Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 250 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
October 18, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
FRIDAY
Parks open, workers back in office after shutdown
From the Liberty Bell to Alcatraz, federal landmarks and of fices reopened Thursday. Furloughed employees were relieved to get back to work — even if faced with email backlogs — but many worried about another such disruption in a matter of months. “We’d hate to have to live through this all over again,” Richard Marcus, a 29-year employee of the National Archives in Washington, said after the gov-
ernment shutdown finally ended. Nationwide, from big-city office buildings to wilderness outposts, innumerable federal services and operations shifted back into gear after 16 days. The U.S. Forest Service started lifting a logging ban on national forests. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restarted the computerized system used to verify the legal status of workers. Boat trips
resumed to Alcatraz, the for mer federal prison in San Francisco Bay, with 1,600 tickets snapped up by tourists in the first hour of business. In Alaska, federal officials rushed to get the red king crab fishing season underway. The opening had been delayed because furloughed workers were not around to issue crab-quota permits. National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis
said all 401 national park units — from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California to Acadia National Park in Maine — were reopening Thursday. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees had been among the 800,000 federal workers sent home at the peak of the shutdown. Visitors from around the world flocked to Yosemite National Park to see such famous sites as El Capitan
and Half Dome after weeks of closure brought local economies to a near standstill. At Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, employees were busy with reopening chores. They returned just in time to begin closing the parks up again for the winter in a couple of weeks. At Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, one couple’s long wait to see the Liberty Bell
NMMI pays tribute to fallen alumni
Ron Fernandez, of Albuquerque, and a 1981 New Mexico Military Institute alumnus, readies to play “Amazing Grace” during Silver Taps, Thursday evening.
night as 16 men and ness and completely silent ly remembered those who women stood at attention, as the annual Silver Taps once walked the same ceremony started off the halls and courtyards. facing the flame. A single flame burned Inside the courtyard of Institute’s Homecoming. The silence was broken bright against the dark- the Hagerman Barracks, The cadets were like ness at New Mexico Mili- hundreds of people stood statues, not even moving See TRIBUTE, Page A3 tary Institute Thursday almost hidden in the dark- an inch as they respectfulAMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
Karen and Richard Dodds of Oklahoma City were on a quest to see every national park in the U.S. They arrived in Philadelphia about three weeks ago in their motor home, visiting Valley Forge just before the shutdown. They stayed on in the area, awaiting a settlement.
Commission delays new voting centers JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
and other attractions finally drew to a close.
Commissioners voted Thursday not to change the way the county carries out its elections in 2014. County Clerk Dave Kunko proposed “moving into this century,” he said, by reducing the number of neighborhood polling places from some 50 or more centers to 14 “voting convenient centers.” The idea was to allow any county voter to cast a ballot at any site, and still allow absentee and mail-in ballots. Some districts with fewer than 100 voters would be required to mailin their votes. Selected districts, such as Lake Arthur, would get a voting center. Boot Hill would not. The centers would be spread out across the county at various locations. Kunko chose the sites and had been discussing it since January. “It’s not like we just this up dreamed over night,” Kunko said. “We think it’s the right way to go.” Commissioners at Thurs-
See SHUTDOWN, Page A3
day’s meeting said they needed more time, possibly with a future start date of two years, to review Kunko’s plan and speak to their constituents before making a decision. Kunko submitted the resolution two weeks before a deadline required by the Secretary of State. Commissioners Greg Nibert, Smiley Wooton and Robert Corn attended the meeting. Commissioners James Duf fey and Kim Chesser were not present. “It seems to me a great deal of analysis needs to be made to make the jump,” Nibert said. “It can and needs to be done. We owe it to the community to make the ballot accessible to every voter that needs to vote.” Nibert questioned the thinking that went into the placement of voting centers — for instance putting one in Lake Arthur and not in Boot Hill. He also was concerned about a conflict he found with the state statute. Kunko said he
2 women charged with 33 Protests begin as hearing counts of animal cruelty nears for Valley Meat Co. JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Animal Services filed charges against two women, Thursday, for 33 counts of animal cruelty. Officer Josh Martinez was called to the 300 block of North Washington Avenue by the Roswell Police Department after officers discovered five dogs inside a residence as they were attempting to execute a search warrant. Martinez entered the home and found a hoarding situation. “One dog appeared kind of aggressive,
but I think he was just scared.” Martinez contained the first dog and called other Animal Control officers to assist gathering 21 cats, one turtle and six wild doves. He said the garage contained 15 cats and the floors were covered with urine and feces. An additional 6 cats were located inside the house. Conditions were poor with the house filled with clutter and debris. The 76-year -old mother claimed the cats that were kept inside the garage. She said she was trying to rescue them. Martinez said, “Those were the ones that
were sick with upper respiratory infections and nine had to be put down.” The 47-year-old daughter had the remaining animals. According to Martinez, the dogs were in good shape, except one Jack Russell terrier that had been locked in the basement. New Mexico Game and Fish were contacted to pick up the doves. “Some of the doves were not in good shape at all. They had injuries and some had no feathers on their wings,” said Martinez. Of the doves, three were euthanized. The rest were released as required by law.
See COMMISSION, Page A3
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A group of anti-horse slaughter protestors plan to demonstrate in front of the Chaves County Courthouse every day until Valley Meat Co.’s wastewater discharge permit hearing with New Mexico Environment Department, which starts Tuesday. By Thursday afternoon, the few activists had mixed emotions about the reactions they had received by
Jill McLaughlin Photo
From left: Beverley Hughes, of Denver, and Lisa CummingsKowals, of Roswell, were part of a small protest held in front of the Chaves County Courthouse Thursday against horse slaughter.
Chamber’s annual Tailgate Party paints the town pink AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
Anna Permar, left, and Brooke Linthicum, of Eastern New Mexico Medical Center, paint it pink during the Roswell Chamber of Commerce Tailgate Party, Thursday.
HIGH 73 LOW 38
TODAY’S FORECAST
Barbeque pork mixed with the smell of a quesadilla pizza made every mouth water. With clear blue skies and a series of tents of fering food, the Roswell Chamber of Commerce held its fourth annual Tailgate Party outside its office Thursday. “This is to let the community be involved with the Chamber and get to know the Chamber,” said membership coordinator
• ANTONIA LOPEZ • SALVADOR V. CHAVEZ • DON LYNN NUNNALLY
See PROTESTS, Page A3
Stephanie Seabrease. The objective of the event was purely social. Companies in the community had the chance to gain some publicity and the public had the opportunity to enjoy some great food while meeting others in Roswell. This socializing and networking opportunity was the best part of the tailgate, said Chamber office manager Candace Lewis. “It’s football, it’s food — it’s a great time,” Lewis smiled. “We talk about
• CLINTON DUPREE • BILL MURRY
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A7
football and it’s laid back. It’s casual and people can just come out and have fun.”
This year, the tailgate had an extra twist. Being in the middle of Paint the Town Pink Roswell, a movement to promote breast cancer awareness, the Chamber ladies dressed in referee shirts to represent football, but the shirts had black and pink stripes, and also wore pink towels secured at the hip to promote breast cancer awareness.
Also helping the cause, one of the yearly attendees to the tailgate, Easter n New Mexico Medical Center, had pink everything to raise money to help fight breast cancer. Although the annual event celebrated football, with football-shaped cookies and food tents seen at tailgates nationwide, pink stood out in every element of the event, wrapping the tailgate party in nicely with the monthly movement to paint the town pink.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
FINANCIAL ..............B4
LOTTERIES .............A2
COMICS .................B3
HOROSCOPES .........B8
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8