Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 180 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
July 27, 2014
Fire Department seeks recruits for next academy BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Fire Department is looking for recruits — and having trouble finding suitable applicants. “This is the best job in the world; it is awesome,” said Jason Sweatfield, division chief of training. “But we have trouble competing with the oil fields for candidates.” “The fire department isn’t just a job, it’s a career,” said Fire Chief Chad Hamill. “It’s been a wonderful experience, and I am retiring soon at the age of 42. Not many people can do that.” The Roswell Fire Department runs its own 14-week
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fire academy, and graduates come out of the program as certified firefighters, who are eligible to work at any fire department in the country, Sweatfield said. “It’s challenging, that is for sure. It is physically challenging, and it is an educational challenge. It is not for everybody.”
The fire department used to have as many as 150 applicants for each academy cycle, but recently those numbers have dwindled to less than 30. In the current academy class, which is about to finish training, there are firefighters from not only Roswell, but also from surrounding fire departments, Sweat-
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field said. “We have trained firefighters from Carlsbad, Artesia, Hobbs — from all over the region, and we’re glad to do it,” said Hamill. “It doesn’t cost us anything, we already have the training going on and we want to educate as professional a firefighter as possible.” The fire department hasn’t worked out exactly how much it costs to train a firefighter, but the cost is in the thousands. “We pay for all the instruction, and all the certifications of our recruits,” Hamill said. The recruits are also paid while they are See RECRUITS, Page A3
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Free well water testing offered at health fair
Firefighter recruits practice skills during a recent training session.
BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE ROSWELL EDITOR
We are told minerals are good for our bodies, but too much of the wrong kinds of minerals and other chemicals in our drinking water can be a bad thing. But by looking into a glass of water from your tap, how would you know if there were too many bad chemicals dissolved in the water? At the Roswell Health Fair on Saturday, free testing of water from private wells was offered by the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Department of Health. The state health department, which had booths Timothy P. Howsare Photo set up along the eastern Melanie Sanchez, left, and Violet Miera, both the NM Environment Department, test well water samples during Saturday’s wall of the Boys & Girls Roswell Health Fair. The department offers free testing at 10 different sites each year. Sanchez says they like to pick health Club gym, was one of several sponsors of the annual fairs because they are well attended and good places to get the word out about safe drinking water.
fair. Other sponsors were Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, Lovelace Regional Hospital Roswell, Eastern New Mexico University - Roswell and the Chaves County Health Planning Council. Jane Batson, who serves on the Health Planning Council, said she has been organizing the fairs for about 30 years with her husband, Jack. The annual health fairs attract hundreds of residents for free blood sugar and blood pressure testing, cholesterol testing and counseling and referrals. If you’re a smoker trying to quit, the state health department has a glass jar filled with the amount of tar an average smoker would accumulate in his or
Changes coming to 700 MINI Coopers to invade Roswell teacher evaluations STAFF REPORT
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Several changes will be made to New Mexico’s teacher evaluation system, which has hit several snags since its launch, the state’s top education official said Friday. Education Secretary Hanna Skandera said the changes will address the reporting of incorrect data and grant more flexibility to schools, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The changes were presented Thursday to the New Mexico School Superintendents’ Association, Skandera said. “What happens is when we work together, we accomplish
more for our kids,” she said. The changes include making sure the state Public Education Department and districts schedule time to share accurate data. The evaluations have faced scrutiny since they were first released in May, with many teachers reporting errors in their scores. The evaluations are based on students’ standardized test scores, the observations of principals and factors such as teacher attendance or student surveys. The mistakes included ratings based on incomplete
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More than 700 MINI Coopers will drive through Roswell on Thursday as they make a cross-country trek from San Francisco to Boston.
10. Throughout the crosscountry drive, MINI USA provides participants with a variety of daily activities with stops in 15 different
cities. For more information on the “MINI Takes the States” rally, visit minitakesthestates.com.
photo studio,” he said. “I represented companies in banking, health, retail and education. I helped them with marketing products.” The company was open for 10 years before he shut it down to go back to school to get his master’s degree. “I wasn’t sure what having a masters was going to do for me, but the school found out about my background and had me teach
undergraduates while I was working on my master’s. The experience directed me to education and I became certified to teach high school.” Holm said he got a job teaching photo and media courses, which was a perfect fit. Along with teaching, he loves one of his newer
Former RDR photographer now a journalism teacher, coach See EVALS, Page A3
BY MARY MORGAN RECORD INTERN
Holm
More than 700 MINI Coopers will drive through Roswell Thursday, on a cross-country trek from San Francisco to Boston. The “MINI Takes the States” rally began Saturday and is hosted by Sandia MINI of Albuquerque. Participants in the 14day road rally will make an overnight stop at the Sandia MINI of Albuquerque dealership on Wednesday as part of the cross-country tour. Sandia MINI will greet the drivers and host a southwestern-themed event welcoming them to Albuquerque. The “MINI Takes the States” rally will benefit the Best Friends Animal
Society, a national animal welfare organization, in partnership with the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department. On Thursday, the “MINI Takes the States” rally will host a “Rise and Shine” breakfast from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at Sandia MINI of Albuquerque. After the breakfast, the 700 MINI Coopers will depart the dealership as the tour heads southeast through where participants will take part in activities surrounding the Roswell UFO incident and then stop in Lubbock, Texas, for the evening. Held every two years, the “MINI Takes the States” road rally concludes in Boston on Aug.
See WATER, Page A3
In his third year of teaching media arts at Goddard High School, Jerry Holm has a vast array of stories to tell. That is, when he’s not writing or taking pictures about them. Holm got his start as a stringer for the Roswell Daily Record in the 1970s, writing both sports and
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news. In college, he worked for the Lubbock Journal in Texas, where he took pictures of presidents Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter. He worked full time at the Daily Record as a staff photographer in 1982. “I worked for RDR for a year before going back to college. I was a sports editor for the Portales Tribune,” he said. “I moved to the Midwest where I worked for some Midwest
papers, where I covered Big Eight, Kansas City chiefs,” he said. Then he made the shift to news. “I covered state politics, police reporting, just general news,” he said. Holm then worked for corporations before opening his own marketing business. “I moved back to Roswell in ’89 and opened an ad agency and commercial
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B6 & B7 • JOE GLEN CANON • PHYLLIS JUNE STEELE HOUSE • EUGENE L. ANDERSON • LARRY E. BILLIG • EDWARD ALLAN SWINDELL • CHARLES FREDERICK SMITH • VIVIAN A. TEEL • JERRY CHAVEZ SR.
See HOLM, Page A3
INDEX CLASSIFIEDS ..........B1 LOTTERIES .............A2 COMICS .................C5 OPINION .................A4 ENTERTAINMENT .....C6 SPORTS .................B1 HOROSCOPES .........A8 WEATHER ..............A8