02-16-12 PAPER

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Education bills pass state House

Vol. 121, No. 40 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER

Two initiatives backed by Gov. Susana Martinez, a new method to evaluate New Mexico teachers and a measure to ban social promotion in the state, passed the House during the final days of the 50th legislative session.

February 16, 2012

THURSDAY

www.rdrnews.com

On Tuesday evening, the House approved 57-9 a plan to implement an evaluation system in every New Mexico public school beginning in 2013. The plan was derived from House Bill 249, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texico, and House Bill 251, sponsored by Rep. Rick Miera, DAlbuquerque. The compro-

mise bill was heard in the House Labor Committee and House Judiciary Committee prior to being passed off the House Floor with very little debate. Half of the evaluation would be based on measurements of student growth and achievement. A 16member effectiveness evaluation council would deter-

mine the makeup of the remaining half of the evaluation system.

“It was a good combination because it was for teacher ef fectiveness. It was for effectiveness in the principal. It also stressed student achievement and that was my thing. In the prior bill it had nothing in there to do with the stu-

HOTTEST ON EARTH

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — There are super-hot chile varieties. And then there’s the sweat-inducing, teargenerating, mouth-on-fire Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. With a name like that, it’s not surprising that months of research by the experts at New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute have identified the variety as the new hottest pepper on the planet. The golf ball-sized pepper scored the highest among ... - PAGE B3

WEB

INSIDE SPORTS

Mark Wilson Photo

Fifth-graders at El Capitan work on their mural celebrating the New Mexico Centennial, in the school hallway, Wednesday morning. Local artist Noel Marquez was on hand to give guidance on the project which should be complete next week.

Mural has many answers, many voices NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER

New Mexico never looked so colorful. Fifth-grade students at El Capitan Elementary

COPS BUST 17 TCU STUDENTS

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Authorities arrested 17 students at Texas Christian University on Wednesday as part of a six-month drug sting, an especially embarrassing blow to the school because it included four members of the highprofile football team. Arrest warrants painted a startling picture of the Horned Frogs, with a handful of players who allegedly arranged marijuana sales after class or around ... - PAGE B1

TODAY’S • • • •

OBITUARIES

Eugene Zimmerman David McClure Duane Scott Sigler Sr. Cleo Irene Pickering - PAGE B3

HIGH ...58˚ LOW ....34˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 STATE ...................B3 WEATHER ..............A8

Tehran remains defiant

See HOUSE, Page A7

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In defiant swipes at its foes, Iran said Wednesday it is dramatically closer to mastering the production of nuclear fuel even as the U.S. weighs tougher pressures and Tehran’s suspected shadow war with Israel brings probes far beyond the Middle East.

TOP 5 For The Past 24 Hours • Vow renewals take place at Villa Del Rey • Have a heart • Single car roll over • Sen. Ron Adair visits with Leadership Lincoln • Local briefs: Howard slips past NMMI men

dents. That’s what this bill is supposed to have done, to assure that there was student achievement involved through the effectiveness of the teachers,” Ezzell, who is a member of the labor committee, said. “So it addressed the issues that I had concerns about.”

have been lear ning the history of the state through the arts this month, working together to paint a mural in honor of the New Mexico Centennial. The mural, four

Children’s Safety ID Project state-of-the-art JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER

Besides Neighborhood Watch, Crime Stoppers and the Roswell Safe Coalition, the historic Conoco building, 426 N. Main St., also houses the Children’s Safety ID Project. “One of our functions is our children’s fingerprinting service. We use a stateof-the-art computerized fingerprinting system,” said Roswell Safe Coalition’s Richard Lucero. The purpose of the project is ease parents’ peace of mind by having all the information readily accessible to give to the police department if a child goes missing. “ “Today parental kidnapping and abduction by a stranger are major con-

cer ns. There’s no worse feeling in the world than not knowing where your child is, even if he’s right next door and forgot to tell you where he is,” Lucero said.

The Children Safety ID Project system creates a digital fingerprint scan and digital color photo. “The identification card also includes anything the parents want to include,” Lucero said. “There are places on the card for dental records, any distinguishing characteristics, nicknames.

“Nationwide, the system has been a help to law enforcement in identifying missing children. Even statewide they have used

Locks of Love

See SAFETY, Page A7

weeks in the making, is a product of the Creative Learning Center’s Legacy Project, which connects local artists with fifthgrade students in the Roswell Independent

Mark Wilson Photo

Eli Henry Orosco, 5, shows off his braids that were snipped by Johnnie Herrera at From Hair On, Tuesday. Eli is donating the hair to Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 21 who suffer from long-term medically related hair loss.

Noel Marquez, a muralist who has been helping the students with the project, says that more

See MURAL, Page A7

The uncompromising messages from Iran, however, came with a counterpoint. The of ficial IRNA news agency said Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, told European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that Iran is ready to retur n to talks with the U.S. and other See TEHRAN, Page A7

Official: 358 killed in prison fire COMAYAGUA, Honduras (AP) — A fire started by an inmate tore through an overcrowded prison in Honduras, burning and suffocating screaming men in their locked cells as rescuers desperately searched for keys. Officials confirmed 358 dead Wednesday, making it the world’s deadliest prison fire in a century.

The local governor, who was once a prison employee, told reporters that an inmate called her moments before the blaze AP Photo broke out and screamed, “I will set this place on Blanca Flores, wife of dead inmate Oscar Soto, cries outfire and we are all going side the prison in Comayagua, Honduras, Wednesday. to die!” receiving the call late hour by guards who fired Comayagua Gov. Paola Tuesday night. But fire- their guns in the air, Castro said she called the thinking they had a riot Red Cross and fire fighters said they were brigade immediately after kept outside for half an See FIRE, Page A3

$150B payroll tax cut in the offing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Calling quits to a bruising election-year fight, negotiators on Capitol Hill worked into Wednesday night trying to iron out final details of an agreement to extend a cut in the payroll taxes paid by most Americans. The legislation also would renew jobless benefits for millions more.

INDEX

School District.

Iran further struck back at the West by indicating it was on the verge of imposing a midwinter fuel squeeze to Europe in retaliation for a looming boycott of Iranian oil, but denied reports earlier in the day that six nations had already been cut off.

The $150 billion measure taking shape represents a tactical retreat for Republicans, who are generally unenthusiastic about the legislation but eager to move beyond the issue. With campaign season starting, they don’t want President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress

to be able to claim the GOP was standing in the way of a middle-class tax cut.

Lawmakers hoped to officially unveil the measure Wednesday night so it could be voted on Friday in the House and then quickly pass the Senate. It would represent a rare burst of bipartisanship in a bitterly divided Congress.

The measure carries a price tag of roughly $150 billion over the coming year, partly financed or “offset” through requiring federal workers to contribute an additional 1.5 percent of their earnings toward their pensions. That provision, bitterly fought by federal unions, would gen-

erate $15 billion over the coming decade. The legislation would continue a 2 percentage point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, renew jobless benefits averaging about $300 a week for people languishing for long periods on unemployment rolls and protect doctors from a huge cut in their Medicare reimbursements. Obama was getting his licks even as talks neared a conclusion. “I’m glad to see that Congress seems to be ... making progress on extending the payroll tax cut so taxes don’t go up on all of you See PAYROLL, Page A3


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02-16-12 PAPER by Roswell Daily Record - Issuu