Roswell Daily Record
265 square miles and counting
Vol. 121, No. 130 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A massive wildfire that has bur ned more than 265 square miles in the Gila National Forest has become the largest fire in New Mexico history, fire officials confirmed Wednesday.
COMMUNITY POOCH
The erratic blaze grew over night to more than 170,000 acres, surpassing a blaze last year that burned 156,593 acres in Los Conchas and threatened the Los Alamos
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
May 31, 2012
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
National Laboratory, the nation’s premier nuclear facility. And experts say the mammoth fire may be just a preview of what’s to come in part of the western United States after months of drought and dry conditions. The Gila forest fire also is the largest burning in the country. It for med last week when two lightningsparked blazes merged in
an isolated mountainous area in southwestern New Mexico, where it has destroyed about a dozen homes and prompted evacuations of nearby towns and health alerts for some of the state’s largest cities.
Fire information officer Jerry Perry said about 1,200 firefighters from around the state were battling the growing blaze, but See FIRE, Page A3
AP Photo
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Blue the dog doesn’t have a home. And he apparently doesn’t want one. But the blue-eyed Australian cattle dog has $1,800 in savings, a Facebook page and an airconditioned dog house. He also has a lawyer, who is working to get him an exemption from local leash laws so he ... - PAGE A6
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Peachtree celebrates veterans • Local Memorial Day festivities honor ... • Elks host Veterans Prayer Breakfast • GHS graduates 180 in school’s 47th • Hike It & Spike It champions...
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Udall leads round tables on city visit Sen. Tom Udall visits El Charro Mexican Food Industries during a tour of the Roswell area, Wednesday morning.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, DN.M., led two round table discussions in Roswell on Wednesday, sitting down
TRIPLE CROWN CLUB?
Patrice Wolfson had doubts about relinquishing her status as the owner of the last Triple Crown winner. She wasn’t sure that some of the 11 horses who attempted to join Affirmed atop racing’s pinnacle were worthy of such status. None of them succeeded in sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, leaving Affirmed as the 11th and last horse to accomplish the feat in 1978. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Delfina S. Alvarado • Manuel Avelar Jr. • Charles H. Jones Sr. - PAGE A6
HIGH ...88˚ LOW ....62˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B5 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 STATE ...................A6 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
County approves interim budget
with city leaders to discuss veteran-owned small businesses, energy and economic development.
The senator began his visit with a tour of El Charro Tortilla Factory,
where he met with former County Commissioner Michael Trujillo, owner of El Charro, members of the Roswell Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Development
Center.
Trujillo, who served in the National Guard, raised concerns about veterans retur ning to the
The Chaves County Commission gave final approval to an interim budget, free of layoffs, cuts in services, employee benefits and pay, that consists of more than $23 million in projected spending for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, and prepares for the expansion of the Chaves County Detention Center, during its regular business meeting Wednesday. The budget now requires state approval. “For us we’re 99 percent done,” said County Manager Stan Riggs. Commissioners examined the operating budget, which is slightly higher than last year’s, during a workshop last week. Riggs estimated 2012-2013 revenues to increase by three percent and expenditures to rise between four and
US levies sanctions What next for Mitt Romney? on key Syrian bank Undercut Obama, raise money WASHINGTON — The Obama administration added new sanctions on a Syrian bank Wednesday as a top White House official said the U.S. wants to economically throttle the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and cut off salaries of pro-government thugs blamed for the grisly massacre in Houla. The T reasury Department said the Syria International Islamic Bank has been acting as a front for other Syrian financial institutions seeking to circumvent sanctions. The new penalties will prohibit the SIIB from engaging in financial transactions in the U.S. and will freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction. With the Obama administration unwilling at this point to pursue military
options in Syria, the U.S. has relied heavily on economic sanctions as a means for pressing Assad to leave power. The United States will host other nations in Washington next week to look at ways to tighten international sanctions further. “We are strangling the regime economically,” White House deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough said.
The White House also blamed Iran for stirring up violence inside Syria and said Assad’s fall would be a huge blow to Tehran. The United States is increasingly linking Syria and Iran rhetorically and tactically, applying economic pressure with and without help See SYRIA, Page A2
See UDALL, Page A3
See BUDGET, Page A3
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — What’s next for Mitt Romney? The Republican presidential nomination finally in hand, he will spend the next three months trying to undercut President Barack Obama on the economy while portraying himself as Mr. Fix It for a nation with stubbor nly and painfully high unemployment.
Romney also faces key decisions between now and his acceptance of the party’s nomination in late August in Florida: Where should he compete most AP Photo aggressively? Who should Mitt Romney speaks in Las Vegas, Tuesday. be his running mate? At the same time, he distracted by their own Obama’s attacks on his must dive anew into summer plans and dayown claims as a jobs crefundraising and work to to-day pocketbook worwin over voters who are ries — while withstanding See ROMNEY, Page A3
RFD receives hands-on aircraft rescue training on donated DC-8 JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Jessica Palmer Photo
Roswell Firefighters get hands-on training for fighting aircraft fires on a DC-8 donated by Stewart Industries. Here RIAC’s Unit 1 sprays the engine using the wind and the wind velocity to their best advantage.
Stewart Industries, 601 E. Challenger, donated a DC-8 to the Roswell Fire Department for use in its aircraft training program. “It just came up in a conversation. This is only the first one. It will be part of an ongoing program,” Edward Patterson, who does safety and training for Stewart Industries said. “They have some men who have never used their specialized equipment before.” RFD T raining Division
Chief Jason Sweatfield agreed. “Only a couple of guys have experience using the piercing nozzle.” The nozzle cuts through the outer shell like butter and once the aircraft has been pierced, it can discharge water or chemical extinguisher to put out fires in the interior.
Stewart Industries does scrapping and storage of planes. They dismantle the planes, salvage and sell the parts and recycle the metal. The company also sells whole planes to interested parties.
The gift of an aircraft has been a real boon for the RFD. “A lot of airports don’t get this opportunity. Their firefighters have to go to another airport to receive hands-on experience,” said Lt. Terry Chaves of Station No. 4. Firefighter and equipment operator Steve Chavez said the engine operators need to position the vehicles in order to use the prevailing winds to the best advantage, ideally at a 45-degree angle. See RFD, Page A2