Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 226 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
September 20, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
FRIDAY
Kerry: UN must pass resolution on Syrian weapons
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday called on the U.N. Security Council to move swiftly to approve a U.S.-Russia deal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, saying there is no time to argue with those who remain unconvinced that the Syrian regime carried out a chemical attack last month that killed hundreds.
Kerry didn’t mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his remarks
were a clear attempt to rebut Putin’s statement that Russia has strong grounds to believe that Syrian rebels — not President Bashar Assad’s regime — were responsible for the Aug. 21 attack.
Speaking at a conference, Putin said, “We have every reason to believe that it was a provocation, a sly and ingenious one.” He said those who perpetrated the attack relied on “primitive” technology, using old Soviet-made ammunition
no longer in the Syrian army’s inventory. While a recent report by U.N. inspectors did not ascribe blame, the U.S., Britain, France and others believe that the report’s findings offer conclusive evidence that the attack was conducted by the Syrian military. Assad, in an interview this week with Fox News Channel, denied that his regime was responsible for the attack. The U.S., Britain and France pointed to evidence
in the report — especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent and trajectory of the missiles — to declare that Assad’s government was responsible. Moreover, they argue that there is no evidence that opposition forces possess sarin gas.
“So there you have it. Sarin was used. Sarin killed,” Kerry said. “The world can decide whether it was used by the regime, which has used chemical weapons before — the
regime which had the rockets and the weapons — or whether the opposition secretly went unnoticed into territory they don’t control to fire rockets they don’t have, containing sarin that they don’t possess to kill their own people.
“And then, without even being noticed, they just disassembled it all and packed up and got out of the center of Damascus controlled by Assad. Please. This isn’t complicated.”
Commission OKs manure biofuel plant bond plan JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photos
Roswell welcomes Marshalls store Socorro Mendoza takes her granddaughters Mackela Martinez, 2 1/2 years old, and 6-week-old Lexy Martinez shopping during the grand opening of Marshalls, Thursday morning.
TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
It may be the best thing to happen to Roswell since 1947. A Marshalls retail store opened at the Roswell Mall Thursday, after about a year of anticipation. John Maldonado is the district manager of 15 Marshalls stores located across Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado and Missouri. He described the reaction of eager Roswellians he had met during the lead up to the grand opening of the 25,000 square foot location that offers brand name products at a 40 to 60 percent discount off regular prices. “If you went to a restaurant, if you were just wearing your lanyard, ‘Oh my
god, you work for Marshalls,’ ” he said. The excitement was palpable as shoppers streamed through the store’s front doors, gathering raffle tickets to win one of twenty $50 giftcards, and complementary reusable shopping bags as they entered. At 8:30 a.m., just 30 minutes after doors opened, Marshalls staff estimated that there were at least 350 people browsing merchandise. Some of the christeners had arrived as early as 6 a.m. awaiting the beginning of the shopping extravaganza, according to Angy Cooper, the mall’s general manager. Maldonado said Marshalls had hired two people from the store’s internal loss prevention department to
Mark Green (left) and Rubie Rubinstein of Harvest Ministries received a check in the amount of $5,000 from Marshalls, Thursday morning.
work security overnight and many brought their Wednesday in case cus- children. tomers had decided to Jill Jameson, 35, came camp out. Most shoppers on Thursday were women, See MARSHALLS, Page A3
AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
With 80 acres of various plants, New Mexico State University’s Agricultural Science Center has plenty of space and opportunities to conduct research, but only once every two years do they hold an event to inform the public about some of the many projects going on. The bi-annual field day — although this time it has been three years since the last field day — was held Thursday, and with Amy Vogelsang Photo some long-term projects under way, there was Associate Professor and Entomologist Jane Pierce, Ph.D. plenty to talk about. demonstrates the difference between gland and glandless One of their biggest cotton at NMSU’s bi-annual field day, Thursday.
HIGH 82 LOW 60
the bond payments. “We think it’s a great project,” Riggs said. With the help of $20 million in bond revenues, the project will be located near the Three Amigos Dairy. The project will consist of land, buildings and equipment for a “non-depleting” agricultural energy system that uses anaerobic digestion to produce a biogas, composed of methane and carbon dioxide, from mainly livestock manure. AGPower will build its first site near the Three Amigos Dairy and begin a more extensive project that will ultimately include dozens of dairies in the region. “It’s going to be a huge win for the county and specifically the dairies here that have been struggling with state environment department,” said Jessica Chaves, project manager with the Chaves County Economic Development Corporation. “For someone to come in and help relieve
Navy Yard reopens 3 days after massacre
NMSU field day offers agricultural insight
TODAY’S FORECAST
County Commissioners approved a plan Thursday to pave the way for an innovative biogas company to begin processing cow manure into usable fuel. The plan would collect Chaves County dairy waste and send it out of town through a pipeline. “These individuals would be benefitting Chaves County by taking our manure and processing it, and sending it into the pipeline,” said County Manager Stanton Riggs. “It’s a very important project to Chaves County, not only to the dairies. We think it’s a win, win.” Commissioners approved a resolution that allows the company to go out for the $20 million bond. By taking the action, the county will defer taxes on the property. However, in lieu of taxes, the company, AGPower, will pay an equal amount of taxes to public entities. AGPower also will hold the county harmless with
Kerry
projects involves glandless cotton. Most cotton contains glands — little black dots on the stems that are toxic to most animals — explained Associate Professor and Entomologist Jane Pierce, Ph.D.
“We manage insects and pests,” she said of most of the farm’s research. “Obviously there will be some pests, but we don’t want them to the point that they cause ecological damage.”
Using this concept, they have taken on the challenge of figuring out how to grow the more susceptible glandless cotton without having a heightened insect
See NMSU, Page A3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES - PAGES • MARILYN ANN PETRIE • ESTELLE H. YATES • JONATHAN JAMES AHLEN MILLER • DANIEL “DANNY” • MARY ELLEN BENNETT MAINELLO
A6 & A7 • GERALD E. WILLIAMS • MICHAEL STEPHENS • BARBARA JEAN ACOSTA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some employees returning to work at the Washington Navy Yard Thursday said they felt it was too early to talk about the massacre earlier this week while others said it will take a while to put what happened behind them. “I’d rather not be here today,” said Judy Farmer, a scheduler from Manassas, Va., one of those who returned to the red bricks of the Navy Yard for the first time since 12 people were gunned down Monday by a shooter who was killed by law enforcement. The Navy installation reopened at 6 a.m. for normal operations except the building where the shooting took place. Bob Flynn, who hid in an office in Building 197 with four colleagues during the shooting, said it helped to be at work with them. “I feel good because I got to see my co-workers that I went through this with,” Flynn said. “I get to hug people, and everybody gets the hugs and we get to talk about it and I think it’s going to be helpful.” Flynn said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus met with them Thursday morning. CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5
COMICS .................B3
FINANCIAL ..............B4
See COMMISSION, Page A3
“He said, ‘If anybody has a problem, you call me,’ and he means it, and it’s just one big family and that’s why we’re going to be able to make it,” Flynn said. Flynn recalled hiding with the lights out in a third-floor office, where one colleague called 911, another used a smart phone from under a desk so the light wouldn’t be visible and another put chairs against the door as 34year-old Aaron Alexis fired in the building. Authorities say he was the lone shooter. “It seemed like it lasted forever as we were hearing gunshots and not knowing what was going on,” Flynn said. “When they finally rescued us later, I had to walk over the body of a very dear friend of mine and, you know, that’s hard to get out of my head.” Brooke Roberts, an engineer who works across the street from the building where the shooting happened, said returning was a bit surreal. “You don’t think this sort of thing can happen to you at your workplace, so you’re just not prepared for
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A6 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A7
See YARD, Page A3 OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8