Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
All Saints celebrates Mardi Gras
Vol. 122, No. 30 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
February 3, 2013
SUNDAY
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NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT
FREEPORT, Ill. (AP) — As director of the food pantry at Faith Center church, Bindy Lillge said she sees many people come to the church in search of food to put on their table. Lillge said the church only has so much shelf space for the food and wished they had more. - PAGE C5
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For The Past 24 Hours
• IHOP, Shriners hope to catch you ... • ‘Geeks’ Miramontes, Gourley turn hobby ... • Pearce to attend rally opposing chicken ... • Lovelace celebrates ... • Coyotes cruise past Portales 80-58
INSIDE SPORTS
Immigration School elections Tuesday; polls open 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. bill splits GOP Mark Wilson Photo
Mary Kay Howell tries on clothing accessories during the All Saints Christian School’s Mardi Gras, Saturday evening.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The immigration debate is threatening to split the Republican Party, pitting those who focus mainly on presidential elections against those who care mostly about congressional races.
Strategists say that if Republicans are to win presidential elections, which they’ve been losing lately, partly because of dismal support from Hispanic voters, they must soften their rhetoric about illegal immi-
NMMI’S REGGIE FRANKLIN
The world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters, with their trademark high-flying, action-packed style of basketball and entertainment, invade Roswell on Monday. “Sweet Georgia Brown” will echo through the Coyote Den and the halls of Roswell High School when the Globetrotters put on a show at 7 p.m. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• George Didlake • Charles N. Lusk • Freddie Sanchez • Billie Jo Pyeatt • George Giron • Michael Carter • Augusteen Cates - PAGE A3, A6
HIGH ...66˚ LOW ....41˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........D1 COMICS.................C3 FEATURE ...............C5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 SUNDAY BIZ ..........C4 WEATHER ..............A8
Costumed party-goers from throughout the community brought the carnival spirit to the Civic Center for the All Saints Mardi Gras dinner and dance Saturday night. The 19th annual event had a little something for everyone, including door prizes, a silent auction, music from DJ Louie Najar and a dance perfor mance from the Roswell High School dance team Charlie’s Angels. Proceeds from the party went to All Saints Catholic School, which received dozens of donations from area residents and businesses for a silent auction. The auction included custommade seat covers made out of jeans donated by local designer Shilo Halvorson of Crowbar Creations, a quilt made by the school’s 4th- and 5th-grade students, $350 worth of grill products, a
grants and embrace some version of “immigration reform.” But granting illegal residents a path to citizenship, which critics call “amnesty,” is deeply unpopular in many House Republicans’ districts. President Barack Obama wants such a pathway. So do some prominent GOP lawmakers who are seeking a way out of their party’s
See GOP, Page A2
School board elections for the Roswell, Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur school districts, and Eastern New Mexico UniversityRoswell Community College Districts, will be held 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday. RISD incumbents Mackenzie Lee Hunt, Peggy S. Brewer and Eloy Ortega Jr. are running to retain seats in Districts 1, 3 and 5. Challenging Brewer for District 3 is Jose Zavala. For the Hagerman School Board, incumbents Chad Hamill and Wesley Pilley look to retain their positions. Opposing Pilley is Chris Villa.
Veteran transport resumes Monday ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
After a hiatus, the transportation unit formerly of the S.E.N.M. Vietnam Veterans of America T ransportation Network is back in business and ready to resume services Monday. Now the SENM Veterans Transportation Network, the program began more than a decade ago and provides transportation for veterans of all wars to hospitals and clinics throughout the state, as well as west Texas, said president Magil Duran. The organization has six vans available and served more than 1,180 veterans last year. In addition to veterans, he said approved caregivers are also allowed
to travel along. The vans go to Albuquerque on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and to Artesia, Monday through Friday. The vans also go as far as Texas cities such as Big Springs, Lubbock, Midland and El Paso. In December, the program ceased service after the S.E.N.M. Vietnam Veterans of America T ransportation Network, Chapter 968, removed itself from the transportation unit, Duran said. The program was able to re-incorporate as its own entity under the umbrella of the American Legion Post No. 28’s 501(c)(19), he said. He and Vice President Greg Neal said they were thankful to Commander Santiago Vasquez for his
help, as well as that of lawyers Kevin Roe and Doug Jones Witt and Chaves County Manager Stan Riggs and Finance Director Joe Sedillo.
Dexter Consolidated School Board incumbents Orlando Chavez and Daniel Lathrop are in the running for Positions 4 and 5, respectively. For the Lake Arthur School Board, incumbent Irma Guillen seeks Position 1, Gene Bassett runs for Position 2 and Bradly Durham and Kenneth Hart compete for Position 5. ENMU-R incumbents Chad Hamill and Eloise Blake look to retain Districts 2 and 3, respectively. Also on the ballot will be The Public School Capital Improvements Tax Question, which asks whether
Shadow Day
See MARDI, Page A2
the RISD should continue to impose a property tax to build, maintain and improve schools as well as purchase transportation and computer hardware and software. To read the ballot question in full, visit www.risd.k12.nm.us. RISD polling locations are as follows: District 1—Goddard High School, 701 E. Country Club Road, for Precincts 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 7.1, 7.2, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 44.1, 44.3 See SCHOOL, Page A3
“We apologize to any inconvenience to our riders,” Neal said. “But we will be making phone calls to let them know we are back up and running again.”
The organization has a board of directors that includes Duran, Neal, Col. Ron McKay (RET), Gene Peterson and Jeanine Best. It is also looking for volunteer drivers and office staff. Duran said they do not have to be veterans. To contact the SENM Veteran's Transportation Network, call 622-0729.
Mark Wilson Photo
From left: Roswell Job Corps students Travis Johns, Andrew Orosco and Craig Averell feed a wood chipper while job shadowing a Roswell Parks and Recreation crew, helping to trim and top-off old trees at the Yucca Center, Thursday and Friday.
No shadow on Gobbler’s Knob; Phil predicts an early spring
INDEX
AP Photo
Groundhog Club Co-handler Ron Ploucha holds the weather predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, Saturday, after the club said Phil did not see his shadow and there will be an early spring.
igilmore@rdrnews.com
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — An end to winter’s bitter cold will come soon, according to Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog. Following a recent stretch of weather that’s included temperatures well below freezing as well as record warmth, tornadoes in the South and Midwest and torrential rains in the mid-Atlantic, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair Saturday in front of thousands but didn’t see his shadow. Legend has it that if the furry rodent sees his shadow on Feb. 2 on Gobbler’s Knob in west-central Penn-
sylvania, winter will last six more weeks. But if he does not see his shadow, spring will come early. The prediction is made during a ceremony overseen by a group called the Inner Circle. Members don top hats and tuxedos for the ceremony on Groundhog Day each year. Bill Deeley, president of the Inner Circle, says that after “consulting” with Phil, he makes the call in deciphering what the world’s Punxsutawney Phil has to say about the weather. Phil is known as the “seer of seers” and “sage of sages.” Organizers predict-
ed about 20,000 people this weekend, a larger than-nor mal crowd because Groundhog Day falls on a weekend this year. “I just hope he’s right and we get warmer weather soon,” said Mike McKown, 45, an X-ray technician who drove up from Lynchburg, Va., with his mother. Phil’s got company in the forecasting department. There’s Staten Island Chuck, in New York; General Beauregard Lee, in Atlanta; and Wiarton Willie, in Wiarton, Ontario, among See PHIL, Page A3