the Navy’s ultracompetitive Sea, Air and Land fighting teams would improve if he is admitted to Annapolis. “You can’t know how good you are unless you try to overachieve,” he said. Getting into Annapolis or the other military academies is as hard as, if not harder than, qualifying for a top specialized combat unit such as the SEALs. For instance, a member of the Naval Academy staff told New Mexico students last week that about 17,000 people applied to Annapolis in hopes of becoming members of Navy’s class of 2018. About 1,400 were admitted. To be competitive in this national field, Rodriguez has stretched himself by taking a series of Advanced Placement courses, including history and calculus. He is in Junior ROTC, and his extracurricular activities include soccer and swimming. But, he says, his 3.5 grade-point average is low for an Annapolis
applicant. He hopes his commitment to a career in the Navy will help him stand out during interviews. He said he would study maritime engineering at Annapolis. Rodriguez’s friend and classmate, Miguel Pantano, is applying both to Annapolis and West Point. His goal is to become a physician. Pantano says West Point is his first choice. Part of his reasoning is practical. West Point, he said, has 20 slots for aspiring physicians. Annapolis has eight. He said he feels optimistic about his chances of being accepted at both academies. Pantano has a 4.0 grade-point average and runs cross-country and track. Through his participation in Junior ROTC, Pantano also has realized that he would fit in at a service academy. “Personally, I like the military structure and the military lifestyle,” he said. Finances are another reason the academies interest him. If Pantano got into West Point or Annapolis on a track toward medical school, he could complete his entire education without
LOS ANGELES — They were killed in Wisconsin, New York and California. Some were shot on the street. One was killed in a Wal-Mart. Another died after being placed in a chokehold. All died at the hands of police and all have been united by one thing: the killing of Michael Brown. Details may differ, circumstances of their deaths may remain unknown, but the outrage that erupted after the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Miss., has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the nation. While there’s been nothing approaching the violence seen in the St. Louis suburb, demonstrations fueled by a sense of injustice and buoyed with the help of social media have rolled across cities, regardless of whether the shootings took place last week or last month. The spark, said Garrett Duncan, an associate professor of education and African American studies at Washington University in St. Louis, was how Ferguson police bungled the aftermath of Brown’s killing, leading to rioting and looting in the face of a heavily armed police force and, later, the National Guard.
Please see POLICE, Page A-4
Today Sunshine. High 86, low 53.
Please see MILITARY, Page A-8
PAGE A-10
Many secrets shroud regional efforts to court Tesla Car company dealing as states play factory poker By Justin Pritchard The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — From the start, little has been typical about Tesla Motors’ plan for a $5 billion factory to make batteries for a new generation of electric cars. It’s not just the project’s massive scale, the cutting-edge technology, or even the bonanza of 6,500 goodpaying jobs. It’s how Tesla is deciding where to build.
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Through a series of unusual plays, Tesla has five states bidding up subsidy packages to land the coveted plant. The winner is expected to offer the luxury car-maker publicly financed incentives exceeding a halfbillion dollars. Tesla signaled this would be no ordinary competition last fall, when it gathered economic development officials from seven Western states and unveiled its vision for a “gigafactory.” (“Giga” refers to the large amount of power that batteries produced at the plant will store.) This spring, CEO Elon Musk announced Tesla would take the extremely unusual step of spending
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millions to prepare sites in two states — or perhaps even three — before the finalist was chosen. Then, over the summer, Musk said the winning state would pitch in about 10 percent of the cost, effectively signaling a minimum bid of $500 million. “We don’t usually see companies setting a floor at which states will be considered,” said Leigh McIlvaine of the group Good Jobs First, which tracks large subsidy packages by states. For all the public anticipation Musk has created, much about the process remains secret. While an industrial park in the desert outside Reno, Nev., is one known site, the other — or others — remains
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a mystery. Tesla has asked states not to discuss their offers, and states aren’t talking. The effect is a game of high-stakes poker, with the states as players and Tesla dealing. “You can’t see any cards at all. Do you stay in or not, push more chips onto the table or fold?” said Kim Hill, who studies incentives at the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research in Michigan. The factory promises something that every state wants but rarely gets these days: thousands of good-paying factory jobs and all the residual economic benefits they bring.
Obituaries Josie Marie Montoya, 93, Santa Fe, Aug. 25 PAGE A-8
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Tom Knoblauch Jamboree Local juke-joint, biker-bar rock band Broomdust Caravan performs in memory of the local artist and activist, 7 p.m., Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave., $7, jeancocteaucinema.com.
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