Roswell Daily Record
Taliban breaks off US talks THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 65 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — Convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich walked into a federal prison in Colorado to begin a 14year sentence for corruption on Thursday, the latest chapter in the downfall of a charismatic politician that seemed more like a bizarre reality TV show than a legal battle. - PAGE A6
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INSIDE SPORTS
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The first priority for Kendall Williams was defense. He spent all afternoon bumping, hounding, hand-checking and harassing Casper Ware wherever the Long Beach State star went. Yet the points Williams provided for New Mexico in the second half were equally important Thursday. And now, maybe these Lobos will finally fulfill expectations back home and get past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Williams scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and bottled ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
There are no obituaries today, March 16, 2012.
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CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A7
INDEX
AP Photo
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta talks with Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti in Kabul, Thursday, before leaving for United Arab Emirates.
No new taxes?
The moves represent new setbacks to America’s strategy for ending the 10-yearold war at a time when support for the conflict is plummeting. Part of the U.S. exit strategy is to
transfer authority gradually to Afghan forces. Another tack is to pull the Taliban into political discussions with the Afghan gover nment, though it’s unclear that there has been any progress since January.
Although Karzai has previously said that he wanted inter national troops to transition out of rural areas, the apparent call for an immediate exit is new. Karzai also said he now wants Afghan forces to take the lead for countrywide security in 2013, in what appeared to be a move to push the U.S. toward an
earlier drawdown. A statement released by Karzai’s of fice said that during his meeting with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the president “requested that the inter national forces come out of Afghan villages and stay in their bases.” Karzai also said that the “Afghan security forces have the ability to provide security in the villages of our country,” the statement said. But a senior U.S. official said Karzai did not make See TALIBAN, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Deciding to pursue other alternatives to finance renovations to the Chaves County Adult Detention Center, the Chaves County Board of Commissioners took formal action to reject the adoption of proposed ordinance O-084, which would increase the county’s gross receipts tax, at its regular business meeting Thursday. The proposed tax would have allowed the county to implement a one-sixteenth of one percent, or .0625 percent, gross receipts tax to finance the design, construction and renovation of the CCADC. The project is estimated to cost $10 million. Commissioners Greg Nibert and Dick Taylor, who both sit on the Finance Committee, indicated their support of other options in lieu of the tax increase to fund Phase I of the project.
Mark Wilson Photo
RPD’s SWAT trains at Mesa Verde Apts SWAT team members perform a training exercise at the Mesa Verde Apartments, Thursday morning.
The Roswell Police Department held SWAT training exercises, Thursday, at Mesa Verde Apartments, 502 S. Wyo-ming Ave. Commander Bill
Brown said Mesa Verde was chosen because the owner offered apartments that were in the process of being renovated to the RPD for their practice.
“This is good. It gives us a place a little different than what we usually use,” said Brown.
Owner Todd Seidenschwartz explained that
Mesa Verde had been working on renovating the entire complex. “We have three cops living here and See SWAT, Page A3
Daredevil jumps from 71,581 feet Pro-Assad rally marks uprising anniversary See TAXES, Page A3
UNM ADVANCES
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The American campaign in Afghanistan suffered a double blow Thursday: The Taliban broke off talks with the U.S., and President Hamid Karzai said NATO should pull out of rural areas and speed up the transfer of security responsibilities to Afghan forces nationwide in the wake of the killing of 16 civilians.
BLAGOJEVICH ENTERS THE BIG HOUSE
March 16, 2012
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
AP Phooto
Felix Baumgartner prepares to jump during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos over Roswell,Thursday.
Felix Baumgartner became the third person to successfully jump from more than 70,000 feet, Thursday, ascending an estimated 71,581 feet above Roswell prior to the dive, according to statements from the Red Bull Stratos website. Baumgartner joined Col. Joe Kittinger and Eugene Andreev as the only people who have accomplished the feat. Stratos announced that at 9:54 a.m., Baumgartner landed safely on the ground in an open field just east of Roswell. The program estimated his freefall speed at 364 mph. The test provided Stratos with its first manned flight of the capsule that protects Baumgartner from low atmospheric pressure, after a previous attempt Tuesday was aborted due to balloon fail-
See DAREDEVIL, Page A3
BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Syrians rallied Thursday in Damascus in a display of loyalty to President Bashar Assad, waving flags under a slate gray sky to protest the anniversary of a rebellion that the government says is driven by terrorists, gangsters and extremists. Outside the Syrian capital, however, tanks and snipers besieged opposition areas, including the southern city of Daraa where the uprising began a year ago, touched off by the arrest of a group of youths who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall.
revolt, the fight to oust Assad is cascading toward civil war with more than 8,000 killed and no end in sight to the bloodshed. Worst-case scenarios are playing out in a country where many remain shackled by corruption, a suffocating security apparatus and a family dictatorship that rules over 22 million people. Despite widening international condemnation and biting sanctions, Assad’s regime has remained intact and intelligence analysts say the rebels have yet to pose a serious challenge to
Roswell rises early to celebrate county on Agriculture Day NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
Rise with Roswell was held Thursday at the Eastern New Mexico State Fairgrounds, where members of the community celebrated Chaves County farming on Agriculture Day. The event featured a speech from New Mexico Department of Agriculture Director Jim Witte, who discussed the current af fairs of agriculture in both the county and state. Witte said that despite the challenges facing agriculture, he remains optimistic about far ming in Chaves County. “If you look at these
stats, agriculture in Chaves County (has generated) over $513 million,” Witte said. “Now, that’s in farming. That doesn’t include what’s been sold out of your cheese factory. ... That doesn’t include farmer’s markets; that doesn’t include any other direct sales or processing. ... That’s $513 million in raw products.” New Mexico agricultural statistics compiled in 2010 showed that the total cash receipts in Chaves County for livestock was $447,542,000, while crops generated $65,512,000. The 2007 Census of Agriculture revealed that the
average net farm income in Chaves County was $106,675. “The stats also show you have 584 farms under the USDA definitions,” Witte said. “So that’s a lot of commerce in the area.” Chamber of Commerce president David Duer said the statistics shared by Witte provided an idea of how much of an impact agriculture is in the county. “You’ve seen the numbers, it’s just amazing. I don’t think the normal person who’s not involved in the agriculture community understands what is going See AG DAY, Page A3
One year into the Syrian
See SYRIA, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
Jeff Witte, director/secretary, New Mexico Department of Agriculture, prepares to address those attending Rise with Roswell Agriculture Day 2012 at the fairgrounds, Thursday morning.