Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 188 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
CHEERS FOR MARS LANDING PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — NASA celebrated the precision landing of a rover on Mars and marveled over the mission’s first photographs Monday — grainy, blackand-white images ...
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
August 7, 2012
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Gunman in Sikh temple was white supremacist
OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — Before he strode into a Sikh temple with a 9mm handgun and multiple magazines of ammunition, Wade Michael Page played in white supremacist heavy metal bands with names such as Definite Hate and End Apathy.
The bald, heavily tattooed bassist was a 40year-old Army veteran who trained in psychological war fare before he was demoted and discharged more than a decade ago. A day after he killed six
worshippers at the suburban Milwaukee temple, fragments of Page’s life emerged in public records and interviews. But his motive was still largely a mystery. So far, no hatefilled manifesto has emerged, nor any angry blog or ranting Facebook entries to explain the attack.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards suggested Monday that investigators might never know for certain why the lone attacker targeted a temple full of
Bull on the run
strangers. “We have a lot of information to decipher, to put it all together before we can positively tell you what that motive is — if we can determine that,” Edwards said. Page, who was shot to death by police, joined the Army in 1992 and was discharged in 1998. He was described Monday by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “frustrated neoNazi” who had long been active in the obscure See TEMPLE, Page A3
AP Photo
Police personnel work near the home of the suspect in the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin shooting in Cudahy, Wis., Sunday.
Softball field at Wool Bowl possible
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JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• Fatal accident • Murder suspect found in Texas, turns self in • Auto wreck leaves 1,000 without power • Roswell incident: 61 percent say ‘nope’ • Noon Op set for trip to regionals
INSIDE SPORTS
Andrew Poertner Photo
Roswell Police Department officers, Chaves County Sheriff’s Office deputies and members of Animal Control chase a bull on East Country Club Road, Monday. The bull traveled north on Main Street, cut through a residential area and then was pursued down Country Club Road.
Serious consideration was given to the Wool Bowl girl’s softball renovation project at Monday evening’s Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, after several city councilors showed interest in aggressively moving forward with the project to render the fields playable by spring 2013, resulting in the council approving an additional $500,000 in funding for the project within the 20122013 fiscal year budget, during a July 26 special council meeting. At the July 26 meeting, $500,000 was added to the
Accident claims mother and child Libertarians hope to earn
See PARKS, Page A3
major party status in NM
SUHR GETS POLE VAULT GOLD LONDON (AP) — For the first time before a big meet, Jenn Suhr heard a positive message from her husband, Rick, who’s also her coach. While sending Jenn onto the field for the Olympic pole vault ...
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TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Geraldine Ballew • Barbara Irwin • Wilson Dickinson
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HIGH .100˚ LOW ....72˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A7 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Two people died in a traffic accident at the corner of Brasher Road and Southeast Main Street. The driver of an SUV rammed the rear end of a Hyundai, traveling up and over the smaller vehicle. The SUV rolled over and the driver escaped on foot.
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Saturday night out ended in tragedy, with the death of two people as the result of a traffic accident. Early Sunday morning, Mandy Miranda of Roswell picked up her two
children at the baby sitter’s. Between 3:30 and 4 a.m. Miranda and her children, ages 6 and 4, were sitting in the northbound lane waiting for a stop light at the corner of Brasher Road and Southeast Main Street when
the driver of a white 2007 Cadillac Escalade rear ended the 2007 Hyundai Sonata. Chaves County Sheriff Office Lieutenant Britt Snyder estimated that the See ACCIDENT, Page A3
Man arrested in animal cruelty incident JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Dexter man nearly beat a dog to death with a baseball bat. Chaves County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of animal cruelty, around 11 p.m. Wednesday, at the 100 block of West Darby in Dexter. “We received two calls. One caller said it sounded like the man was beating his dogs,” Chaves County Sheriff Britt Snyder said. “When we arrived, they found Luis Baltasar, 47, Jessica Palmer Photo in his yard with a bloody baseball bat in his This dog was one of four found at 144 W. Darby, Dexter. Three survived. Two had “healing” burns on their backs. The one seen here was extenstive. One pit bull mix had See CRUELTY, Page A3 been beaten nearly to death with a baseball bat.
SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico’s Libertarian Party has a lot at stake in the general election with former Gov. Gary Johnson running as its presidential nominee. A strong finish by Johnson will deliver a big boost to the Libertarians under terms of state election law, potentially making it easier for the party’s candidates to secure a place on the ballot starting in 2014. Libertarians have a chance at becoming a “major political party” in New Mexico — the same as Democrats and Republicans — if Johnson wins at least 5 percent of the total vote in November. That’s a significant prize because it would remove hurdles that make it difficult for most third-party candidates to get on the ballot in the state. “It certainly would improve things for the Libertarian Party,” said Richard Winger, editor and publisher of Ballot Access News, which tracks election
laws nationwide. “I think you would see a lot of Libertarians run for office.” Even if Johnson finishes strongly, there’s still one more step for Libertarians. They would be required to increase their voter registration to make it more than one-third of 1 percent of New Mexico’s total registered voters by early 2014. Currently, there are about 2,430 registered Libertarians in New Mexico — roughly 0.2 percent of the 1.2 million voters in the state. If Libertarians become a major party, they would select their nominees by holding a June primary election along with Democrats and Republicans. Candidates file petitions to run in their party’s primary, and the winner is automatically on the general election ballot. Minor political parties use a dif ferent system, which has been the subject
NM Gov. tapped to speak at GOP convention in Tampa
See LIBERTARIAN, Page A3
SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is one of three female Republican leaders picked to speak at the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month.
Martinez and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the first female governors of their states, are among a trio of female firsts leaders slated to address the gathering that begins Aug. 27. Martinez has the additional distinction of being the first female Hispanic governor in the country.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the first black female to hold that job, is also scheduled to speak.
The GOP convention schedule is packed with high-profile names to fire up divergent wings of the Republican Party, from social conservatives to fiscal hawks. They will speak ahead of Mitt Romney’s formal acceptance of his party’s presidential nomination.