Roswell Daily Record
Roswell Realtors honor Kraft THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 106 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
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ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
R.I. APPROVES GAY MARRIAGE PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island on Thursday became the nation’s 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, as a 16-year effort to extend marriage rights in this heavily Roman ... - PAGE A6
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The Roswell Association of Realtors recognized attorney Rick Kraft as its 2013 Citizen of the Year on Thursday during its annual luncheon. The event honors outstanding members of the community who are committed to helping others. Kraft is a partner at Kraft and Hunter Law Firm and has also served as the executive director of the Leadership Roswell program since 1992. He also helped establish Valley Christian Academy and continues to participate on its school board. He is an active member at First Baptist Church, where he is a deacon and a Bible fellowship class teacher. In his spare time, Kraft is a runner and has completed 19 marathons. Roswell Association of Realtors President Bill Davis said Kraft is not only an
May 3, 2013
FRIDAY
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inspirational and motivational individual, but also “just a fun guy to be around.” Kraft’s wife, Tanya, compared her husband to the George Bernard Shaw poem, “A Splendid Torch,” and read remarks by their son Devin. Devin said he was proud of his father and called him “a man of the community.” Longtime friend Laurie Jerge also read remarks by Kraft’s daughter Kelsey, who compared her dad to Superman, his favorite superhero. Jerge said Kraft has touched the lives of many, including her own. Friend Rhonda Johnson, who completed the Leadership Roswell program, echoed Jerge, saying Kraft’s work impacts others, making them better people. For his part, Kraft said he was honored and humbled to be recognized and that he
Day of Prayer
See KRAFT, Page A3
Ilissa Gilmore Photo
Attorney Rick Kraft, center, alongside his wife Tanya, and Roswell Association of Realtors President Bill Davis, left, holds a plaque presented to him from the organization during its Citizen of the Year luncheon, Thursday.
Blue collar union to see pay increase
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The faithful pray during the 62nd annual National Day of Prayer held at Christ's Church, Thursday.
RHS WINS DISTRICT TITLE The Philadelphia Eagles’ version of “The Dream Team.” The 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers. The sporting landscape is littered with teams who fell flat on their face after entering ... - PAGE B1
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INDEX
Cyclists to raise money for foster kids
Starting today, members of the blue collar union will see a two percent pay increase, after the City Council approved ratification of a collective bargaining agreement Thursday night during a special meeting. The council also approved audited financial statements for the city’s fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012. According to the city’s annual financial report, the assets of the city exceeded its liabilities at the close of the fiscal year, the city’s total net assets increased and the city’s total debt decreased during the current fiscal year. However, one troubling finding of the audit is that the audit itself was late. According to the report, the audit “was on schedule to meet the State Auditor’s
Practice makes perfect
See CC, Page A3
AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
In an effort to raise money for foster kids, a group of men previously in the fraternity Pi Kappa Phi at New Mexico State University will cycle from Las Cruces to Aztec, stopping in Roswell May 20, as part of the second annual Tour de Nuevo Mexico. Cycler Ricky Rascon created the Tour de Nuevo Mexico after cycling cross-country in 2009, from San Francisco to Washington D.C., in a ride put on by Push America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving people with disabilities After cycling for Push America, Rascon decided to make a ride in New Mexico to raise money for foster kids. “A lot of these kids are abused and that’s why they’re in foster care,” Rascon said. “Sometimes they end up with disabilities and it’s kind of a win-win for what I’m doing.” Last year, Rascon and two others did the ride, but this year there will be eight to 10 cyclists making the roughly 625-mile journey. Leaving Las Cruces on May 18, they will ride through Alamogordo, Ruidoso, Roswell, Vaughn, Santa Fe and eventually end at the courthouse in Aztec on May See CYCLICSTS, Page A3
Ilissa Gilmore Photo
Students and faculty of one of Roswell’s Head Start Centers pledge allegiance on Thursday to state and U.S. flags donated by the city’s chapter of the Woodmen of the World. The organization presented flags to all three of the Head Start centers in the city. Special Services Coordinator Pamela O’Neal, far right, said the flags would help the children practice reciting the pledge to prepare for kindergarten.
‘Off the charts’: 133k Somalia famine child deaths NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A decision by extremist Islamic militants to ban delivery of food aid and a “normalization of crisis” that numbed international donors to unfolding disaster made south-central Somalia the most dangerous place in the world to AP Photo
LEFT: In this Aug. 6, 2011 file photo is the shrouded body of a 12-month-old who died of malnutrition.
be a child in 2011. The first in-depth study of famine deaths in Somalia in 2011 was released Thursday, and it estimates that 133,000 children under age 5 died, with child death rates approaching 20 percent in some communities. That’s 133,000 under-5 child deaths out of an estimated 6.5 million people in south-central Somalia. That compares to 65,000 under-5 deaths
that occurred in all industrial countries in the world combined during the same period, a population of 990 million, said Chris Hillbruner, a senior food security adviser at FEWS NET, a U.S.-sponsored famine war ning agency. “The scale of the child mortality is really off the charts,” Hillbruner said in a telephone interview from
See FAMINE, Page A3