Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Cliff averted, on to the next crisis
Vol. 122, No. 3 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Unforgettable songs like “Tennessee Waltz” and “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window?” made Patti Page the best-selling female singer of the 1950s and a star who would spend much of the rest of her life traveling the world. When unspecified health problems finally stopped ... - PAGE A6
THURSDAY
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Onward to the next fiscal crisis. Actually, several of them, potentially. The New Year’s Day deal averting the “fiscal clif f” lays the groundwork for more combustible struggles in Washington over taxes, spending and debt in the next few months.
PATTI PAGE DEAD AT 85
January 3, 2013
President Barack Obama’s victory on taxes this week was the second, grudging round of piecemeal successes in as many years in chipping away at the nation’s mountainous deficits. Despite the length and intensity of the debate, the deal to raise the top income tax rate on families
earning over $450,000 a year — about 1 percent of households — and including only $12 billion in spending cuts turned out to be a relatively easy vote for many. This was particularly so because the alternative was to raise taxes on everyone.
But in banking $620 billion in higher taxes over the coming decade from wealthier earners, Obama and his Republican rivals have barely touched deficits still expected to be in the $650 billion range by the end of his second term. And those back-of-theenvelope calculations assume policymakers can
find more than $1 trillion over 10 years to replace automatic across-the-board spending cuts known as a sequester. The measure passed Tuesday prevents middleclass taxes from going up while raising rates on higher incomes. It also blocks severe across-the-board spending cuts for two months, extends unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless for a year, stops a 27 percent cut in Medicare fees paid to doctors and prevents a possible doubling of milk prices. The alternative was going See CLIFF, Page A3
‘Did you not see that I was napping?’
AP Photo
Late Tuesday, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans to consider the “fiscal cliff” bill passed by the Senate Monday night.
High court will hear Profs & Pros case
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INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
A cat awakes from a mid-morning siesta atop a motorcycle seat at a residence on North Missouri, Wednesday.
SANTA FE (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case involving two college professors accused of helping run an online prostitution ring. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the state’s highest court will hear arguments Feb. 6 after prosecutors appealed a lower court’s ruling that the website was legal. In June, a state judge ruled that the website “Southwest Companions” linked to former University of New Mexico president F. Chris Garcia and retired Fairleigh Dickinson University physics professor David C. Flory violated no laws. That ruling complicated the case for prosecutors, who were planning to present their case to a grand jury.
Boehner agrees to Sandy aid vote Sheriff ID’s John Doe END OF THE LINE
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Ray Lewis spent 17 seasons instilling fear in his opponents while serving as an inspirational leader for the Baltimore Ravens. Now he’s poised and eager to become a full-time dad. Lewis announced Wednesday he will end his brilliant NFL career after the Ravens complete their 2013 playoff run. Lewis has been sidelined since Oct. 14 with a torn right triceps. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Thomas Steinback • Tomas Velasco • John Robinson Sr. • Deborah Britt • James Stockton • Lenard G. Henderson - PAGE A6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under intense pressure from angry Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner agreed Wednesday to a vote this week on aid for Superstorm Sandy recovery. The speaker will schedule a vote Friday for $9 billion for the national flood insurance program and another on Jan. 15 for a remaining $51 billion in the package, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York said after emerging from a meeting with Boehner and GOP lawmakers from New York and New Jersey. The votes will be taken by the new Congress that will be sworn in today. King left the session with Boehner without the anger that led him to rip into the speaker Tuesday night. “It was a very positive meeting,” King said, adding that Boehner, R-Ohio, assured the lawmakers present that the money from the two House votes would roughly equal the $60 billion package of aid that passed the Senate. See SANDY, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
AP Photo
New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie at a press conference in Trenton, Wednesday. Christie blasted fellow Republican John Boehner for the latter’s decision to delay a vote on Superstorm Sandy relief, calling the inaction “inexcusable.”
Maiya Abigail and Emma Louise arrive Tuesday
HIGH ...42˚ LOW ....26˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Ilissa Gilmore Photo
Dale Brunson and Lori Shirley with their daughter Maiya Abigail, who became the first baby of the new year born in Roswell, 4:47 a.m. Tuesday.
ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
Two area couples will have another reason to celebrate Jan. 1 — it’s the day they became parents.
See PROFS, Page A3
Maiya Abigail, the first baby of the new year in Roswell, was bor n 4:47 a.m., Tuesday, at Lovelace Regional Hospital-Roswell to Lori Shirley and Dale Brunson. She weighed 6
pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches in length. Shirley said Maiya was supposed to be due Jan. 17, but she had been hoping to have her for New Year’s. “I just feel blessed to finally have her,” she said. Shirley, 20, spent most of Wednesday morning joined by family members and getting some much needed rest. She cradled her daughter in her ar ms, admiring her developing features. “She’s got my nose,” Shirley said. “It’s like looking at a little me.” She said while the actual experience wasn’t pleasant, Shirley said her daughter had a very healthy birth, with no complications. See BIRTHS, Page A2
The Chaves County Sheriff’s Office has identified John Doe, whose body was found Nov. 19, east of Hagerman off NM 249, as Charlie Michael Molina, 18, of Hobbs. The information came as a result of a Crime Stoppers tip after the SO released an artist’s composite drawing of the victim to the media on Dec. 20. The SO received confirmation of Molina’s identity after it sent prints associated with his juvenile record to Of fice of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque. Molina had been arrested previously for receiving stolen property. The second victim whose body was found in the
Courtesy Photo
Charlie Molina, from driver’s license photo.
county on Nov. 22, along Buffalo Valley Road east of Lake Arthur was identified earlier as Mark T. Walters III, 48. The deaths appear to be related. Juan UribeVidal, 25, of Hobbs, and See MOLINA, Page A3
Ag issues high on Pirtles list ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
Though he’s yet to be sworn in, recently elected Sen. Cliff Pirtle, RRoswell, is already thinking like a legislator. Pirtle will be swor n into office Jan. 15. After which he said he and other senators will elect a president pro tempore and then decide committee assignments and begin work on legislation. One issue of particular interest to Pirtle involves clarifying legal definitions affecting agricultural laws. Specifically, Pirtle wants to clarify the definition of “property,” in terms of commercial
Courtesy Photo
State Sen.-elect Cliff Pirtle
motor vehicles, in an effort to enable farmers and ranchers to employ Class E drivers for seasonal help. A farmer himself, Pirtle said he also will monitor
See PIRTLE, Page A2