Roswell Daily Record
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MAP EXHIBIT OPENS TODAY
SANTA FE (AP) — From the earliest Spanish explorers to Texas tourists, New Mexico was made for maps. Visitors to “Between the Lines: Culture and Cartography on the Road to Statehood” can trace the state’s route from territory to vacation destination at the Governor ’s Gallery beginning today. - PAGE A6
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Romney hopes to pull away in NH
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MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Mitt Romney eagerly pocketed an endorsement from two-time New Hampshire primary winner John McCain on Wednesday and bid to convert a single-digit victory in Iowa into a Republican presidential campaign jugger naut. Unimpressed, Newt Gingrich ridiculed the former Massachusetts governor as a liberal turned moderate now masquerading as a conservative. For mer Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum sought to rally conservatives to his side after coming achingly
January 5, 2012
THURSDAY
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close to victory in Iowa, saying he “hoped to surprise a few people just like we did” in the campaign’s first contest. “This is a wide-open race still,” added former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who skipped the Iowa caucuses in hopes of making his mark in next Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary. Romney is the odds-on favorite to win the New Hampshire primary, though, and it is unclear how much campaign cash any of his rivals has available to try to slow or even stop his momentum.
“The time has arrived for Republicans to choose a presidential nominee, a new standard bearer who has the ability and determination to defeat President Obama,” said McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, and a man with a demonstrated appeal to the state’s independent voters. Already, the Republican field of challengers was dwindling. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann ended her camSee GOP, Page A3
AP Photo
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during a town hall-style meeting in Manchester, N.H., Wednesday.
Obama names consumer watchdog
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INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Pfc. Christopher Clay receives a hug from his mom Evelyn Clay upon his arrival to the Roswell International Air Center, Wednesday morning. Clay, on leave from his deployment in Kandahar, Afghanistan, has two weeks at home to rest and visit with family and friends.
Pfc. Christopher Clay home on leave JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
It is frightening for a mother to think of her son, a member of the military, on mission in a remote area of the Mid-
TEMPLE DEFEATS DUKE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Khalif Wyatt scored 22 points and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson had 17 to help Temple knock off No. 5 Duke 78-73 on Wednesday night. Using tough man-to-man defense that limited Duke’s long-range shots, the Owls (10-3) grabbed the lead midway through the first half and never let it go. When the Blue Devils (12-2) crept within three points in the waning minutes, Wyatt hit consecutive 3-pointers for a 66-57 lead. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Jesse Ray Ratliff • Stanley James Andrus • Carlos Castro - PAGE A6
HIGH ...62˚ LOW ....29˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 STATE ...................A6 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
dle East, but when he retur ns home, even if only for a few weeks, it is a short but sweet relief. “I just want to make sure you’ve got all your fingers and toes and you’re still in one piece,”
Evelyn Clay told her son, Christopher, an Ar my private first class. Christopher, on leave from his deployment in Kandahar, Afghanistan, has two weeks to spend at home with his family.
He plans to hit the casino, and spend some time skiing with his parents and sister while he is back. When he chose to join
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) — Defying Republican lawmakers, President Barack Obama on Wednesday barreled by the Senate and installed a national consumer watchdog on his own, provoking GOP threats of a constitutional showdown in the courts. Setting a fierce tone in the election-year fight for middle-class voters, Obama said, “I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer.” Obama named Richard Cordray, a respected former attorney general of Ohio, to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after giving up on hopes for a confirmation vote in the Senate. The appointment means the agency is able to oversee a vast swath of lending companies and others accused at times of preying on consumers with shady practices.
RFD calls Tuesday’s LFC proposes $250M increase fires ‘suspicious’
A structural fire which occurred around the intersection of East Hendricks Street and South Ash Avenue is being called suspicious by acting Roswell Fire Chief Chad Hamill. Roswell Fire Department units responded to the structural fire Tuesday afternoon. When the units arrived on the scene, an abandoned structure was observed to be on fire. According to Hamill, the units were able to extinguish the fire fairly quickly. While on the scene, members of the RFD noticed down the alley that there was a dumpster on fire. “We got our investigators looking and we’ve talked to several residences in the
area. Both of the fires are definitely suspicious. If the community or anyone has any information on any of the fires we’d ask them to call the fire department,” Hamill said. The number for the RFD is 624-6800. A detective from the Roswell Police Department has been assigned to the case. RPD spokesman Officer Travis Holley called the case an arson and said the department currently has a couple of leads. A reward of up to $1,000 is being of fered through Crime Stoppers to anyone who has any information about the fire. Crime Stoppers’ number is 888-594-TIPS (8477).
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
“have given me the perspective of both sides of the table, in terms of the operation of the city and also looking at it from a business view.” He cited the greatest accomplishment by the council during his tenure as the passing of the nonsmoking ordinance, applicable in public places, a few years ago. “It was a hot item at the time. As it turned out, the community has accepted and enjoyed being in a non-smoking environment,” Henderson said. If re-elected, Henderson said he’d like to continue to
SANTA FE (AP) — A legislative committee proposed a budget Wednesday that will increase spending by $250 million next year and provide higher take-home pay for public employees for the first time since 2008. The recommendations by the Legislative Finance Committee will serve as a foundation for budget decisions when the Legislature convenes later this month. The committee proposed spending nearly $5.7 billion on public education and general government operations in the budget year starting in July. That’s an increase of 4.6 percent from current spending.
See CLAY, Page A3
The budget outlook is a sharp turnaround from recent years when lawmakers faced potential deficits and had to cut spending to comply with the state requirement for a balanced budget. State revenues are expected to grow next year as New Mexico’s economy recovers. “We have done what I believe is a responsible job,” said Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat and committee chairman. “The problem that you have as budget people is doing what’s responsible versus what really polls well with the public.” He said the budget tried to restore some cuts
See OBAMA, Page A3
that have been made recently but avoid starting new programs that would need more money in the future. If the committee’s proposals are enacted, state workers and educators will see a boost in takehome pay because worker pension contributions will drop by 1.75 percent and the gover nment’s payments will go up by a similar amount, costing $50 million. A budget-balancing law last year lowered the government’s payroll contributions for public employee pensions and forced workers to offset that. However, the law provided for the pension
Henderson seeks re-election to Ward II City Council seat Councilor Steve Henderson has served two concurrent terms in the Roswell City Council and says he’s seeking election for his Ward II seat during the municipal election in March. Henderson was first elected to the council in the mid-seventies. After serving one term, Henderson ran for a council seat again nearly 30 years later in 2008. Henderson has worked in both the private and public sector, experiences he said,
work on the crime situation in the community. “We’ve increased officers in the Roswell Police Department. We have been able to raise their pay so that they can be competitive in their recruiting. We now have more officers with better pay, so consequently when recruiting the department is in a better position to provide a good incentive to an incoming officer.” The Roswell International Air Center is another area Henderson would like to improve upon. “The airport has a lot of buildings that are owned by the city that need to be updated. That is
one area where the money from the (municipal infrastructure) gross receipts tax (that the mayor is proposing to add to the city’s current GRT) can be used to remodel and improve the buildings in order to entice companies to come or expand in Roswell and provide good jobs.” Henderson indicated that he sees a direct correlation between the addition of a MIGR T and the creation of jobs. As for Roswell’s future, Henderson cited the sustainability of funding to run the local government as the See HENDERSON, Page A3
See BUDGET, Page A3
Steve Henderson