Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Phone-records monitoring laid bare
Vol. 122, No. 136 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
June 7, 2013
FRIDAY
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A leaked document has laid bare the monumental scope of the government’s surveillance of Americans’ phone records — hundreds of millions of calls — in the first hard evidence of a massive data collection program aimed at combating terrorism under powers granted by Congress after the 9/11 attacks.
At issue is a court order, first disclosed Wednesday by The Guardian newspaper in Britain, that requires the communications company Verizon to turn over on an “ongoing, daily basis” the records of all landline and mobile telephone calls of its customers, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries. Intelligence experts said the government, though not
ESTHER WILLIAMS DIES LOS ANGELES (AP) — As a teenager, Esther Williams dreamed of Olympic glory on the U.S. swim team. She had to settle instead for becoming a movie star. The self-described “Million Dollar ... - PAGE A7
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• DC10 lands in town • School district nets lukewarm fiscal rating • GHS begins abestos removal • Burglars strike Boys & Girls Club game room • Man knocked out, robbed
INSIDE SPORTS
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Lawsuit filed for same-sex marriage
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Two Santa Fe men filed a lawsuit Thursday to force New Mexico courts to decide the politically thorny issue of whether gay marriage is legal in the state. The lawsuit filed on behalf of Alexander Hanna and Yon Hudson asks a state district court to order the Santa Fe County clerk to issue them a marriage license. The case lays the groundwork for the gay marriage dispute to potentially soon end up before New Mexico’s highest court. The challenge came the same day that New Mexico Attorney General Gary King — who is running for governor in 2014 — declined to issue a formal opinion on whether same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico. An internal legal analysis by his staff, however, concluded that state law doesn’t allow same-sex marriage but is vulnerable to a constitutional challenge. In March, two other same-sex New Mexico couples filed lawsuits in Bernalillo County in March to force New Mexico courts to rule
Let it rain
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The flames may be painted on, but New Beetle owners seriously burned up roadways from coast to coast to arrive for this weekend’s Return2Roswell gathering. Colorful Beetles lined the Best Western Salley Port Inn parking lot Thursday evening and more were expected today from as far away as Canada. “Half of the fun is just getting here and going back home,” said Carl McCutcheon, of Solvang, Calif. “A lot of us don’t see each other except once a year.” Events will kick off beginning at 10 a.m. today in the parking lot beginning with the “Parking Lot Olympics.” Drivers will run through different challenges, including the “show-box toss” where they take a pice of the car’s air intake system and see how far they can chuck it while still staying Jill McLaughlin Photo between pylons. Another challenge will be
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Louis Lorenzo Dixon • Judy Rae Owen
HIGH ...88˚ LOW ....66˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A7
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
The Roswell Fire Department brings rain to the Cub Scout Day Camp at Christ's Church, Thursday.
MIAMI (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs returned to the NBA Finals just the way they left — with a victory over LeBron James. Tim Duncan overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points ... - PAGE B1
- PAGE A7
See NSA, Page A3
Beetles land in Roswell for weekend fest See MARRIAGE, Page A3
SPURS TAKE GAME 1
LEFT: A man talks on the phone outside the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, Thursday where the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court resides.
listening in on calls, would be looking for patterns that could lead to terrorists — and that there was every reason to believe similar orders were in place for other phone companies. Some critics in Congress, as well as civil liberties advocates, declared that the sweeping nature of the National Security Agency program represented an unwarranted intrusion into Americans’ private lives. But a number of lawmakers, including some Republicans who normally jump at the chance to criticize the Obama administration, lauded the program’s effectiveness. Leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said the program had helped thwart at least one attempted terrorist attack in the United States, “possibly saving American lives.” Separately, The Washington Post and The Guardian reported Thursday the existence of another program used by the NSA
The VW New Beetles returned to Roswell this weekend for three days of exciting competitions, a car show and a Saturday night light cruise down Main Street.
65 Chaves County 4H’ers compete for district JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Some 65 Chaves County youths participated in the county 4H competition Wednesday, kicking of f their summer series of contests that starts the path to the state finals. “It was really big for this year,” said Whitney Brooks, 4H agent interim for the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension. “It was a great turn out.” Top qualifiers will go on to the district competition in Portales June 19 and 20. The state finals are set for July 8 through 12. Wednesday’s contest
included tests in favorite food recipes, clothing and commentaries, clothing appearance, favorite foods, archery, horticulture, wildlife, crops, home economics, livestock skillathon, a consumer decision contest, public speaking and poetry, clothing modeling practice and a fashion revue. See 4H, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
RIGHT: Savanna Fox takes aim during the archery portion of the Chaves County 4H Contest at the fairgrounds, Wednesday morning.
See BUG, Page A3