Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 64 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
TAOS BEGINS ‘REMARKABLE WOMEN’ CELEBRATION
TAOS (AP) — In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, at the edge of the Rio Grande Gorge and amid the seemingly endless fields of sage, nature has been a steadfast witness to a remarkable legacy of women and the arts in Taos. - PAGE A2
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INSIDE SPORTS
March 15, 2012
US, UK committed to Afghan mission
THURSDAY
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AP Photo
British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama hold a joint press conference in the Rose Garden, Wednesday.
Needed: Public loo downtown
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of the United States and Britain outlined plans Wednesday to shift the NATO war ef fort in Afghanistan toward a backseat advisory role while Afghan forces increasingly take the lead, but stressed that the two nations remain committed to the mission there. President Barack Obama gave his fullest endorsement yet for the mission shift, but he said the overall plan to gradually withdraw forces and hand over security in Afghanistan will stand. Obama said he anticipates no “sudden, immediate changes to the plan we
already have,” for bringing forces home. The United States and Britain have the largest fighting forces in Afghanistan, where the combat is in its 11th year. The U.S., Britain and other NATO nations have already agreed to keep forces in the country through 2014, when Afghan President Hamid Karzai will leave office. Obama acknowledged the drop in public support at home for the war. “People get weary,” after long wars, the president said, but he also said he thinks most people in both the U.S. and Britain understand the reasons for continuing the
‘Who are you calling an old coot’?
fight. Cameron, who joined Obama for a joint Rose Garden press conference, said security is better in Afghanistan and he praised the U.S. strategy to add more than 30,000 forces in a “surge” against the Taliban-led militants in 2009. “The situation is considerably improved,” Cameron said, and the goal of keeping Afghanistan from again becoming a terrorist haven is achievable by the end of 2014. Following the summer fighting season, Obama said NATO allies would look at how to continue drawing See US, Page A7
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
As Roswell nears spring break and summer festivals, merchants within the downtown shopping district have expressed their concerns about increased usage of their restrooms, a problem that has many hoping a public restroom will be built close to the intersection of Second and Main streets. Councilman Dusty Huckabee said a lack of a public restroom in the area remains an ongoing issue for private businesses, one that becomes even more apparent when a high number of tourists See NEEDED, Page A7
American coots swim the waters of Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Wednesday.
Mark Wilson Photo
DDSD conducts public LRH’s ER space to premiere Monday meeting on new system When Janelle Rabor n, interim CEO of Lovelace Regional Hospital, saw the facility’s emergency room, she saw a need — for more space, more staff and faster service. The hospital’s current ER has only three rooms. Its cramped space does not allow for a storage area. Because patients come to the ER for about as many reasons as there are patients, ER equipment should be varied and easily accessible. However, in Lovelace Regional Hospital’s ER, equipment is “stored” along a wall. Limited space translates to limited ability to help patients in a timely fashion. “Some patients would ... leave and forgo treatment,” Raborn said. “That’s a concer n to us.” To improve what is arguably its most
urgent service, the hospital will soon have a second ER space, set to open on Monday. This additional ER will feature four areas where patients may be seen and treated. The addition, Rabor n said, will be a “fast track” where patients who are not in need of crucial care may be treated. She said she hoped the additional ER space will reduce one of the biggest issues the hospital was having — patients who left the ER before being treated due to a long wait time. Raborn said the new ER — which will not replace the old ER, but simply add more emergency space — was a project spearheaded by Dawn Tschabrun, hospital chief operating officer and chief nursing officer. “It’s exciting to be able to provide additional care to our community,” Tschabrun said. It was impossible to simply expand the current ER
as doing so would have encumbered the hospital’s radiology department. Instead, the additional ER space is just a few feet away. Tschabrun said both ER spaces will share a physician; also, newly recruited nursing staff will support the second ER. The additional staff bumps up Lovelace Regional’s ER personnel from 35 to 43. The new ER space will have a room dedicated to storage. Aside from the individual patient spaces marked off by curtains, the new ER space will have a room to of fer a patient more privacy, Raborn said. “It’s much nicer,” Raborn said of the storage area in the new ER space. “It allows for more flow.” The hospital still only has one ER entrance. Patients presenting an emergency will first be admitted to triage and be
WASHINGTON (AP) — An upbeat Rick Santorum barreled into Puerto Rico on Wednesday in pursuit of another campaign-bending victory in a Republican presidential race where suddenly no primary is too minor and no delegate is conceded. Mitt Romney put nearly $1 million into television advertising in Illinois, the next big-state showdown. “If we keep winning races, eventually people are going to figure out that Gov. Romney is not going to be the nominee,” said Santorum, eager to build on Tuesday’s unexpected victories in Alabama and Mississippi. Romney in tur n dismissed Santorum as a
“lightweight” as far as the economy is concerned. He also rebutted suggestions that he can’t appeal to core conservatives. “You don’t win a million more votes than anyone else in this race by just appealing to high-income Americans,” he said on Fox News. “Some who are very conservative may not be in my camp, but they will be when I become the nominee, when I face Barack Obama.” Romney travels to Puerto Rico on Friday, after two days in New York fundraising. Newt Gingrich, despite losing twice in the South, a region he hoped to own in the race, showed no sign of abandoning his fading
campaign. That presumably suited Romney fine. But not so much Santorum, eager for a race in which he is the sole challenger on the right for Romney, the for mer Massachusetts governor. The events of the previous 24 hours neatly summarized the most turbulent Republican presidential campaign in a generation. Santorum’s primary victories in Mississippi and Alabama were the product of a wellspring of conservative support that overcame Romney’s overwhelming organizational and financial advantages in the race to pick a November opponent for Democrat Obama.
VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
MARCH MADNESS, NFL STYLE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Calvin Johnson got the biggest contract in NFL history Wednesday, and he wasn’t even a free agent. The All-Pro wide receiver’s eight-year deal through the 2019 season is worth $132 million, with $60 million guaranteed, surpassing the $120 million with $50 million guaranteed being paid to Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald. “They were happy to get this thing done with, and I was happy as well,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t a lot of confrontation. We weren’t butting heads or anything. It was just something ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARY
• Kevin Mario Smith - PAGE A3
HIGH ...85˚ LOW ....51˚
Statewide around 3,800 individuals receive services through the Developmental Disabilities Medicaid Waiver Program, which serves as an alternative to institutional care, and more than 5,600 are on the waiting list. The program is designed to provide services and support to eligible individuals with developmental disabilities, enabling them to participate as active members of their communities. The waiver is designed to provide services reimbursable under Medicaid to specific individuals who, in the absence of the waiver, would require services in an institu-
tion. The Developmental Disabilities Supports Division of the N.M. Department of Health, introduced the newly proposed renewal documents in Roswell, Wednesday. The DDW renewal became effective July 1. “As part of that program we want to be sure that we can commit to sustaining the current services that we’re offering people and bring new people into service,” Cathy Stevenson, DDSD director, said. In 2009, DDSD began working on changes to the program. To keep the program running, DDSD has to renew it every five years with the federal See DDSD, Page A7
See LRH, Page A7
GOP fight for delegates stretches to Puerto Rico ahead of primary
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT.....B5 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
AP Photo
Rick Santorum speaks to an audience at a town hall meeting in San Juan, Wednesday.
See GOP, Page A7