Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Prez gets grief over ‘fine’ comment
Vol. 121, No. 138 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama made Mitt Romney’s day by declaring “the private sector is doing fine” and opening himself to the accusation that he — not the rich Republican — is the one who is out of touch with reality. Obama quickly clarified his remark Friday but Republicans already had their teeth in it and weren’t letting go.
OAKLEY AUCTION SUNDAY
June 9, 2012
“Is he really that out of touch?” GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney
asked as Obama’s initial comments ricocheted through the presidential campaign.
Seeking to head off any damage, Obama backpedaled and declared it is “absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine.” While there had been some “good momentum” in the private sector, Obama said, public sector growth lagged behind, making it imperative that Congress act on his proposals to hire more teachers and first-
responders. Obama’s original sixword sentence, even if taken out of context, amounted to an unforced political error. The economy is the single biggest issue on voters’ minds and a weak spot for him, given the nation’s stubbor nly high 8.2 percent unemployment rate. Nearly every day, Obama finds himself having to defend his stewardship of See FINE, Page A7
AP Photo
UN team sees Syrian carnage
President Barack Obama leaves briefing room of the White House after talking about the economy, Friday.
DALLAS (AP) — Relatives of legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley are offering up a collection of items — including her Stetson hat, guns, letters and photographs — in an auction that one expert says hits the mark for its breadth and sentimental value. On Sunday, Heritage Auctions will offer up about 100 Oakley-related items in Dallas, including a 12-gauge Parker Brothers shotgun that is expected to fetch about $100,000. Two Marlin .22 caliber rifles are expected to sell for more than $20,000 each. - PAGE A8
INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
Sunset Villa hosts awesome party Jaime Jones makes an alien balloon sculpture during the annual Block Party at Sunset Villa Care Center, Friday.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
INJURED, SCRATCHED, RETIRED
NEW YORK (AP) — The Triple Crown curse lives. This time the horse didn’t even make it to the starting gate. I’ll Have Another’s bid for the first Triple Crown in 34 years ended stunningly Friday when the chestnut colt was retired on the eve of the Belmont Stakes with an injury to his left front tendon. “I’m afraid history is going to have to wait for another day,” said ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Bill Carpenter • James Harold Ferrell - PAGE A8
HIGH .105˚ LOW ....65˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B7 COMICS.................B6 FINANCIAL .............A9 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
What do you get when you mix music, games and cookouts at Sunset Villa Care Cen-
ter? One awesome party. Sunset Villa invited residents, staff, families and friends to partake in activities like balloon twisting, a watermelon eating contest and puppet shows, Fri-
day, and offered up treats of popcorn, snow cones and barbecue ribs at the center’s fourth annual block party.
Gov declares county emergency
See PARTY, Page A7
RESERVE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez has declared an emergency in Catron County due to a record-setting lightningsparked blaze that has charred 423 square miles in southwestern New Mexico. The Whitewater -Baldy fire is the largest in the state’s recorded history and the largest currently burning in the nation. Containment remains at 30 percent. The governor’s declaration makes funds available for local and state response to both the fire and com-
BEIRUT (AP) — The remnants of a massacre earlier this week greeted U.N. observers Friday when they visited a Syrian farming hamlet where nearly 80 men, women and children were reported slain. The scene held evidence of a “horrific crime,” a U.N. spokeswoman said. The observers were finally able to get inside the deserted village of Mazraat al-Qubair after being blocked by government troops and residents, and coming under small arms fire Thursday, a day after the slayings were first reported. In central Damascus, rebels brazenly battled government security forces in the heart of the capital Friday for the first time, witnesses said, and explosions echoed for hours. Gover nment artillery repeatedly pounded the central city of Homs and troops tried to storm it from three sides. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with international envoy Kofi Annan in Washington to discuss how to salvage his faltering plan to end 15 months of bloodshed in Syria. Wester n nations blame
Fiddle & Griddle
See SYRIA, Page A7
Mark Wilson Photo
Helen Yesolivich, an 86-year-old from Creekside, Pa., strums a guitar and serenades passersby during the MainStreet Roswell Centennial Fiddle & Griddle Festival, Friday evening. She and her family made the trip just for the event, which continues today. Go! You’ll have a great time.
At 98, the Rev. Eric King continues his lifetime of service See FIRE, Page A7
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Rev. Eric King
As a young boy, Eric King sat down to dinner anticipating a ritual questioning by his father. “He would ask me, well, a test of whether I was listening or not. I usually passed. I knew as we sat down to the dinner table that he was going to ask me about the church service, how it af fected me,” King said. Now at the ripe age of 98,
the Rev. King, who was influenced by his father and grandfather, lay speakers before him, has 75 years of ministry service to show for himself. King was born on Jan. 13 in Deer Harbour, a small village on the coastline of Newfoundland, Canada, where his family earned its living from the soil. His family seldom went to the store, as they produced what they needed themselves.
A strong religious influence was bestowed upon King long before he learned to walk or talk. As a baby, he was carried in his mother’s arms to his family’s pew at their parish. “I always would look at my mother, who sat next to
me. I could see the angelic look on her face as she prayed and as she listened to the sermon. My father, more or less, had the same aspect on his face. It kind See SPOTLIGHT, Page A7