Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 183 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
July 31, 2014
Suing Obama: GOP-led House gives go-ahead
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided House approved a Republican plan Wednesday to launch a campaign-season lawsuit against President Barack Obama, accusing him of exceeding the bounds of his constitutional authority. Obama and other Democrats derided the effort as a stunt aimed at tossing political red meat to conservative voters. Just a day before lawmakers were to begin a fiveweek summer recess, debate over the proposed
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lawsuit underscored the harshly partisan tone that has dominated the current Congress almost from its start in January 2013. The vote to sue Obama was 225 to 201. Five conservative Republicans voted with Democrats in opposing the lawsuit: Reps. Paul Broun of Georgia, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Walter Jones of North Carolina, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Steve Stockman of Texas. No Democrats voted for it. Republicans said the legal
action, focusing on Obama’s implementation of his prized health care overhaul, was designed to prevent a further presidential power grab and his deciding unilaterally how to enforce laws. “No member needs to be reminded about the bonds of trust that have been frayed or the damage that’s already been done to our economy and to our people,” declared House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “Are you willing to let any president choose what laws to execute and what laws to
change?” Republicans also scoffed at Democratic claims that the lawsuit would be a waste of taxpayers’ money. “What price do you place on the continuation of our system of checks and balances? What price do you put on the Constitution of the United States?” said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich. “My answer to each is ‘priceless.’” Democrats said the lawsuit would go nowhere and was designed only to encourage conservatives to
vote in this November’s congressional elections. They also warned repeatedly that it could be a precursor of a more drastic GOP effort. Said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.: “The lawsuit is a drumbeat pushing members of the Republican Party to impeachment.” In fact, Democrats already are using that argument to mine campaign contributions. House Democrats emailed one fundraising solicitation as debate was underway and another moments after the
Some prominent conservatives including former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin have called for Obama’s impeachment, and some House GOP lawmakers have not ruled it out. Boehner has said he has no such plans and has called Democratic impeachment talk a “scam” to raise money.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Declaring that New Mexico was locked in a long war to end drunken driving in the state, Department of Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel asked state residents Wednesday to “shed their blood” in an effort to reduce the number of drunk drivers on the roads. Marcantel announced the department was launching a statewide blood drive to call attention to the physical pain DWI is causing New Mexico. He began the program with blood drives aided by various law enforcement agencies. “We are at war with the problem,” said Marcantel before giving blood himself at a Target store in Albuquerque. “And when you go to war, residents agree to shed their blood for the cause.” State records show there are almost 500 people serving prison time in New Mexico for DWI-related convictions. About 100 of those were convicted of vehicular homicide or causing great
bodily harm. Marcantel said he got the idea for the blood drive after seeing the damaged patrol car of State Police Officer Carlos Verdugo from a June DWI crash. Verdugo was in his patrol car near an intersection in Hobbs when he was hit by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop, police said. A 40-year -old motorist was arrested on suspicion of two aggravated DWI charges and one count each of reckless driving and great bodily harm by vehicle. Verdugo survived, but was he seriously injured and needed blood. “I honestly don’t remember anything,” said Verdugo, who is on medical leave. “I’m glad at least I’m alive.” Preliminary numbers show New Mexico saw 133 fatal alcohol-related crashes last year, a nearly 14 percent drop from 2012. That’s the lowest number of annual alcohol-related traffic deaths recorded in the state and marked a 38 percent decline from a decade ago.
vote.
“The GOP is chomping at the bit to impeach the president,” they wrote. “We’ve got to get the president’s back.”
Local producers, legislators Agency eyes blood drive in DWI fight support changes to Dairy Rule BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The fight to change the Dairy Rule, the state’s dairy discharge regulations which set requirements for nutrient run-off prevention and the placement of monitor wells on dairy far ms, came to Roswell Tuesday night. Around 50 people, the majority of whom were dairy producers, came to the Roswell Museum and Art Center for an opportunity to hear and discuss the proposed changes to the Dairy Rule, adopted by the state in 2012. “If we had had this meeting five years ago, there would have been 50 percent more dairymen here,” said Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, one of five legislators who came Randal Seyler Photo to speak on behalf of the Jeff Kendall, general counsel for the New Mexico Environment Department, explains the dairy industry. purpose of Tuesday’s meeting at the Roswell Museum and Art Center. Dairy producers, legislators, and state officials met to discuss the state’s dairy discharge regulations and proSee DAIRY, Page A3 posed changes to those regulations.
Floods hit towns; Riggs only applicant for 5th Judicial spot more storms eyed and have been here ever since.”
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Flood waters struck parts of Albuquerque and other New Mexico cities on Tuesday as the state prepared for another storm system today that forecasters say may bring more heavy rain. Severe storms sparked floods in Albuquerque’s South Valley and pockets of eastern New Mexico, closing roads and causing minor damage. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that heavy rain in Rio Arriba County swamped two dozen homes north of Alcalde and swelled the Pecos River south of Santa Rosa to more than 11 feet deep. Teresa Lopez, a staffer
with the Rio Arriba County Emergency Management Office, said that on Monday evening, drainage from an arroyo had flooded the village of La Villita north of Alcalde and eroded a 4foot-deep gully through County Road 1025, exposing natural gas lines. About 20 homes were flooded or affected by mud, she said.
Meanwhile, droughtstricken lakes and reservoirs around the state reported jumps in elevation because of the heavy downpour. Sumner Lake in eastern New Mexico, for example, rose to an estimated 5 feet in a day, officials said.
AP Photo
Palestinians cry around the bodies of Shaher al-Najar, left, and his brother Bassem al-Najar, right, killed in an Israeli strike, at the family house during the funeral in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday.
HIGH 84 LOW 67
TODAY’S FORECAST
The only applicant for an opening on the 5th Judicial District Court is Kea W. Riggs, according to a news release from the nominating commission. According to the website, Judgepedia, Riggs was a part-time federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. She was first appointed to this position on April 13, 2001, and reappointed on Dec. 1, 2008, to another four-year ter m, which ended on April 13, 2013. “We have been in Roswell since 1993; I came out here and graduated from high school at
Riggs
NMMI,” Riggs said on Wednesday. “Then I went back to Oklahoma for my undergraduate studies and law school,” After college, the Riggses moved to Las Cruces, where Stanton Riggs was stationed at White Sands. “After he got out of the army, we moved to Roswell
She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and was admitted to the bar in 1990. Prior to taking the bench, Riggs was a prosecutor with a focus on the prosecution of violent crimes. She continued her focus on protecting the children of New Mexico after leaving prosecution by serving as the Guardian ad Litem for the abused and neglected children of Chaves County. Riggs is passionate about serving at-risk children by serving on such boards as the Esperanza House and the Assurance Home, according to a biography of Riggs published on the New Mexico Military Institute’s website.
She is married to Stanton Riggs, also an attorney. They have two children, Reagan and Caden. Riggs credits her ability to succeed in large part to the skills and values that she learned as a cadet at New Mexico Military Institute. She entered NMMI as a new cadet 4th classman in 1981 and graduated from high school in 1983. The District Judicial Nominating Commission will meet at 1 p.m. on Aug. 7 at the Chaves County Courthouse in Roswell.
Riggs’s application is the only one submitted to the Judicial Selection Office as of Tuesday for the vacancy in the 5th Judicial District Court due to the retire-
Deadly Israeli strikes hit UN school, market area
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes hit a crowded shopping area in Gaza City Wednesday, hours after tank shells tore through the walls of a U.N. school crowded with war refugees in the deadliest of a series of air and artillery attacks that pushed the Palestinian death toll above 1,360 in more than three weeks of fighting. The bloodshed came on the heels of an escalation by both sides fighting in the embattled coastal territory, further dimming prospects for a sustainable
cease-fire despite international diplomatic efforts. The attack on the U.N. school in the Jebaliya refugee camp was the second deadly strike on a U.N. compound in a week. Tank shells slammed into the compound before dawn, said Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, which is sheltering more than 200,000 people displaced by the fighting at dozens of U.N. schools across Gaza. Gaza health ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra said at
THERE ARE NO LOCAL OBITUARIES FOR TODAY. TODAY’S OBITUARIES
least 17 people were killed and about 90 wounded in the school strike. Four of the dead were killed just outside the school compound, two in their home nearby and two in the street, after returning from pre-dawn prayers, their relatives said. The Israeli military said it fired back after its soldiers were targeted by mortar rounds launched from the vicinity of the school. Assad Sabah said he and his five children were huddling under desks in one of the classrooms because of
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
See RIGGS, Page A3
the constant sound of tank fire throughout the night.
“We were scared to death,” he said. “After 4:30 a.m., tanks started firing more. Three explosions shook the school.”
“One classroom collapsed over the head of the people who were inside,” he said.
In one classroom, the front wall was blown out, leaving debris and bloodied clothing. Another strike tore a large round hole in the ceiling of a second-floor classroom.
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A6 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8