Roswell Daily Record
FEMA revises floodplain map
Vol. 121, No. 95 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
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JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
LEVON HELM DIES AT 71
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — With songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “The Weight” and “Up on Cripple Creek,” The Band fused rock, blues, folk and gospel to create a sound that seemed as authentically American as a Mathew Brady photograph or a Mark Twain short story. In truth, the group ... - PAGE B5
A revised Flood Insurance Rate Map released by FEMA shows area floodplains as significantly smaller, signifying many individuals should be removed from the plains. The new map, put into ef fect March 23, may change flood insurance rates for residents or even relieve them of the requirement to have flood insur-
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
April 20, 2012
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ance. The revised areas primarily surround the Hondo River and the Spring River.
A FEMA FIRM details what is called the 100-year flood, the flood that has a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Flood insurance was taken over by the federal government after countless problems with private insurers. Anyone with federally backed mortgages in special flood hazard areas is required to
have flood insurance. Roswell first came into the floodplain in 1982. In 2003, FEMA executed a restudy of the floodplains area, specifically detailing the area around the Hondo River. “They actually increased (the floodplain) and made it a whole lot worse than it was ... They included a lot more property,” Jim Thomas, of the city’s Engineering Department, said. To combat FEMA’s maps,
the city hired an Albuquerque-based firm to perform hydraulic and drainage studies, again detailing the Hondo River area. The results were given to FEMA for review in 2005. Since then, it has been a backand-forth process between the city and FEMA to finetune the maps, Thomas said. Flood insurance rates are based on flood zones. Zones vary in characeristic by flood depths and the
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INSIDE
RPD arrests 3 after shots fired Police arrest a suspect in a shooting incident at the Mesa Verde Apartments, Thursday afternoon.
Police officers responded to a disturbance call Thursday at about 4:30 p.m., after being advised that residents in the area heard multiple gunshots near Mesa Verde Apartments, 502 S. Wyoming Ave.
ROCKETS DEFEAT COYOTES
“Hubba, hubba.” That’s the phrase the Goddard softball team broke each team huddle with before coming to the plate on Thursday. Maybe it should have been “Hubbard, Hubbard,” though, because that’s how dominant freshman pitcher and two-hole hitter Danielle Hubbard looked for the Rockets. She got beat up early, but she owned the final five innings to lead the Rockets to an 8-5 win over crosstown rival Roswell. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Bill Montgomery • William M. Woody • Mary Ford - PAGE B5
HIGH ...76˚ LOW ....51˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............A7 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
City and county residents are encouraged to
County OKs special permit
See FEMA, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
For The Past 24 Hours
SPORTS
type of area, such as ponding or sheet flow on sloping terrain. “Inside that rate they have rates for how high you are above the flood level ... Every six inches that you’re higher, the rate goes down because you’re less likely to get flooded, or sustain less damage, in their opinion,” Thomas said.
Sgt. Jimmy Preston said the criminal investigation division has taken three individuals into custody. “At this time we’re awaiting a search warrant, and an investigation to determine exactly what happened,” Preston said.
“We just made sure there were no injured individuals inside. There have not been any injuries reported to us. Right now, it’s just shots fired at this apartment complex.” After securing the location, officers were able to
Mark Wilson Photo
determine the area where the shots were fired.
“We did have three individuals inside of an apartment,” Preston said. “We do not know whether they were victims, suspects or witnesses at this time.”
After including numerous stipulations and issuing a stern forewarning, and over the objections of the Department of Transportation, the county sheriff and the chief of the Midway Volunteer Fire Department, the Chaves County Commission approved a request for three-year renewal of a special use permit for a 40acre horse training facility at 71 Vista Largo Road to allow the property to include rodeos and family gatherings, Thursday. During its March business meeting, the commissioners tabled the request to determine if there were any state laws related to the racing facility that were not being met. Nothing was deter mined to be out of compliance with the state. Alma Madrid Munoz, who has leased the property since June 2011, uses the See COUNTY, Page A3
Paramedic shortage puts ENMU-R offers annual HS tour crews on 72-hour shifts NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
Superior Ambulance Service paramedics are working 72-hour shifts due to a shortage of employees, a situation that has management looking for ways to return its crews to their nor mal work schedules. With eight part-time paramedics, representatives say the company currently does not possess the manpower to avoid giving its six fulltime paramedics extended shifts. Armando Lucero, Superior regional manager, said
the standard shift for a fulltime paramedic is 48 hours, followed by four days of f. He said that despite the intimidating 72hour figure, paramedics rarely work more than six hours at a time, and credits the staff shortage to the nature of emergency services. “In this business, it’s a lot more common for burn out than in any other type of business,” he said. “So we have new medics coming through all the time. We
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
What if everything you wanted out of your education existed in your backyard? Area students explored the ENMU-Roswell campus Thursday, meeting with staf f and faculty about the degree programs and activities offered at the school. The tour is held every spring and is geared toward high school seniors who have yet to decide what they See ENMU-R, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
Sean Abeyta plays computer games as his mom works during the Explore Eastern open house at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, Thursday afternoon.
AAPL president addresses NMLA Natural gas price hits NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
The president of American Association of Professional Landmen spoke to members of the New Mexico Landmen’s Association, Thursday, offering a breakdown of the services AAPL provides to landmen, and to attor neys dealing with the oil and gas industry. AAPL president Jack Richards said Thursday’s forum was a chance to bring more people into the fold regarding the organization’s current activities.
See CREWS, Page A3
“I wanted to share some of the educational opportunities that we provide, some of the benefits,” Richards said. “And about how we focus most of our efforts on professional development for all landmen, about personal development for each of the landmen individually — things that we think they can do; and those are usually in the education areas, professional areas, certification areas. “And really, one of the points of interest that we try to work in is safeguard the public interest, because we deal with so
many different mineral owners.” AAPL has about 14,400 members throughout the United States and Canada, with headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Richards said AAPL is involved in lobbying ef forts, representing a growing membership. He noted that a lot of landmen reside in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, and that he sees a big expansion of activity in the Northeast. “We have over 70 different seminars that we sponsor throughout the
See AAPL, Page A2
another 10-year low
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of natural gas has dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade as U.S. supplies continue to grow. Natural gas futures gave up 4.4 cents to finish at $1.9070 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York. That matches a 10-year low reached on Jan. 28, 2002. The futures contract fell below $2 last week. Prices declined after the Energy Information Administration reported that supplies grew by 25 billion cubic feet last week, putting the nation’s supply
level at 58 percent above the five-year average. Major natural gas companies such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. and ConocoPhillips have idled some of their production in hopes of slowing the expanding supply.
But supplies are still growing faster than normal this year, and analysts say the country may eventually run out of places to put its natural gas.
“Companies can talk all they want about reducing See GAS, Page A2