Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Past its own New Year’s deadline, a weary Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation to avoid a national “fiscal cliff” of middle class tax increases and spending cuts late Tuesday night in the culmination of a struggle that strained America’s divided government to the limit.
MUMMERS STRUT IN PHILLY
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Decked out in elaborate face paint, purple butterfly wings and souvenir beads from the last six Mummers parades, Tracy Rivera looked out from her perch in a downtown first-floor storefront window and surveyed the 2013 edition. - PAGE A2
TOP 5
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
House passes Senate bill, 257–167
Vol. 121, No. 2 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
The bill’s passage on a 257-167 vote in the House sealed a hard-won political triumph for the president less than two months after he secured re-election while calling for higher taxes on the wealthy. In addition to neutralizing middle class tax increases and spending cuts taking effect with the
January 2, 2013
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
new year, the legislation will raise tax rates on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. That was higher than the thresholds of $200,000 and $250,000 that Obama campaigned for. But remarkably, in a party that swore of f tax increases two decades ago, dozens of Republicans supported the bill at both ends of the Capitol. The Senate approved the measure on a vote of 89-8 less than 24 hours earlier, and in the interim, rebellious House conservatives demanded a vote to add significant spending cuts to the measure. But in the end they retreated.
both parties expressed regret that it was narrowly drawn, and fell far short of a sweeping plan that combined tax changes and spending cuts to reduce federal deficits. That proved to be a step too far in the two months since Obama called congressional leaders to the White House for a postelection stab at compromise. Majority Republicans did their best to minimize the bill’s tax increases, just as they abandoned their demand from earlier in the day to add spending cuts to the package. “By making Republican tax cuts permanent, we are
AP Photo
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., center, accompanied by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., right, and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., leaves a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday.
What’s New Year’s Day without Rose Parade? Supporters of the bill in
See CLIFF, Page A3
WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Educational system Ingle’s top priority • State budget, education programs ... • Sammye, the doggie savior, currently • RHS wins Poe Corn title, Cooper gets ... • Goddard boys down Artesia
INSIDE SPORTS
AP Photo
The Dole float “Dreaming of Paradise,” winner of the top prize, the Sweepstakes trophy for the most beautiful entry, makes its way in the 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday.
STANFORD WINS ROSE BOWL
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Although Stanford didn’t score many style points in the 99th Rose Bowl, the Cardinal could celebrate because they didn’t let Wisconsin score any points at all after halftime. Stepfan Taylor rushed for 89 yards and an early touchdown, Kevin Hogan passed for 123 yards, and No. 8 Stanford won its first Rose Bowl since 1972, beating the Badgers 20-14 on Tuesday night. Usua Amanam made the decisive interception near midfield with ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Frances Juarez Stella Maria Heinold Jean Corn Boswell Robert Jaer Myers Robert Williams - PAGE A6
AP Photo
The Kaiser Permanente float “Oh, The Healthy Things You Can Do,” winner of the Theme trophy for the best presentation of the parade theme “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.”
The La Canada Flintridge float “Dino-Soar,” winner of the Animation trophy for the best display of animation.
World looks to 2013 after violence, economic woes
HIGH ...47˚ LOW ....22˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
AP Photo
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — A couple who became husband and wife on the “Love Float,” a surprise reunion between a returning soldier and his little boy, and a grand marshal famed globally for her chimpanzee research were among the highlights of the 124th Rose Parade on Tuesday. The parade’s spectacular 42 floral floats brightened an otherwise cloudy New Year’s morning and boosted the spirits of a chilled crowd estimated at some 700,000 spectators lining the 5-mile route. “The only way that you’re going to experience the Rose Parade is to be here in person,” said Los Angeles resident Gineen Alcantara-Nakama, who camped out Monday night to save front row sidewalk spots. “Growing up, I watched it on television, but it’s not the same — the smell, the atmosphere, smelling the flowers as they come down the street. And the energy. It’s like being with family all night long.” Spectators rose to a standing ovation when Army Sgt. First Class Eric Pazz, who was riding on the Natural Balance Pet Foods float along with other service members, got of f the float and walked over to his surprised wife Miriam and 4year-old son Eric Jr., who came running out of the stands into the arms of his 32-year-old father. Miriam Pazz had been told she had won a contest to attend the parade and did not know her husband, who is deployed in Afghanistan, would be there. A native of Clio,
INDEX
AP Photo
The fireworks explode as the Waterford crystal ball is raised at the beginning of Times Square New Year’s celebration, in New York, Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — As the world rang in 2013 with spectacular fireworks displays and showers of confetti, the specter of economic uncertainty and searing
violence dimmed some festivities and weighed on the minds of revelers hoping for a better year.
“With all the sadness in the country, we’re looking
for some good changes in 2013,” Laura Concannon, of Hingham, Mass., said as she, her husband, Kevin, and his parents joined hundreds of thousands of people who celebrated the new year in Times Square on Monday. Revelers with New Year’s hats and sunglasses boasting “2013” packed the streets in the 35-degree cold to count down the first ball drop in decades without Dick Clark, who died in April and was honored with his name printed on confetti and on one of the crystal panels on the T imes Square ball. Syracuse University student Taylor Nanz, 18, said she and a friend had been standing in Times Square since 1:20 p.m. Monday. They hadn’t moved from
their spot because “if you leave, you lose your place,” she said. “It’s the first time — and the last time,” she said. “Never again.” Security in Times Square was tight, with a mass of uniformed police and plainclothes officers assigned to blend into the crowd. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly claimed that Times Square would be the “safest place in the world on New Year’s Eve,” and officers used barriers to prevent overcrowding and checkpoints to inspect vehicles, enforce an alcohol ban and check handbags. In the state capital of California, a midnight fireworks show was canceled after a fight at a Sacramento restaurant ended with two people fatally shot and
See PARADE, Page A3
three wounded. But in Las Vegas, police and about 300 Nevada National Guard troops kept the night peaceful, with only 13 people arrested. Sin City hosted sold-out concerts featuring Beyonce, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Black Keys, and revelers jammed the Strip to watch as seven hotelcasinos unleashed identical eight-minute rooftop fireworks displays at midnight. The celebrations on the West Coast took place nearly 24 hours after lavish fireworks displays lit up skylines in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai. In Myanmar, about 90,000 people gathered in a field to watch a countdown for the first time, according See 2013, Page A3