Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 47 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
NATIONAL PARKS MIGHT SEE CUTS
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The towering giant sequoias at Yosemite National Park would go unprotected from visitors who might trample their shallow roots. At Cape Cod National Seashore, large sections of the Great Beach would close to keep eggs from being destroyed if natural resource managers are cut. ... - PAGE A2
February 23, 2013
SATURDAY
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Obama: Automatic spending cuts a bad idea
WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread flight delays and shuttered airports, offlimit seashores and unprotected parks. The Obama administration is painting a dire portrait of the many ways the public will feel the effects of automatic federal spending cuts due to begin March 1. The grim picture is emerging as the White House and lawmakers count down the days until the government is forced to trim $85 billion in domestic and defense spending with
hardly any leeway to save some programs from the budget knife. In detailing the costs of the cuts, President Barack Obama is seeking to raise the public’s awareness while also applying pressure on congressional Republicans who oppose his blend of targeted savings and tax increases to tackle federal deficits. “I’ve been very clear that these kinds of arbitrary, automatic cuts would have an adverse impact on families, on teachers, on parents
who are reliant on Head Start programs, on our military readiness, on mental health services, on medical research,” Obama said Friday. “This is not a smart way for us to reduce the deficit.” Just in case those consequences didn’t capture the public’s attention, the White House also had Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood spell out the impact on travelers, a frequent-flier nightmare of 90-minute airport waits, limited flights and closed regional airports.
Republican lawmakers dismissed LaHood’s warnings as “exaggerations.” But LaHood said the cuts would require slicing more than $600 million from the Federal Aviation Administration, resulting in furloughs of one day per pay period for a majority of the agency’s 47,000 employees. “Once airlines see the potential impact of these furloughs, we expect that they will change their schedules and cancel flights,” LaHood said. Moreover, he said, the
For The Past 24 Hours
• Valley Meat Co. files lawsuit • County resolution addresses oil, gas • Public service or ‘prize to kill,’ Coyote Hunt ... • Air tanker training underway ahead of ... • NMMI boys keep ...
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photos
Firefighters put out a blaze that totally destroyed a resi-
dence at 70 Mescal, northwest of Roswell off of Pine
Lodge, Thursday.
TODAY’S • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
William Mel Mayes Francis Fulton Sr. Janet Armstrong Maurine Dodson Felix Vallejos Lilianna Feliciano - PAGE B3
HIGH ...68˚ LOW ....35˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
See CUTS, Page A3
The New Mexico House of Representatives recently voted 61-0 to pass a bill t h at wou l d exp an d t h e C on ven t ion C en t er Financing Act to include all municipalities. HB 7 3 , sp on sor ed b y Rep. Bobby Gonzales, DTaos, would remove the stipulation of the act that only allows municipalities with a population of more than 70,000 and less than 100,000 to impose taxes on lodging facilities, such as hotels, for convention center maintenance and expansion. C it y C ou n cilor Jason Perry said the bill would take the burden of paying for the convention center off of local taxpayers. W h ile R oswell can ’ t compete with larger cities, such as Sante Fe and Las Cruces, he said the bill wou ld g ive R os well a n advantage and bring more com m er ce an d t r ad e opportunities into city. In N ovem b er, C it y Council voted to create a
WEB
ARTESIA — The Roswell girls basketball team had already wrapped up the regular-season District 4-4A title and the No. 1 seed in the district tournament before Friday’s tilt at the Bulldog Pit with Artesia. So, in essence, Friday’s game amounted to nothing more than a tune-up for district tournament, ... - PAGE B1
“We’re talking about places like Boca Raton, Fla.; Joplin, Mo.; Hilton Head, S.C.; and San Marcos, Texas,” he said. All in all, nearly two-thirds of the airports are concentrated in three states — California, Florida and Texas.
Fire destroys home off Pine Lodge Rd House passes HB 73
TOP 5
RHS GIRLS DOWN ’DOGS
Transportation Department is looking “to likely close” air traffic control towers at 100 airports that have fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year.
See HOUSE, Page A3
Film shot in Roswell opens March 1 House OKs maternity leave for students JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Roswell-based production company will premier “Camp” March 1 at the Galaxy 8 — a heartwarming film that the local writer hopes will inspire and capture the hearts of movie goers. The faith-based drama, inspired by true stories, highlights the struggles of abused and neglected children and their counselors who spend time with them at camp. The first 10 minutes and last shots will feature scenes filmed entirely in town. Local writer and director Jacob Roebuck and his wife spent time volunteering at such camps — Royal Family Kids camps — in the Los Angeles area. The experiences inspired Roebuck to write the script, folding several stories from many camps the couple visited. “It was such a special experience we thought we should turn it into a film,”
Roebuck said. Roebuck hopes the result will entertain and inspire audiences with its uplifting interactions, mostly with main characters camp counselor Ken (Michael Mattera) and troubled 10-year -old Eli (Miles Elliot of “The Mentalist”). Ken, an investment advisor, volunteers to go to camp to impress a client, but ultimately finds his struggle to help the scared, enraged and recently displaced Eli struggle through his childhood fraught dealing with a recently overdosed mother and an abusive father. “It is our hope this film will inspire people to open their hearts to forgotten children who need adults in their lives,” Roebuck said. Roebuck likens the flick he wrote to the mainstream hit “The Blind Side.” Ken’s and Eli’s “fish-out-of-water” efforts
SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico’s public schools will be required to grant a leave of absence to teenage parents under a proposal approved Friday by the House. The measure will establish a statewide policy requiring at least 10 days of leave when a student gives birth. The excused absences also will be available to the child’s father. A pregnant teen or a student who is a parent will receive four days of leave per semester, in addition to any absences allowed by a school for all students. Schools must provide an opportunity for students to make up the work they missed while on maternity or parental leave. Supporters said the leave policy will support young parents, allow them to bond with their children and help the students complete school. “We’re wanting to promote healthy families,” said Rep.
See FILM, Page A3
See STUDENTS, Page A3
Jose Zavala measures life according to accomplishment of goals JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Jose Zavala
Jessica Palmer Photo
If someone had to pick a single word to describe Jose Zavala, it would be hardworking. Although Roswell-born, Zavala’s family went to live in Uriangato, Guana Juato, Mexico. He got his first job delivering bread for local bakeries at the age of 6. “They gave me a big hat where I could carry the loaves, so I could ride my bike and deliver the bread,” Zavala said. He earned 5 to 10 pesos a day. The trait is shared by other members of the family. His father Eliseo Zavala Sr. stayed in the United States to work in Aurora, Ill. His grandfather gathered firewood and brought it back to town.
The family came back to Roswell when he was 8. “When we returned from Mexico, my family had no car. My mother got the permission from Furrs to take a shopping cart home and then my brother and I would walk the cart back again,” Zavala said. “I didn’t have video games. I had a GI Joe and a soccer ball,” he said. He didn’t feel a lack, then or now, having formed the opinion that many games promote violence. His father bought a lawnmower
and formed a business. Father and son would go door-to-door to get jobs mowing lawns. “We would get between $10 to $15 per job. The gardening business Zavala has maintained to this day. At the age of 10, Zavala and a childhood friend picked chilies in the chili fields. At the age of 14, Zavala applied to HELP (Home Education Livelihood Program) for low income students. “I became a custodian’s See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3