Roswell Daily Record
Education reform in spotlight THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 35 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
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“Why are we going to continue to rank 48th and 49th by setting up a panel? By the time you try to get all these panel members together, you’ve wasted a whole year.” Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell,
GOV WON’T RELEASE HER SCHEDULE
February 10, 2011
R-Roswell
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER Education, the largest recipient of the $5.6 billion state budget, which passed the House Wednesday, took center stage at a House Labor and Human Resources Committee meeting Thursday. Two proposals for education reform, featuring distinct approaches, were set to be heard by committee members Thursday evening. Both proposals
establishing address assessments for those working at schools consisting of kindergarteners through 12th-graders.
House Bill 249, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texico, sets evaluation standards for teachers, principals and members of the administration. The bill includes a clause that indicates “for a teacher that is not succeeding in the leadSee EDUCATION, Page A3
HOUSE OKS PENSION PLAN CHANGE SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico legislators will have to contribute more into their pension plans under a bill passed Thursday by the House, but the proposal’s sponsor says the Legislature needs to scale back its retirement benefits.
No other state offers a similar pension system for its legislators, according
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez bills herself as the transparency governor, promoting her mandate that all state employee salaries be posted publicly, touting her support for a bill that would require agencies and elected bodies to post notices of their meetings 72 hours in advance and promising quick ... - PAGE A6
WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• Krumland to build Nissan dealership • Adair: Senate Dems stalling • Staab home on leave • Creative Roswell holds inaugural meeting ... • Roswell girls top Artesia, 64-45
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Pecos goes all ’60s; yeah, yeah, yeah Pecos Elementary students, more than 100 strong, perform during the National Dance Institute of New Mexico presentation of “Come Together - A Celebration of The Beatles,” Thursday, at Pueblo Auditorium.
NOAH VERNAU ROSWELL DAILY RECORD
Students and teachers of Pecos Elementary came together Thursday to sing and dance in tribute to
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Twenty months later, Dustin Johnson finally hit the drive he wanted at Pebble Beach. Ten years later, Tiger Woods must have wondered what kept him away from the Pebble Beach National ProAm. On a spectacular day of scenery and scoring, Johnson blasted a tee shot on the third hole at Pebble Beach and then pitched in for eagle from 41 yards in front of the green. He added another eagle on his way to a 9under 63 and a three-way tie atop the leaderboard ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• John Albert Hamilton • Kenneth Wayne Lewis • Doyle Louis Hobbs - PAGE A6
HIGH ...57˚ LOW ....30˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
UFO to get half See PENSION, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5
DJ TIED FOR PEBBLE LEAD
to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That’s because New Mexico lawmakers don’t receive an annual salary and instead get a daily payment intended to offset their expenses. Typically, pension contributions and benefits for public employees are based on their
the legendary rock band, The Beatles. The National Dance Institute of New Mexico presented “Come Together - A Celebration of The Beatles” at Pueblo Auditorium, featuring
more than 100 dancers from the school.
NDI-NM had been working with third- and fourthgraders from the school for nearly two weeks leading up to Thursday’s
show, which was divided into two parts. The first part was a demonstration of how NDI-NM approached issues of excellence
Three events, which place Roswell in the limelight and attracts tourists statewide, nationally and even worldwide, were approved for Lodger’s Tax funding by the City Council in its regular business meeting Thursday evening. The UFO Festival, which will take place June 29 through July 2, will receive $75,000. This amount would include the $25, 304.18 left over from last year’s event. The city originally allocated $150,000 in Lodger’s Tax funds in its 2012 budget for the festival, without a specific identification of how that would be accomplished. Members of the Roswell Finance Committee and councilors expressed their desire to scale back the city’s financial involvement in the festival, and to appropriate Lodger’s Tax funding to other events at the committee’s meeting Tuesday evening. Many councilors and finance committee members also expressed the opinion that they would like the festival to become more self-sustaining finan-
Court rules for gov Muni election forum Feb. 20 in union dispute
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Republican Gov. Susana Martinez won a court fight with labor unions Thursday over her appointee to a board that enforces New Mexico’s collective bargaining law for gover nment employees. State District Court Judge Nan Nash tur ned down a union request to remove Roger Bartosiewicz, a retired Clovis police chief, from the Public Employee Labor Relations Board. The court case was the latest clash between Martinez and unions representing government workers. The state Supreme Court
ruled against the governor last year after she ousted two board members before their terms had expired.
Under state law, the governor appoints one board member recommended by labor; one designated by public employers, and a third recommended by the other two.
In the latest case, the judge said Martinez properly appointed Bartosiewicz because he was recommended by the Clovis Police Officers’ Association. However, a majority of unions
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Before making a final decision March 6, voters will have the opportunity to educate themselves on the candidates running in the municipal election. The Leadership Roswell Alumni Association is holding a candidate forum at First Baptist Church, 500 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m. The Roswell Daily Record will serve as the co-sponsor for the forum. Rick Kraft, executive director of the Leadership Roswell program and exofficio board member of
See PECOS, Page A3
the LRAA, will serve as the moderator for the forum, as he has for many years. The objective of the forum, which started in 1996, is “to inform and educate our community, to better equip them when they go to vote. Make sure they’re educated on their choice or choices,” Kraft said. Kraft said this is LRAA’s 28th candidate forum. Through these forums LRAA has asked questions of 308 candidates seeking 149 elected positions. The LRAA also hosts a forum for the general elections in the fall, and occasionally during con-
See COUNCIL, Page A3
tentious primary races. Kraft emphasized the night will serve as a forum as opposed to a debate. Candidates running for the same ward, or in the case of municipal judge, same position, will be asked the same questions. The candidates, who are unware of the questions ahead of time, will then direct their answers back to Kraft and the public. The questions are generated from a committee of the LRAA board. “Our goal is to help the candidates communicate their message,” Kraft said. See FORUM, Page A3
Johnny Dobb, ‘alien’ Make-A-Wish visitor, ‘sunny, fun, brave’ See UNION, Page A3
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A7
INDEX
Courtesy Photo
Johnny Dobb, Roswell ‘alien’ visitor.
The Roswell Daily Record received an update this week from the mother of Johnny Dobb, a Michigan boy with brain cancer who spent his ninth birthday visiting all the space creatures of Roswell in September 2010. Johnny, who made a wish that year to have his radiation mask signed by an alien, spent the day in Roswell enjoying cake, birthday presents and, of course, plenty of extraterrestrials. Jennifer Dobb, the boy’s mother, says 16 months later Johnny’s cancer is stable and that there has been no re-growth where part of the tumor was removed, nor in the area where the cancer remains rooted in his brain-
stem. Johnny, 10, has received several MRIs since returning to Michigan and will have another MRI on Monday. “We’ve been doing MRIs every three months, and so far everything has shown that there is no new growth,” Dobb said. “So if we can keep it that way for the next 50 or 60 years, we’ll both be fine. We’re going to keep our fingers crossed.” Dobb said that Johnny has been fascinated by aliens and space exploration ever since he was 7. “He loves it. We watch the Discovery Channel’s Ancient Aliens program and look at all the different things from around the world,” Dobb said. “He likes the Nazca lines that can only be seen from the air. It’s all very interesting.”
She credits Johnny’s interest in unexplained phenomena to a potent curiosity. “Johnny really enjoys space exploration, the ‘what if’s’ and the ‘how coulds’. How people went from living in caves to building pyramids. He thinks there’s some alien intervention there. And I hope it’s real, I really do. I hope it can help bring wonder to people.” Dobb said that on the Halloween following Johnny’s visit to Roswell, to nobody’s surprise, Johnny dressed as a space explorer. She said Johnny’s experience in Roswell has stuck with him to this day. “He still talks about it,” Dobb See DOBB, Page A3