Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
UNION MAY STRIKE GM
TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian Auto workers union said they could serve General Motors with a 24-hour strike notice on Thursday afternoon after saying that GM failed to meet the pattern of a deal the union reached with Ford. CAW spokeswoman Shannon Devine said there are a few key items missing from GM’s latest proposal that ... - PAGE B4
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
RNC shifts resources out of NM
Vol. 121, No. 227 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — In the latest sign that Republicans are failing to gain traction in New Mexico, national party leaders are pulling three key staffers from their effort here to elect Mitt Romney. Party officials confirmed Wednesday that the GOP Victory campaign’s director, Hispanic outreach director and communications director will be transferred to more competitive states as part of a shift in the Republican National Com-
September 21, 2012
FRIDAY
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mittee’s resources. They emphasized, however, that all of the state campaign offices will remain open and staffed through the election. “The GOP Victory organization will maintain a presence in New Mexico and continue talking to voters about how President Obama’s economic policies have failed New Mexico and Gov. Romney’s plan to strengthen the middle class,” said RNC spokesman Ted Kwong.
Ellie Wallace, an RNC spokeswoman in Colorado, said that some New Mexico staf fers are being redeployed to the key battleground states of Colorado and Nevada. While New Mexico early in the campaign was also considered a battleground, it never really became competitive. The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently pulled $3 million in television ad See ROMNEY, Page A3
AP Photo
County amends, adopts ICIP
Mitt Romney arrives in West Palm Beach, Fla., for private campaign fundraising events, Thursday.
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INSIDE SPORTS
AP Photo
Pakistani protesters burn a representation of a U.S. flag and an effigy of President Barack Obama during a rally in Peshawar, Pakistan, as a part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, on Thursday.
Obama: Strides, setbacks in Muslim world WASHINGTON (AP) — Images of angry mobs in Arab cities burning American flags and attacking
RIO GRANDE RIVALRY
When the football goes into the air for the opening kickoff of the gridiron version of the Rio Grande Rivalry, nearly the entire Anaya family will be in attendance. The only question will be which jersey will each family member choose — Desmond Anaya’s No. 87 crimson-and-white Aggie jersey or David Anaya’s No. 38 cherry-and-silver Lobo jersey? It will be the one and only time that Desmond and David square off against each other in the annual ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • • • • •
William Atkinson Diane Childress Emma Lee Blair Mary “Helen” Hidalgo May Del Moffett - PAGE A6
HIGH ...94˚ LOW ....58˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT.....B8 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
U.S. diplomatic posts suggest the Muslim world is no less enraged at the United States than when
President George W. Bush had to duck shoes hurled at him in Baghdad. But more than three
years after President Barack Obama declared See OBAMA, Page A3
The Chaves County Commission moved to adopt the 2014-2018 Chaves County Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, Thursday, with one key addition: that the ICIP include planning for an extension of the bypass around the Roswell International Air Center. Commissioner Greg Nibert said that an Economic Development Corporation meeting Wednesday shed some light on long-range development needed at RIAC, a project that would involve the state highway project and address continued expansion of the airport. Nibert said the interior of RIAC is 100 percent filled with existing businesses, with currently no place for See COUNTY, Page A3
Interlocks don’t detect Board backs pension changes drugs; doesn’t stop court
SANTA FE (AP) — People convicted of driving under the influence of prescription or illegal drugs must have an ignition interlock installed on their vehicles as required by New Mexico’s drunken driving law although the devices don’t detect the use of drugs, the state Court of Appeals has ruled. The court’s precedentsetting ruling overturned a decision last year by a district judge in Santa Fe who determined that the ignition interlock requirement was unconstitutional for
someone whose impairment was caused by drugs rather than alcohol. An interlock can only detect the presence of alcohol. Drivers must blow into the devices, which prevent a vehicle from starting or continuing to operate if someone’s blood-alcohol level exceeds a certain amount. New Mexico has required ignition interlocks for anyone convicted of DWI since 2005. Linda Atkinson, execuSee INTERLOCK, Page A2
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A state pension board is recommending that teachers and other educators contribute more to help shore up their retirement fund. The New Mexico Educational Retirement Board endorsed the union-supported changes on a 4-3 vote Wednesday even as detractors questioned whether it will adequately improve the long-ter m finances of the pension fund. It will be up to the Legislature, which convenes in January, to
A proposal by the board that would have cut retirees’ annual cost-of-living adjustments and enacted other changes stalled in the Legislature earlier this year after being opposed by some unions. approve any pension changes. The Albuquerque Journal reports that besides higher contributions, the plan changes benefits for workers hired in the future, including imposing a minimum retirement age of 55. The Educational Retire-
First United Methodist to celebrate 125 years CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
First United Methodist is a large church with a long legacy in the community. On Sept. 29, the church will begin a weekend of events to celebrate its 125th anniversary. Festivities begin that Saturday at 4 p.m. with a chicken dinner at the Girl Scout Pavilion on East College Boulevard. On Sunday, Sept. 30, everyone is encouraged to come to the church and worship at 10:30 a.m. At 4 p.m., the church’s choir will sing its favorite anthems during a free concert. An ice cream social will immediately follow. On Monday, Oct. 1, at
10 a.m. the church will have a float in the Southeastern New Mexico State Fair Parade. Longtime member David Wilcox said he’s very excited about the celebration and encourages everyone to join the party. “We’re very excited for it,” he said. “ We want any community member who either has ties with us from the past to join us again for the celebration weekend, or people who may be looking for a church home. This would be a great time to check us out.” The church was founded in 1887 by Helen Johnson. She and her family lived east of Roswell just past the Pecos River. She sent her son to town to
Chaunte’l Powell Photo
Pictured on the left is a plaque with the names of the First United Methodist Church’s charter members. To the right is a picture of founder Helen Johnson.
fetch a doctor and when the young man was returning home, he was caught in the current of the river and drowned. With no church around, Johnson was forced to
conduct the funeral herself. From this tragedy she decided to start a church of her own. It began with her teaching Sunday school to the children in See FIRST, Page A2
ment Board has an unfunded liability of $5.9 billion. The pension program covers 96,000 educators and retirees, from public school teachers and principals to janitors and college faculty. See PENSION, Page A3
State cop injured; semi leaves scene
Around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, New Mexico State Police Lt. Javier Moncada was driving east on State Road 249 near mile marker 8 when a red commercial motor vehicle traveling west drifted into his lane directly in front of him. Moncada swerved to avoid a head-on collision and as a result his police car rolled about 3 times on the dirt shoulder. The semi continued to travel west toward Hagerman. The vehicle did not stop. Moncada, who is based in the Roswell offices of NMSP, was transported to Easter n New Mexico See COP, Page A3