Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 70 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. is increasing its oil production faster than ever, and American drivers are guzzling less gas. But you’d never know it from the price at the pump. The national average price of gasoline is $3.69 per gallon and forecast to creep higher, possibly approaching $4 by May. - PAGE A5
March 22, 2013
Horse slaughter video sparks outrage JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
GAS PRICES STILL HIGH
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Animal activists throughout the country uncovered a graphic video this week shot by a for mer Valley Meat Co. maintenance employee, inciting a firestorm of outrage against the Roswell company. The proposed horse slaughterhouse expects to be issued a U.S. department of Agriculture Grant of Inspection following months of legal wrangling. Owner Rick De Los Santos
FRIDAY
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expects to start processing horse meat by the end of April and employ up to 100 people. But a 50-second You Tube video of Tim Sappington, an employee who worked for nearly a year at the plant, has stirred death threats, bomb threats and a criminal investigation, according to attorney A. Blair Dunn. In the video, Sappington is seen taking a horse he had purchased for slaughter and shooting it and making a profane state-
New Mexico Livestock Board officials confirmed the board is looking into the case after the board was called about the video Wednesday morning.
ment against animal activists. Dunn said the incident took place at Sappington’s own home on his own time, apparently after he was threatened by animal activists. Sappington could not be reached for comment. The company issued the
following statement: “We have seen the video showing Mr. Sappington euthanizing a horse for slaughter, which we understood he did as was his legal right for his own consumption and in which he did complete the processing for consumption. We agree that his comments were
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• RPD searching for Barela • And things that go BOOM in the night • ENMU-R dedicates new Student Center • Murder suspect arrested • NMMI legend Hardman dies
Mark Wilson Photo
County shows off driving simulator Brenda Sanchez reacts after crashing her “vehicle” on an impaired and distracted driving simulator during a Chaves County Commission meeting, Thursday morning.
ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Chaves County Commission approved Thursday a budget
NMSU FALLS TO ST. LOUIS
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Saint Louis had no problem maneuvering around 7-foot-5 freshman Sim Bhullar and New Mexico State. Dwayne Evans scored 24 points, Cody Ellis added 12 points and the fourth-seeded Billikens overwhelmed the Aggies 64-44 in the second round of the NCAA tournament Thursday. Playing with a heavy heart since Rick Majerus died in December, Saint Louis reached another mark in March for its late coach. The Billikens (28-6) eclipsed the 1988-89 team’s school record of 27 victories. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Gregory Alonzo • Sadie Matson • Leo Rogers Sellars - PAGE A7
HIGH ...77˚ LOW ....50˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B4 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 STATE ...................A7 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Will CID make priority call?
See HORSE, Page A2
ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
INSIDE SPORTS
regrettably crass ... but he was within his lawful rights to slaughter and butcher a horse and he was not acting as an employee of the company in that action.” According to Dunn, animal activists who have posted numerous articles and reposted the video on various sites throughout the country and abroad are now “resorting to terrorist tactics by calling in bomb threats and death threats against our families.”
increase to the county’s budget to reflect additional funding received from the federal Enforcement of Underage Drinking Laws Program. The program raises
awareness of the dangers and consequences of underage drinking. Chaves County DWI Coordinator Charlotte Andrade said the money would allow the county to pur-
chase educational materials, such as a simulator that recreates the experience of driving while impaired, either by drugs
The Carlsbad Irrigation District’s Board of Directors will meet April 2, to discuss possible solutions to its lack of water, after legislation that would have provided $2.5 million toward its efforts failed to pass the state Legislature. Senate Bill 462, sponsored by Sens. Carroll Leavell, R-Jal, and Cathrynn Brown, R-Santa Fe, would have allocated money from the state's general fund for the Interstate Stream Commission in an effort to mitigate effects of drought in the Lower Pecos River Basin. The bill passed the Senate Conservation Committee, but died in the Senate Finance Committee. CID President Charles Jurva said his district had
Gessing: NM relies ACLU-NM claims same-sex wed too much on Feds ban unconstitutional; files lawsuit ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
Addressing the Roswell Rotary Club at Best Wester n Sally Port Inn, Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing said Thursday New Mexico’s reliance on the federal government stunts the state’s economic growth. Based in Albuquerque, the foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute that focuses on issues such as limited government, economic development and education
reform. A September Census Bureau report found New Mexico had a 22.2 percent poverty rate, the highest in the nation. While most other states have seen positive job growth, New Mexico has lagged behind, ranking 49th in nonfarm employment. Gessing said the state’s downward economic spiral is due to its “unique reliance on Washington,” from federal lands to military bases. For the state to prosper, See GESSING, Page A3
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing state of ficials to recognize same-sex marriage under current New Mexico law, The legal action marked yet another ef fort by advocacy groups to persuade county clerks to issue marriage licenses across the state. The lawsuit was filed in state district court on behalf of two lesbian couples who sought marriage
Obama insists ‘peace is possible’
ditions, softening his earlier demands that Israel stop building settlements in disputed territory. The president made his appeal just hours after rockets fired from Hamascontrolled Gaza landed in a southern Israeli border town, a fresh reminder of the severe security risks and tensions that have stymied peace efforts for AP Photo decades. Obama, on his second President Barack Obama and Israeli President Shimon day in the Middle East, Peres toast after Obama received the Israeli Medal of Dis- shuttled between tinction from Peres, during a State Dinner, Thursday. Jerusalem and Ramallah, JERUSALEM (AP) — prodded both Israelis and reaching out to the public as well as political leadInsisting “peace is possi- Palestinians to return to ers. He of fered no new ble,” President Barack long-stalled negotiations Obama on Thursday with few, if any, pre-con-
See OBAMA, Page A3
See COUNTY, Page A3
licenses in Ber nalillo County. It claims the current ban on same-sex marriage violates the New Mexico Constitution. The ACLU-NM said it wants to eventually get the New Mexico Supreme Court to decide the dispute. “They filed this lawsuit today in the hopes that someday soon no committed, loving same-sex couple will be turned away and excluded from marriage because of the one they love,” said Peter
See CID, Page A3
Simonson, executive director of ACLU-NM. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Albuquerque couple Miriam Rand, 63, and Ona Porter, 66, and Santa Fe couple Rose Griego, 47, and Kim Kiel, 44. The lawsuit came as local and state officials argue whether current New Mexico law allows county clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses. See ACLU, Page A3
Senate Gang of 8 close on deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators is nearing agreement on a comprehensive immigration bill that would put illegal immigrants on a 13year path to citizenship, of ficials with outside groups keeping up with the talks said Thursday.
The legislation also would install new criteria for border security, allow more high- and low-skilled workers to come to the U.S. and hold businesses to tougher standards on verifying their workers are in the country legally, according to outside groups and lawmakers involved. Together, the measures represent the most sweeping changes in immigration law in decades.
The senators in the socalled Gang of Eight were meeting for hours at a time daily this week trying to complete a deal. There were still big disagreements on some issues, but they hoped to resolve most of them before Congress began a two-week recess at week’s end. That would allow them to meet a selfimposed deadline to present their legislation next month.
“About 90 percent of the issues, including the path to citizenship, are settled,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., told Hispanic media Thursday, according to his office. He said he was putting “more time into this See GANG, Page A3