Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
SCOTUS upholds health care law
Vol. 121, No. 155 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
NEW YORK (AP) — Calling it the next logical step in an evolution over nearly six decades, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., said Thursday that it will split into two publicly traded companies. As part of the split, one company will operate as a newspaper and book publisher, and the other will be an entertainment company that will include ... - PAGE A6
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Ready for take-off? UFO fests to begin • RPD updates systems • Leadership Roswell Alums honor 6 • William Tell or Robin Hood? • Cotric, Soto sign with Victory U.
INSIDE SPORTS
But the decision also gave Republicans unexpected ammunition to energize supporters in the battle for the White House and to fight “Obamacare” as a new tax on people who
Tripped breaker causes outage
At around 2:42 p.m., Thursday, some 1,600 Roswell residents may have experienced a dip in their electrical voltage or a brief power outage after an Xcel Energy circuit breaker tripped. The breaker tripped at Xcel’s Chaves County interchange on East Pine Lodge Road. “It’s a system disturbance when you have that much load drop off the line. Everybody else just saw a disturbance on the system,”said Xcel Energy Regional Manager Mike McLeod. The trip affected a direct substation, which feeds the northwest part of the city, and parts of the Pecos Valley to Artesia. It directly affected about 4,000 Xcel customers, 1,600 of whom live in Roswell. McLeod said personnel
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Mario Balotelli flexed his muscles in more ways than one. The 21-year-old Italy striker quieted his multitude of critics by delivering Italy to an unexpected spot in the European Championship final. Having been severely criticized for failing to take advantage of his opportunities earlier in the tournament, Balotelli scored twice in the first half Thursday to give Italy a 2-1 win over Germany. After his second goal, Balotelli stripped off his jersey and flexed his muscles in a defiant pose — even if that meant an automatic yellow card. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Jessie Harper Rose • Daniel F. Krause Sr. - PAGE A7
HIGH .101˚ LOW ....70˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B4 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B2 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
don’t obtain health insurance. Roberts’ vote, along with those of the court’s four liberal justices, preserved the largest expansion of the nation’s social safety net in more than 45 years, including the hotly debated core requirement that nearly everyone have health insurance or pay a penalty. The aim is to extend coverage to more than 30 million people who now are uninsured The 5-4 decision meant
the huge overhaul, still taking effect, could proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, with an impact on the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care. The ruling handed Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in approving the plan. However, Republicans quickly indicated they See SCOTUS, Page A3
NM MUST DECIDE ON MEDICAID SANTA FE (AP) — The governor and Legislature face a critical policy choice in the wake of Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a federal health care overhaul and must decide whether to expand the state’s biggest health care program to cover an estimated 170,000 uninsured New Mexicans. The court ruled the federal government couldn’t
force New Mexico and other states to expand Medicaid eligibility in 2014 by threatening to withhold federal aid received for the program. About a fourth of New Mexico’s population now receives medical care through Medicaid, which covers uninsured children, the disabled and the See MEDICAID, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
The Push America Journey of Hope bicycle team arrives at Tobosa Developmental Services, Thursday, one of their many stops during a cross-country journey from Long Beach, Calif., to Washington, D.C.
Journey of Hope makes return visit NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
Thirty cyclists on a coast-to-coast fundraiser trek stopped in Roswell,
Thursday, taking a break from a Journey of Hope set to collectively raise more than $650,000 for people with disabilities. The Journey of Hope is
organized by Push America, the national philanthropy of Pi Kappa Phi. The cyclists are college students or recent college graduates from across the
United States who are involved in various chapters of the fraternity, with each cyclist pledging last year to raise $5,500 or See HOPE, Page A3
Lectures, lasers highlight Day 1 Board OKs $688K for wildfire aid, flooding See POWER, Page A2
ITALY HEADS TO FINALS
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a momentous ruling touching virtually every American, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld President Barack Obama’s historic health care overhaul Thursday with the unlikely help of conservative Chief Justice John Roberts.
NEWS CORP. TO SPLIT
June 29, 2012
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
Day 1 of the UFO Festival beamed bright lights and revealing conversations into the Roswell Museum & Art Center, Thursday, attracting residents and tourists alike to an assortment of lectures and laser shows. Lu Molberg and her husband Tony Gutierrez attended the lecture series, traveling all the way from Palm Springs, See UFO, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
Visitors to the International UFO Museum & Research Center enjoy the exhibits and a break from the 100°+ weather outside, Thursday.
SANTA FE (AP) — The state is offering emergency loans of $688,000 to local governments coping with damage from a wildfire in southern New Mexico and to strengthen an earthen dam at risk of failing if rains produce expected flooding in fire-scarred areas of Lincoln County. The state Board of Finance approved money Thursday for the county and the village of Ruidoso, which are scrambling to prepare for flash floods in the wake of the Little Bear
fire that bur ned 44,000 acres and destroyed about 250 homes and other structures.
About $216,000 is to beef up the dam at Alto Lake by installing large rocks along parts of it to prevent the dam from being eroded by flood waters that flow into the reservoir. “My big fear is that when we get a flood event of any size ... that we will lose Alto Dam,” Randall Camp, RuiSee FIRE, Page A2
Dems boycott as House votes to hold attorney general in contempt
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday became the first Cabinet member held in contempt of Congress, a rebuke pushed by Republicans seeking to unearth the facts behind a bungled gun-tracking operation and dismissed by most Democrats as a political stunt. The vote was 255-67, with more than 100 Democrats boycotting. African-American lawmakers led the walkout as members filed up the aisle and out of the chamber to protest the action against Holder. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California joined the boycott, saying Republicans had gone “over the edge” in their partisanship. Seventeen Democrats voted with Republicans in favor of the contempt vote, while two Republicans — Reps. Scott Rigell of Virginia and Steven LaTourette of Ohio — joined other Democrats in voting against it. The National Rifle Association pressed hard for the contempt res-
olution, leaning on members of both parties who want to stay in the NRA’s good graces. Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesman, said all 17 Democrats who voted for criminal contempt had previously received an “A” grade from the organization. Holder said afterward that the vote was merely a politically motivated act in an election year Republicans cited Holder’s refusal to hand over — without any preconditions — documents that could explain why the Obama administration initially denied that a risky “gun-walking” investigative tactic was used in Operation Fast and Furious, which allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled from Arizona to Mexico. The vote on a criminal contempt resolution sent the matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who is under Holder. A separate vote on civil contempt passed 258-95 with 21 Democrats supporting it. It will allow the
AP Photo House to go to court in an effort to force Holder to turn over the documents. In past cases, courts have been reluctant to settle disputes between the executive and legislative branches of government. The dispute is both legal and political. Republicans asserted
their right to obtain documents needed for an investigation of Operation Fast and Furious — focusing on 10 months in 2011 after the Obama administration initially denied guns were allowed See HOUSE, Page A2