Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
DEAD SEA SCROLLS ON DISPLAY
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The 21 Dead Sea Scrolls that went on display recently at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth could fit into a Big Mac container, and only two or three of them would have to be folded to fit. The scraps of ancient texts, some no larger than postage stamps, ... - PAGE A3
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Heat wave sears half US; 30 dead
Vol. 121, No. 163 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Americans dipped into the water, went to the movies and rode the subway just to be in air conditioning Saturday for relief from unrelenting heat that has killed 30 people across half the country. The heat sent temperatures soaring over 100 degrees in several cities, including a record 105 in Washington, St. Louis (106), and Indianapolis (104), buckled highways and derailed a Washingtonarea train even as another
July 8, 2012
SUNDAY
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round of summer storms threatened. If people ventured outside to do anything, they did it early. But even then, the heat was stifling. The heat sent temperatures soaring in more than 20 states to 105 in Louisville, Ky., 101 in Philadelphia, and 95 in New York; besides Washington, a record of 104 was set in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Baltimore set a record at 102. At least 30 deaths were blamed on the heat, includ-
ing nine in Maryland and 10 in Chicago, mostly among the elderly. Three elderly people found dead in their houses in Ohio had heart disease, but died of high temperatures in homes lacking power because of recent outages, officials said. Heat was also cited as a factor in three deaths in Wisconsin, two in Tennessee and three in Pennsylvania. Officials said the heat caused highways to buckle See HEAT, Page A7
‘You’re the emblem of the land I love’
AP Photo
Pirtle takes primary
Lillian Mariscalo of Oyster Bay, N.Y., cools off in the waters of an Oyster Bay beach on Long Island’s North Shore, Saturday.
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
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For The Past 24 Hours
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INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Old Glory is reflected in the windows of Pioneer Bank on North Main Street, Saturday, as thunderheads try to form to the south.
Twenty-six-year -old Roswell farmer Cliff Pirtle is the projected GOP nominee for state Senate District 32, for which there was a recount Thursday. The district, which Senate President Pro-Tem T im Jennings, D-Roswell, has represented since 1979, includes parts of Chaves and Eddy counties and one precinct in Otero County. State statutes call for automatic recounts in legislative races when the difference between the top two candidates is less than one See PIRTLE, Page A7
GOP opens Volunteer Center CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — For Serena Williams, the low point came in early 2011, when she spent hours laying around her home, overwhelmed by a depressing series of health scares that sent her to the hospital repeatedly and kept her away from tennis for 10 months. The high point came Saturday on Centre Court at Wimbledon, when Williams dropped down to the grass, hands covering her face. She was all the way back, a Grand Slam champion yet again. - PAGE B1
THAT’S 5!
TODAY’S • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Genacile Jackson Verta Lucille Brewton Melford Lehrman Stewart Putnam Mike “Pic” Croney Loveta Thompson - PAGE B6
HIGH ...97˚ LOW ....73˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........D1 COMICS.................C3 ENTERTAINMENT.....B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
AP Photo
President Barack Obama speaks at Dobbins Elementary School in Poland, Ohio, Friday.
Obama ad challenges Romney on China trade
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is challenging Mitt Romney’s promises to crack down on China’s trading practices, saying in an ad released Saturday that the Republican candidate profited by allowing China to strip away U.S. jobs. Obama’s ad turns again to a recent Washington Post report that several businesses backed by Romney’s former private equity firm moved American jobs to China and India to cut costs. In a parting shot, a
narrator says Romney is “not the solution. He’s the problem.”
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
gang initiation is sexual in nature.”
The ad follows Obama’s two-day bus tour in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where the president announced plans to file a trade complaint against China at the World Trade Organization for unfairly imposing duties on the exports of U.S.-produced automobiles. Ohio is home to several auto plants and tens of thousands of
The Republican Victory 2012 Kickof f was held Saturday at the Volunteer Center, 1400 W. Second St., in an effort to garner support for the party in the home stretch of the 2012 presidential election. The Victory organization is Gov. Mitt Romney’s nationwide campaign and is working in Mark Wilson Photo conjunction with the Republican National Con- Daniel Sheppard, Republican Party Victory Campaign field vention and the Republi- director, teaches volunteers how to man the telephones can Party of New Mexico. during the Victory 2012 Kickoff Campaign, Saturday. Small groups of individu- to ramp up and to get I think volunteers are als came out and were their grassroots efforts in going to trickle in.” greeted and briefed on place and to be ready for Alice Eppers, secretary how to use the phones at when the public begins for the site and former the site’s call center. paying attention to what’s chairman of the RepubliAlthough volunteers going on.” can Party, said having a didn’t come out in droves He went on to say that place to set up wasn’t on opening day, Roswell always an easy task. In Mayor Del Jurney said the Roswell site has all 2008 and 2010 they were this is a good time for the the pieces in place to on the corner of Second local efforts to get started. draw a decent number of and Main streets, in a for“It’s still very early,” he volunteers. mer Denny’s, but were said. “Most people don’t “It’s a process. I think forced to relocate when a start paying attention to finding a good site is Subway was put in its the general election until important and they’ve place. She found their after Labor Day. Whether accomplished that. You’ve current location about a it be Democrats or got the core of the group month ago. Republicans, this is the in the various aspects of time for the organizations the campaign present and
Consensus: Youths join gangs to acquire a sense of belonging
Part 3 of 3 Gangs all have some form initiation. The initiation sets the stage for what is to follow. The Chaves County Task Force agent said, “For a male, initiation usually consists of the prospective member being beaten up by the gang to prove his manhood in a process known as jumping in. The wanna-be gang member jumps into the center of a circle. For a girl,
See OBAMA, Page A7
The criminologist added the process of rolling the dice to decide the number of people and the number of hits. “If you roll a 12, then 12 people participate.” The criminologist said that people of Roswell need to take notice. “We have a problem here, particularly among the young. Youths joins gangs because they want to get a sense of belonging. They need this. What do you do here if you’re a kid and not inter-
See GOP, Page A7
ested in sports?”
He pointed to programs started in other cities where the city government or local businesses will allot wall space for kids to use their artistic talents. In Roswell the only outlet is tagging. He said cities like Los Angeles have recording studios that permit students to records songs they have written. Although he applauds music programs and youth programs available in Roswell, the criminologist said that many of our
young are not into jazz, band or classical orchestra; they want rap. Youth centers such as the Yucca Center have a fee.
He credits some criminal behavior among the young with poverty. “Many of these kids have to steal to get food. Mom and dad are involved with drugs and the kids suddenly find themselves acting as parents to younger brothers and sisters who they must feed.” The criminologist believes that besides providing sufficient entertainment for
the young to give them an alternative to gang membership, education is the key to help the young break the cycle. “I’d rather pay to educate than incarcerate.”
New Mexico Gang Task Force member Tamara Marcantel agreed. She said the solution must be a comprehensive community approach, which includes a series of steps — prevention, intervention, enforcement and re-entry initiatives. See GANGS, Page A7