Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Gov OKs tax break for hiring vets
Vol. 121, No. 58 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
TESTIMONIES DIFFER
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former writer on “Desperate Housewives” on Wednesday contradicted testimony by the show’s creator that a decision to kill off Nicollette Sheridan’s role had been made four months before the actress claimed her boss struck her on the set. The testimony by Lori Kirkland Baker was the latest twist in Sheridan’s wrongful termination... - PAGE A8
March 8, 2012
THURSDAY
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SANTA FE (AP) — A new state law will offer a tax break to encourage businesses to hire veterans who recently left the military and New Mexico also will give an advantage to veteran-owned businesses bidding on government contracts. Gov. Susana Martinez signed the measures on Wednesday, as she met a deadline for acting on bills that passed the Legislature during its 30-day session. Businesses can receive a
$1,000 tax credit for hiring veterans within two years of their discharge from the military, which the governor says will help personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The tax incentive will be available starting this year and end in 2016. “Our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices to protect our safety and freedom,” Martinez said in a statement. “It is unacceptable that these heroes might come
home from Iraq and Afghanistan only to stand in the unemployment line. Starting in July, businesses owned by veterans in New Mexico will receive a bidding preference on state and local government contracts. House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, sponsored the proposal. The governor said it will “boost job growth in New Mexico’s veteran community.” Also signed was a bill to See TAX BREAK, Page A3
MARTINEZ SIGNS KINTIGH BILL Julia Bergman Record Staff Writer
A bill which changes the legislative retirement contribution from $500 to $600 annually, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kingith, RRoswell, during the 2012 regular session, was signed by Gov. Susana Martinez Wednesday. The bill passed the House floor by a vote of 56-10 and the
Regional voters favor ‘ins’
WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• Voters defeat tax, 3 incumbents • New owner, new name • Hay, wind and fire • Gabriella, Kelci to wear crowns • Survivor, ABQ edition: Roswell escapes
SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
El Cap hosts RFD at CC! assembly El Capitan second-graders prepare to serenade firefighters during a Character Counts! assembly at the school, Wednesday morning.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
Students at El Capitan Elementary spent Wednesday morning entertaining the Roswell Fire Department, honoring the depart-
RHS, GHS OUT
ALBUQUERQUE — When Roswell went down on Wednesday, the Goddard boys basketball team became the prohibitive favorites to win the 4A state championship. Then the No. 1 Rockets stepped onto Bob King Court inside The Pit with No. 9 Kirtland Central. And 32 minutes later, the top seed was unceremoniously ousted thanks to a 61-59 setback at the hands of the upstart Broncos (18-10). - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Consuelo Conrad • Georgia Archuleta • Felix Padilla • Modell Sparks • Adrian Montoya - PAGE A6
HIGH ...58˚ LOW ....31˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
See KINTIGH, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5
INSIDE
Senate floor 38-0 during the session. The 20-day bill signing period during which Martinez signed and vetoed legislation sent to her by the Legislature concluded at noon Wednesday. Kintigh’s House Bill 42 was one of the last she took action on. The governor included a message
ment’s community efforts during the Character Counts! assembly in the school’s gymnasium. The assembly, held monthly at the school, aims to teach students to respect valuable civic services. The event began with a performance from the Roswell High
School T rash Can Band, who entertained the audience with several percussion songs. Secondgrade students sang the “Firefighting Team Song” to the firemen in attendance, while fifthSee EL CAP, Page A3
Roswell was not the only locale to have its future leadership deter mined Tuesday evening. Elections held in Artesia, Dexter, Hagerman, Lake Arthur and Ruidoso produced some new and returning faces to their councils and municipal judge positions. In Artesia, four 4-year council terms and a municipal judge position appeared on the ballot. In District 1, Manuel Madrid Jr. defeated incumbent Manuel Baragan, 329-148. In District 2, Nora Sanchez won re-election over Jose Luis Gabaldon, 188-89. In District 3, Jeff Youtsey defeated incumbent JB Smith, 227-206. In District 4, incumbent William Rogers beat Beverly Sweatt, 269-57. For the position of municipal judge, Richard Martinez defeated Luis Florez and write-in candidate Don Rindhal. Martinez had 699 votes; Florez, 601; and Rindahl, 65. Incumbent judge Kay Kiper, who had served for nearly two decades, did not seek re-election. See VOTERS, Page A3
Consumers complain Is convention fight only hope to PRC about Sprint for Santorum, Gingrich? JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
One hundred complaints about Sprint service from consumers in the Roswell, Hobbs and Artesia areas have now reached the Public Regulation Commission’s Consumer Relations Division. “When you get certain specific issues like the Sprint issue, you tend to have groupings of types of complaints. Then you figure out how to deal with those groups of complaints,” Mike Ripperger, head of the PRC’s Telecommunications Bureau, said. Sprint representatives told the PRC this week that a service line running from El Paso to Roswell is not
working correctly. Sprint is hoping to resolve the problem by the end of next week, Ripperger said. An email from Arthur Bishop, public information officer for the PRC, reads, “The company is currently trying to determine where the malfunction is taking place and hopes to have the problem solved ‘soon.’ Sprint does not have a set date/time for when service will be fully restored and back to normal, but said it will be offering credits to consumers on their phone bills for the inconvenience. Sprint also said it will be upgrading two towers in Roswell this month and another two by August.
WASHINGTON (AP) — No, it’s not over yet. But at this rate Mitt Romney’s rivals won’t catch him unless they pull off an unlikely fight at the Republican National Convention in August. Romney is on a delegate-winning pace to secure the nomination in June, and at their current rate none of his GOP foes will reach even half the number needed. The former Massachusetts governor’s six victories on Super Tuesday netted him more than 200 delegates to the party’s convention — more than twice as many as any other candidate.
Huge solar storm races toward Earth
INDEX
AP Photo
The solar flare heading toward Earth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth’s magnetic field is about to be shaken like a snow globe by the largest solar storm in five years. After hurtling through space for a day and a half,
See PRC, Page A3
a massive cloud of charged particles is due to arrive early today and could disrupt utility grids, airline flights, satellite networks and GPS services, especially in northern areas. But the same blast could also paint colorful auroras farther from the poles than normal. Scientists say the storm, which started with a massive solar flare earlier in the week, is growing as it races outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble. When it strikes early today, the particles will be moving at 4 million mph. Astronomers say the sun
has been relatively quiet for some time. And this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity. The storm is part of the sun’s normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach peak storminess next year. Solar storms don’t harm people, but they do disrupt technology. And during the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts. The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the most See SOLAR, Page A3
And to date, Romney has won 55 percent of the delegates at stake in primaries and caucuses. At that pace, Romney won’t reach the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination until summer. That provides a lot of opportunities for slip-ups and intrigue — and plenty of incentive for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich to stay in the race and try to make up ground. The delegate math is worse for Santorum and Gingrich, despite Santorum’s three victories on Tuesday. See GOP, Page A3
More power
AP Photo
Mitt Romney speaks in Boston, Tuesday.
Mark Wilson Photo
A crew from Energy Erectors works with Xcel Energy crews on additions to the Chaves County power station located on East Pine Lodge Road, Tuesday afternoon.