Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 41 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
SPACE ROCKS RAISE CONCERNS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A space rock even bigger than the meteor that exploded like an atom bomb over Russia could drop out of the sky unannounced at any time and wreak havoc on a city. And Hollywood to the contrary, there isn’t much the world’s scientists and generals can do ... - PAGE A3
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
February 16, 2013
SATURDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Meteor explodes over Russia, 1,100 injured
MOSCOW (AP) — With a blinding flash and a booming shock wave, a meteor blazed across the western Siberian sky Friday and exploded with the force of 20 atomic bombs, injuring more than 1,000 people as it blasted out windows and spread panic in a city of 1 million. While NASA estimated the meteor was only about the size of a bus and weighed an estimated 7,000 tons, the fireball it produced was dramatic. Video shot by startled resi-
dents of the city of Chelyabinsk showed its streaming contrails as it arced toward the horizon just after sunrise, looking like something from a world-ending science-fiction movie. The largest recorded meteor strike in more than a century occurred hours before a 150-foot asteroid passed within about 17,000 miles (28,000 kilometers) of Earth. The European Space Agency said its experts had deter mined there was no connection
between the asteroid and the Russian meteor — just cosmic coincidence.
The meteor above wester n Siberia entered the Earth’s atmosphere about 9:20 a.m. local time (10:20 p.m. EST Thursday) at a hypersonic speed of at least 33,000 mph (54,000 kph) and shattered into pieces about 30-50 kilometers (18 to 32 miles) high, the Russian Academy of Sciences said. NASA estimated its See METEOR, Page A2
AP Photo
A metorite contrail is recorded by a dashboard camera Friday on a highway in the Chelyabinsk region, Russia.
Oil event brings leaders, students to Capitol
Job Corps students prep for Pentatholon
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INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Roswell Job Corps students try their hand at shooting a Steyr LP2 target pistol that fires a laser at its target during a training and orientation session with Mistic, Friday morning. Twenty students recommended by their superiors and 11 instructors will be leaving for Palm Springs, Calif., this weekend, along with six personnel from Mistic, to attend and assist in the Modern Pentathlon World Cup #1 next week, where olympic athelete hopefuls will compete. The students will assist in many aspects of the event, including delivering atheletes from the airport, course and range set-up and event monitoring. According to Joann Lopez of the Roswell Job Corps, the students, culled from different departments of the school, are eager to represent the Corps, Roswell and New Mexico while in California and were selected based on merit. The Modern Pentathlon consists of pistol shooting and distance running, horse show jumping, fencing and swimming.
ROCKETS DOWN ’DOGS
A win is a win, or so the old adage goes. Sometimes, however, a win is so much more than that and that was the case for the Goddard girls basketball against Artesia. Since the start of the 2009-2010 season when Greg Torres took over, the Rockets had dropped 14 consecutive District ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Elena Bravo Bernal • Billie L. Dixon • Humberto Estrada - PAGE A3
HIGH ...64˚ LOW ....28˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
Jesse Jackson Jr., wife agree to plead guilty
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a spectacular fall from political prominence, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife agreed Friday to plead guilty to federal charges growing out of what prosecutors said was a scheme to use $750,000 in campaign funds for lavish personal expenses, including a $43,000 gold watch and furs. Federal prosecutors filed one charge of conspiracy against the former Chicago congressman and charged his ex-alderman wife, Sandra, with one count of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received. Both agreed to plead guilty in deals with federal prosecutors. Both face maximum penalties of several years in prison; he also faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and forfeitures. But the government did not immediately release the text of its plea agreements. Such agreements almost invariably call for prosecutors to recommend sentences below the maximum. See JACKSON, Page A2
The Independent Petroleum Association Friday brought together legislators, oil and gas industry leaders and representatives from public educational institutions around the state at the Capitol for Oil and Gas Day. Since 2009, the Association has sponsored the event to highlight the oil and gas industry’s contributions to education and health care. Through the Land Grant Permanent Fund, billions of dollars are earned from energy development on public lands. Investment returns on that money are earmarked specifically for education and health care. Last year, the amount allocated was $658 million. The event featured presentations from legislators and industry leaders, as well as beneficiaries, such as San Juan College School See OIL, Page A2
Burst into bloom
Mark Wilson Photo
The flower bed at the Historical Center for Southeast New Mexico is coming to life early in the year as flowers begin to bloom, Thursday afternoon.
Once lost, Jerry Beaver now lives to light a path for others ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT.....B8 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Jerry Beaver
When Jerry Beaver, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, preaches about the transformative power of Christ, he speaks from personal experience. Born in a small town in Virginia, Beaver, 38, wasn’t raised in the church. As a young man, he wore long hair, played in rock bands and drank heavily. “There was a void in my life that needed to be filled,” he said. One day, while working on a song, he found a Bible
and began to read. His interest piqued, he accepted a friend’s invitation to a church service. “I heard the gospel for the first time and my life was transformed,” he said. “The first day I went, that’s when I gave my life to the Lord.” From then on, Beaver immersed himself in all aspects of the church and
never looked back. “I know some people struggle when they first come to the Lord,” he said. “But when I got it, I got it. It was all in or nothing for me.” With his newfound faith, Beaver decided to attend Bible College and become a pastor. He now holds a See SPOTLIGHT, Page A2