Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, damaging some 800 homes near the epicenter swaying tall buildings and spreading fear and panic hundreds of miles away in the capital of Mexico City.
FROG GETS HABITAT PROTECTION
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating more than 10,000 acres of critical habitat for a rare spotted frog found in Arizona and New Mexico that has disappeared from 80 percent of its historic habitat in the country. The acreage in ... - PAGE A6
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
7.4 shakes Mexico, damages homes
Vol. 121, No. 69 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
One of the strongest to shake Mexico since the deadly 1985 temblor that killed thousands in Mexico City, Tuesday’s earthquake hit hardest in the border area of southern Oaxaca and Guerrero states. In Guerrero, of ficials confir med that some 800 homes had been damaged, with another 60 having collapsed.
March 21, 2012
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Hours after the shaking at noon local time, there were still no reports of death or serious injury, even after a less powerful, magnitude-5.1 aftershock was felt in the capital, and several other aftershocks near the epicenter in a mountainous rural region. “It was very strong, very substantial,” said Campos Benitez, hospital director in Ometepec, about 15 miles from the epicenter. Guerrero Gov. Angel Aguirre, who is from Ometepec, was headed there to survey the damage and ordered emergency crews and civil protection to the area to help with the damage. The state did not say
how many were displaced. In Mexico City, frightened workers and residents poured into the streets of the capital. Telephone service was down in the city and throughout the area where the quake was felt and some neighborhoods were without power, according to Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who set up a hotline for people to report damage. A pedestrian bridge collapsed on an empty transit bus. About 40 passengers were stranded for a short time on the Mexico City airport air train, but later
Mother Nature makes waves
See QUAKE, Page A3
AP Photo
Firefighters work to remove a cement beam that fell from a bridge onto a public mini-bus in Mexico City, Tuesday, after the earthquake. There were no passengers in the bus; the driver suffered minor injuries, according to firefighters.
Obama to visit oil fields
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• More ‘Prime Time’ to come • Wag-n-Walk howling success • NMMI gets new rappelling tower • RPD’s SWAT trains at Mesa Verde Apts • Dexter plates 26 in win over NMMI ...
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — With gas prices steadily on the rise, President Barack Obama makes a stop today in New Mexico’s oil fields to tout the fact that domestic oil and gas production is at an all-time high.
But he’ll also step into solidly Republican territory dominated by an industry upset with his administration’s environmental policies and what it says is inadequate funding to push production to the levels needed to bring fuel costs down.
INSIDE SPORTS
High winds create whitecaps and waves on the surface of Lake Van, Tuesday.
Mark Wilson Photo
“If this administration is serious about increasing domestic oil and gas produc-
Anti-lizard rally today Candidates file for 6/5 primary NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
WARD WALKS AWAY
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Hines Ward believes he can still play football. The longtime Pittsburgh wide receiver known for his high-wattage smile and his bone-crunching blocks just couldn’t stomach the thought of doing it in some strange uniform on some strange field with nary a Terrible Towel in sight. “I just wouldn’t feel right,” Ward said. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Lou Nell Smith Mask J.D. Tyler Carol Jean Crowe Margaret Joan Lynch Darlene M.Chavez Charlotte Kay Arver Germaine Marie Grade - PAGE A6
HIGH ...66˚ LOW ....40˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Upon President Barack Obama’s arrival in southeastern New Mexico this afternoon, citizens opposed to the possible listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species will gather in protest at 3 p.m., today, in the south field of the International Law Enforcement Academy facility, 47 Gail Harris St. Organizers said protesters will voice their concerns about how the classification might impact local economies. Gregory Nibert, attorney with Hinkle, Hensley, Shanor & Martin, will be master of ceremonies. The protest will feature an open mic for its participants. “We hope the president will hear our message while he visits the oil fields of
southeast New Mexico,” said Dorrie Faubus-McCarty, executive director of the Roswell Chamber of Commerce. “If he listens, he will realize we are sincere in our determination to keep the lizard from being listed, and have established the lack of science supporting the (Fish and Wildlife Service) agency’s advancement of the listing.” Faubus-McCarty said that if efforts to stop the lizard’s endangered species listing are unsuccessful, it will create many problems for local industries. “The farmers and ranchers will not be able to do what they do best, and that is to take care of our crops and cattle,” she said. “It’s the same thing with oil and gas; they will not be able to drill. Power companies will
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Those with hopes of seeking election to state and county offices filed for candidacy in the June 5 primary election statewide Tuesday in Santa Fe, and at the Chaves County Administrative Center in Roswell. Ken Ortiz, chief of staff for the Office of the Secretary of State, said, “It’s gone very smoothly. Everybody has been able to get in and out relatively smoothly. ... We have not received any complaints. In fact the opposite. They’ve said it’s much more streamlined and more efficient than it has been in the past. ... This time we did more of a one stop shop.” This year’s fil-
See OBAMA, Page A3
ing was the first under Secretary of State Dianna Duran. Incumbent District Attorney Janetta Hicks and Janet Ellis, who served as a prosecutor under former District Attorney Tom Rutledge, are seeking the Republican nomination for district attorney in the 5th Judicial District. Les Williams, an assistant district attorney with the Eddy County District Attorney’s Office, and Lisa Riley, who is in private practice law in Carlsbad, are vying for the GOP nod for the position of 5th Judicial District Court Judge, Division 9. Republican Vince N. Bergman, of Roswell, is running unopposed to continue to serve District 8 on the Public Education
Commission. State Reps. Dennis Kintigh, R-Roswell, and Bob Wooley, R-Roswell, are competing to represent District 66. Due to a House redistricting plan, the two incumbents, who are officemates in Santa Fe and sit next to each other on the floor of the House, are lumped into District 66, which is currently represented by Wooley. In District 59, incumbent Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, is running unopposed. In Senate District 32, Senate President Pro-Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, has two challengers, Roswell farmer Cliff Pirtle, and Roswell Fire Chief Chad Hamill, who are See PRIMARY, Page A3
Romney routs Santorum in Illinois Portales police arrest Roswell rape suspect SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) — Mitt Romney took a major stride toward the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night, routing Rick Santorum in the Illinois primary for his third big-state win in a row and padding his alreadyformidable lead in the race for convention delegates. Returns from 75 percent of Illinois’ precincts showed Romney gaining 47 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for Santorum, 9 percent for Ron Paul and 8 percent for a fading Newt Gingrich. That was a far more substantial showing for Romney than the grudging victories he eked out in the previous few weeks in Michigan and Ohio, pri-
See RALLY, Page A3
maries that did as much to raise questions about his ability to attract Republican support as to quell those questions. Santorum, who hopes to rebound in next Saturday’s Louisiana primary, sounded like anything but a defeated contender as he spoke to supporters in Gettysburg, Pa. He said he had outpolled Romney in downstate Illinois and the areas “that conservatives and Republicans populate. We’re very happy about that and we’re happy about the delegates we’re going to get, too.” Romney triumphed in Illinois after benefitting from a crushing, 7-1 advantage in the television advertising wars, and as
his chief rival struggled to overcome self-imposed political wounds in the marathon race to pick an opponent to Obama. Most recently, Santorum backpedaled after saying on Monday that the economy wasn’t the main issue of the campaign. “Occasionally you say some things where you wish you had a do-over,” he said later. Over the weekend, he was humbled in the Puerto Rico primary after saying that to qualify for statehood the island commonwealth should adopt English as an official language. Initial results showed Romney’s victory was worth See GOP, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Portales police assisted the Roswell Police Department when they apprehended Manuel Chapa, 69. Chapa is charged with six counts of criminal sexual penetration and 22 counts of criminal sexual contact. CID obtained information that Chapa had fled to Portales and asked detectives there to help locate him. Lt. Mark Cage, of the PPD, was brief regarding RPD’s request Tuesday morn-
Manuel Chapa
ing. “They got a tip and asked us to look into it.” The RPD began investigating the Chapa case See ARREST, Page A3