Roswell Daily Record
NM wildfire destroys 12 homes
Vol. 121, No. 125 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
TIFFANY SALES FALL
NEW YORK (AP) — Tiffany & Co., a bellwether of luxury spending, says its sales aren’t rising as fast as last year in the U.S. or abroad, and the gift and jewelry chain cut its forecasts for sales and profit for the year. Tiffany delivered its lower outlook on Thursday as it reported first-quarter profit essentially the same as a year ago and below what analysts were expecting. - PAGE B3
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Firefighters were being forced to sit on the sidelines Thursday as a massive wildfire that destroyed a dozen homes and several other structures in a small summer community in southwestern New Mexico grew larger and put more structures at risk. Tripling in size over the last day, the lightningsparked Whitewater and Baldy fires merged to burn across more than 110 square miles of the Gila
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
May 25, 2012
FRIDAY
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National Forest by Thursday. Crews have been unable to attack the flames directly because of fierce winds and erratic fire behavior, said fire information officer Iris Estes. “At this point it’s just a monitoring situation to see whether they can find some place where they can build lines or do something to slow it down,” she said. The wind-whipped fire burned through the Willow Creek subdivision on
Wednesday afternoon. Officials confirmed 12 homes along with seven small outbuildings were destroyed, and the damage assessment continued Thursday. Fire managers said employees with the State Forestry Division and the U.S. Forest Service would be contacting property owners. Seven Willow Creek residents evacuated earlier this week, and the community See FIRE, Page A3
AP Photo
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INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
UHS holds 28th commencement University High School graduates march onto the football field at the Wool Bowl during commencement ceremonies, Thursday evening.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
University High School students celebrated milestones and looked to future achievements Thursday at the Wool
COUNTING CALORIES
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Pass rushers Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller are carefully counting calories in their hunger to chase down quarterbacks. Dumervil has already shed at least 10 pounds this offseason, hoping a skinnier version of him will be that much faster on the field. In contrast, his sack partner for the Denver Broncos keeps trying to bulk up. Miller, the defensive rookie of the year last season, wouldn’t mind packing on another 10 pounds or so to help him fend off bigger offensive linemen. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARY
• Nathan Kimbler - PAGE A6
HIGH .102˚ LOW ....64˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Bowl, in the school’s 28th commencement ceremony. Guest speakers were UHS alumni Chad Cole and Valerie Lopez, who each focused on the unlimited potential of the Class of 2012 as the graduates
approach new beginnings.
“Tonight is a celebration of your achievement and hard work to make it here. And you’ve made it this far,” Cole said. “And maybe, if you’ve made it this far, perhaps you can
visualize a path to go even farther. ... “I believe it is arrogance that leads us all to fall, each and every time. But I believe that it is pride,
RPD hires 13
The Roswell Police Department has hired eight new of ficers who are already in the field completing training. In the past week the Recruitment Department, Sgt. Jim Preston and Erica O’Bryon, has hired an additional five recruits. “We were down 25 and we have replaced 13,” Preston said. In addition, the RPD has another seven “in process,” which includes physical, written, and psychological tests, along with a medical examination. “We’re one of the few states that still require the physical tests. If an applicant is one second off on the one-and-a-half mile run, he doesn’t make it,” Preston said. He reported that the recruitment process has been stepped up and the amount of the time taken to replace police officers streamlined. Preston credited this with increased Internet advertising and new brochures that are sent to applicants, which tell potential recruits about the RPD, the positions and the hiring process. “Before we used to send them an application. Now we provide them with all the infor mation they need to know.”
Gloves stay on in US poised to vet arms for rebels NM Senate primary
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Four years ago, Heather Wilson gave up her House seat from New Mexico to make a run for a rare opening in the Senate. She lost in a bare-knuckled Republican primary. This year she has the luxury of sitting back as the Democratic successor to her House seat takes a similar gamble. The stakes are equally high. In 2008, Democrat Tom
Udall won the Senate seat of Wilson’s mentor, Pete Domenici, a Republican power in Washington for three decades. Democrats found themselves holding both of the state’s Senate seats for the first time in nearly 40 years. With Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman retiring after 30 years, the GOP is targeting New Mexico in its drive to capture control of the See SENATE, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — As one diplomatic effort after another fails to end more than a year of brutal violence in Syria, the Obama administration is preparing a plan that would essentially give U.S. nods of approval to arms transfers from Arab nations to some Syrian opposition fighters. The effort, U.S. officials told The Associated Press, would vet members of the Free Syrian Ar my and See SYRIA, Page A3
See UHS, Page A2
AP Photo
Munitions inside one of three containers that were found aboard a ship, which was confiscated by the Lebanese navy, at the port of Selaata, north of Beirut, April 28.
Mayor proclaims May 24 EMS Day Food stamp fraud raising concerns in gov’t offices JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
As a part of national Emergency Services Week, Mayor Del Jurney proclaimed May 24 as EMS Day. He told the employees gathered at Fire Station No. 1 for the ceremony, “Sometimes we get lost in our lives and we forget to thank you for the service that you do.” In the proclamation, he Mark Wilson Photo pointed out that local EMS personnel gather at Roswell Fire Station No. 1 to EMS employees provide a hear a proclamation from Mayor Del Jurney designating public service and save May 20-26 as EMS Week, Thursday. lives. “Both career and volunteers must take over says: “EMS: more than a great staff. 1,000 hours to receive the After the ceremony, job, a calling,” and contraining that they need.” Jurney agreed with the gratulated Roswell Fire national campaign that Chief Chad Hamill on his See EMS, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Food stamp recipients are ripping off the government for millions of dollars by illegally selling their benefit cards for cash — sometimes even in the open, on eBay or Craigslist — and then asking the gover nment for replacement cards.
The Agriculture Department wants to curb the practice by giving states more power to investigate people who repeatedly claim to lose their benefit cards.
It proposed new rules Thursday that would allow states to demand formal explanations from people who seek replacement
cards more than three times a year. Those who don’t comply can be denied further cards. Overall, food stamp fraud costs taxpayers about $750 million a year, or 1 percent of the $75 billion program that makes up the bulk of the department’s total budget for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Most fraud occurs when unscrupulous retailers allow customers to turn in their benefits cards for lesser amounts of cash. But USDA officials are also concer ned about people selling or trading cards in See FRAUD, Page A3