Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
REP. SLAMS SENATE BILL
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key House committee chairman on Wednesday sharply criticized a wide-ranging immigration bill just passed by a Senate committee, underscoring the difficulties ahead as the politically volatile measure moves forward in a divided Congress. Separately, a bipartisan House group that has been working ... - PAGE B4
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Drones kill 4 Americans since ’09
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama in which he plans to pledge more transparency to Congress in his counterterrorism policy. It was already known that three Americans had been killed in U.S. drones strikes in counterterrorism operations overseas, but
May 23, 2013
THURSDAY
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Attorney General Eric Holder disclosed details that had remained secret and also that a fourth American had been killed. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Holder said that the government targeted and killed U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki and that the U.S. “is aware” of the killing of three others who were not targets of counterterror operations. Al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. The other two known cases are Samir Khan, who was killed in the
same drone strike as alAwlaki and al-Awlaki’s 16year -old son, Abdulrahman, a Denver native, who also was killed in Yemen. The newly revealed case is that of Jude Kenan Mohammed, one of eight men indicted by federal authorities in 2009, accused of being part of a plot to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va. Before he could be arrested, Mohammad fled the country to join jihadi fighters in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where he was among those killed by See OBAMA, Page A3
AP Photo
Arias trial Day 3
President Barack Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday.
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JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
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For The Past 24 Hours
• Man found shot • Trial defense witness killed • Woman beaten, stabbed, treated; ... • Protest at Valley Meat Co. reawakens ... • Goddard’s Aston, Gomez win silver ...
INSIDE SPORTS
Walker Museum opens new exhibit Mark Wilson Photo
The Walker Aviation Museum at the Roswell International Air Center.
AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
In an effort to further educate visitors about important Cold War -era history, the Walker Avia-
URLACHER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
CHICAGO (AP) — Brian Urlacher wasn’t sure how dominant he could be any longer, so he’s calling it a career after 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. And what a career it was: —Eight Pro Bowl seasons —Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 —A trip to the Super Bowl as 2006 NFC champion. And now, it’s over. The eight-time Pro Bowler announced his retirement through social media accounts Wednesday. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Robert “Bob” Reed • Margret Louise Williams • Beulah Mae Holden • James Charles Boggio • Juan (Pun) Gonzales - PAGE B4
tion Museum Foundation is opening a “Peace Through Strength” exhibit featuring memorabilia and a timeline about Walker Air Force Base from 1945 through 1955.
Officials begin work on hazard plan ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
Local and state officials met Wednesday at Roswell Fire Station No. 3 to begin the process of updating the county’s hazard mitigation plan. Hazard mitigation planning asks communities to identify hazards in terms of recurring natural events or disasters, so that they can be assessed and strategies for mitigating damage and reducing risks can be developed and implemented. Every five years, commu-
nities that want to receive funding from FEMA toward mitigation ef forts must submit a plan to the organization for approval. The county’s plan expired last year and Karen Sanders, city and county emergency manager, said the purpose of the meeting was to get input from the community to update the plan and possibly attain new ideas. Though the city of Roswell is leading the updating effort, Sanders said the hazard mitigation plan will include all communities in Chaves County.
Each must be active in the planning process and adopt the plan in order to be able to receive funding, Sanders said, and efforts will be made to reach out to those who could not attend the meeting for their input. Bold Planning, an organization that specializes in emergency planning, has been chosen to manage the plan’s update, which will involve gathering information from all communities and writing the actual plan. Bold Planning Executive Officer Fulton Wold said
atomic bombs. The 509th Composite Group, a predecessor to the 509th Bomb Wing, was formed with the misSee WALKER, Page A3
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New Verizon site
Mark Wilson Photo
Eddie Gore and Julian Marquez of Budagher’s Co. out of Las Cruces install a new Verizon site to the water tower on Earl Cummings Boulevard, Wednesday.
Missouri Avenue kids dedicate school gardens to veterans
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TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B7 COMICS.................B5 FINANCIAL .............B6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B4 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
Developed by WAMF board member Juliana Halvorson, the new display is dedicated to Air Force veterans and focuses specifically on the United States’ work with
Wednesday, the third day of the trial the State of New Mexico versus Jose Arias, dealt primarily with forensic evidence. Arias is charged with the May 20, 2011, shooting that resulted in the death of his wife Victoria Velasquez-Arias. Debra Prosecutor Hutchins played the 911 call made by Arias. Director of 911 Dispatch T racy Laney first explained the process of obtaining, recording and preserving the calls for later use. The voice that comes through as Arias reported the shooting was breathless and his answers disjointed. He urged them to hurry and told them to come to apartment D on West Fourth Street. He was unable to provide an address, saying only that it was located behind Champion Motor Sports.
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Missouri Avenue students help plant a Veterans Honor Garden at the school, Wednesday afternoon.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Students scurried around, digging eagerly in
dirt barrels Wednesday to plant beans, onions and flower seeds in honor of veterans at Missouri Avenue Elementary School.
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“I liked planting all the plants and almost judging them to see who had the best plant,” said thirdgrader Silas Ferguson as he planted onions. “My favorite plant was the sunflower because they get really tall. This is the best adventure of my life now.” Burpee Seed Co. and Westlake Hardware donated 48 bags of soil, and 24 barrel containers were provided by local farmers and ranchers for the New Mexico State University extension program. Some 20 children participated, with another 40 expected to follow through during the summertime. The garden program, called 4H Operation Military Kids, will be dedicated to families having to deal
with military deployment, said Holly Hambric, NMSU extension coordinator. “It’s for the kids to act as a point of respite for veterans coming home and dealing with the families during down time,” Hambric said. The children were asked to invite veterans to Wednesday’s planting. Mark Simon, a U.S. Army Vietnam-era veteran from Roswell, was invited to the seed-planting by a student he mentors and sponsors for Cub Scouts. “I think it’s wonderful,” Simon said. “Being a Vietnam veteran, when I came back from overseas we were pretty much ignored. I think this is really nice what people do now for the veterans. When I was coming back from Heidelberg,
Germany, I was bumped off a flight in Lubbock. I missed the bus and decided to hitchhike and nobody would pick me up. It’s so different now.” “It’s wonderful,” said his wife Shirley Simon. “Any time they can teach children about the environment and how they can grow and sustain plants, especially vegetables, that’s a very good program.” Laurissa Alberts, a fourth-grader, said it was “pretty neat” planting bush beans. “Just getting to plant the plants,” was her favorite part of the after noon, Alberts said. “It’s pretty fun for me.” Hambric said the chilSee GARDEN, Page A3