Roswell Daily Record
SCOTUS signals DOMA doom
Vol. 122, No. 75 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Concluding two days of intense debate, the Supreme Court signaled Wednesday it could give a boost to same-sex marriage by striking down the federal law that denies legally married gay spouses a wide range of benefits offered to other couples.
ELVIS’ BACKUP SINGER DIES
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gordon Stoker, a member of The Jordanaires vocal group that backed Elvis Presley, died Wednesday. He was 88. His son, Alan, told The Associated Press that Stoker died at his home in Brentwood, Tenn., after a lengthy illness. Stoker, who was born in Gleason, Tenn., got his start playing the piano on WSM radio and its signature show, the Grand Ole Opry. - PAGE A8
As the court wrapped up its remarkable arguments over gay marriage in America, a majority of the justices indicated they will invalidate part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act — if they can get past procedural problems similar to
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
March 28, 2013
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
those that appeared to mark Tuesday’s case over California’s ban on samesex marriage. Since the federal law was enacted in 1996, nine states and the District of Columbia have made it legal for gays and lesbians to marry. Same-sex unions also were legal in California for nearly five months in 2008 before the Proposition 8 ban. Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the decisive vote in close cases, joined the four more-liberal justices in raising questions Wednesday about a provi-
Deck the walls!
sion that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for purposes of federal law. It af fects more than 1,100 statutes in which marital status is relevant, dealing with tax breaks for married couples, Social Security survivor benefits and, for federal employees, health insurance and leave to care for spouses. Kennedy said the Defense of Marriage Act appears to intrude on the power of states that have chosen to recognize sameSee SCOTUS, Page A3
AP Photo
Plaintiff Edith Windsor of New York, center, tries to move through the crowd in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday.
Valley Meat presses on JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB
• • • • •
For The Past 24 Hours
Udall in town; meets ... RPD seeks info on ... Name change given ... Hobbs sentenced ... NMMI beats Ruidoso
INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
Creative Learning Center and Arts Connect instructor Gretchen Phillips sorts through masterpieces created by young artists from kindregarten through the 5th grade, Wednesday at the Roswell International Air Center. The artwork will adorn the airport walls for the foreseeable future.
Last week’s public outrage over a video of a horse shooting has not discouraged owners of Valley Meat Co. from pursuing the grant of inspection from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a company representative said Wednesday. “Currently everything is still on track and (there has been) nothing new to change that,” said A. Blair Dunn, attorney for Valley Meat Co. owner Rick De Los Santos. The plant, located near Roswell, is expected to get the go-ahead to start processing by the end of April, Dunn said. A explicit video intentionally released by animal welfare activists last week showed a former Valley Meat Co. maintenance worker, T im Sappington, killing a horse he purchased at auction and using graphic language against animal activists following the act. He reportedly shot and consumed the meat on his own property.
New rule: Meetings Interior cuts mineral payments require 72-hrs notice
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jim Larranaga smiled and raised both hands to acknowledge the fans in green — those from both Miami and George Mason — as he walked onto the court where he become part of a national sensation seven years ago. He signed autographs, posed for pictures and was about to turn his attention to practice when he spotted two special people: Lamar Butler and Tony Skinn, starters from the 2006 GMU team. Larranaga hugged them both and reminisced about "you guys running over to our section" of fans at the final whistle to celebrate - PAGE B1
SWEET, ELITE
SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico residents will have more notice about public meetings under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Susana Martinez. Gover nmental groups, ranging from city councils to school boards and state regulators, will be required to make their meeting agendas publicly available 72 hours in advance. They currently must provide a 24-hour notice of a public meeting agenda. “New Mexicans deserve to know the proceedings
undertaken by their elected officials and other public bodies,” Martinez said in a statement after signing the bill in Albuquerque. “One day simply isn’t enough notice for a concerned citizen who might want to travel to another city to register their opinion on an important matter affecting their profession or their community. In the interest of transparency and public participation, these meeting agendas should be See MEETINGS, Page A3
OBITUARIES
• Kenneth Norby • Jose Hernandez • Jerry Cullins - PAGE A6
HIGH ...80˚ LOW ....46˚
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
See MINERALS, Page A3
AP Photo
A house-sized dump truck hauls dirt and rock Tuesday, at the Black Thunder coal mine in northeast Wyoming’s Powder River Basin near Wright, Wyo., source of almost 40 percent of the nation’s coal production.
Senators say immigration bill near Popular FBI file describes
TODAY’S
TODAY’S FORECAST
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Interior is cutting federal mineral payments to 35 states by about $110 million this fiscal year as part of the automatic federal spending cuts that started this month. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead announced this week that his state faces the biggest cut — at least $53 million over the next five months. Wyoming is the nation’s leading coalproducing state and last
See HORSE, Page A3
AP Photo
Sens. Jeff Flake, Chuck Schumer and John McCain prior to a press conference after their tour of the U.S.–Mexico border Wednesday.
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators crafting a sweeping immigration bill vowed Wednesday that they would be ready to unveil it when Congress reconvenes in less than two weeks after getting a firsthand look at a crucial component of their legislation: security along the U.S.-Mexico border. The four senators — Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrats Chuck Schumer of New York and Michael Bennet of Colorado — are members of the so-called Gang of Eight, which is close to finalizing a bill aimed at securing the border and put-
ting 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. The lawmakers’ reassurance that their work would be complete by the week of April 8 came after a public feud erupted between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO over a low-skilled worker provision in the bill — a spat that remained alive Friday as Congress began a two-week recess. But Flake noted Wednesday that negotiations over the worker program had resumed; an AFL-CIO negotiator also confirmed the talks were back on. President Barack Obama has urged Congress to pass immigration reform this year. While ceding the details of the negotiations to Congress thus far, the president has stepped to the forefront of the debate this week to prod lawmakers to finish work on the bill. Border security also is critical to McCain, and other Republicans, who contend that some areas along the border are far from secure. The senators’ tour Wednesday — by both ground and air — allowed them to review manned and unmanned drones and different types of fences. They also watched as vehicles going to and from
See BORDER, Page A3
three New Mexico ‘aliens’ JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Federal Bureau of Investigation posted a memo Wednesday of an interview taken in New Mexico from an Air Force investigator who reported recovering three flying saucers, each occupied by three small human-shaped bodies dressed in blackout suits. The memo, dated March 22, 1950, was never investigated. The FBI filed the typed page neatly away 63 years ago at its headquarters and “no further evaluation was attempted.” So, what’s the big deal now? According to the FBI, after its release in 2011 in “The Vault,” an electronic reading room containing some 6,700 other public documents, this memo is the most popular file in the
system. “Over the past two years, this file has been viewed nearly a million times,” according to the bureau. “Yet, it is only a single page, relaying an unconfirmed report that the FBI never even followed up on.” Roswell UFO researcher Don Burleson said he was not surprised by the news. “At the time, (the FBI’s) main role was interfacing with the Air Force,” Burleson said. The FBI’s memo, which can be found at www.fbi.gov/news/stories, was written by Guy Hottel, FBI special-agent-in-charge at the time. Like most memos written by the FBI, according to Burleson, the report was vague but described in detail what one informant apparently witnessed in New Mexico. Although the See FBI, Page A2