Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
GOP CONFRONTS STATE DEPT OFFICIALS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Prez to nervous Dems: I got this
Vol. 121, No. 244 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats aren’t just nervous about President Barack Obama’s listless debate performance. One month from Election Day, supporters worry his campaign hasn’t been aggressive enough in managing the fallout, and they fear losing ground with women voters. hand-wringing The prompted Obama on Wednesday to respond directly, assuring backers, “I got this.” Party loyalists, in Washington and in battleground
October 11, 2012
THURSDAY
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states, are fretting that Obama’s campaign has been slow to rebound after last week’s lead-off debate, which Republican Mitt Romney is widely viewed as having won. They’re worried that the Democratic ticket hasn’t been able to block Romney’s postdebate pivot to the political center. And they fear Romney’s new effort to show a softer side gives the Republican nominee an opening with female voters, who are crucial to the president’s re-election prospects.
Obama’s campaign, seeking to address some of the concerns, launched a fresh critique of Romney Wednesday for saying he wouldn’t pursue abortion-related legislation as president. Obama aides accused the Republican of “hiding” his positions of earlier in the year in order to gain women’s votes. The president’s team says no major changes are expected in his own re-election strategy. Nevertheless, See OBAMA, Page A3
SCOTUS questions Texas plan AP Photo
President Barack Obama speaks in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four weeks before the election, Republicans used a politically charged House hearing to confront State Department officials about security at the U.S. consulate in Libya and assail the Obama administration’s early response to the killing of the ambassador and three other Americans there. - PAGE B3
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours • 5 women assault protester outside store • Weather forces jump cancellation • Jazz Fest begins Thursday • Tuesday on the Pitch: Goddard wins city clash • Hatch Valley blanks NMMI
INSIDE SPORTS
Noah Vernau Photo
Daredevil will try again Sunday From left, Red Bull Stratos team members Don Day, Col. Joe Kittinger, Art Thompson and Andy Walshe answer questions at the Stratos media center in Roswell, Wednesday.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
The next window for Red Bull Stratos to launch Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner 23 miles
ALEX KARRAS DEAD AT 77
DETROIT (AP) — Alex Karras was a man of many roles. Fearsome NFL defensive lineman. Lovable TV dad. Hilarious big-screen cowboy. And in the end, a dementia victim who blamed the NFL for his illness along with thousands of former players in lawsuits accusing the league of not doing enough to protect them from the long-term effects of head injuries. The 77-year-old Karras, who managed to be tough, touching and tragic in the span of a lifetime ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Betty Jo Morgan • Enriqueta Vasquez • Linda Diane Clayton - PAGE B3
HIGH ...84˚ LOW ....60˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
skyward opens Sunday. Stratos team members were hopeful Tuesday that today’s forecast would be favorable for launch but eliminated that possibility early Wednesday. Stratos meteorologist Don Day said the
team will have to wait for a storm system to pass through today, Friday and Saturday, but that right now, a Sunday launch around sunrise looks promising.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices sharply questioned the University of Texas’ use of race in college admissions Wednesday in a case that could lead to new limits on affirmative action. The court heard arguments in a challenge to the program from a white Texan who contends she was discriminated against when the university did not offer her a spot in 2008. The court’s conservatives cast doubt on the program that uses race as one among many factors in admitting about a quarter of the university’s incoming freshmen. The liberal justices appeared more supportive of the effort. Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote could be decisive, looked skeptically on Texas’ defense of the program. “What you’re saying is what counts is race above all,” Kennedy said. He has never voted in favor of an affirmative action program but has voiced support for diversity in education. Twenty-two-year-old Abigail Fisher, the rejected student who sued, was among the hundreds of spectators at the arguments. Also in atten-
Ski Apache adds 8- NTSB: Gulfstream crash passenger gondola cause ‘absence of leadership’ CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
Ski Apache will begin its 51st year with style. The ski resort opens Thanksgiving Day, and boasts $15 million worth of renovations and additions. One of those additions is the brand new Doppelmayr Gondola. The eight-passenger gondola is the only passenger gondola in New Mexico and can climb 1,646 feet in just eight minutes. It will be replacing the four-passenger gondola. The resort’s seasonal opening will also bring the unveiling of three new chairlifts. All funding for the project came from the Mescalero Apache Tribe to aid in the resort’s efforts to continue stimulating the economy in
the area. President of the Mescalero Apache T ribe Fredrick Chino Sr. is quoted on the resort’s website as saying, “We are happy to invest in something that has proven such a valuable asset not just to the tribe, but to the surrounding communities as well, particularly considering the effects on the region from the Little Bear fire.” He added that the new improvements should attract even more visitors than it did last year. “During the 2011-2012 season, more than 130,000 people visited Ski Apache,” he said. “And we look forward to seeing that number continue to climb with the addition of these new lifts.”
See SKYDIVER, Page A3
ATLANTA (AP) — Warning signs from previous test flights went unheeded before the fiery crash of a business jet being tested in New Mexico, killing four employees of Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., federal aviation officials said. The Gulfstream GVI (G650) jet was taking off with a simulated engine failure when it crashed April 2, 2011, in Roswell, N.M. Per for mance issues that arose during two earlier test flights weren’t properly evaluated, safety experts testified Wednesday at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing. “Two prior close calls
See SCOTUS, Page A3
The company has taken several steps to improve the plane and its testing program since the accident.
should have prompted a yellow flag but instead of slowing down to analyze what had happened, the program continued full speed ahead,” NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said in her opening comments. “This crash was as much an absence of leadership as it was of lift,” she added. Video footage of the two earlier test flights, which took place in November 2010 and March 2011, was shown during Wednesday’s hearing. Hersman noted that
accident investigators have seen crashes involving airline pilots and truck drivers who pushed their limits to arrive at a final destination. “In this investigation, we saw an aggressive flight test schedule and pressure to get the aircraft certified,” she said. “Assumptions and errors were made, but they were neither reviewed nor evaluated when review data was collected.” The hearing, held in Washington, D.C., was
See CRASH, Page A3
Agencies: Prairie chicken needs better managed habitat See SKI, Page A3
AP Photo
A male prairie chicken displays his best in the Flint Hills in Greenwood County, Kan.
POR TALES (AP) — The lesser prairie chicken is not endangered but is in need of a better managed habitat, wildlife officials have announced. The Portales News-Tribune reports that the findings come after a survey recently completed by federal and local wildlife agencies. The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Grassland Initiative said a population count of around 37,000 prairie chickens means that wildlife officials have not
only discovered that the prairie chicken is not endangered, but officials now have vast opportunities to learn more about the bird’s habitat. “Surveys in the past have been done on a state-bystate level,” said WAFWA spokesman Bill Van Pelt. “But states have different methods, so they weren’t necessarily statistically valid. With this (rangewide) methodology, we can say with some certainty, this is the range of the lesser prairie chicken.” The surveys were con-
ducted from March to May and encompassed more than 300,000 square miles, according to the wildlife group. The chicken’s range of living includes New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas, said Van Pelt.
News of the finding came as a relief to ranchers, far mers and wind far ms operators who have expressed concerns about listing the lesser prairie chicken as endangered. See PRAIRIE, Page A2