Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 205 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
CHICAGO (AP) — Thousands of Chicago children whose schools were shuttered last spring walked to new ones on the first day of school Monday under the watchful eye of police officers and newly hired safety guards there to provide protection as the kids crossed unfamiliar streets ...
August 27, 2013
Chaves Co. stands against gay marriages JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
GUARDS ESCORT KIDS TO SCHOOL
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Bernalillo County today is expected to become the third, and most populous, county in New Mexico to start issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The county clerk was ordered by State District Judge Alan Malott Monday to begin issuing the licenses after he declared the state’s constitution prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Clerks around the state are uncertain about whether the latest court ruling requires them to begin licensing gay couples. Chaves County, however, will not issue the licenses until state law changes or the state Supreme Court issues a directive.
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
“We’re not going to do it as long as possible,” Chaves County Clerk Dave Kunko said. “It is my understanding, after talking to the county attorney, it doesn’t apply to the whole state at this point.” Chaves County-area elected officials agreed with Kunko. "The reckless actions of this judge acting on personal opinion and ignoring legislative procedure threatens serious confusion, frustration, and pain for those who are being led to believe that the law has changed,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-NM. Assistant Attorney General Scott Fugua told the Associated Press that clerks outside Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties were not bound to follow the decision. AG Gary King
said last week he would not take any action against Ellins, but his position was that the current state law was unconstitutional. State Sen. Cliff Pirtle, RDist. 32, said the issue needed to be decided at the state Supreme Court. “As it stands right now, state law is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Pirtle said. “Regardless of what side of the issue you’re on, I really believe the state Supreme Court should weigh in on this issue.” Some Republican legislators were against what they viewed as overstepping state law. “I do believe everybody is created equal, but we still have laws,” said state Rep. Candy Ezzelle, R-Roswell. “These clerks have taken it upon themselves to bypass
the legislative process. What is the purpose of having the legislature … if they are instituting the rules as they want to? I was raised believing in the Bible, and what the Bible says is a marriage is between one man and one woman.” One group of Republican legislators planned to file a lawsuit to stop clerks in other counties from issuing same-sex licenses. Sen. Bill Sharer of Farmington said a legal team is reviewing how to “stop the usurping of the legislative function by some district court judges in regards to marriage in the state,” and the lawless actions of the Dona Ana County clerk. “It is inexplicable how a district court just today discovered a new definition of marriage in our laws, when our marriage law has
- PAGE A6
TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• Pen pals Woods and Tur mark 50 years of ... • Job Corps grads given a second chance ... • Roswell ESGR recognizes community • Man receives six months for 20 counts ... • Good-natured roast ...
INSIDE SPORTS
AP Photo
Black columns of smoke rise after heavy shelling in Barzeh, a suburb of Damascus, Syria, Friday. As the government pursued its offensive on the rebel-held eastern suburbs for a third day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Syrian government to allow a U.N. team now in Damascus to swiftly investigate the alleged chemical weapons attack.
UN at site of alleged chemical attack SCOTT WINS BARCLAYS JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Of all the players who missed putts on the 18th hole at Liberty National, Adam Scott might have been the only one who felt like it didn’t matter. His 15-foot putt grazed the right edge of the cup, and Scott walked away with a 5under 66 ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Barry David Brown • Robert Dove • Erica Marie Navarrette • Patsy Rubio • Maria Concepion Silvas
- PAGE A6
HIGH ...89˚ LOW ....66˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — U.N. experts collected samples and testimony from Syrian doctors and victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack Monday following a treacherous
journey through government and rebel-held territory, where their convoy was hit by snipers. As U.S. officials said there was very little doubt that Syria used chemical
weapons and Western powers stepped up calls for swift military action, President Bashar Assad’s government vowed to defend itself against any international attack, warning that
such an intervention would ignite turmoil across the region. It also would bring the See SYRIA, Page A3
not been changed in over a century,” Sharer said. The gay marriage debate erupted in New Mexico beginning last Wednesday, when Dona Ana Clerk Lynn Ellins started issuing licenses to same-sex couples. Ellins said that by Friday, 137 couples from around the state and Texas picked up a license. Following Dona Ana’s action, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of five lesbian couples, including a Bernalillo couple that same day, asking for an emergency ruling on the matter. The suit asked the court to legitimize the marriages of the plaintiffs. Since Dona Ana’s move, Santa Fe County has also been court-ordered to issue the licenses.
Inmate testifies in NM murder trial
See MARRIAGE, Page A3
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The capital murder trial of an Arizona inmate accused of killing an Oklahoma couple after breaking out of prison resumed Monday with prosecutors calling a fellow inmate to testify about the escape and subsequent flight.
The prosecution’s case against John McCluskey hinges partly on the testimony of inmate Tracy Province. The two, along with an accomplice who threw cutting tools onto the prison grounds, sparked a nationwide manhunt when they escaped from a medium-
Volunteer firefighters Alzheimer’s fundraiser draws 700 in Eddy County threaten to call it quits
See TRIAL, Page A3
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
CARLSBAD (AP) — Volunteer firefighters from Eddy County’s 11 fire departments say they’ll resign if county officials approve policy changes and appoint the county’s emergency preparedness manager as the chief fire administrator. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports that the volunteers have no confidence in Eddy County Emergency Preparedness manager Joel Arnwine. Such resignations could leave the county without fire protection. Fire chiefs have said they believe one goal of the policy changes is to weed out older firefighters, many of whom began as volunteers in their teens. Arnwine has told the fire departments in a letter that the policy would provide the means for the County Commission to set policy for fire and emergency services in Eddy County.
This year’s Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk annual luncheon drew a large crowd of community members who filled the auditorium at the Roswell Elks Club Monday afternoon. Servers kept busy dishing out brisket lunch with beans and potato salad to the more than 700 attendees. “I wanted to have a Jill McLaughlin Photo great lunch, which it is,” said Bob Entrop, who This year's Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk fundraiser drew more than 700 attendees to its brisket See BRISKET Page A3 luncheon at the Roswell Elk's Lodge Monday.
Wildfire closing in on San Francisco Bay area’s water source
INDEX
AP Photo
A firefighter stands on top of a fire truck at a campground destroyed by the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif., on Monday.
TUOLUMNE CITY, Calif. (AP) — A raging wildfire in Yosemite National Park rained ash on the reservoir that is the chief source of San Francisco’s famously pure drinking water, and utility officials Monday scrambled to send more water toward the metropolitan area before it becomes tainted. Nearly 3,700 firefighters battled the approximately 230-square-mile blaze, the biggest wildfire on record in California’s Sierra Nevada. They reported modest progress, saying the fire was 15 percent contained. “We’re not there yet, but we’re starting to get a little bit of a handle on this thing,”
said Lee Bentley, fire spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. “It’s been a real tiger. He’s been going around trying to bite its own tail, and it won’t let go but we’ll get there.” Utility officials monitored the clarity of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and used a massive new $4.6 billion gravity-operated pipeline system to move water quickly to reservoirs closer to the big city. The Hetch Hetchy supplies water to 2.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay area, 150 miles away. “We’re taking advantage that the water we’re receiving is still of good quality,” said Harlan Kelly Jr., general manager of the city’s Public
Utilities Commission. “We’re bringing down as much water as possible and replenishing all of the local reservoirs.”
At the same time, utility officials gave assurances that they have a six-month supply of water in reservoirs near the Bay area.
So far the ash that has been raining onto the Hetch Hetchy has not sunk as far as the intake valves, which are about halfway down the 300-foot O’Shaughnessy Dam. Utility officials said that the ash is non-toxic but that the city will begin filtering water for customers if See WILDFIRE, Page A3