Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 236 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
October 2, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
WEDNESDAY
Insurance markets open to surge of new customers
CHICAGO (AP) — Americans got their first chance Tuesday to shop for health insurance using the online marketplaces that are at the heart of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, but government websites designed to sell the policies struggled to handle the traf fic, with many frustrated users reporting trouble setting up accounts.
State and federal agencies were working to fix the sites, which represent the
biggest expansion in coverage in nearly 50 years. There should be time to make improvements. The open-enrollment period lasts for six months.
Administration officials said they were pleased with the strong consumer interest. At least 2.8 million people had visited the healthcare.gov website as of Tuesday afternoon, said Medicare administrator Marilyn Tavenner, whose office is overseeing the rollout of the Affordable Care
Act. The website had seven times the number of simultaneous users ever recorded on the medicare.gov site. But at most only a handful of people had been able to successfully enroll online through the federal website in that time period, according to two industry officials with knowledge of the situation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the issue publicly. The number of those enrolled is
expected grow as technicians tackle and resolve glitches. In Obama’s home state, dozens of people who came to a Champaign, Ill., public health office to sign up for coverage found computer screens around the room flashing an error message: “System is unavailable.” Kimberly Shockley — logging in from Houston, Texas — and Mike Weaver, who lives in rural southern See SURGE, Page A3
The state fair has once again kicked off and holding true to tradition Tuesday was Special Needs Day. “It’s a great chance to determine if (the kids) like the fair,” said Julie Donahue, the developmental specialist at Los Pasitos, a school for children ages 0 to 3 who have developmental delays or are at risk. “For some kids (the day) is just enough fair, but for some they find that they love the rides or the animals and then parents can bring them back.” From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. a schedule of events had the kids from different schools going to different shows and presentations throughout the day. This year’s special entertainment was “Dragon Scales and Fairy Tales,” a show starring Fairy Princess Tatiara and a baby dragon. Princess Tatiara, known as Nicki
Mark Wilson Photos
SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico launched an online marketplace for health insurance that enrolled 170 business customers on Tuesday, but individuals struggled with problems trying to use a federal exchange,
according to state officials and health care advocates. New Mexico took a “hybrid” approach to the online marketplace — implementing a stateSee EXCHANGE, Page A3
Kids, parents enjoy dragons and butter-making at fair’s annual Special Needs Day AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
Top: Students from Valley View Elementary try on fire helmets courtesy of the Roswell Fire Department during Special Needs Day at the Eastern New Mexico State Fair, Tuesday morning. Right: Youngsters enjoy the carnival rides during Special Needs Day at the Eastern New Mexico State Fair, Tuesday morning.
NM health insurance exchange goes live
Ojeda behind the scenes, has been doing the show for two years, but it has been going on for 17 years. This was the first year it showed at New Mexico’s State Fair. “(I like) making the kids happy and seeing their smiles when they believe in magic,” she said. “And seeing the parents leave going, ‘That was actually pretty funny.’” With constant audience participation, the auditorium filled with giggles as the kids cheered and laughed at the baby dragon, named Logan by the audience. But the most popular show, as is true nearly every year, was the milking cow show. The kids learned how a cow is milked and each child received a little container that they were told to shake until they had each made their own little amount of butter. For the teachers though, they mostly like the parental involvement. “I think (the best part) is
being able to come out with the kids and their parents,” said age four teacher at Parkview, Erica Rivera. The Grade Level Representative, Oralia Aquilar, agreed that the best part of Special Needs Day is the parent contribution. “We get to meet the parents and they get to participate with the kids,” she said. Parkview then takes the farm and animal theme of the fair back to school and uses it to help in educating the kids. The month of October is dedicated to the farm theme. It’s a great chance for the kids to visit the fair in a small dose without parents trying to pay for the whole family only to realize their 2-year -old doesn’t actually want to be there, Donahue said. It also helps to have less people around. “A lot of the kids have sensory concerns,” she explained. “So with 100 See FAIR, Page A3
No shutdown end; Dems, GOP trade blame State leaders split on govt shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — First slowed, then stalled by political gridlock, the vast machinery of gover nment clanged into partial shutdown mode on Tuesday and President Barack Obama warned the longer it goes “the more families will be hurt.” Republicans said it was his fault, not theirs, and embarked on a strategy — opposed by Democrats — of voting on bills to reopen individual agencies or programs.
Ominously, there were suggestions from leaders in both parties that the shutdown, heading for its second day, could last for weeks and grow to encompass a possible default by the
Treasury if Congress fails to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. The two issues are “now all together,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Speaking at the White House, the president accused Republicans of causing the first partial closure in 17 years as part of a non-stop “ideological crusade” to wipe out his signature health care law.
House Speaker John Boehner, ROhio, gave as good as he got. “The president isn’t telling the whole story,” he said in an opinion article posted on the USA Today website. “The fact is that Washington Democrats have slammed the door on
reopening the government by refusing to engage in bipartisan talks.”
Both houses of Congress met in a Capitol closed to regular public tours, part of the impact of a partial shutdown that sent ripples of disruption outward — from museums and memorials in Washington to Yellowstone and other national parks and to tax auditors and federal offices serving Americans coast to coast.
Officials said roughly 800,000 federal employees would be affected by the shutdown after a half-day on the job Tuesday to fill out time cards, put new messages on their voice mail and similar chores.
Mall attack to cost Kenya $200 million in tourism except for a stop at Lamu, a coastal city near Somalia where a French woman was kidnapped in 2011. The risk to tourism was one of the first concerns officials expressed after the attack that left at least 67 dead including 18 foreigners. Tourism generates 14 percent of Kenya’s GDP and employs 12 percent of its workforce, according to Moody’s Investment Services and the World T ravel and Tourism Council. Moody’s predicts the attack will cost Kenya’s economy $200 million to $250 million in lost tourism revenue, estimat-
HIGH 94 LOW 54
TODAY’S FORECAST
ing it will slow growth of Kenya’s GDP by 0.5 percent. Kenya’s 2012 GDP was $41 billion. “Evidence would seem to indicate that 2013 could well be a very difficult year for the local tourism industry,” according to a report released Tuesday by Business Monitor International, which revised its 2013 outlook for Kenya’s tourism growth from 3 percent down to 1.5 percent. Tourism is Kenya’s largest earner of foreign exchange after tea and coffee exports, generating $4.7 billion in 2011, according to Moody’s and the World
PAGE B6
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — When Ohio resident Bill Haynes heard about the shooting at Westgate Mall by Islamic extremist gunmen last month, he considered canceling his upcoming 17-day safari to Kenya and Tanzania. “You can’t help but be concerned,” said Haynes, 67. “Here’s a place we’re going to be in about five days and there are some terrorists shooting the place up. That would cause anybody to give some pause.” Acting on advice from a friend in Nairobi, Haynes went through with his trip
• MARY P. PENA • CINDY KAY (RAMIREZ) GONZALEZ
Travel and Tourism Council.
Kenya is Africa’s fifth largest tourist destination, welcoming approximately 1.8 million visitors each year. Nearly half come from Britain and Europe, while visitors from the United States became an increasing share of the total during the past two years, according to Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism.
The anticipated toll on tourism is expected to magnify the decline in tourist arrivals caused by the massive fire to Nairobi airport’s arrivals terminal in August.
• JEANETTE BAUER
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
New Mexico’s congressional leaders were split on how they handled the first day of the federal government shutdown Tuesday, while Roswell residents felt few effects from the legislative logjam.
Republican Rep. Steve Pearce was the only state U.S. House representative to vote three times Monday in favor of continuing federal support to veterans, keeping national park services, the Smithsonian, National Gallery of Art and U.S. See LEADERS, Page A3
Puppy love
Amy Vogelsang Photo
Butterball, 8 weeks, left, and Topeka, 16 weeks, from Roswell Humane Society are two of the animals that will be part of the annual Blessing of Animals and Memorial Service held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 505 N. Pennsylvania Ave., on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. Rev. Dale Plummer will perform the ceremony inside the church and the event is open to the public. All donations will go to Roswell Humane Society. CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B5
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8