Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 164 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
SINGER CORY BRANAN TO PERFORM Telling the stories of people and situations so intertwined with the human condition that they cannot help but feel familiar to his listeners, modern-day troubadour Cory Branan will soon make a pit stop in Roswell.
July 10, 2012
TUESDAY
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New system gives most NM schools passing grades ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Most of New Mexico’s schools received passing grades under a new state rating system, although nearly two-thirds got Cs or Ds. Gov. Susana Martinez and Education Secretary Hanna Skandera on Monday unveiled the first report card using the grading scale that is a cornerstone of Martinez’s agenda for improving education in the state, which consistently ranks near the bottom
nationally.
The new system allows the state to consider more than just annual student test scores when gauging whether schools are meeting standards as mandated under the federal No Child Left Behind. The grades were developed after the state won a waiver from the federal gover nment to include others factors, like past test scores, academic growth, attendance, graduation rates and college and career preparedness.
Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says the new system enables the state to more clearly evaluate what needs to be done to help schools improve. “It is not enough to say you are a success or a failure,” Skandera said. “... This tells us a story of where we need to champion our resources, where we need to intervene to create change.” Under the traditional federal rating system, 98 percent of the state’s schools
Driver is almost hit by pipe
would have failed if rated solely on the latest test scores, Skandera said. Under the new system, all but 69 of the state’s 831 schools passed, although 250 got Ds and 275 got Cs. Only 39 received an A, while 198 got Bs. The report card marks the first time the state has ever had its own accountability system, Skandera and Martinez said. “These results are not only important to inform parents and students today
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INSIDE SPORTS
Julia Bergman Photo
A two-vehicle accident occurred on the corner of South Virginia Avenue and West Mathews Street, Monday afternoon. Around 3 p.m., the driver of a Nissan Altima traveling westbound on Mathews Street failed to yield at a stop sign, hitting a Ford Expedition traveling southbound on Virginia Avenue, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and hit a fence. A pipe from the fence went through the windshield of the Expedition, grazing the driver. The driver was transported by EMS to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center. The driver of the Altima and a passenger were treated for minor abrasions at the scene and then released. The driver of the Altima was cited for stop sign violation.
about where their school stands, but they are helpful for teachers, school leaders, and community stakeholders who want to take action to reform education in New Mexico and improve our schools,” the governor said in a statement. “We are measuring progress and growth, and we need to focus more intently than ever on identifying our lowest-performing schools and students so that we can get them the help they need to succeed.”
Murder on Friday has no leads
An 18-year -old Roswell man died after he was shot multiple times outside of a residence at 826 E. Hendricks St., Friday. Around 10 p.m., police responded to a report of several shots fired in the area and arrived to find Arnulfo Villela Jr., 18, dead at the scene. No one else was shot or injured at the scene. Through their investigation, police have learned that the homicide stemmed from a physical altercation. Roswell Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jim Preston said the incident does not appear to be drug or gang related. While police believe there were several eyewitnesses to the incident, thus far, they have all been uncooperative with law enforcement, Preston
NM to use technology to Crisis in Egypt over legislature’s fate verify license information CAIRO (AP) — A new
VERLANDER, CAIN NAMED ALL-STARS KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Owner of the best record in baseball, R.A. Dickey was hoping to become the first knuckleballer to start an AllStar game since Dutch Leonard in 1943.
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TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Roy Keith Peterson - PAGE A7
HIGH ...84˚ LOW ....66˚
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New technology will soon be used in New Mexico to verify information documents presented by people seeking driver’s licenses. The state is grappling with recurring incidents of fraud, as critics claim New Mexico has become a go-to place nationally for illegal immigrants — or preying criminals representing them — wanting to obtain real driver’s licenses. Critics attribute most of the problem to the 2003 state law that allows foreign nationals to obtain New Mexico licenses, regardless of whether they are in the country legally. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the changes being carried out include getting bar code readers to help verify bank statements and utility bills, and other software to help ensure passports are legitimate. In addition, Demesia Padilla, secretary of the state Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees New Mexico’s Motor Vehicle Division, said her agency is considering establishing a field office in Albuquerque that would handle all foreign national applicants in the state’s largest city. Other MVD field offices around the state would still handle all types of driver’s license applicants. About 70 percent of New Mexico’s appointments for foreign national licenses are made in Albuquerque, Padilla said. “That would take some pressure off of the field
showdown loomed in Egypt on Monday as the country’s highest court stood by its ruling that dissolved parliament last month, challenging the new Islamist president’s plans to reconvene the lower chamber in defiance of the military.
If he goes ahead, Mohammed Morsi would be taking a dramatic step away from the outreach that characterized his first days in office. It’s a tough fight, though, and the president could lose it along with more of his already diminished powers. The military, which handed power to Morsi on June 30 after ruling the country for 16 months, delivered a thinly-veiled warning to the president,
AP Photo
In this photo released by Middle East News Agency, the Egyptian official news, newly-elected President Mohammed Morsi, center, meets with government ministers at the presidential palace in Cairo, July 2. saying it would continue to support the country’s “legitimacy, constitution and law” — language that means it will not stand by and watch the rulings of the country’s top court
ignored or breached. At the same time, the Supreme Constitutional Court sent out a clear sigSee EGYPT, Page A3
Obama seeks to shift presidential election disputes toward tax debate See LICENSES, Page A3
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A7 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
See MURDER, Page A3
INDEX
AP Photo
President Barack Obama lays out his plan to extend tax cuts for the middle class, during an announcement from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing sagging jobs numbers, President Barack Obama sought to recast the November election as a fight over tax fairness on Monday, urging tax cut extensions for all families earning less than $250,000 but denying them to households making more than that. The president’s pitch was aimed at painting Republican rival Mitt Romney as a protector of the rich at a time of economic unease, as Democrats intensify efforts to raise questions about the Romney’s own wealth and offshore bank accounts. Romney supports extending the federal tax cuts, first signed by George W. Bush, for all income earners. Obama said if Congress passes a one-year extension for those making less than $250,000, voters can
use the November election to decide the fate of the cuts for higher income earners. “My opponent will fight to keep them in place. I will fight to end them,” said Obama, flanked by a dozen people the White House said would benefit from the tax cut extension. The president has long supported ending the Bush-era tax cuts for those making more than $250,000. The White House and the president’s re-election team are reviving his arguments now as a way to suggest that the push by Romney and congressional Republicans for an acrossthe-board extension of the tax cuts could put America’s middle class at risk. “Let’s not hold the vast majority of Americans and our economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy,” Obama said at
the White House. The president’s sudden focus on the tax fairness debate was also an attempt to change the election subject after yet another lackluster jobs report. New numbers released Friday showed the nation’s unemployment rate stuck at 8.2 percent, giving Romney fresh grounds to attack Obama as unfit to steer the U.S. economy. Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said the president was responding to the bad economic news by calling for a “massive tax increase.” “It just proves again that the president doesn’t have a clue how to get America working again and help the middle class,” Saul said. Obama said his proposal was aimed at staving off an end-of-the year stalemate with Congress. But it appeared to have the opposite effect.
Congressional Republicans immediately balked, saying it would be a mistake to raise taxes on anyone while the economy was still struggling to recover. The House GOP plans to make its own push this summer for a full extension of the tax cuts.
Obama said later Monday that he would veto such a bill if it landed on his desk.
Ahead of Obama’s remarks on Monday, White House officials consulted with congressional Democrats to shore up support within the party. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of his party’s Senate leadership, had both previously advocated extending the cuts to those who make up to $1 million See TAXES, Page A3