Roswell Daily Record
Boost for background checks THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 87 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mixing modest curbs on spending with tax increases reviled by Republicans, President Barack Obama proposed a $3.8 trillion budget on Wednesday that would raise ... - PAGE A6
THURSDAY
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative senators from both parties announced their support for expanding background checks for gun buyers Wednesday, giving a burst of momentum to advocates of stronger restrictions. But big questions remain about whether President Barack Obama can push significant gun controls through Congress.
OBAMA’S BUDGET: SPENDING CUTS
April 11, 2013
The compromise between Sens. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., boosted the chances that the Senate will agree to broaden required background checks, a step gun control groups laud as an effective way to keep weapons from criminals and See GUN Page A3
Lo ca l rea ctio n to newest gun r egu l at io n pr op osa l
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER Larry’s Discount Gun Store in Roswell was in short supply of at least two commodities Wednesday: ammunition and support for the latest congressional proposal to restrict gun sales. Customers were easily found wandering the aisles. The walls and cases were full with merchandise, including much-
See REACTION Page A3
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Source: Senate plan to stiffen border security
Aaron Coates, an associate at Larry's Discount Gun Shop in Roswell, shows an automatic weapon to a customer Wednesday.
Accident on North Garden St.
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• Job fair enjoys good participation • Green States Energy Picks Roswell for ... • RPD logs 4 accidental shootings in past week • RFD: auto fire ‘suspicious’ • Martinez nixes ...
INSIDE SPORTS
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Roswell emergency responders arrived at the 2300 block of North Garden Street at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday after a vehicle reportedly hit a child between the ages of 6 or 7 years old. The child was still conscious and breathing when the report was made.
Key issues discussed at Lunch and Learn Tensions emerge with attend as many similar events as possiI G ble. R S W al-Qaida alliance in Syria “It’s my job to do that, so that’s what LISSA
RAYS EDGE RANGERS 2-0 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — When Ben Zobrist caught a flyball in deep right field, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was more concerned about the runner who was going to third base. Zobrist instead made a perfect throw to home plate for a double play to end ...
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TODAY’S • • • •
OBITUARIES
William H. Enoch Sharon J. Gomez Debra Lynn Wolfe Fred Pilley Jr. - PAGE A6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan immigration legislation being written in the Senate would require surveillance of 100 percent of the U.S. border with Mexico and apprehension of 90 percent of people trying to cross the border in certain high-risk areas, a person familiar with the proposals said Wednesday. People living here illegally could begin to get green cards in 10 years, but only if a new southern border security plan is in place, employers have adopted mandatory electronic verification of their workers’ legal status and a new electronic exit system is operating at airports and seaports. The person provided the information on condition of anonymity because the deliberations were private. The contours of the tough new border security plans emerged as senators moved closer to unveiling sweeping legislation within days that would put some 11 million immigrants living here illegally on a path to citizenship and allow tens of thousands of high- and low-skilled workers into
ECORD
ILMORE TAFF
RITER
On Wednesday the Roswell Chamber of Commerce hosted its third annual Legislative Lunch and Learn to allow local leaders to connect with area legislators and discuss the issues of this year’s session in Santa Fe. Dorrie Faubus-McCarty, executive director of the chamber, said the event allows those involved in the Roswell’s education, business and medical communities to interact directly with senators and representatives. “Our concer ns ar e in their hands, they’re there for us,” she said. T h e pan e l fe at u r ed Ro swell Re ps . Candy Spence Ezzell and Nora Espinoza, as well as Sens. Bill Burt, R-Alamogordo, Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, and Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell. Ingle said it was important to meet with people involved in “what makes the community tick.” He said he tries to
I’m going to do,” he said. Pirtle and Burt discussed the Legislature’s adoption of policies that will make the state more business-friendly. However, Ingle and Ezzell addressed potential threats to the state’s business, particularly its oil and gas industry. Ezzell said most people forget that the industry contributes more than a third to the state’s budget. “It’s not all about northern New Mexico — they seem to forget we exist until they want us to send money,” she said. County Commissioner Greg Nibert agreed that the oil and gas industry has been under attack and said the Legislature should weigh in on counties that try to prohibit the development of natural resources that benefit the state. Hobbling the oil and gas industry, See LUNCH Page A3
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TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Ilissa Gilmore Photo
Roswell Reps. Nora Espinoza and Candy Spence Ezzell and Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, (left) talk with Roswell community leaders Wednesday during the Chamber of Commerce's third annual Legislative Lunch and Learn.
BEIRUT (AP) — Tensions emerged Wednesday in a newly announced alliance between al-Qaida’s franchise in Iraq and the most power ful Syrian rebel faction, which said it was not consulted before the Iraqi group announced their merger and only heard about it through the media. Al-Qaida in Iraq said Tuesday that it had joined forces with Jabhat al-Nusra or the Nusra Front — the most effective force among the mosaic of rebel brigades fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in Syria’s civil war. It said they had formed a new alliance called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The Syrian gover nment seized upon the purported merger to back its assertion that it is not facing a true popular movement for change but rather a foreign-backed terrorist plot. The state news agency said Wednesday that the union “proves that this opposition was never anything other than a tool used by the West and by terrorists to destroy the Syrian people.” Talk of an alliance between Jabhat alNusra and al-Qaida in Iraq has raised fears in Baghdad, where intelligence of ficials said increased cooperation was already evident in a number of deadly
See BORDER Page A2
attacks. And in Syria, a stronger Jabhat alNusra would only further complicate the battlefield where Western powers have been covertly trying to funnel weapons, training and aid toward more secular rebel groups and army defectors. Washington has designated Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist organization over its links with alQaida, and the Syrian group’s now public ties with the terrorist network are unlikely to prompt a shift in international support for the broader Syrian opposition. Earlier this year, the U.S. announced a $60 million non-lethal assistance package for Syria that includes meals and medical supplies for the armed opposition. It was greeted unenthusiastically by some rebel leaders, who said it does far too little. Washington’s next step is expected to be a broader package of nonlethal assistance, expanding from food and medical supplies to body armor and night-vision goggles. However, President Barack Obama has not given final approval on any new package and an announcement is not imminent, a senior administration official said.
See TENSIONS Page A3