Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
TOURS, NO; EGGS, YES
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it is going forward with plans for its 135-year tradition of the Easter egg roll, while dashing the hopes of some Iowa children who hoped to visit the president’s home. Sixth graders at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Waverly, Iowa, had their upcoming visit canceled as the White House suspended all tours under across-the-board government spending cuts ... - PAGE A7
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Senate confirms Brennan for CIA
Vol. 122, No. 58 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed John Brennan to be CIA director Thursday after the Obama administration bowed to demands from Republicans blocking the nomination and stated explicitly there are limits on the president’s power to use drones against U.S. terror suspects on American soil. The vote was 63-34 and came just hours after Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, held the floor past midnight in an old-style fili-
March 8, 2013
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
buster of the nomination to extract an answer from the administration. Still, Brennan won some GOP support. Thirteen Republicans voted with 49 Democrats and one independent to give Brennan, who has been President Barack Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, the top job at the nation’s spy agency. He will replace Michael Morell, the CIA’s deputy director who has been acting director since David Petraeus resigned in November after acknowledging an affair with his
biographer. The confir mation vote came moments after Democrats prevailed in a vote ending the filibuster, 81-16. In a series of fast-moving events, by Senate standards, Attor ney General Eric Holder sent a oneparagraph letter to Paul, who had commanded the floor for nearly 13 hours on Wednesday and into Thursday. “It has come to my attention that you have now See BRENNAN, Page A3
AP Photo
NM House approves PTSD bill
CIA Director nominee John Brennan testifies before a Senate Select Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing, Feb. 7.
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Fatal fire • Jury scquits Haley • Roswell Tower survives, for now • Tabled bill stays in committee • Warriors advance ...
INSIDE SPORTS
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Navy aviators train at Roswell Lt. Cmdr. Shalen “Sugar” Cain, the officer in charge of training 70 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators at RIAC, stands beside a T-34C. The training will continue through April.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Navy and Marine aviators learning to fly over Roswell have created a stir around town as 25 white-and-orange planes buzz
RIVERA MAY RETIRE AFTER SEASON
NEW YORK (AP) — The great Mariano Rivera is getting set to close his career. The New York Yankees’ reliever plans to announce this weekend that he will retire after the 2013 season, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no announcement. A news conference was called for Saturday ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • •
OBITUARIES
Edmond Henry Ellis Eula Mae Gunderson Paula F. Talbert Jewel Harp - PAGE A7
HIGH ...79˚ LOW ....43˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT...A10 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10 WORLD .................A8
INDEX
the airways six days a week. The Naval Air Station Corpus Christi-based group of 70 trainees and 30 instructors moved training operations to the Roswell International Air Center this year in an ef fort to save
money and time, said Lt. Cmdr. Shalen “Sugar” Cain. “The weather (in Roswell) is more conducive to training on a consistent basis,” Cain said. See NAVY, Page A3
The state House of Representatives, Thursday, unanimously passed a bill that would create a program to treat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder using virtual reality therapy. Under House Bill 36, sponsored by Rep. Dianne Hamilton, R-Silver City, the program would be overseen by the Department of Veterans Services and held at the School of Social Work at Western New Mexico University. In a statement, Hamilton said veterans have made great sacrifices “and we owe it to them to do whatever we can to give them the support and therapy they need.” “They deserve a chance to return to normalcy and to enjoy their daily lives, without the lingering effects of PTSD,” she said. “I am sincerely grateful for their willingness to serve our great nation, and I am pleased to see this legislation passed with bipartisan support.” Virtual reality therapy has been tested at Navy Special Warfare units in Califor nia, and the Veterans Affairs Midwest Health Care Net-
NM Senate approves Obama pours on the charm govt pension overhaul SANTA FE (AP) — The Senate approved a proposal Thursday to revamp benefits and eligibility of a pension system for nearly 90,000 state and local gover nment workers and retirees in New Mexico.
Supporters said the changes were necessary to improve the long-term solvency of the Public Employees Retirement Association, which has a $6 billion gap between its assets and the cost of future retirement benefits. If enacted, the proposal would reduce annual costof-living adjustments for pension benefits. It would impose new retirement provisions on employees hired on or after July 1, 2013,
including requiring them to work longer before collecting pension benefits. The bill passed the Senate on a 38-4 vote and goes to the House with time running out on the legislative session. Lawmakers adjourn in nine days, and supporters of the proposed overhaul warned that the failure to approve the legislation would allow the pension system’s finances to worsen and potentially force more drastic benefits cutbacks in the future. “The longer we postpone this the more painful it becomes,” said Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming
WASHINGTON (AP) — Punctuated with the sounds of ringing phones and clinking china, President Barack Obama’s new legislative diplomacy has Republicans wondering what took so long. Obama pressed ahead Thursday with his bipartisan political outreach, eliciting a cautious welcome in a capital that has been riven by gridlock and partisanship over how to lower deficits and stabilize the nation’s debt. Obama had the Republican House Budget Committee chair man, Paul Ryan, and the committee’s top Democrat, Chris Van Hollen, to lunch at the White House, a day after he dined with a dozen Republican senators in what the White House said was an effort to find common ground with rank-and-file lawmakers. Few were willing to guarantee that the engagement would yield results. PreviSee OBAMA, Page A3
See PTSD, Page A3
AP Photo
House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. arrives at the White House for lunch, Thursday.
Society receives unexpected donation Officials investigate fire See PENSION, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Humane Society received a surprise, Tuesday, in the for m of seven puppies that were found in their donation box, along with a mother and her three puppies that had been placed into their newspaper box at the east side of the building. The puppies were discovered when a man tried to make a donation of clothes and heard a yelp Jessica Palmer Photo when some of the items Seven puppies of the 11 dogs abandoned outside the Roswell Humane Society that were found Tuesday morning after See PUPPIES, Page A3 spending the night in 30-degree temperatures.
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Chaves County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the New Mexico State Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of the Wednesday’s fire that left two people dead. Deputy District Attorney Michael Murphy went to the residence in the 4900 block of South Pennsylvania Avenue, Wednesday evening to view the scene. “I was called out because the position of the bodies was inconsistent with the most likely cause of death. I don’t know how better to phrase it. Something that may have suggested that
this wasn’t a case of someone being overcome by smoke. We can get photos, but it’s always better see it in person.” Sheriff Rob Coon said a third man, the home’s owner, discovered the fire. He suffered burns when he returned home and opened the door to the residence, causing a back draft. A search warrant has been issued to learn the cause of the fire and causes of death. A toxicology report has also been ordered. Lt. Britt Snyder explained that the CCSO See FIRE, Page A3