Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 10 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
SCHOOL SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA TAFT, Calif. (AP) — A 16year-old student armed with a shotgun walked into class in a rural Califor nia high school on Thursday and shot one student, fired at another and missed, and then was talked into surrendering by a teacher and another staff member, officials said. ... - PAGE A2
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
January 11, 2013
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Biden, NRA clash over gun conWASHINGTON (AP) — Despite fresh opposition from the National Rifle Association, the Obama administration is assembling proposals to curb gun violence that would include a ban on sales of assault weapons, limits on highcapacity ammunition magazines and universal background checks for gun buyers. Sketching out details of the plan Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden said he would give President Barack Obama a set of recommendations by next
Obama can use his executive powers to act alone on some gun measures, but his options on the proposals opposed by the NRA are limited without Congress’ cooperation.
Tuesday. The NRA, one of the pro-gun groups that met with Biden during the day, rejected the effort to limit ammunition and dug in on its opposition to an assault weapons ban, which Obama has previously said he will propose to Congress. “The vice president made it clear, made it explicitly clear, that the president had already made up his
mind on those issues,” NRA president David Keene said following the meeting. “We made it clear that we disagree with them.”
Opposition from the wellfunded and politically powerful NRA underscores the challenges that await the White House if it seeks congressional approval for limSee GUNS, Page A3
AP Photo
Vice President Joe Biden, second from right, speaks during a meeting with sportsmen, women and wildlife interest groups and members of his cabinet, Thursday.
Conoco building gets a makeover
City OKs police attorney
TOP 5 WEB
ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
For The Past 24 Hours
• City Council’s finance committee ... • Sheriff Coon: SO now up to full staff • 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting kicks off • Police catch Servantez • Dexter tops Hagerman again
INSIDE SPORTS
Jessica Palmer Photo
The old Conoco building on the 400 block of North Main Street is getting a face lift. The building, constructed some time between 1929 and 1931, is considered a historic preservation landmark. The project has been nearly 10 months in the making. The City had to get permission from the New Mexico Preservation Division in Santa Fe to replace the old garage doors. The proposal was submitted in May. To make the repairs, the City had to ensure that the replacements were exact reconstructions of the originals. The work is being done by CR Woodwork of Roswell. Once completed, the doors will have to be repainted in an exact match of the original colors.
JAGS AXE MULARKEY JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The more Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan watched his team play, the more he realized one thing: “We needed a rebuild from the ground up,” Khan said. So the Jaguars fired coach Mike Mularkey on Thursday after just one season, the worst in franchise history. The move came 10 days ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • • • •
Diana Madril-Mendoza Harlan O’Dell Webb Robert Ruzek Kimberly Hobbs Niece - PAGE A7
HIGH ...62˚ LOW ....24˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................B8
INDEX
After six months of hot and heavy debate, City Council approved Thursday the Police Department’s request for its own attorney, which will be a contracted position and funded out of the department’s budget. In August, Chief Al Solis and Deputy Chief Brad McFadin proposed the creation of a police attorney position to help the department sort out legal issues and be “solely responsible for handling Police Department prosecutions, defense and legal counsel in a timely, aggressive and efficient manner.” Mayor Del Jurney said See CITY, Page A3
County shows its support of Martinez proposes NM oil and gas production budget increase ILISSA GILMORE RECORD STAFF WRITER
During its monthly meeting Thursday, the Chaves County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to establish the county’s support of oil and gas production in New Mexico in an effort to encourage other counties to do the same. The resolution, proposed by Commissioner Greg Nibert, states that, “…the Chaves County Commissioners believe it is incumbent upon all counties in the state of New Mexico to encourage and promote the production of natural resources so that the state of New Mexico can maintain a balanced budget, provide educational opportunities for the children of the state, and to provide essential governmental services…”
Nibert said supporting gas and oil is for the collective good of the state and that most wealth and prosperity comes from using natural resources, such as crops and minerals. He said it was selfish for other counties “to put a wall up,” or prohibit use of their resources. “We contribute more than our fair share and it’s time for other counties in the state to step up to the plate,” he said. The resolution was later presented at the San Miguel County Commissioners meeting in Las Vegas, which held a public hearing concerning a proposed ordinance related to oil and gas drilling and exploration in the county. The commissioners also held a public
RFD responds to fire at railroad bridge
The Roswell Fire Department was called to the railroad bridge east of the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Hendricks Street on Wednesday to extinguish a fire. The person reporting the fire, David Archibeque of Southwestern Railway, told officials that the blaze appeared to have been deliberately set. Dried brush had been piled next to the wooden structure. RFD arson investigator Matt Miller was unable to say the exact cause of the fire or if it was arson, but he found it suspicious that fire had occurred on a rainy night. Archibeque said that the structure was still usable. Brian Beaty, Southwestern Railway manager of operations in Clovis, said that the inspection of the bridge had been completed on Thursday. “It was not severely damaged.” He also noted that the particular railroad line in question was the only route through Roswell, and had the bridge been damaged, there would have been no alternative route.
See COUNTY, Page A3
SANTA FE (AP) — Republican Gov. Susana Martinez proposed a nearly $5.9 billion state budget on Thursday that’s close to the overall spending recommendations of a legislative panel, but the administration’s plan for tax cuts and merit pay for educators could run into trouble in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Martinez outlined a budget blueprint that provides for a 4.1 percent, or $232 million,
increase in spending in the fiscal year that starts next July. That closely resembles the $233 million increase for public schools, higher education and general gover nment programs proposed a day earlier by the Legislative Finance Committee. However, there are plenty of areas of potential disagreements with Democrats in the details of the governor’s budget. See BUDGET, Page A3
Flu season strikes early, aggressively
NEW YORK (AP) — From the Rocky Mountains to New England, hospitals are swamped with people with flu symptoms. Some medical centers are turning away visitors or making them wear face masks, and one Pennsylvania hospital set up a tent outside its ER to deal with the feverish patients. Flu season in the U.S. has struck early and, in many places, hard.
AP Photo
Damien Dancy puts masks on his children Damaya, 3, left, and Damien, 7, on Wednesday at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, Va. Hospitals in Hampton Roads are urging patients and visitors to wear a mask at their facilities.
While flu normally does not blanket the country until late January or February, it is already widespread in more than 40 states, with about 30 of them reporting some major hot spots. On Thursday, health See FLU, Page A3