02-25-12 PAPER

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Romney would raise Medicare age

Vol. 121, No. 48 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

READY TO LIGHTEN UP

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A month after being widely criticized for revealing she has diabetes — as well as a lucrative endorsement deal for a drug to treat it — Paula Deen says she’s ready to show a lighter side to her famously fatty Southern-style cooking. Just don’t expect her to swear off butter. - PAGE A8

TOP 5 WEB

For The Past 24 Hours

• Bingaman meets with ENMU-R students • Roswell lawmakers address C of C • USPS processing center to close • Needed: 50,000-acrefeet of water • Roswell tops Artesia, Goddard next

INSIDE SPORTS

PHOENIX (AP) — Saying “my name has been dragged through the mud,” NL MVP Ryan Braun reported to spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday and declared he had been vindicated, a day after his 50-game suspension for a positive drug test was overturned by an arbitrator. Braun’s teammates sat in the stands, in uniform, as he held a news conference on the field at the team’s training complex. Braun said that, since what was supposed ... - PAGE B1

TODAY’S OBITUARIES

• Beulah Mobbley • Michael Alan Peters - PAGE A3

HIGH ...66˚ LOW ....36˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

SATURDAY

www.rdrnews.com

Hillary predicts Syria coup

AP Photo

Mitt Romney speaks to the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field in Detroit, Friday.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton blasted Russia and China as “despicable” for opposing U.N. action aimed at stopping the bloodshed in Syria, and more than 60 nations began planning a civilian peacekeeping mission to deploy after the Damascus regime halts its crackdown on the opposition. In his most forceful words to date on the Syrian crisis, President Barack Obama said the U.S. and its allies would use “every tool available” to end the bloodshed by the government of President Bashar Assad. Obama spoke as a group known as the Friends of Syria, led by the U.S. and European and Arab nations, met in Tunisia in the latest effort to halt the See SYRIA, Page A2

‘TRUTH PREVAILS’ IN BRAUN DRUG CASE

February 25, 2012

DETROIT (AP) — Four days before critical primary elections, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney outlined a far reaching plan Friday to gradually delay Americans’ eligibility for Medicare as well as Social Security. Romney said the shift, as people live longer, is needed to steer the giant benefit programs toward economic sustainability. Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club — in cavernous Ford Field, where

the Detroit Lions football team plays — he also made a play for primary election support in Michigan, which votes on Tuesday along with Arizona.

Romney said previous steps to toughen government emission standards had “provided a benefit to some of the foreign automakers” at the expense of American companies. He said future changes should be worked out cooperatively between government and industry.

Romney said his proposals for Medicare and Social Security would begin in 2022, meaning no current or near -retirees would be affected. He also said he favors adjustments to curtail the growth of future benefits for the relatively well-to-do, so “lower income seniors would receive the most generous benefits.” He had described his Social Security proposals previously. See ROMNEY, Page A2

Mark Wilson Photo

NMMI hosts 2012 JROTC drill meet High school rifle drill teams from around the state compete in the Douglas McBride Rifle Competition during the New Mexico Military Institute Drill Meet, Friday. The competition continues through today.

VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER

Roswell is the site of a series of military-based

competitive events that are attracting participants from New Mexico and its surrounding states. The New Mexico Military Institute campus is host-

Shriners, IHOP gala, Tuesday NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER

Mark Wilson Photo

David Brown, left, and Phil Kopp of the Roswell Shrine Alien Patrol, greet young travelers Robert and Jackson Willmott of Whidbey Island, Wash., Friday morning, at IHOP. The Shriners were on hand to publicize Tuesday’s annual National Pancake Day and Hospital Fund Drive.

Everybody loves pancakes. Roswell Shriners and IHOP will hold their annual Hospital Fund Drive, Tuesday, on National Pancake Day. IHOP will provide free short stacks of pancakes between 7 a.m and 10 p.m., asking customers to make contributions to help support Shriners Hospitals for Children. Dick Smith, event organizer, said 2012 will be Shriners Hospitals’ sixth year working with IHOP, raising money for

ing the 2012 edition of the NMMI Drill Meet. Carl Hansen, NMMI director of public relations, said members of Junior Reserve Officer Training

Corps programs began to meet at NMMI Friday to compete in a variety of events, in teams as well as

Britt seeks Dexter Town Council spot See NMMI, Page A2

JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER

Sandra Britt, music director at Midway Baptist Church and a school bus driver for Dexter schools, says she is seeking election for a Dexter Town Council seat during the valley elections in March. Dexter has two four-year council terms slated to be on its ballot. “I’m tired of our town not growing, or moving forward, or nothing being done. The only way to change it is to get on there yourself,” Britt said. In terms of town growth,

Sandra Britt

Courtesy Photo

Britt said she’d like to see new businesses come in, and for the town to fix and

Avis Wright: Humanitarian, teacher, Pine Street Mom See PANCAKES, Page A2

See BRITT, Page A2

VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER

CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT ...B11 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8

INDEX

Avis Wright

Courtesy Photo

Born to parents who lived by the credo of loving and helping thy neighbor, even during the scarcity of the Great Depression, Avis Wright, 91, continues to apply the lessons of her childhood today. Wright is a retired schoolteacher and one of the longest active members of Roswell’s chapter of the teacher’s sorority, Alpha Delta Kappa. The organization helps provide funding to such nonprofits as Court Appointed Special Advocates, and scholarships to individuals in the commu-

nity. But Wright has a lifelong dedication to helping others, on a one-on-one level. “I grew up with parents who felt a responsibility to look out (for others),” Wright said. Early lessons in sharing and kindness have inspired her to do what she does today. Wright grew up in Red River County in northeast Texas. The earliest years of her life were during the Great Depression; but

because her family were farmers, they never went without food. The family’s neighbors were not always so lucky, and Wright recalled her parents sharing what they had with those less fortunate. In one instance, the family decided it was best to share others’ misfortune when government entities came to the farm where See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3


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02-25-12 PAPER by Roswell Daily Record - Issuu