Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 171 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
July 18, 2013
NSA spying under fire from Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a heated confrontation over domestic spying, members of Congress said Wednesday they never intended to allow the National Security Agency to build a database of every phone call in America. And they threatened to curtail the government’s surveillance authority.
DINO BONES FOUND IN UTAH
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Top Obama administration officials countered that the once-secret program was legal and necessary to keep America safe. And
THURSDAY
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they left open the possibility that they could build similar databases of people’s credit card transactions, hotel records and Internet searches. The clash on Capitol Hill undercut President Barack Obama’s assurances that Congress had fully understood the dramatic expansion of government power it authorized repeatedly over the past decade. The House Judiciary Committee hearing also represented perhaps the
most public, substantive congressional debate on surveillance powers since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Previous debates have been largely theoretical and legalistic, with officials in the Bush and Obama administrations keeping the details hidden behind the cloak of classified information.
That changed last month when former government contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents to the Guardian newspaper
revealing that the NSA collects every American’s phone records, knowing that the overwhelming majority of people have no ties to terrorism. Civil rights groups have warned for years that the government would use the USA Patriot Act to conduct such wholesale data collection. The gover nment denied it. The Obama administration says it needs a library of everyone’s phone records so that when it finds a sus-
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Researchers in Utah said Wednesday they discovered a new type of big-nosed, horned-faced dinosaur that lived about 76 million years ago in the area of... - PAGE A6
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INSIDE SPORTS
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Skandera addresses quality of education
New Mexico Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera, center, is greeted by Representatives Nora Espinoza, left, and Candy Spence-Ezzell at the Elks Lodge #969, Wednesday.
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
More than 100 people attended the Chaves County Republican Women’s Luncheon, Wednesday, to hear New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera
PREPARING TO PLAY GULLANE, Scotland (AP) — The practice round schedule posted each day at Muirfield is not the only way to determine how players are getting ready for the British Open. Johnson Wagner’s name... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Courtney Holstun Carolina Lara Josefita Gutierrez William Hardcastle John D. and Jean A. Conway - PAGE A6
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TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
speak about the strategic plan to raise the quality of education in the state. She listed the areas where New Mexico is weakest, in reading and in graduations, ranking between 49 and 48 in the United States. Her goal is change.
“You got to focus and stay focused until you see the change take effect.” She said that people often claim the schools need more money. However, she said that 44 percent of the state budget is directed to the school system.
“Investing is important, but we’re not getting a great deal of return on our investment.”
Skandera feels that the money needs to be targeted appropriately. One of
See SKANDERA, Page A3
pected terrorist, it can search its archives for the suspect’s calling habits. The administration says the database was authorized under a provision in the Patriot Act that Congress hurriedly passed after 9/11 and reauthorized in 2005 and 2010.
The sponsor of that bill, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said Wednesday that Congress meant only to allow seizures directly relevant to national security investigations.
ACLU: Police track drivers
WASHINGTON (AP) — You can drive, but you can’t hide. A rapidly growing network of police cameras is capturing, storing and sharing data on license plates, making it possible to stitch together people’s movements whether they are stuck in a commute, making tracks to the beach or up to no good. For the first time, the number of license tag captures has reached the millions, according to a study published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union based on information from hundreds of law enforcement agencies. Departments keep the records for weeks or years, sometimes indefinitely, saying they can be crucial in tracking suspicious cars, aiding drug busts, finding abducted children and more. Attached to police cars,
DPS lacks necessary Seizure of NKorea arms could approval to digitize hurt limited US-Cuba detente records of weapons ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The New Mexico Department of Public Safety has spent tens of thousands of dollars to digitize tons of paper records on concealed weapons l i c en s es b ut doesn’t yet have required approval to implement its plan.
The State Records Center and Archives is waiting for the department to submit a plan for scanning the records, KRQE-TV report-
ed. “There’s a plan that needs to come through, and we haven’t received that plan yet,” said John Hyrum Martinez, state records administrator. “We’ve been waiting on it.” The Department of Public Safety wants to reduce costs on storing records that it must keep for three years after a four -year
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s admission that it was secretly sending aging weapons systems to North Korea has turned the global spotlight on a little-known link in a secretive network of rusting freighters and charter jets that moves weapons to and from North Korea despite U.N. sanctions.
The revelation that Cuba was shipping the arms, purportedly to be repaired and returned, is
certain to jeopardize slowly warming ties between the U.S. and Havana, although the extent of the damage remains uncertain. Experts said Cuba’s participation in the clandestine ar ms network was a puzzling move that promised little military payof f for the risk of incurring U.N. penalties and imperiling detente with Washington.
The aging armaments, including radar system
See DRIVERS, Page A3
parts, missiles, and even two jet fighters, were discovered Monday buried beneath thousands of tons of raw Cuban brown sugar piled onto a North Korean freighter that was seized by Panama as it headed for home through the Panama Canal.
North Korea is barred by the U.N. from buying or selling arms, missiles or components, but for See SEIZURE, Page A3
Peaceful immigration demonstration turns political JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A peaceful demonstration held by local immigration refor m activists at the Roswell office of Congressman Steve Pearce turned political Wednesday when his Democrat opponent from Alamogordo joined the effort. The event was billed by its organizers as a way to educate Pearce about the reality of immigrants’ lives so he could better make decisions on the issue. But Congressional candidate Leslie Endean-Singh’s attendance tur ned the rally’s peaceful appearance into a platform for those opposed to Republican policies to speak out.
See RECORDS, Page A3
Some 35 men, women and children grasped white roses and small American flags, and gathered under dark skies as rain sprinkled sporadically. They held homemade posters and chanted in Spanish, “Here we are! We’re going to stay!” and “Community United!” The activists marched along busy West Second Street after 4 p.m., stopping for a short time to listen to the politically charged words from Endean-Singh and Lee Sides. Otherwise, they proudly waved their flags and held signs with the handwritten words: “No Human Illegal,” “Let’s go See IMMIGRATION, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
Supporters of immigration reform rally outside the offices of Congressman Steve Pearce, Wednesday afternoon.