Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 207 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
July 29, 2014
House Working Group calls for National Guard to help Border Patrol BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The House Working Group assigned to investigate the human smuggling crisis at the nation’s southern border has submitted its report to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives. The report, among other recommendations, calls for the National Guard to relieve U.S. Border Patrol agents with their newfound duties other than border enforcement. The report submitted to House Republican leaders last week says deploying the National Guard to the U.S-Mexico border could assist the Border Patrol in caring for the needs of tens of thousands of unaccompanied children caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months, and would also free up Border Patrol agents to focus on their primary
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mission of protecting the nation’s borders. The House is expected to act on the working group’s recommendations this week before members of Congress go on their traditional August recess on Friday. More than 59,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, have swarmed across the U.S.-Mexico border since October as part of a transnational criminal enterprise. Authorities predict about 100,000 unaccompanied children will illegally cross the southern border this fiscal year, swamping Border Patrol agents with humanitarian duties that have little or nothing to do with border security. Those figures on illegal immigrants do not include adults apprehended after crossing the southern border illegally. Adults with children from Central America’s “lost generation” are slowly and
painstakingly being reunited with their loved ones and communities in their homelands of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras nestled in the Sierra Madre Mountains, after being exploited by the drug cartels and enticed into the illegal, dangerous and arduous journey to the United States. Central American leaders are calling for more U.S. investment in their nations to bolster their economies and stem the tide of illegal immigration. Critics say the United States should invest in its own cities like bankrupt Detroit and embattled Chicago, where gang violence is rampant and economic opportunities are limited. The House Working Group said increasing law enforcement operations in the United States and in the countries from which the illegal immigrants come would “disrupt and dismantle transnational crim-
inal organizations and encourage originating countries to pass strict laws against human smuggling.”
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-Hobbs, is a member of the House Working Group that submitted its report July 23.
“The address to the House GOP Conference of our working group was a response to the president’s request for nearly $4 billion in emergency funding, and addressed the national security and humanitarian crisis at our border,” Pearce said in a news release last week. “We need to ensure a prompt repatriation of immigrants who are not eligible for asylum, and provide the immigrants fair treatment and a fair hearing process for those who seek to stay, out of fear of returning.” See BORDER, Page A3
Be ready for ‘prolonged’ Gaza war, Israeli PM says
Spanish guitar meets Led Zeppelin
Timothy P. Howsare Photo
Self-taught Spanish guitarist Benise, right, performed a fiery mix of flamenco, rock and jazz at Pearson Auditorium Saturday evening. Benise (Roni Benise) said he with a few other musicians got their start 15 years ago in Los Angeles playing for free on the streets. Benise, with his band and flamenco dancers, performed mostly original music, along with their unique arrangements of the Led Zeppelin masterpiece “Kashmir” and one of The Rolling Stones most revered ballads, “Wild Horses.” They also performed a piece that mixed baroque composer J.S. Bach with ‘70s hard rockers AC/DC.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Signaling an escalation of Israel’s Gaza operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis Monday to be ready for a “prolonged” war, and the military warned Palestinians in three large neighborhoods to leave their homes and head immediately for Gaza City. The warnings came on a day of heavy HamasIsraeli fighting in which nine children were killed by a strike on a Gaza park where they were playing, according to Palestinian health officials — a tragedy that each side blamed on the other. Israeli tanks also resumed heavy shelling in border areas of Gaza, killing five people, including three children and a 70-year -old woman, and wounding 50 in the town of Jebaliya, which was among the areas warned to evacuate, the Red Crescent said. Many Jebaliya residents said they did not dare attempt an escape.
Sufian Abed Rabbo said his extended family of 17 had taken refuge under the stairway in their home. “God help us. We have nothing to do but pray,”“the 27-year -old told The Associated Press by phone. “I don’t know who left and who stayed, but in our street, we are all very scared to move.” Later Monday, Israeli forces fired a large number of flares over Gaza City, turning the night sky a bright orange. The latest bloodshed came despite mounting international calls for a cease-fire and followed failed attempts by both sides to agree to even a lull in fighting of several hours for the start of the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid el-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan. The Hamas-run health ministry said 10 people, including nine children under the age of 12, were killed and 46 wounded in the blast at a park in the Shati
Not in my backyard: US sending dirty coal abroad RCLT preparing for ‘Always Patsy Cline’
BOARDMAN, Ore. (AP) — The largest power plant in Oregon, the Boardman Coal Plant, sat idle one day earlier this summer, “cold steel” in industry parlance, its dirty power no longer wanted on an electricity grid that is becoming greener. For two weeks in June, wind and hydroelectric dams were supplying enough electricity to Portland General Electric’s 830,000 customers, most of whom live far away in Portland. With increasing amounts of power required to come from renewable sources, Boardman eventually won’t be needed at all. But that doesn’t mean coal here is dead. By 2020, coal will no longer be burned at the 38year -old power plant, replaced by other sources that could include cleanerburning natural gas. The end of coal here will help Oregon meet the
Obama administration’s latest proposal to slash the pollution blamed for global warming. The plan calls on the state to cut its power plant carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2030. Closing Boardman, which gets its coal from the Northern Rockies, will go a long way toward that goal. But 12 miles north, a port on the Columbia River could represent the region’s coal future. If all goes according to plan for global energy conglomerate Ambre Energy Ltd., coal mined from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming will still arrive in Boardman by train car. But instead of feeding the coal plant, it would be shipped to Asia, where an energy-hungry populace is reliant on coal as a cheap power source. This town in the Columbia Gorge is a real-life example of the gulf between
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Obama’s grand strategy to reduce coal emissions and the reality behind that policy: As the U.S. reduces its own carbon pollution, it is exporting more of it abroad. Built in 1976, the Boardman Coal Plant burns about 3 million tons of coal each year. The Port of Morrow terminal would ship three times more — nearly 9 million tons — out of the country. Those extra 6 million tons of thermal coal will generate energy somewhere, its carbon emissions joining the same atmosphere. It just won’t be on the U.S. side of the global pollution ledger. Over the last five years, as the U.S. has cut coal consumption by 195 million tons, about 20 percent of that coal has been shipped overseas, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of Energy Department data. That proportion is
“If we’re trying to address carbon and we’re creating a whole new export industry, I think that is problematic,” said Citizens Utility Board of Oregon executive director Bob Jenks. “There’s a fundamental disconnect between trying to reduce carbon emissions and creating new industries around coal.”
• WINNIE MAE GAHEGAN • LILLIE MAE BERRY • DOYLE GLEN MILES
• WANDA JUNE STANLEY • ROBERT “BOB” JAMES RICH JR.
expected to get larger as the U.S. continues to clean up its power plants, boost energy efficiency and move to more pollution-free sources of energy such as wind and solar.
For the Northwest, proposed coal terminals would export more than 100 million tons of coal to Asia per year, far exceeding the total consumption for all plants that feed coal-fired power to the region, including Oregon, and doubling U.S. exports.
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
SUBMITTED The Roswell Community Little Theatre’s next production, “Always Patsy Cline” by Ted Swindley, is cast and in rehearsals. More than a tribute to the country singer Patsy Cline, the show is based on a true story about her friendship with a fan from Houston named Louise Seger, who befriended the star in a Texas honky-tonk in 1961. Their friendship continued up until Patsy’s tragic death in 1963. “Always Patsy Cline” is written by Ted Swindley. Patsy Cline’s music will ring true and you are sure to go home humming “Crazy” or perhaps “I fall to Pieces.” Playing the legendary Patsy Cline is Maryl McNally, and playing her friend,
See GAZA, Page A3
Louise, is Tammy West. Matt and Sharon Larsen along with Bud Hewett, will make up the live band that will play the show’s music. Director Dallas Pollei, and musical director Jenci Huebner, are working hard to make this a musical you won’t want to miss. The show will open on Aug. 29 and runs for nine shows. Our musicals will cost a little more this year but will be well worth it. Adults, $15; full-time students, $11; groups of 10 or more, $12 adults and $8 students. Season tickets are also available at the usual cost of $45 for five admissions, which can be used at any of our shows this season. We expect a full house for this special program. Call 622-1982 for reservations.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
FINANCIAL ..............B3
LOTTERIES .............A2
COMICS .................B4
HOROSCOPES .........A8
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8