Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Shutdown deal in sight? Some are optimistic Vol. 122, No. 247 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
October 15, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
AP Photo
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talks with reporters as he walks to the Senate floor on Capitol Hill on Saturday in Washington. The federal government remains partially shut down and faces a first-ever default between Oct. 17 and the end of the month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Racing the clock, the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders closed in on a deal Monday night to avoid an economy-menacing Treasury default and end the two-week partial government shutdown. “We’ve made tremendous progress,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared after an intense day of negotiations with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and other lawmakers. “Perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day,” he said, suggesting agreement could be announced soon after weeks of stubborn gridlock. McConnell also voiced optimism — although not as much as Reid, D-Nev.,
had — and the details under discussion generated little if any satisfaction among rebellious House conservatives. Officials said that in the discussion to date, the $16.7 trillion federal debt limit would be raised enough to permit the Treasury to borrow normally until mid-February, if not a few weeks longer. The government would reopen with enough money to operate until mid-January at levels set previously, and agencies would be given flexibility in adjusting to reduced funding levels imposed by across-theboard spending cuts. Officials cautioned that those details could change, and there was even more
TUESDAY
uncertainty about other elements of a possible deal. Under discussion was a one-year delay in a $63 fee imposed on companies by the health care law known as Obamacare for everyone covered by an employer sponsored plan. By day’s end, though, Republican opposition to the provision placed it in jeopardy — just as Democrats had earlier pushed back against the proposed repeal of a medical device tax contained in the health care law. The two sides were also discussing a requirement that individuals seeking subsidies under the health care law to pay for coverage would be subject to stronger income verification measures.
The government has been partly closed since Oct. 1, and the Obama administration says the Treasury will run out of borrowing authority to fully pay the nation’s bills on Thursday.
The result has been a partisan showdown that polls show is alienating all sectors of the electorate except tea party supporters — and has been a big political loser for Republicans. As a midweek deadline for raising the debt limit neared, the stock market turned positive on bullish predictions from the two longtime antagonists at the center of the talks, Reid and McConnell.
Civilian Guard workers in NM kept on payroll
See BUDGET, Page A3
SANTA FE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration stopped the furlough of several dozen civilian workers for the National Guard on Monday by having the state cover their salaries this week while a federal government shutdown continues.
The 55 federally funded state employees maintain Guard facilities across the state, and include the staff responsible for computer security and construction management, National Guard spokesman Capt. Brian Raphael said.
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Biofuel plant set to break ground
AG Power's plant that will convert dairy waste into biogas at Prices Lane and Tumbleweed Road will break ground Friday.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A power company will break ground Friday on a plant that will start turning Chaves County dairy
manure into biofuel.
AG Power Inc. will start building the first of four projects to begin taking the county’s massive hills of manure, mix it with wastewater and send it
underground to facilities that will separate out methane gas.
The product is piped downstream, converted into compressed natural gas and eventually
pumped to California to fuel vehicles. “There’s really no downside to this to the dairymen,” said Charlie Deg-
See BIOFUEL, Page A3
Day care helps tots and parents alike This article is one in a series of stories focusing on local agencies that receive support from the United Way of Chaves County, which is currently conducting its annual fundraising campaign.
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Alexandra Aranda, 29, exudes energy and enthusiasm when she speaks of
her work as director of Working Mothers Day Care, a United Way Agency. “We provide a loving environment which allows children to lear n and grow.”
She praises United Way, which provides funds for scholarships to lowincome families. The day care has a capacity for 113 students, ranging in age from 6 weeks to 5 years, and is almost at capacity with 105 students. The students and the parents develop loyalty to the day care. Aranda maintains a book of evalu-
ations and letters where parents give Working Mothers high marks. “I have parents with kids who came here and are now 10 enroll their younger children.”
The parents volunteer at the day care, but parents are not the only ones. Leadership Roswell, Job Corps and students from See CARE, Page A3
Libyan arrives in US to face terrorism charges
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a weeklong interrogation aboard a U.S. warship, a Libyan al-Qaida suspect is now in New York awaiting trial on terrorism charges, U.S. officials said Monday. Abu Anas al-Libi was grabbed in a military raid in Libya on Oct. 5. He’s due to stand trial in Manhattan, where he has been under indictment for more than a decade on charges he helped plan and conduct surveillance for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, confirmed that al-Libi was transferred to law enforcement custody over the weekend. Al-Libi was expected to be arraigned Tuesday, Bharara said. President Barack Obama’s adminis-
tration took criticism years ago when it decided to prosecute admitted 9/11 master mind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York, rather than at the naval prison at Guantanamo Bay. After reversing course, however, the gover nment has successfully prosecuted several terrorism cases in civilian courts. A federal law enforcement official and two other U.S. officials said alLibi arrived in New York on Saturday. The officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. Intelligence officials interrogated him for a week aboard the U.S.S. San Antonio in the Mediterranean. Interrogations at sea have replaced CIA
HIGH 68 LOW 48
TODAY’S FORECAST
See TERROR, Page A3
AP Photo
This file image from the FBI website shows Al Qaeda leader Abu Anas alLibi, who was captured in a military raid on Oct. 5.
• MARGARET STEVENS BRINEY • JOAN PURDY
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • PAGE A6
Most of the workers are at the National Guard headquarters outside Santa Fe and Air National Guard operations at Kirtland Air Force in Albuquerque. Others help maintain armories and other facilities across the state.
“They are the ones who support our soldiers and airmen. They’re really essential to what we do,” said Raphael. The state will pay about $53,500 to maintain the workers on the payroll through Sunday. They otherwise would have been furloughed starting Monday.
If the partial federal shutdown continues, the governor’s office said the administration will revisit the decision of whether to keep the civilian workers in their jobs. The federal government typically covers the full salaries of nearly all of the civilian workers. Raphael said the state usually pays 25 percent of the salaries of two or three of the employees. Martinez said National Guard troops “can’t do their jobs without the support of employees who literally keep the lights on at Readiness Centers and maintain the equipment used in the field.” “This continued shutdown is a sign of the complete dysfunction in Washington, D.C., and it’s ridiculous that states have to step in and cover federal responsibilities,” Martinez said in a statement.
Raphael said about 500 National Guard technicians, who hold civilian jobs and are military members of the Guard, were furloughed initially when the federal shutdown began. However, they have since been recalled because of a Defense Department decision about who’s covered by a federal military pay law. The 55 civilian workers faced with unpaid furloughs are not military members of the National Guard but are considered state employees who are in federally funded jobs. The government shutdown has forced the National Guard to postpone monthly training for about 4,000 military personnel in the state, according to Raphael.
WALDMAN TO DISCUSS OBAMACARE TODAY
The Chaves County Republican Women will host a national and state expert on the health care industry to speak on Obamacare today at its regular meeting Wednesday. The luncheon meeting is open to the public, and anyone interested in learning more about the new national health care system. Dr. Deane Waldman, a pediatric cardiologist at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, is also a consumer advocate for the state health insurance exchange. In an online biography, Waldman writes: “The combination of life and professional experiences with my knowledge of management and strategy makes me particularly qualified to help us understand why health care is sick and what we can do to begin healing.” The meatloaf luncheon will start at 11:45 a.m. and costs $11 per person. But anyone who wants to attend for the speech may do so without paying for the meal, said Joan Boue, president of CCRW. Reservations are required. Call Judie Yeager at 6269902 to RSVP.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5
COMICS .................B3
FINANCIAL ..............B4
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8