Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Biden vows action on gun control
Vol. 122, No. 9 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
GUN DEALERS CHALLENGE RIFLE DIRECTIVE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for two Arizona gun dealers argued Wednesday that the Obama administration in trying to halt the flow of U.S. guns to Mexican drug gangs overstepped its legal authority when it required dealers in Southwestern border states to report ... - PAGE B5
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WASHINGTON (AP) — If Adrian Peterson can do it, maybe Robert Griffin III can, too. Peterson set an incredible standard this season for NFL players returning from major knee surgery, nearly breaking the NFL single-season rushing record. Griffin need look nowhere else for an inspiration as the ... - PAGE B1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden vowed urgent action against gun violence in America Wednesday, pledging steps by the Obama administration that he said could “take thousands of people out of harm’s way” and improve the safety of millions more. But a day ahead of a meeting with the National Rifle Association, which has sunk past gun control efforts and is opposing any new ones, Biden signaled that the administration is mindful of political realities that could imperil sweeping gun control legislation, and is willing to settle for something less. He said the administration is considering its own executive action as well as measures by Congress, but he didn’t offer specifics. “I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we can do everything, we’re going to do nothing,” Biden told an array of gun control advocates, crime vicSee GUNS, Page A3
AP Photo
Vice President Joe Biden, with Attorney General Eric Holder at left, speaks during a meeting with victims’ groups and gun safety organizations in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday.
Gov. announces plan City Council’s finance committee to expand Medicaid advocates police attorney position ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico, a state that hovers near the top of national poverty and uninsured rankings, plans to follow provisions of a federal health care law to expand Medicaid to potentially provide medical services to 170,000 low-income adults, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez announced Wednesday.
by President Barack Obama. New Mexico and Nevada are the only states with GOP governors to so far commit to the Medicaid expansion. Martinez made the announcement Wednesday in Albuquerque, prompting cheers and applause from some of those listening to her speech at a conference on child welfare and juvenile justice. “Access to health insurance has the potential to impact the well-being of our families so that our See MEDICAID, Page A3
OBITUARIES
Lula Madsen Robert Ruzek Vida Lou Southern Kimberly Hobbs Niece David Chrisman Jr. Harlan O’Dell Webb Virginia M. Parmley - PAGE A7
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CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
City Council’s finance committee met Wednesday to firm up recommendations for tonight’s council meeting, which will address hot topics concerning the city’s budget, such as how to fund the Police Department’s request for its own attorney and Lodgers Tax funds for this year’s UFO Festival. Councilor Steve Henderson chairs the committee and councilors Art Sandoval and Jimmy Craig are members. Councilors Jeanine Best, Savino Sanchez, Jason Perry and Dusty Huckabee also attended the meeting, as did Mayor Del Jurney, Police Chief Al Solis and Deputy Chief Brad McFadin. At a council workshop last week, it was determined that the finance committee would decide whether the police attorney
position would be a contract position or a city employee position. The position would require a budget adjustment for the city’s budget and cost an estimated $42,196.56, for a six-month period. It also is estimated that the cost for a contract position would be similar. Sandoval and Craig expressed their opposition to the police attorney position. However, while Craig said he was not convinced that the city needs a police attorney, “I think the police department is convinced.” He said the original proposal suggested cutting some police officer positions to afford an attorney. “I still think the police officers are more important than the attorney position,” he said. Eventually, the committee voted 2-1 to recommend that council approve an attorSee CITY, Page A3
Obama to tap budget expert Jack Sheriff Coon: SO Lew as Secretary of the Treasury now up to full staff
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THURSDAY
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New Mexico will join at least 15 other states and the District of Columbia in broadening eligibility for the health care program under terms of a health care overhaul championed
SURGERY FOR GRIFFIN
January 10, 2013
AP Photo
Budget Director Jack Lew listens as President Barack Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will nominate White House chief of staff Jack Lew to be his second-term Secretary of the Treasury, turning to one of Washington’s most knowledgeable budget experts to manage prickly fiscal negotiations with Congress and steer the still-shaky national economy. Lew’s nomination, expected Thursday, accelerates the overhaul of Obama’s top advisers, with new leaders at the Pentagon, State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and Labor Department. Obama also must replace Lew with a new chief of
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Chaves County Sheriff Rob Coon announced Wednesday that the SO is now up to full staff. “We have been running between 85 to 90 percent for a while now. We’re up to 100 percent. There are not many agencies of this size in the state (that) can say that. It’s a kind of a milestone.” Law enforcement agencies across the state are suffering from staff shortages. Roswell Police Department numbers plummeted until the department was down 25 officers. Vacancies have now been lowered to 15 and hiring continues. The New Mexico State Police is also recruiting in many areas. The SO recently hired two people to become sworn officers to fill the remaining vacancies. Both officials have previous law enforcement experience. “One is a retired FBI agent. The second is an officer from another local agency,” Coon said. The former agent is also former District 57 State Representative Dennis Kintigh. Besides his FBI expeSee STAFF, Page A3
See LEW, Page A3
Legislative Finance Committee proposes state worker pay raises
SANTA FE (AP) — State workers in New Mexico would receive a 1 percent salary increase — their first across-the-board raise since 2008 — and state police officers would get a 3 percent pay hike under budget recommendations released Wednesday by a legislative panel.
Under proposals by the Legislative Finance Committee, the state would spend almost $5.9 billion on public education and government programs — from health care to prisons — in the 2014 fiscal year
starting July 1. That’s an increase of about 4 percent or $232 million over this year’s budget. The panel’s recommendations serve as a starting point for budget decisions by the Democratic-controlled Legislature during a 60-day session that starts next week.
Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat and committee chairman, said the budget will leave the state with healthy cash reserves as a cushion against possible federal spending cutbacks, which
could require the state to plug holes in some programs. “We’re going to move gingerly, so to speak,” Smith said of the state budget. “We’re still apprehensive with the economy and what’s going to happen with the federal dollars.” Republican Gov. Susana Martinez is to announce her budget proposals Thursday, but an aide said those will not include a pay raise for public employees. “Just as the governor and the Legislature have done in the last two years in a
bipartisan way, the governor expects that she’ll be able to work with Democrats and Republicans to make sure our budget is balanced in a responsible way that will invest heavily on reforming our education system and on making New Mexico competitive so we can create jobs,” said Enrique Knell, a spokesman for Martinez. The pay increases would cost about $32 million and cover workers in government agencies as well as public schools, colleges and universities. School dis-
tricts ultimately decide whether to provide raises to teachers and other educational employees. The Legislature, however, appropriates money to schools to cover possible raises.
Lawmakers proposed spending $54 million to boost government contributions for public employee and educator pensions. About $38 million would reverse a “pension swap” that lawmakers enacted in 2009 to balance the budget. See RAISES, Page A2