Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 79 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
OBAMA’S IMAGE MACHINE WHIRS WASHINGTON (AP) — A photo of the Obamas hugging that was released on Election Day 2012 has become the world’s most popular tweet on Twitter. A dressed-up version of Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech ...
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
April 2, 2013
NM law boosts volunteer firefighter pensions
SANTA FE (AP) — Retirement benefits will increase for New Mexico’s volunteer firefighters under legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Susana Martinez. Starting in July, the new law will boost retirement benefits to $250 a month — up from $200 currently — for volunteer firefighters who are at least age 55 and served for 25 or more years. Retirement benefits will increase to $125 a month — from $100 currently — for those who are age 55 and have served at least 10 years but less than 25 years.
TUESDAY
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There are about 670 retirees and nearly 5,100 active volunteer firefighters across the state. Retirement benefits have remained unchanged since the program was established in the 1980s, according to supporters of the legislation. The retirement program is financed by part of the money from a tax on property and vehicle insurance premiums. Volunteer firefighters, who do not receive a salary, make no payments into their retirement system unlike state and local government employees who contribute a portion of their salaries into
their pension system. Martinez also signed a bill that expands the compensation that volunteer firefighters can receive without a gover nmental employer being required to comply with federal minimum wage and overtime provisions. The new law, which takes effect June 14, will permit volunteer firefighters to receive a stipend, which can cover expenses or be a nominal fee for their service. “Volunteer firefighters are a critical part of New Mexico’s public safety system, particularly in rural New Mexico, and they also bolster and support the work
of professional firefighters during the difficult wildland fire season,” Martinez said in a statement. The gover nor faces a deadline of Friday to sign or veto measures approved by the Legislature during its recently completed 60day session. Martinez hasn’t acted on several high profile proposals, including one to improve the solvency of the Public Employees Retirement Association pension system for 55,000 state and local government workers and 31,000 retirees. A spokesman for the gover nor said the proposed pension overhaul is still
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TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Popular FBI file describes three NM ‘aliens’ • Cops bust Knight on 104 counts of kiddie ... • Murder suspect arrested • 21 dogs from same home seized • Local briefs: Dexter ...
INSIDE SPORTS
AP Photo
The home of Kaufman District Attorney Mike McLelland is shown Monday near Forney, Texas. McLelland and his wife were both murdered at their home Saturday.
Suspicion in DA death shifts to white supremacists prison gang that was the focus of a December law enforcement bulletin warning that its members might try to attack police or prosecutors.
The weekend deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, who were found fatally shot in their home, were especially jar-
SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico plans to hire 40 military veterans to serve as firefighters during the upcoming wildfire season as part of a pilot program announced Monday by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration. Veterans will be trained and assigned to four “hand crews” to fight wildfires across the state. State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware said the military veterans will be in addition to about 250 seasonal firefighters the state typically hires. “We are not cutting any jobs to make way for these,” Ware said. Starting pay is $17.40 an hour, and some firefighting training starts next week. New Mexico is bracing for a possibly devastating fire
season because of lingering drought conditions. The state’s wildfire season usually runs from May to July, though the crews of military veterans could be assigned to help fight fires outside of New Mexico after the wildfire season ends in the state. Ware said the state will evaluate the pilot program for military veterans after the fire season to determine whether it should be made per manent and expanded. State prison inmates have been trained to help the State Forestry Division in fighting wildfires since 1996. The governor announced the program for military veterans at a news conference in Albuquerque where she urged New Mexicans
and visitors to the state to be vigilant about the threat of wildfires. “Conditions are in place for another potentially difficult fire season and I urge all New Mexicans to take the responsibility we all have to prevent wildfires very seriously,” Martinez said in a statement. The Little Bear Fire near Ruidoso last year became the most destructive in the state’s recorded history. It destroyed more than 250 buildings and caused more than $22 million in damages. There have been 59 wildfires on state and privately owned land since January, burning about 739 acres. That’s down from 68 fires that burned 2,104 acres at the same time last year.
BEIRUT (AP) — March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria’s 2-year-old conflict with more than 6,000 documented deaths, a leading anti-regime activist group said Monday, blaming the increase on heavier shelling and more violent clashes. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the increased toll is likely incomplete because both the Syrian army and the rebel groups fighting President Bashar Assad’s government often underreport their dead in the civil war. “Both sides are hiding information,” Abdul-Rahman said by phone from Britain, where his group is based. “It is very difficult to get correct info on the fighters because they don’t want the information to hurt morale.” The numbers, while provided by only one group,
support the appraisal of the conflict offered by many Syria watchers: The civil war is largely a military stalemate that is destroying the country’s social fabric and taking a huge toll on civilians. The increase also reflects the continuing spread of major hostilities to new parts of Syria. While clashes continue in Aleppo, Damascus and Homs, Syria’s three largest cities, rebels have launched an offensive in recent weeks to seize towns and army bases in the southern province of Daraa, largely with the help of an influx of foreign-funded weapons. The Observatory, which works through a network of contacts in Syria, said those killed in March included similar numbers of combatants on both sides: 1,486 rebels and army defectors and 1,464 soldiers from the Syrian
army. But the number of civilians killed exceeded them both: 2,080 total for the month, including 298 children and 291 women. In addition, there were 387 unidentified civilians and 588 unidentified fighters, most of them foreigners fighting with the rebels, bringing the March total to 6,005, Abdul-Rahman said. He criticized the international community for not doing more to stop the bloodshed, which he said could increase. “If there is no solution, we think the numbers will get worse in the coming months,” he said. The March toll surpassed what had previously been the deadliest month, August 2012, when airstrikes, clashes and shelling killed more than 5,400 people, Abdul-Rah-
Military veterans to fight wildfires in NM
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jonathan Lucroy was mobbed by his jubilant teammates as the crowd of 45,781 saluted the catcher with a big “Luuuuuuc” that reverberated throughout Miller Park.
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TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Vera Lebeda • Bobby Pendergrass • Edward J. Whitt
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HIGH ...77˚ LOW ....44˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A7 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
The gover nor has said she will sign a nearly $5.9 billion state budget proposal as well as a bill that cuts corporate income taxes but could force cities and counties to raise local taxes to offset a loss of state money over 15 years.
Officer on leave, man arrested after shooting JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) — Suspicion in the slayings of a Texas district attor ney and his wife shifted Monday to a violent white supremacist
BREWERS BEAT ROCKIES
under review. The measure will lower cost-of-living increases for retirees, require some workers to contribute more into the pension program, and establish new retirement eligibility and benefits for employees hired after July 1.
ring because they happened just a couple of months after one of the See DA DEATH, Page A3
Carlos Vale Jr., 33, was arrested Monday and charged with battery upon a peace officer, concealing identity, resisting, obstructing or evading. Meanwhile, Roswell Police Officer Nathan Hempton is being investigated following an officer involved shooting. The incident occurred around 5 a.m. on Friday near the intersection of Union Avenue and Eighth Street following a traffic stop. According to police reports, Hempton was dragged by the vehicle, drew his weapon See SHOOTING, Page A3
Rubio claims pivot point on immigration overhaul
WASHINGTON (AP) — Whatever immigration deal might be claimed by labor and business, or by Democrats and Republicans, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is serving notice it has to go through him. The tea party favorite made it clear over the weekend he has a make-or-break role for the most sweeping immigration changes in decades. It’s a high-risk strategy that also puts his presidential ambitions on the line. Four Republican senators are involved with Democrats in crafting a bipartisan bill to secure the nation’s borders, improve legal immigration and offer eventual citizenship to millions now in the U.S. illegally. But only Rubio has the conservative bona fides plus life-story credibility to help steer the bill through the Senate with strong support from the GOP, and give it a chance in the House, where conservative Republicans hold more sway. More than anyone else, Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, could have the clout to hold off rebellion from conservative talk show hosts and a Republican
See IMMIGRATION, Page A3
6,000 Syrians killed in March numbers make it the deadliest month yet
See SYRIA, Page A3
AP Photo
This March 1 file citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian child, injured by heavy bombing from military warplanes, in the town of Hanano in Aleppo, Syria.