Roswell Daily Record
Slaughter of the Innocents THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 300 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top contenders for the “big three” jobs in President Barack Obama’s secondterm Cabinet are all white men, rekindling concerns among Democratic women about diversity in his inner circle. Now that Susan Rice has withdrawn under pressure from consideration ... - PAGE B6
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• Council tackles trails • Job Corps honors Johnny Gonzales • 3rd murder in 2 weeks • Krumland Auto Group opens Nissan ... • Roswell boys pound Jefferson
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NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A man killed his mother at their home and then opened fire Friday inside the elementary school where she taught, massacring 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in fear to the sound of gunshots reverberating through the building and screams echoing over the intercom.
‘BOYS NETWORK ALIVE AND WELL’
December 15, 2012
“Evil visited this community today ...,” Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy
The 20-year-old killer, carrying at least two handguns, committed suicide at the school, bringing the death toll to 28, authorities said. The rampage, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, was the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead in 2007. “Our hearts are broken today,” a tearful President Barack Obama, struggling to maintain his composure, said at the White House. He called for “meaningful action” to prevent such shootings. “As a country, we have been through this
too many times,” he said. Police shed no light on the motive for the attack. The gunman, Adam Lanza, was believed to suffer from a personality disorder and lived with his mother, said a law enforcement of ficial who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it. Panicked parents looking for their children raced to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, a prosperous New England community of about 27,000 people 60 miles northeast of New York City. Police told youngsters at the kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school to close their eyes as they were led from the building so that they wouldn’t see the blood and broken glass. Schoolchildren — some crying, others looking frightened — were escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other’s shoulders. Law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, and then drove to the school in her car with three guns, including a high-powered rifle that he apparently left in the back of the vehicle. Authorities said he shot up two classrooms, See SCHOOL, Page A3
We’re gonna be on TV!
AP Photo
A man and woman pray at a makeshift shrine at a vigil at Saint Rose of Lima Church, in Newtown, Conn., Friday.
INSIDE SPORTS
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
INVADERS GET NEW MANAGER
The Roswell Invaders will begin this season with a new coach and hopes of continuing last year’s success on the field. They will be under the direction of new field manager Chris Ebright, who’s originally from Ithaca, Mich., and has spent the last few years coaching in collegiate leagues. He brings with him eight years of coaching experience and a couple players who he believes will help lead the Invaders to the postseason. “Last year’s team had a very good record,” he said.” - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARY
• Leandro Sanchez - PAGE B6
Mark Wilson Photo
A weary Ryan Gass, center, on his 71st straight hour of bell-ringing at Walgreens on North Main Street, leans on Jim Ridgeway and Capt. Beau Perez of The Salvation Army, Friday. During his 80-hour marathon, he stayed refreshed by doing push-ups, sit-ups and running laps around the parking lot every hour. He also received a phone call of encouragement from Sen. Tom Udall.
Bell-ringers end contest at 80th hour CHAUNTE’L POWELL RECORD STAFF WRITER
Ryan Gass has officially rung his way into the record books. In light of
the tragedy that took place in Connecticut Friday, Gass and the remaining two Salvation Army competitors, decided to stop ringing their bells
before officially ending the competition at 7 p.m. MST. Gass, Jason Perkins, of Suisun City, See BELL, Page A3
Ask Rhoda Coakley why elections are held in November
HIGH ...64˚ LOW ....34˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B7 COMICS.................B5 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10 WORLD .................A8
simultaneously and share the record for longest consecutive bell-ringing. They ended the contest by holding their bells over their hearts for 27 minutes
Blue collar comedian Daniel Lawrence Whitney — better known as Larry the Cable Guy — was in Roswell this week to film an episode of “Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy,” a reality TV show that takes Whitney across the country to explore the unique lifestyles of Americans. Portions of the episode were filmed on Wednesday and Thursday in the UFO Museum, where Whitney met with Houston UFO abduction expert Derrel Sims, local UFO researcher Clif ford Stone and the museum’s geologist Frank Kimbler. “He was here to try to find out about aliens,” Mark Briscoe, UFO Museum operational manager, said. “He has a lot of fun,
INDEX
Noah Vernau Photo
Rhoda Coakley pulls records from a shelf at the County Clerk’s Office, Thursday.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
If you’ve ever looked for something at the Chaves County Clerk’s Office, you might think of Rhoda Coakley in the same light as a
treasure hunter. She has served as the County Clerk for more than two decades in her 35 years as a county employee, locating records for people of all trades, for all purposes. There’s usually a hint, there’s always a
search, and sometimes, there’s good fortune. “I really get a big thrill out of running my finger down the books and just looking for the names,” Coakley said of her job. “It is kind of interesting that we can go back and find every document, every receipt by just a few little clues. “We do a lot of research for people looking for a long-lost relative, and it’s fun to go back into the old days, find their record and bring it to their attention.” Coakley fondly recalls how a woman who walked in hoping to ascertain the source of a receipt led to a fascinating and fruitful discovery. “I researched it, I found what he had recorded, and she found that her father had been married before and that she had a brother
somewhere,” Coakley said. “So that linked those people together.” “That’s the most rewarding part (of the job) to me,” she said. “I’m kind of a genealogy buf f. I like to look at those old books and see what happened.” With her retirement on Dec. 31 approaching, Coakley marvels at how much things have changed since she started work for the county as chief deputy in 1979, years before a switch to computers. “The other day the girls were cleaning out one of the office supply cabinets, and they came across something and said, ‘What
See TV, Page A3
is this?’” she said. “It was a typewriter eraser, with an eraser on one end and a brush on the other. Nobody knew what it was but me. I told them to put it back because it’s an antique!” In the County Clerk’s Office, Coakley does much more than hunt for records, including preparing the budget, issuing marriage licenses, filing probate records, recording real estate records and running elections. She said of all her office’s tasks, elections present the biggest challenges. “It just takes so many people See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3