Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 30 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
SNOWSTORM HAMMERS COLORADO
DENVER (AP) — A powerful winter storm swept across Colorado on Friday, forcing the cancellation of nearly 600 flights at Denver airport, closing parts of Interstate 70 and sparking a run on grocery stores before the worst weather descended. The eastbound storm brought blizzard warnings to eastern Colorado ... - PAGE A3
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
February 4, 2012
HJC OKs bill to halt immigrant licenses
SANTA FE (AP) — A proposal to stop driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants in New Mexico is heading to the Democraticdominated House for a politically difficult vote that likely will resonate in this year’s re-election campaigns of members of the Legislature. The House Judiciary Committee voted 9-6 on Friday to endorse a measure backed by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to overturn a 2003 law that allows driver’s licenses for
SATURDAY
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illegal immigrants. Two Democrats joined with seven Republicans in agreeing to send the measure to the 70-member House, which approved a similar proposal last year. But critics of the proposal predicted that Martinez won’t succeed in winning enactment of the legislation because it’s likely to fail in the Senate, where Democrats hold a stronger majority than in the House. Before the committee voted, Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, an Albuquerque
Democrat, described the governor’s proposal as a “political football.” Republicans have hopes of winning a majority in the House in this year’s elections. But Rep. David Doyle, an Albuquerque Republican, said the current law creates incentives for illegal immigration. Unless New Mexico ends its license policy, he said, “we become the open door state that allows illegal activity.” See LICENSES, Page A2
EZZELL’S BILL PASSES COMMITTEE JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A bill that would allow doctors in rural areas to per for m clinical trials, similar to those done in Albuquerque, on cancer patients, sponsored by Rep. Candy Spence EzzellRoswell, was unanimously passed in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Friday. The bill would also
‘Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean ...’
TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• RRH celebrates sale to Lovelace • APD solves murder • Is webcasting politically motivated? • J. Madsen back with RPD; on paid leave • No. 1 vs. No. 2: The rivalry continues
INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
P.J. Marshall-Riese of Century 21 prepares a festive booth at the Roswell Convention Center, Friday, featuring images of James Dean and Elvis Presley, for today’s 2012 Baby Boomer Health & Business Expo.
enable the New Mexico Department of Health, through its $200,000 allotment from the state’s general fund for the 2013 fiscal year, to provide educational services to physicians and patients located in rural areas, in addition to coordination with organizations that provide support services to cancer patients and their fami-
Hiring surges; jobless at 8.3% See EZZELL, Page A2
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a long-awaited surge of hiring, companies added 243,000 jobs in January — across the economy, up and down the pay scale and far more than just about anyone expected. Unemployment fell to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years. The job growth was the fastest since last March and April. Before that, the last month with stronger hiring, excluding months skewed by temporary census jobs, was March 2006. The unemployment rate came down by two notches from December. It has fallen five months in a row,
Komen reconsiders RPD arrests Jesse Ramirez
ROSWELL GALS ROUT GODDARD
Normally when a basketball team plays defense, shots from well beyond the arc will be conceded, and normally that works. That was the strategy the Goddard girls basketball team used when defending Roswell on the perimeter during their District 4-4A game on Friday. Unlike most teams, however, Roswell has a player who can make a team pay for allowing the deep 3: Marika Trujillo. Trujillo nailed five 3s, all of which were at ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Margie C. Linares • Ethel Louise Rich - PAGE A3
HIGH ...52˚ LOW ....29˚
NEW YORK (AP) — The Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity on Friday abandoned plans to deny funding to Planned Parenthood. The startling decision came after three days of virulent criticism that resounded across the Inter net, jeopardizing Komen’s iconic image. “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” a Komen statement said. As first reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Komen had adopted criteria excluding Planned Parenthood from future grants for breast-cancer screenings because it was under government investigation, citing a probe launched by a Florida congressman at the urging of
anti-abortion groups. Komen said it would change the criteria “to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.” “We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants,” the statement said. Many of Komen’s affiliates across the country had openly rebelled against the decision to cut the funding, which totaled $680,000 in 2011. One af filiate, in Aspen, Colo., had announced Thursday that it would defy the new rules and continue grants to its local Planned Parenthood partner. In addition, Komen was
Jesse Ramirez, 26, was arrested, Thursday, on charges of use of telephone to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harrass, annoy or offend, after the Roswell police responded to a call from Easter n New Mexico Medical Center. Carrie Ramirez told the officer that she was an emergency medical technician. Her husband is a firefighter for the city of Roswell. According to the criminal complaint, around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, she and her spouse got into a verbal disagreement because her ex-husband, who worked for the Chaves County Sheriff’s Of fice, put her on his Facebook page so the two could share photos of their children.
She said Ramirez was upset that she was on her ex-husband’s Facebook page. The court records state that the argument continued throughout that day and into the following day. Around 2 p.m. Thursday, she received a call from Ramirez. He said he was “driving drunk” and he wanted the deputy to pull him over so Ramirez could shoot him. The victim had her partner place a call to the deputy, Mike Ray. She put the phone on speaker, so her ex-husband could listen to the conversation. Ramirez continued to threaten Ray, saying he was going to shoot the deputy. The officer investigating
Jesse Ramirez
the incident saw text messages saying: “HAHAHA where are your ... cops now.” While the officer was interviewing the victim, the husband called again. The woman placed the phone on speaker and the of ficer listened to the See RPD, Page A2
Pat Hittle: Artist, director, Neighborhood Watcher, author See KOMEN, Page A2
Fifth St. Recently she has begun painting decorated chairs. “Two were on display at the Gallery last spring,” she said.
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B3 COMICS.................B7 ENTERTAINMENT.....B3 FINANCIAL .............B6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B3 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 THE WEST ............A3
See ECONOMY, Page A2
INDEX
Courtesy Photo by Paul Johnson
Pat Hittle and her prize-winning artwork of two cougars.
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Pat Hittle, vice president of the Fine Arts League,
has been a resident of Roswell for nearly 20 years. She chose Roswell because it is an artist colony. “There are more artists here per
square mile than anywhere else in the country.” She is devoted to art and received her degree at Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts, where she majored in theater, speech and drama, and minored in English and social studies. She also studied at the University of Maryland and University of Houston. While in school, Hittle worked as a theater critic as part of her degree program. “I watched 17 shows in 15 days and wrote a paper on each of them.”
Hittle continues to use her skills in theater for St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where she directs church productions. She is also a deacon at St. Mark’s and on their council. “We will be holding a sacred art show at St. Mark’s the second weekend after Easter.” Her preferred media are oils and acrylics. “I took the prize for animals at the international art show in August last year,” Hittle said. Her works are on display at the Gallery, 107 E.
In addition, Hittle is a contributor to the Soup ’n Bowl, which will be held on Feb. 25 to raise funds for the Artist-in-Residence program. Over Christmas, she participated in the Holiday Magic Show.
She also makes jewelry, specifically bone jewelry. “I used to make vests from deerskin until the hides became too expensive,” Hittle said. Her skills in Native American arts and crafts developed when she worked for the Civil Service at Fort Sill with the Comanche and See SPOTLIGHT, Page A2