Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 182 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
July 31, 2012
Roswell Police Chief Al Solis hospitalized Roswell Police Chief Alfonso Solis was listed in serious but stable condition Monday after noon after being hospitalized Monday morning for treatment of an unknown medical condition. Solis was taken to Easter n New Mexico Medical Center around 11:30 a.m. after the Roswell Fire Department and Emergency Services were called
ATHLETIC MARS ROVER
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
TUESDAY
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to the chief’s offices. Sgt. Jimmy Preston confir med that Solis was transported by ambulance with a police escort. Solis’ wife was expected to meet him at the hospital. The for mer Chaves County Detention Center administrator was sworn in as chief on Jan. 14, 2011. City Administrator Larry Fry said, “Certainly our
Beware the crossing
thoughts and our prayers are with the chief and his family as we wait to hear more about his condition. The chief is an asset to our community, but I believe that the RPD remains in good hands (during his absence) with the two deputy chiefs.” Mayor Del Jurney also expressed get well wishes, stating he hopes Solis is better soon.
RPD Chief Al Solis
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — It’s NASA’s most ambitious and expensive Mars mission yet—and it begins with the red planet arrival late Sunday of the smartest interplanetary rover ever built. Also the most athletic.
RIAC’s main runway may get facelift JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
- PAGE A6
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• One dies in rollover • Horse show opens 4-H and FFA Fair • 28 Earth Rangers complete KRB camp • Feds bust 3 Roswell businesses • Blayne Hobbs captures Desert Sun Classic title
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
City crews have been busy preparing for the upcoming school year including Javier Alonso and Mark Tegeda who have been repainting school-crossing zones.
The Roswell International Air Center’s main runway, runway 2103, has not been significantly altered since its construction in 1952. But Roswell officials and the Federal Aviation Administration are considering long-term modifications to the 13,000–foot runway. “They (the FAA) have standards and they have a lot of airports that they’re looking at but we believe that our airport and that particular runway is a huge asset to the aviation system within the United States,” said City Manager Larry Fry. Officials have been discussing how to modify the runway since last November, when city and Air Center officials first held a joint planning conference with users of the RIAC, FAA offi-
Another hiccup in Romney’s foreign trip? AP source: Dems move to
CHINA WINS GYMNASTICS GOLD LONDON (AP) — Their closest rivals were still on the floor competing when the Chinese whipped out five big gold stars and held them up in the shape of their flag. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Juan Jose Borunda Sr. • Beatrice Ryniec • Julie Dutchover
- PAGE A6
HIGH ...99˚ LOW ....68˚
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
See RUNWAY Page A3
formally back gay marriage
GDANSK, Poland (AP) — It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Mitt Romney outraged Palestinians on Monday, telling Jewish donors that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the Palestinians. That fresh controversy on his visit to Israel came just days after insulting the British on what was intended as a feel-good visit to the Olympics in London. Whether or not the trip changes votes back home, the effect hasn’t seemed to be what Romney’s presidential campaign had in mind. His first steps onto the world stage as President Barack Obama’s Republican challenger were carefully crafted to avoid political risk. He visited countries that are staunch U.S. allies, limited questions from the media and arranged made-for -TV appearances at symbolic venues in London and Jerusalem. It was all intended to demonstrate he was ready to handle foreign
affairs smoothly and lead during dangerous times. Instead, as he made his final stop of a three-nation tour in Poland late Monday, Republicans and Democrats alike were shaking their heads in the U.S. Though Republicans said they saw no lasting harm, Democrats raised questions
about Romney’s ability to handle delicate topics with sensitivity on foreign soil, even under the friendliest conditions. Romney’s latest trouble stemmed from a speech he gave to Jewish donors in
SANTA FE (AP) — Taxpayers must pick up the tab for nearly $3 million in fees for attorneys who represented Democratic, Republican, Native American and Hispanic voter interests in redistricting trials, a New Mexico judge decided Monday. District Judge James Hall’s order covers lawyer fees for six groups that brought lawsuits over revamping political district boundaries for the Legislature, Congress and Public Regulation Commission. Redistricting landed in court last year after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the Democratic-controlled Legislature disagreed on how to redraw
district boundaries to adjust for population growth during the past decade. Hall said the groups were entitled to attorney’s fees because they prevailed in parts of the redistricting dispute, but he reduced some fees by 10 percent based on the degree of success the various groups had in the litigation. Hall’s order covers only part of the costs of the redistricting fight. The state has agreed to pay nearly $271,000 for lawyers who represented the Navajo Nation. Taxpayers also must cover the costs of lawyers for Republican Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, Secretary of State
Dianna Duran and a private attorney who represented the governor. The Legislature has paid about $894,000 for lawyers that represented legislative leaders in the redistricting trials as well as an Albuquerque demographic research firm that prepared redistricting maps during the litigation. Hall rejected a suggestion by the governor that the Legislature be required to pay for the attorney’s fees of Democratic-leaning groups in the redistricting fight and that the executive branch should be liable for fees for the Navajos and GOP interests aligned with the governor. Hall denied “the request
AP Photo
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, Sunday.
See ROMNEY, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic Party is moving to include support for gay marriage in the official party platform for the first time, a Democratic official said Monday, marking a key milestone for advocates of same-sex unions. The party’s platform drafting committee voted to include language backing gay marriage during a weekend meeting in Minneapolis, the official said. Democratic delegates will formally approve the platfor m during the party convention in Charlotte, N.C., in early September. President Barack Obama will officially accept his party’s nomination at the convention, which marks the start of the fall campaign blitz. Republican rival Mitt Romney will get the GOP nomination a week earlier during his party’s convention in Tampa, Fla.
Seeking to ramp-up enthusiasm among Democrats, party of ficials said Sunday that former President Bill Clinton will deliver the nominating speech on Wednesday night of the convention. Obama and Biden are to speak on Thursday, the convention’s final night. The Obama campaign and convention organizers on Monday announced that Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic Senate candidate in Massachusetts and a popular figure among liberals, will get a featured speaking role. Warren headed the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the committee that examined the bank bailout. She also was the leading advocate for a consumer financial protection
See DEMS, Page A3
District judge awards nearly $3 million for the state’s redistricting fees to divide the fees between various defendants because the request itself only reaffirms the ‘us-versus-them’ mentality which pervades our present political environment.” “This request shows that the executive defendants still fail to recognize that the obligation to redistrict the state following the census is a shared responsibility of the Legislature and executive branches. When the legislative and executive branches fail to comply with their legal obligation, all taxpayers bear the financial consequences,” Hall said. The judge also said it would represent a significant expansion of court
powers if he ordered attorney’s fees split between the budgets of different parts of state government.
“In all candor, there is some appeal to the idea that this court has the authority to assess the attorney’s fees against individual defendants, especially in light of this court’s finding that the governor failed to even communicate with multiple Native American tribes during the redistricting process; however, the court resists the temptation to do so because such an expansion of judicial authority is not authorized under law,” said Hall.