Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 165 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
NTSB: NEGLECT, INACTION CAUSED SPILL
DETROIT (AP) — A Canadian company’s failure to deal adequately with cracks in an oil pipeline and its slow response to a 2010 rupture in southwestern Michigan likely caused the most expensive onshore oil spill in U.S. history, the National ... - PAGE A5
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THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
July 11, 2012
Past NM governors also used private email
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez has come under fire because her of fice used private email, but doing state business that way was apparently a common practice for her predecessors. Former Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican, told the Jour nal Albuquerque (http://bit.ly/PGNoKB ) he never used an official email account when he was in office from 1995 to 2003. And for mer Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat who served from 2003 to 2010, used multiple private email accounts but no official government account, according to a review of
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
records he turned over to the State Records Center and Archives. The revelation about the habits of past governors bolsters Martinez’s claim that she was breaking new ground in telling all employees last month to use state accounts when conducting state business via email, Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said. “It certainly shows that the governor’s directive represents a change that goes above and beyond what is either required by law or practiced among public agencies in New Mexico,” Darnell told the Journal.
Reports last month that of ficials in the Martinez administrations used private email set off a flurry of competing public information requests by Republicans and Democrats along with accusations that members of both parties did political work on state time. Two Democratic state lawmakers asked Attorney General Gary King to investigate whether an official violated state law by doing political work on state time by putting together a list of nonunion teachers and their business email addresses. The work was done in response to a
records request from Martinez political consultant Jay McCleskey, who is not a state employee. The Republican Party of New Mexico responded by filing records requests for copies of emails sent and received by King and Democratic legislators. In response to that request, King released at least two emails by his spokesman that appeared to mix state and campaign business, the Journal said. King has called the Republican requests a political ploy intended to distract from his investigation into allegations involving the Martinez adminis-
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Marge Heaton is greeted by Mayor Del Jurney during her 99th birthday celebration at Peachtree Village, Tuesday
CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kevin Durant can’t hide from the hurt this summer. LeBron James is right there every time he steps on the basketball court now. The NBA Finals ended in Miami only about three weeks ago ... - PAGE B1
Tuesday was a special day for a special lady at Peachtree Village. Margaret “Marge” Heaton, one of the original 12 mem-
bers of the retirement complex, celebrated her 99th birthday. Friends gathered in the dining hall under the assumption that they were going to hear a speech given by Mayor Del
UN envoy presses Syrian peace plan with Iran and Iraq
OBITUARIES
• Robert Udell Blair • Roy Keith Peterson • Ruben Ruiz Sr. • Charles Treadwell • Arnulfo P. Villela Jr. - PAGE A7
day to which she jokingly complained, “You did say ‘and many more’!” Heaton was bor n in Boston during the summer of 1913. As a child,
See EMAIL, Page A3
CAIRO (AP) — The faceoff between Egypt’s new Islamist president and the old guard military sharpened Tuesday with parliament defying orders to disband and the highest court slapping back at Mohammed Morsi in what has become an early glimpse into how he may flex his power. Morsi’s rapid-fire gambits against Egypt’s entrenched institutions show he is willing to push against the establishment left from the era of deposed President Hosni Mubarak. But — so far at least — he and his Muslim Brotherhood allies also have displayed some restraint and pragmatism to avoid setting a collision course during a sensitive transition period. It could point to a complicated and protracted shake-out between Morsi and Egypt’s security and judicial power centers, as all sides test the limits of their powers while the country awaits its post-
Officials lift fire restrictions in NM See BDAY, Page A3
SANTA FE (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, two national forests and state forestry officials are lifting fire restrictions in New Mexico.
Tuesday’s lifting of restrictions on all BLM lands around the state comes as areas are receiving rain and seeing increased humidity levels.
See EGYPT, Page A3
Officials say that despite the lifting of restrictions, there are still areas that remain dry.
This summer has been a busy season for firefighters in New Mexico who have battled the largest fire in the state’s recorded history in the Gila Wilderness and the state’s most destructive — a blaze near Ruidoso.
BLM spokesman Stephen Baker says even though restrictions have been lifted residents should still be cautious.
CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
On July 10, as of 9 p.m., 0.28 inches of rain was recorded at the Daily Record
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As for questions about the use of private email for state business, John Hyrum Martinez, the state records administrator, said court cases in the 1990s concluded that emails sent
Plateau brings fiber optics to Roswell
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Jurney. He was in fact in attendance, but instead of discussing town issues, he read off a proclamation and wished Heaton a happy birthday. Those gathered then serenaded Heaton with Happy Birth-
State forestry officials plan to lift their restrictions Wednesday. The Gila National Forest restrictions will be lifted Thursday and the Carson Forest will follow Friday.
TODAY’S
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King spokesman Phil Sisneros said the messages sent from state email accounts related to campaign claims that King’s 2010 re-election opponent, Matthew Chandler, made regarding official work of the attor ney general’s office, and therefore were state business.
Mayor honors Roswellite’s 99th birthday Egypt’s power struggles continue
• Murder on Friday has no leads • Pirtle takes primary • GOP opens Volunteer Center • Consensus: Youths join gangs to acquire ... • Prince is the king of the derby
DURANT, JAMES: ONCE FOES, NOW TEAMMATES
tration.
AP Photo
International envoy Kofi Annan, left, shakes hands with secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, as he arrives for a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday. Annan said Tuesday that Iran must be "part of the solution" to the bloody crisis in its close ally Syria, and that Tehran has offered its support to end the conflict.
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.N.’s special envoy on the Syrian crisis sought to build support for his peace ef forts Tuesday with the leaders of Iran and Iraq, saying President Bashar Assad has agreed to a plan to quell the bloodshed in the most violent
areas of Syria and then expand the operation to the whole country. Top diplomat Kofi Annan said at a news conference in Iran that the plan still must be presented to the Syrian See PEACE, Page A2
Another invasion is taking place in Roswell, this time it’s of the fiber optic kind. Plateau, originally known as Easter n New Mexico Rural Telephone Cooperative, held its ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday and announced the completion of the 36 miles of fiber optic cable and equipment built within the city. Chief technology of ficer Buddy Vaughn addressed the crowd and explained how the project came into fruition as well as the advantages of the technology. The project was made possible by the 2009 American Recover and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more specifically through the Broadband Technology
Mark Wilson Photo
Buddy Vaughan, right, chief technology officer with Plateau, and Clay Bracken, senior manager, announced on Tuesday that Plateau's newly constructed fiber optic telecommunications network is now up and running during a ribbon–cutting ceremony at the Civic Center.
Opportunities Program (BTOP). Through the BTOP, Plateau was able to secure two stimulus awards totaling more than $11.2 million, which allows them to lay fiber optic cable
throughout parts of Texas and Eastern New Mexico. Though the primary targeted consumer in Roswell is larger establishments such See PLATEAU, Page A3