Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 228 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
September 22, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
SUNDAY
AP Photos
Left: Armed police leave after entering the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday. Right: A woman who had been hiding during the gun battle runs for cover after armed police enter the mall, Saturday.
39 dead in Kenya mall attack; hostages held NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Terrified shoppers huddled in back hallways and prayed they would not be found by the Islamic extremist gunmen lobbing grenades and firing assault rifles inside Nairobi’s top mall Saturday. When the way appeared clear, crying mothers clutching small children and blood-splattered men sprinted out of the four story mall. At least 39 people were killed and more than 150 wounded in the assault, president Kenya’s announced on national TV, while disclosing that his close family members were among the dead. Foreigners were among the casualties. France’s
president said that two French women were killed. Two Canadians were killed, including a diplomat, said the Candadian prime minister. Four American citizens were reported injured but not killed in the attack, the State Department said Saturday. Early Sunday morning, 12 hours after the attack began, gunmen remained holed up inside the mall with an unknown number of hostages. President Uhuru Kenyatta called the security operation under way “delicate” and said a top priority was to safeguard hostages. As the attack began shortly after noon Saturday, the al-Qaida-linked
gunmen asked the victims they had cornered if they were Muslim: Those who answered yes were free to go, several witnesses said. The non-Muslims were not. Somalia’s Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility and said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces’ 2011 push into Somalia. The rebels threatened more attacks. Al-Shabab said on its Twitter feed that Kenyan security officials were trying to open negotiations. “There will be no negotiations whatsoever,” alShabab tweeted. As night fell in Kenya’s capital, two contingents of army special forces troops
moved inside the mall. Police and military surrounded the huge shopping complex as helicopters buzzed overhead. An Associated Press reporter said he saw a wounded Kenyan soldier put into an ambulance at nightfall, an indication, perhaps, of a continuing shoot-out inside. Witnesses said at least five gunmen — including at least one woman — first attacked an outdoor cafe at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall, a shiny, new shopping center that includes Nike, Adidas and Bose stores. The mall’s ownership is Israeli, and security See KENYA, Page A3
State Dept: 4 US citizens injured in Kenya attack WASHINGTON (AP) — Four American citizens were reported injured in the Saturday attack on a shopping mall in Kenya. The wife of a foreign service national working for the U.S. Agency for International Development was killed, U.S. of ficials said. Kenyan officials said the assault on Nairobi’s top shopping mall killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 150 others. Soma-
lia’s Islamic extremist al-Shabab group claimed responsibility.
No details about the injured Americans were released by the State Department, which cited privacy concerns. Consular officers were in contact with the injured and were providing appropriate assistance, a State Department of ficial said.
See ATTACK, Page A3
US DOT to help state with flood road repairs Pope’s remarks
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Storm-weary New Mexico is getting some help from the federal gover nment on flood cleanup. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday it will make immediately available $2 million in emergency relief funds to help the state cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by severe storms earlier this month. The storms overflowed rivers, sparking massive flooding, forced evacuations and damaged roads. Of ficials say roads and bridges in counties and tribal areas in the state were washed out or severely damaged, including a section of I-40 about 30 miles west of Albuquerque, where a sinkhole formed. In addition, Los Alamos National Laboratory on Friday reported millions of dollars in damages to envi-
ronmental monitoring stations around the property due to heavy rain and flooding. According to the federal DOT, repairs from the September storms in New Mexico are so far estimated to be at least $9 million. The number is expected to increase as officials continue to assess the damages. The initial $2 million will be provided through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program. It will be used to reimburse the state for emergency work. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, DN.M., praised the move by the department. “Communities across our state are cleaning up from devastating floods, and many are facing expensive repairs to roads and bridges and other public infrastructure that is critically important in their daily lives,” Udall said in a
challenge bishops
NEW YORK (AP) — In recent years, many American bishops have drawn a harder line with parishioners on what could be considered truly Roman Catholic, adopting a more aggressive style of correction and telling abortion rights supporters to stay away from the sacrament of Communion. AP Photo
Fidel Serano, left, and Jose Perez use a canoe to help their neighbors whose properties were flooded by a raging Rio Chama on Wednesday, in Chili, about five miles north of Española.
statement. A spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez said the gover nor’s of fice was pleased with the federal help, especially after witnessing the damage herself.
“The governor has traveled around the state, from Las Vegas to Mogollon to Cloudcroft, and saw firsthand the devastation these rains have caused,” Martinez spokesman Enrique C. Knell said.
Blues, Band and Barbecue outdoes last year’s profits
TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
The Goddard High School band performs during the Blue, Bands and Barbecue held Saturday at Roswell Honda. Monies raised were slated for both the GHS band and the band from Roswell High School.
HIGH 88 LOW 58
TODAY’S FORECAST
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • MICHAEL D. STEPHENS • MARY ELLEN BENNETT • LT. GEN. RICHARD “DICK” KNOWLES • DONALD S. PENEWIT
Liberal-minded Catholics derided the approach as tone-deaf. Church leaders said they had no choice given what was happening around them: growing secularism, increasing acceptance of gay marriage, and a broader culture they considered more and more hostile to Christianity. They felt they were following the lead of the pontiffs who elevated them.
But in blunt terms, in an interview published Thursday in 16 Jesuit journals worldwide, the new pope, Francis called the church’s focus on abortion, marriage and contraception narrow and said it was driving people away. Now, the U.S. bishops face a challenge to rethink a strategy many considered essential for preserving the faith. “I don’t see how the pope’s remarks can be interpreted in any other way than arguing that the church’s rhetoric on the so-called culture war issues needs to be toned down,” said John Green, a religion specialist at the University of Akron’s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. “I think his language calls for less stridency on these issues.”
Attendees of the 2013 Blues, Bands and Barbecue fundraiser held at Roswell Honda enjoyed chicken, pork ribs, brisket and music Saturday. This year’s fundraiser raised more than three times as much money as last year for the Goddard High School and Roswell High School bands. Each school netted at least $2,400 from sales of raffle
- PAGES B6 & B7 • DONALD RAY URBINA • MARJORIE PINSON • RONNIE MURPHY
tickets and barbecue meals. “We just made it bigger and better this year,” said Nick Boyd, general manager for Roswell Honda. Carla Overmier, vice president of the boosters for the RHS band and parent of a senior in the band, attributed the profit increase to event sponsor All About Spas donating a Big Green Egg grill to the raf fle, rather than giving it to the winner of the barbecue contest.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........D1 COMICS .................D2 ENTERTAINMENT .....C6 FEATURE ................B8
She said the schools took home only $700 a piece the previous year. Barbecue meals were sold out by 3 p.m., which was scheduled to end at 4 p.m. As popular as the meat was, it wasn’t the only attraction for attendees. Both high schools’ bands, as well as Carlsbad’s eclectic band, No Mas No, performed. Goddard senior Mason Holman, 17, said he See BARBECUE, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD ..................C3 VISTAS...................C1