Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
‘I’m the real candidate of change’
Vol. 121, No. 263 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
OCTOBER GAINS COULD HURT HOLIDAYS
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans spent briskly in October before Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast on the tail-end of the month. But the question is whether they’re still willing to buy an iPhone for Christmas if they plunked down hundreds on a generator for Sandy? The storm, which hit ... - PAGE A5
November 2, 2012
FRIDAY
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AP Photo
President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday.
DOSWELL, Va. (AP) — Five days before the election, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama vied forcefully for the mantle of change Thursday in a country thirsting for it after a painful recession and uneven recovery, pressing intense closing arguments in their unpredictably close race for the White House. Early voting topped 20 million ballots. A three-day lull that followed Superstorm Sandy ended abruptly, the president campaigning briskly across three battleground states and Romney piling up three stops in a fourth. The Republican also attacked with a tough new Spanish-language television ad in Florida showing Venezuela’s leftist leader, Hugo Chavez, and Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela, saying they would vote for Obama.
The storm intruded once again into the race, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed the president in a statement that said Sandy, which devastated his city, could be evidence of climate change.
Of the two White House rivals, Bloomberg wrote, “One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.” The ever-present polls charted a close race for the popular vote, and a series of tight battleground surveys suggested neither man could be confident of success in the competition for the 270 electoral votes that will decide the winner. See CHANGE, Page A3
All the pretty horses
TOP 5 For The Past 24 Hours
• RPD arrests teenager, cites 3 more after ... • Parks & Rec hosts annual Fall Festival • Grass fire • Community food drive • Artesia dominant in 3-0 victory
INSIDE SPORTS
Horses graze at River Run Ranch in the Hondo Valley on a recent late autumn afternoon.
The Green Bay Packers did it two years ago and the New York Giants did it last season. What did those two teams do? They peaked at the right time and each claimed the Lombardi Trophy as a result. The Roswell boys soccer team is playing its best soccer of the year heading into its first-round playoff match against Santa Fe on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cielo Grande and hopes to have the same result as the two aforementioned NFL teams. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Michael Ray Gonzales • Alpha Mitchell Stewart • John Hughs - PAGE A9
PACs pour money into legislative races SANTA FE (AP) — Political groups free from campaign finance restrictions are pouring millions of dollars into New Mexico’s legislative races that will determine whether Democrats hang on to their majorities in the House and Senate.
A PAC with ties to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday reported spending $1.4 million on House and Senate races last month, with $4 of every $5 going for advertising and mailings.
That was matched by a Democratic-leaning group called Patriot Majority New Mexico, which spent $1.3
million during October. More than three-fourths of that went for mailings and ads.
Reform New Mexico Now, which was formed by the gover nor’s supporters, reported raising $1.6 million last month and is targeting about two dozen legislative races. Its top donor was a national GOP group, the Republican State Leadership Committee, which contributed $715,000. Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire, gave $200,000. Adelson and his wife are leading donors to political
Mark Wilson Photo
A civil lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Oct. 16 against David Lawrence, a former coach and teacher at Goddard High School, the Roswell School Board and the Roswell Independent School District. The suit stems from criminal charges filed against Lawrence of criminal sexual contact of a minor, charges of which he was acquitted. The complaint filed by Carolyn M. “Cammie” Nichols and Brendan K. Eagan of the Rothstein Law Firm states that Lawrence and the RISD violated the plaintiff’s 14th Amendment rights. The 14th Amendment was designed to protect an individual’s civil rights and prohibits any state or government entity from denying any person within its jurisdiction equal protecSee SUIT, Page A3
So long, Susie, and thank you NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
Members of the community gathered Thursday night at Pecos Flavors Winery to thank Susie Russell for more than nine years of service as executive director of the Community Foundation of Chaves County, which officially closed its offices Wednesday. Alan Applegate, CFCC board president, said that trying to put in words what Russell has meant to Chaves County for the Mark Wilson Photo better part of a decade Susie Russell is honored for her service as executive “would take a book.” director of the Community Foundation of Chaves County at Pecos Valley Winery, Thursday.
Exasperation builds on Day 3 in storm-stricken New York City See PACS, Page A3
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TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B3 COMICS.................A8 FINANCIAL .............A7 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A9 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
Suit claims civil rights violation JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
WEB
QUEST FOR SOCCER GLORY
AP Photo
Mitt Romney, speaks at a campaign event in Roanoke, Va., Thursday.
INDEX
AP Photo
Dry ice is unloaded from a flatbed truck in Union Square for distribution to residents of the stillpowerless Chelsea section of Manhattan, Thursday. Three days after Superstorm Sandy walloped the city, residents and commuters still faced obstacles as they tried to return to pre-storm routines.
See RUSSELL, Page A3
NEW YORK (AP) — Frustration — and in some cases fear — mounted in New York City on Thursday, three days after Superstorm Sandy. Traffic backed up for miles at bridges, large crowds waited impatiently for buses into Manhattan, and tempers flared in gas lines. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would send bottled water and ready-to-eat meals into the hardest-hit neighborhoods through the weekend, but some New Yorkers grew dispirited after days without power, water and heat and decided to get out. The mounting despair came even as the subways began rolling again after a three-day shutdown. Service was restored to most of the city, but not the most stricken parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, where the tunnels were flooded. Bridges into the city were open, but police enforced a carpooling rule and peered into windows to make sure each car had at least three people. The rule was meant to ease congestion but appeared to worsen it. T raf fic jams stretched for miles, and drivers who made it into the city reported that some people got out of their cars to argue with police. See STORM, Page A2
AP Photo
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tries to comfort Alice Cimillo and other Moonachie, N.J., residents whose homes were damaged by Superstorm Sandy, during a tour of the flood-ravaged area, Thursday. The flooding of Moonachie, Little Ferry and Carlstadt, three communities sandwiched between Teterboro Airport, MetLife Stadium and the Hackensack River, was caused when six dirt berms broke from the pressure of a tidal surge.