Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
POLITICAL MEDDLING AND WOLVES ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The effort to return the Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest has been fraught with legal disputes, illegal shootings, livestock deaths and emotion. Now a watchdog group is ... - PAGE A2
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
35,000 acres burned, zero contained
Vol. 121, No. 140 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
Nearly 35,000 acres have been consumed by a fire sparked by lightning, which was first detected in the Lincoln National Forest on June 4. As of Monday morning, the fire was still zero percent contained. It is located in the Smokey Bear Ranger District, Lincoln National Forest, including White Mountain Wilderness. The Little Bear fire has now damaged or destroyed at least 35 structures in the Ruidoso area. The Incident Management team, in conjunction with the State Emergency Operations Center and the Lincoln County Emergency Manager, has assembled a damage assessment team. This team began work, Monday, to assess the damage and determine the number and condition of structures
within the burned area. Four hundred twentynine personnel have been sent to the scene. Fire officials were hoping for a break in the weather Monday. Over the weekend crews combated winds at 20 miles an hour or greater. “The temperature and higher humidity are helping. However the cold front that’s coming in is blowing the wind from north to south and that makes us concerned in regards to the fire turning back toward the Village of Ruidoso,” said Sean Parker, deputy manager of the Village of Ruidoso. The fire crossed State Highway 48 on Saturday morning and has caused road closures of NM 532, Ski Run Road, at mile marker 3, east and west; NM 48 from mile marker 8 to mile marker 13, north and south; NM 37 from
AP Photo
A burned home located on Wolf Springs Loop near Ruidoso shows the devastation caused by a wildfire, Monday.
mile marker 0 to mile marker 8, north and south; and NM 220 from mile marker 1 to mile marker
WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Forces evacuations, road closures • Sunset Villa hosts an awesome party • Mason opens RPL’s reading program • Primary voters narrow fields • Gerina PIller ...
INSIDE SPORTS
A helicopter flies over the Little Bear fire, Monday.
House panel schedules June 20 contempt vote on AG
NADAL WINS 7TH FRENCH TITLE PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal was worried. A guy so unflinching, so nearly unbeatable, while sliding and grinding and pounding his way past opponent after opponent at the ...
- PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • • • •
Wanda Ruth Evans Wynell Gross James Harold Ferrell B.W. “Bud” Harris
- PAGE A6
HIGH ...93˚ LOW ....67˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
INDEX CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
records regarding the Justice Department’s conduct following public disclosures in early 2011 that hundreds of guns illicitly purchased at gun shops on the U.S. side of the border wound up in Mexico, many of them at crime scenes. The Justice Department says many of the documents being sought deal with open criminal investigations and prosecutions — matters relating to sensitive law enforcement activities that cannot be disclosed. “The Justice Department is out of excuses,” House Speaker John Boehner said Monday. See GUNS, Page A3
Tally is closer than ever for candidates Pirtle and Hamill The tallies between candidates Cliff Pirtle and Roswell Fire Chief Chad Hamill inched one vote closer. Last week just ten votes separated Hamill from Pirtle in the race for state Senate District 32. The district is currently represented by Senate President ProTem T im Jennings, DRoswell, and encompasses Chaves, Eddy and Otero counties. After a count of provisional ballots, Chaves County Clerk Rhoda Coakley said one vote tur ned up for Hamill rendering Pirtle’s lead to nine votes. On Thursday, the County Commission recessed until 1:30 p.m., today, to allow for Coak-
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
TOP 5
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee looking into a flawed gunsmuggling probe in Arizona announced Monday that it will consider holding Attor ney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress next week for failing to produce some documents the panel is seeking. The committee has scheduled a contempt vote for June 20. To date, the Justice Department has produced 7,600 pages of material to the committee. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says Congress needs to examine
June 12, 2012
ley’s request of four members of the Absentee Board, two Democrats and two Republicans, to count seven provisional ballots. The commission is expected to take on the canvassing results of the 2012 elections today. Representatives from Eddy and Otero clerks’ offices said after reviewing provisional ballots they received no votes in the race for District 32. The unofficial primary results show Pirtle as receiving 956 votes in Chaves County to Hamill’s 923. In Eddy County, Hamill received 83 votes, and Pirtle 56. In Otero County, Pirtle
See VOTES, Page A3
AP Photo
13, north and south. Area closures include the entire White Mountain Wilderness, and the portion of the Smokey Bear Ranger District south of State Highway 380 to the Mescalero Apache Reservation boundary, including a large area northeast of Ruidoso. According to nmfireinfo.org, firefighters planned to hold and improve line around the ski area, and build line north along the western front. Crews will continue to improve direct line on the north, while building indirect line into Nogal Canyon. On the eastern edge, containment line is in place, but crews will be mopping up and protecting structures. On the southeastern flank, dozer line will be improved, and along NM 532, line preparation and bur nout is planned. Dozer line construction continues around Eagle Lake toward Sierra
Blanca Peak. Seven residential areas have been put on alert for preliminary evacuation preparedness, Parker said. These areas include Upper Canyon, Grindstone, Brady Canyon, Alpine Village, Ponderosa Heights and Cedar Creek. Evacuees are being sheltered at Ruidoso High School, 125 Warrior Road, and Trinity Baptist Church in Capitan. Pets and livestock may be taken to J Bar J Country Church in Ruidoso, or the fairgrounds in Capitan. The American Red Cross in New Mexico has delivered cots, blankets, pillows and comfort kits to the shelters in Ruidoso and Capitan. Additional supplies remain available if needed. A nurse is on staff at both shelters. FEMA Region VI approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant, Satur-
Health of Egypt’s Mubarak deteriorates CAIRO (AP) — Hosni Mubarak’s health worsened Monday, with doctors twice having to use a defibrillator on the imprisoned former leader, adding to the tumult in Egypt before this weekend’s runoff election for president. Mubarak, 84, was slipping in and out of consciousness, suffering from high blood pressure and breathing difficulties, and was in a deep depression, according to security officials at Torah prison where he is serving a life sentence. Doctors there could not find a pulse twice, and used the defibrillator, they said. The deposed leader, who was being given liquids intravenously, also lost consciousness several times Sunday. His health crisis came at
See FIRE, Page A3
AP Photo
In this Sept. 7, 2011, file photo, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak lies on his bed while being taken to the courtroom for another session of his trial in Cairo, Egypt.
a time of political anxiety in Egypt, with a former prime minister from the Mubarak regime facing an Islamist in a showdown at the ballot box on June 16-17. “He is causing everyone a
headache,” said Ahmed Badawi, a liberal activist who participated in last year’s Arab Spring uprising See HEALTH, Page A3
Romney keeps secrets—unless law says he can’t
BOSTON (AP) — Keeping his secrets, Mitt Romney tends to lift the veil on his finances and campaign only if the law says he must. The Republican presidential candidate refuses to identify his biggest donors who “bundle” money for his campaign. He often declines to say who’s meeting with him or what he’s doing for hours at a time. He puts limits on media access to his fundraisers. And he resists releasing all of his tax returns, making just a single year public after facing pressure to do so. He’s indicated that part of the reason for his secrecy is to avoid political problems in his race against President Barack Obama. He has said of his election foe: “He’s going to try
AP Photo
In this June 8 file photo, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talks with his staff while riding on his bus after a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
and make this campaign about the fact that I’ve been successful, that I’ve made a lot of money. So he wants to be able to get all the details on each year
and how much money I made this year and that year. I’m not going to get into that.” See ROMNEY, Page A3