Roswell Daily Record
Rice named security adviser
Vol. 122, No. 135 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defying Republican critics, President Barack Obama named outspoken diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser Wednesday, giving her a larger voice in U.S. foreign policy despite accusations that she misled the nation in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya. The appointment, along
ECONOMY TALK SENDS STOCKS PLUNGING
NEW YORK (AP) — A series of weak economic reports sent the stock market plunging to its lowest level in a month on Wednesday. Companies like miners, banks and chemical makers, whose fortunes are most closely tied to the prospects for growth, led the market lower. That’s a sign investors are becoming less confident in the U.S. economy. - PAGE A5
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
June 6, 2013
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
with the nomination of human rights advocate Samantha Power to replace Rice as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, signals a shift by Obama toward advisers who favor more robust American intervention overseas for humanitarian purposes. But it’s unclear whether that philosophy will alter the president’s policies in Syria, where he has resisted pres-
sure to use U.S. military force to stem that country’s civil war. Rice’s appointment provides a measure of redemption after the contentious Benghazi investigations forced her from consideration as Obama’s secondterm secretary of state. The president, who vigorously defended Rice from the GOP criticism at the time, lauded his close friend Wednesday
as a “patriot who puts her country first.” “Susan is a fierce champion for justice and human decency. But she’s also mindful that we have to exercise our power wisely and deliberately,” Obama said in a White House Rose Garden ceremony. The 48-year -old Rice takes the influential nation-
FIGHTING FIRE
See RICE, Page A3
AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Drug-scare numbers grow nationally • Man found shot • Accident on Country Club • NMMI, alumni board face nasty divorce • ‘Color Me Dance’
INSIDE SPORTS
ORB IS BELMONT FAVORITE
NEW YORK (AP) — Back home again, Kentucky Derby winner Orb is the horse to beat in the Belmont Stakes. Orb was made the 3-1 morning-line favorite in a field of 14 entered for Saturday’s final leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont Park, and trainer Shug McGaughey is confident his colt can bounce back from his fourth-place finish behind Oxbow in the Preakness. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Lyndal Duane Collis • Kerry Mitchell Esbensen • Mary Ann Vandeveer • Patricia Ruth Baird - PAGE A6
HIGH ...85˚ LOW ....65˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
DC10 lands in town Susan Rice
Mark Wilson Photo
Tate Salas, a ramp manager for BLM, watches as a DC10 is loaded with fire retardant at the Roswell International Air Center, Wednesday. The plane, contracted by the forest service, is the first DC10 to cycle through RIAC and is involved in fighting the Thompson Ridge Fire near Jemez Springs.
Strike teams to assist with wildfires
AP Photo
RIO RANCHO (AP) — Some residents were allowed to return home Wednesday as firefighters shored up lines around one of two wildfires that have raced across thousands of acres of dry forest in northern New Mexico. The T res Lagunas blaze has charred more than 14 square miles north of Pecos since being sparked last Thursday by a downed power line. Fire officials said the fire is now 15 percent contained and they’re assessing the evacuation area to determine when more evacuees can return. With fire season in full swing in drought-stricken New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez planned to
In an ef fort to help fight a fire in Santa Fe, Roswell Air Tanker Base was the host for a DC10 Air Tanker, a plane six times larger than the usual firefighting aircraft. Roswell is a reload base, not a primary base, meaning it opens only out of necessity. In the past five years, it has opened every other year, but this is the first time a plane this large has landed at this base in order to fight a fire. The DC10 can hold 12,000 gallons of fire retardant as opposed to the older planes that could only carry about 1,800 gallons, said base manager Justin King. The tanker was originally an inter national passenger plane, able to carry roughly 350 passengers. But along with one other DC10, it was converted into an aerial firefighting machine. Although large, the plane is crewed by three primary crewman and two extras from the ground: Capt. Kevin Hopf, 1st Of ficer Todd Hallam and Flight Engi-
School district nets lukewarm fiscal rating New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, at podium, provides an update on two wildfires burning in northern New Mexico.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Roswell Independent School District went to market this week to sell $6.5 million in bonds following another national report that found the district had underlying fiscal challenges. A Moody’s Rating report assigned the district another lukewar m rating,
assigned an Aa2 underlying and an Aa1 negative outlook enhanced, for its general obligation school building bonds sale. The same rating was given to RISD last year. “The bonds are secured by ad valorem taxes that are levied against all taxable property within the district without limitation as to the rate or amount,” according to the report
issued Monday. RISD Asst. Superintendent for Financial Operations Chad Cole said the district was pleased with the rating but the report does have some impact. “Anytime Moody’s Rating agency says something, it affects the bond sale,” Cole said. “But they’re giving all the other states that are tied into federal dollars the same negative outlook.”
See FIRES, Page A3
Moody’s ratings—the “mother -of-all” credit reports for public entities— are meant to provide investors with a simple system of assigned grades and an in-depth look into the credit quality of a bond issuer. Each report is a credit analysis that provides financial strengths and risk factors. Several smaller districts within the state recently
See DC10, Page A3
received similar ratings. Los Alamos was assigned the same rating in 2012 for a $5 million general obligation bond sale, Farmington Municipal was given identical ratings when it went out for $14 million in building bonds and Alamogordo Municipal was tagged with a lower score for its $6 million bonds sale.
Burglars strike GHS begins abestos removal Boys & Girls Club game room
See RISD, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Roswell’s Boys & Girls Club was hit by burglars Tuesday night. The subjects got away with four Xbox 360s, three Playstation 3s, two Wii game consoles, two Connect game systems and 24 controllers. Unit director Jaynan McKelvey estimated the losses at $5,000 for the facility which provides services to at-risk children. “They’re not a big part of the program, but they are a fun pastime for the kids. The computer games were used primarily during free time. “We have other programs like Power Hour. We also teach health and life skills.” McKelvey told the Daily Record that the thieves pried open the door in the cafeteria kitchen. She said all the doors had been locked by employees except the See BURGLARS, Page A3
Goddard High School is undergoing asbestos abatement and remediation. The process started after school closed its doors and will continue for another two weeks. Roswell Independent School District Superintendent Tom Burris said, “It can only do this during the summer. We cannot start until after the end of the school year.” The abatement is part of RISD’s Asbestos Management Plan. “This is the third year of a three-year plan. We’ve completed abatement to almost all the schools in the district,” he said. Burris explained, “We have old buildings. Almost all schools built before 1975 have asbestos in them.
Mark Wilson Photo
Signage posted at the entrance of Goddard High warn of an asbestos hazard at the school as workers inside the building remove the substance. That’s just the way they built them back then.” He also noted that the newer schools in the district, such as Sunset Ele-
mentary and Missouri Avenue Elementary, contain no asbestos. See GHS, Page A3