Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 288 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
December 1, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
SUNDAY
White House: On track for website goal
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said it will meet its self-imposed deadline of fixing the troubled health care website so that 50,000 people can log in at the same time starting late Saturday. Yet questions remain about the stability of the site, the volume of traffic it can handle and the quality of the data it is delivering to insurers. Round-the-clock repair work since HealthCare.gov went live on Oct. 1 has produced fewer errors, and pages are loading faster. But the site still won’t be able to do everything the administration wanted, and companion sites for small businesses and Spanish speakers have been delayed. Still, the White House hopes a website that is at least operating more smoothly after weeks of bad publicity about its troubles will mark a fresh start for Obama and the signature domestic initiative of his presidency, as well as give him a chance to salvage a second term
that has been weighed down by health care law’s rough start and other issues. Administration officials said HealthCare.gov was “performing well” Saturday, the deadline set to have it working smoothly for the “vast majority of users,” after overnight hardware upgrades to boost server capacity. The deadline fell during a long holiday weekend when traffic to the site likely would have been slower anyway and at a level unlikely to expose new technical issues. More hardware upgrades and software fixes were planned for overnight Saturday to further improve speed and reduce errors. “With upgrades last night and those planned for tonight, the team is continuing its ongoing work to make HealthCare.gov work smoothly for the vast majority of users,” Julie Bataille, communications director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Saturday in a blog post. CMS
oversees the health care website and is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Additional data on the website’s progress was to be released Sunday by Jeff Zients, the website’s chief troubleshooter. Obama promised a few weeks ago that HealthCare.gov “will work much better on Nov. 30, Dec. 1 than it worked certainly on Oct. 1.” But, in trying to lower expectations, he said he could not guarantee that “100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time going on this See HEALTH, Page A2
AP Photo
This photo of part of the HealthCare.gov website is photographed in Washington, on Friday. The beleaguered health insurance website has had periods of down times as as the government tries to fix the problems.
Market brings the world to Roswell
Wounded warriors get hero’s welcome JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Amy Vogelsang Photo
A fashion show took place while people rummaged through an ecclectic mix of merchandise from India, Africa and Nepal at the World Market Saturday.
AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER
As “Jai Ho” — a Hindi song made popular by the film “Slum-
dog Millionaire” — began to play, the shoppers and onlookers clapped along to the catchy tune.
The music helped set the scene: people were transported to a vari-
ety of different countries.
Bright colors, platters of unfamiliar food and unique, vibrant clothes filled The Liberty on Saturday night at Roswell’s first
World Market.
Multiple organizations (all various empower ment programs) See MARKET, Page A3
Hanukkah: a small light can banish a lot of darkness AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER The following is the first part of a three-part series: The History of Holiday Traditions.
In her window stands a menorah, a candelabrum of sorts also called a hanukkiyah. Eight candles burn brightly through the curtains, winking at the dark world outside. As the days have gotten shorter and winter breathes her chilly breath on the world, one of the
most well known Jewish holidays has begun. Hanukkah. It’s a term and holiday most have at least heard of, but how many really know the history or traditions of the Jewish Festival of Lights? Hanukkah is not actually mentioned in the Bible, but it comes from the writings of rabbis passed down through histories. And even from one family to another, the traditions do not vary as much as is
sometimes seen with other holidays, explained a member of the Jewish community who wished to remain unnamed. Jane Doe explained that on each of eight nights, a candle is lit. There is a shammash — a “servant” candle — that stands above the rest and is used to light each day’s candle. Although Doe claimed not to be an expert on the holiday, she did have some stellar resources for uncovering the history behind
Hanukkah.
So where did the holiday originate? Although it is not directly written in the Old Testament, part of the miracle celebrated on Hanukkah comes from the book of Maccabees.
After King Antiochus Epiphanes forbid all Jewish practices in 167 B.C., a priest named Mattathias, outraged, fled with his five sons to See LIGHT, Page A2
U.S. Marine combat veteran Kurt Mason walked into the Roswell International Air Center Saturday night expecting to start an elk hunting trip. But before he did anything, he stopped to hug each man and woman who stood guard before him holding an American flag. “I think I’m kind of at loss for wor ds,” Mason said. “Words can’t describe what people give back to us nowadays. Ever since I’ve been hurt, people have opened up their houses, businesses. It’s heartwarming.” Mason, from Wyoming, and Kenneth Kaighn, who also served in the Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, were met at the airport by the Southeast New Mexico Patriot Guard Riders. The two were severely injured in combat and are on 100percent disability. Both served in Afghanistan, and Kaighn spent time in Iraq and Somalia. The trip is sponsored by Base Camp 40 — Warrior Hunt New Mexico, and Warrior Bands USA, a Texas-based company that creates wrist bands out of paracord for active military and veterans. Base Camp 40 is a non-profit organization that hosts veterans for hunting trips See WELCOME, Page A3
Mica the border collie follows her nose to a career in search and rescue TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER “Go search.” Mica wanders the living room, sticking her nose into corners and sniffing. She lies down next to a cardboard box. The box is one of a few lying around the home of Diane Whetsel and Cathy O’Dette in Roswell. Whetsel and O’Dette were in the process of moving to North Carolina at the time of Mica’s demonstration one week ago. Whetsel tells Mica she is
close but must continue looking. The quest resumes and soon after, Mica lands on the object of her search. She lies down next to a shelving unit that holds a small open jar of teeth Whetsel collected from dentists’ offices. Whetsel trains dogs who assist law enforcement, TODAY’S FORECAST
HIGH 75 LOW 33
military and emergency personnel in searches for people, bombs and other subjects. Recently retired from work as a corrections officer at the Roswell Corrections Center, Whetsel also runs the Sage Foundation for Dogs Who Serve, a See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3
United Way
622-4150 of Chaves County
Collected
$265,841 Goal
Courtesy photo
Mica searches for items with human scent in a pile of rubble off Chickasaw Road in Hagerman.
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
• GWENDOLYN OLSEN MACCALLUM REEVES • ZUDIE SCHNEDAR
• FRANCES BURKSTALLERGOODSON • TROY RAY WAGGONER
CLASSIFIEDS ..........D1 COMICS .................C4 ENTERTAINMENT .....B8 GENERAL ...............A2
INDEX HOROSCOPES .........B8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION..................A6 OPINION .................A4
$525,000
51%
Of Goal Collected
SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER...............A8 WORLD ..................A6