Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 80 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
CID to demand priority call on the Pecos
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Seven universities will participate in a national preparedness initiative designed to help campuses train for, respond to and recover from emergencies, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday. Napolitano made the announcement in ... - PAGE A2
WEDNESDAY
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ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
CRISIS PREP PROGRAM
April 3, 2013
After months of much discussion and attempted legislation, the Carlsbad Irrigation District's fivemember Board of Directors voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a resolution demanding a priority call on the Pecos River. In 2003, the CID, the Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District, the State of New Mexico, New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation entered into a settlement to ensure that the state met its water delivery obligations to Texas and to provide water to the CID in times of shortage. However, as the region’s ongoing drought has made the effort exceedingly difficult, CID manager Dudley Jones said the district has been progressively impacted by the lack of water. In 2011, surface water and augmentation wells yielded the district 1.4 acre-feet of water per acre
PVACD Vice President Greg Alpers said the organization is fully engaged in protecting the waters of the Pecos Valley and will address the issue at its next board meeting, scheduled for April 10.
of land to allot among its farmers, he said. The district received .9 acre-feet in 2012 and has received .3 acre-feet per acre this year. Since January, the CID and the PVACD have met several times with other state and gover nment
agencies to determine how to fulfill the CID’s needs without resorting to a priority call. After legislation that would have provided $2.5 million toward its efforts failed to pass the state Legislature, Jones said the district had no
‘Where’d that mouse go?’
TOP 5
other choice.
“This is the only other mechanism we had available, under the settlement, to get water for users in the CID,” he said. “This is was not a choice that was easily made by the board. A lot of thought, effort and discussion went into this.”
If granted, many have speculated the call would mean shutting down wells with junior rights north of the district, including those
Animal permit work in progress
See WATER, Page A2
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
WEB
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INSIDE SPORTS A northern harrier soars under overcast skies at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Tuesday morning.
Mark Wilson Photo
The days of giving away free kittens in boxes outside the local market may soon be history in Roswell. The little girl with dusty sneakers and that white kitty could be slapped with a fine for violating the city’s new regulation regarding selling a kitten without a permit. If the City Council approves proposed new animal regulations, local dog and cat owners will have to be much more prudent about taking in strays and permitting their pets to
Martinez inks space Kerry warns NKorea to halt travel liability bill its ‘reckless’ provocations
ORB MOVES TO NO. 1
Orb’s on top. The colt moved to the head of the 3-year-old class in the AP’s latest Run to the Roses’ Top 10 list of Kentucky Derby contenders with a convincing win in the Florida Derby over the weekend. Orb was No. 4 last week, but has a four-race winning streak and even has the usually reserved Shug McGaughey excited about the Derby on May 4. “I’m kind of surprised how well he bounced out of his race, to tell you the truth,” McGaughey said ... - PAGE B1
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OBITUARIES
Vera Marie Lebeda Dorothy Childers John Allen Neeley Janis I. Waldroop Gertrude Joan Zylstra - PAGE A3
HIGH ...62˚ LOW ....38˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez on Tuesday signed into law liability-waiving legislation aimed at saving the state’s nearly quarter-billion-dollar investment in a futuristic spaceport and retaining its anchor tenant, British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. The new law exempts spacecraft parts suppliers from liability lawsuits by passengers. Lawmakers had previously exempted spacecraft operators from liability, but some space companies began passing up the New Mexico spaceport in favor of states that had extended those protections to suppliers. Martinez said in a statement after a signing ceremony at the nearly complete $209 million project in souther n New Mexico that her administration was “not only reaffirming the major commitment New Mexicans have made to Spaceport America but we
now have an even stronger opportunity to grow the number of commercial space jobs at the spaceport and across our state. This legislation will prevent lawsuit abuse and make it easier for businesses related to the space travel industry to thrive and succeed right here in New Mexico.” Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America officials have been fighting for years to get the legislation enacted, saying commercial space companies have passed over New Mexico in favor of states with more lenient liability exemptions. Virgin Galactic had hinted last year it might abandon plans to launch its $200,000 per-person space flights from New Mexico if the bill failed again this year. In January, Virgin began paying its $1 million-a-year rent. But it told the state it was doing so only under
See ANIMAL, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday warned North Korea to halt a recent spate of rhetoric and actions, calling them provocative, dangerous and reckless. He also vowed that the United States would defend itself and its allies South Korea and Japan from North Korean threats. Kerry’s comments came after North Korea ratcheted up an almost daily string of threats toward the three nations with an AP Photo announcement that it would revive a long-dor- South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se and U.S. Secmant nuclear reactor and retary of State John Kerry at the State Department, Tuesramp up production of day. atomic weapons material. Speaking to reporters pared and capable of and the United States will at a joint news conference defending itself and its not accept the DPRK as a nuclear state,” Kerry said, with South Korean For- allies. “The bottom line, very referring to North Korea’s eign Minister Yun Byungse, Kerry said the Demo- simply, is that what Kim young new leader. A North Korean official cratic People’s Republic of Jong-Un has been choosKorea, or DPRK, knows ing to do is provocative, it that the U.S. is fully pre- is dangerous, reckless, See KERRY, Page A3
NRA-sponsored study suggests trained, armed school staffers
INDEX
AP Photo
National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson speaks during a press conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday.
See SPACE, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate gun control debate on the near horizon, a National Rifle Association-sponsored report on Tuesday proposed a program for schools to train selected staffers as armed security of ficers. The for mer Republican congressman who headed the study suggested at least one protector with firearms for every school, saying it would speed responses to attacks. The report’s release served as the gun-rights group’s answer to improving school safety after the gruesome December slayings of 20 first-graders and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. And it showed the organization giving little ground in its fight with President Barack Obama over curbing firearms.
Obama’s chief proposals include broader background checks for gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines — both of which the NRA opposes. The study — unveiled at a press conference watched over by several burly, NRA-provided guards — made eight recommendations, including easing state laws that might bar a trained school staff member from carrying firearms and improving school coordination with law enforcement agencies. But drawing the most attention was its suggested 40- to 60-hour training for school employees who pass background checks to also provide armed protection while at work. “The presence of an armed security personnel in a school adds a
layer of security and diminishes the response time that is beneficial to the overall security,” said Asa Hutchinson, a GOP former congressman from Arkansas who directed the study.
Asked whether every school would be better off with an armed security of ficer, Hutchinson replied, “Yes,” but acknowledged the decision would be made locally.
It is unusual for guards to provide security at events that lack a major public figure at the National Press Club, which houses offices for many news organizations. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said he did not know whether the guards were armed, and several See NRA, Page A3