Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 122, No. 241 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
October 8, 2013
www.rdrnews.com
TUESDAY
Fed shutdown fails to upset local agriculture JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER While farmers and livestock producers nationally struggle to get access to vital federal reports before planting winter crops, local farmers and ranchers are reporting few problems in the second week of the government shutdown. Roswell-area farmers and ranchers are somewhat protected from relying on a USDA information blackout. “The cattle business is rolling,” said Smiley Whooton, Chaves County commissioner and co-owner of Roswell Livestock Auction. “The packing houses are in business. All hands are on deck.” The permits needed by ranchers are only required annually by the Bureau of Land Management, Whooton said.
“I was very pleased with how the auction went,” Whooton said. “We had lots of participation with the sale today. I haven’t heard of any ranchers having BLM problems with their permits. No one knows what the future holds there.” Farmers and livestock producers in other states use reports issued by the National Agriculture Statistics Services to make decisions about how to price crops, which commodities to grow and when to sell them, and to track cattle auction prices. The federal government stopped the NASS, cut off all access to the USDA website and stopped issuing new reports about demand and supply, exports and prices immediately following the shutdown. State Sen. Cliff Pirtle, RDist. 32, who also farms in Chaves County, said while
Jill McLaughlin Photo
State Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Dist. 32, seeds a field Monday. Local farmers are not reporting many negative effects from the second week of the federal shutdown.
the agriculture industry may be affected nationally, most of the feed grown in this valley is feed that is sold to local dairy operations. “In the Roswell area, the corn silage is chopped and fed to cows nearby,” Pirtle
said. “The price is more based upon how much is available and how many cows are currently in the valley.” The New Mexico Dept. of Agriculture is providing state farmers and ranchers with
market news directly through a phone line, at 575-7633030 and 1-866-501-9845. “New Mexico’s market news is gathered not by USDA but by NMDA’s Market News Office in Clovis, on behalf of USDA,” said state
NMDA spokeswoman Katie Goetz. Even during the shutdown, though, the USDA is still providing several essential agricultural functions, including federal inspection of meat and eggs, Goetz said. But, USDA activities that are on hold include: farm loans, disaster assistance, technical and financial assistance related to conservation programs. One program not funded during the shutdown is the Conservation Reserve Program, in which the government pays farmers to keep highly erodible land out of production. Otherwise, agriculture hasn’t been interrupted in the past several days, Goetz said. “Farmers and ranchers are busy doing what they’re always busy doing, farming and ranching,” Goetz said. See AG, Page A3
Artesia man is convicted of CSP JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
Participants in an immigration rally in Roswell on Sunday greet the “On the Road to Citizenship” Caravan bus with picket signs and American flags.
Immigration caravan stops in Roswell TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
About 100 protesters gathered at Pioneer Park Sunday morning to rally for Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) to support a path to citizenship for
undocumented immigrants without requiring them to return to their countries of origin. The rally was part of the “On the Road to Citizenship” Caravan organized by Santa Fe-based community organizing group Somos un
Pueblo Unido. The caravan’s ultimate destination was the Lea County Republican Party headquarters in Hobbs, where Pearce resides. The Roswell event was organized See CARAVAN, Page A3
James Butler, 49, of Artesia, was convicted of one count of criminal sexual penetration of a minor under the age 13, a first-degree felony; two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under the age 13, and one count of intimidation and threats against a witness. The incidents occurred between July 2010 and December 2010. The child was 11 years old at the time of the first incident and 12 at the time of the last. In July, the mother, who was out of town at a conference, received a call from the victim’s younger sister about a fight between Butler and the 11year-old girl. When questioned, the victim said that Butler told her she couldn’t hide behind towels or in the shower because this was his house. The mother called her mother and had her pick up the children before she returned to Roswell. The girl’s mother told the court that she saw behavioral changes in her daughter. The victim had been described as a happy-go-lucky child, who became angry when Butler was around. The couple tried counseling. According to the affidavit of criminal complaint, Butler admitted he told the victim that she could not hide “because he was angry.” The mother filed for divorce because she didn’t think her daughter was safe. The divorce became final in December 2010. The changes had also been noted by friends and authorities at school. A fellow student said that she didn’t smile anymore. He thought she was being bullied and offered to help when the information came out. He reported it to the vice principal, who contacted the mother in 2012 and informed her that her daughter had been raped. The victim reported to the detective investigating the charges that Butler held her down and threatened to hurt both her mother and her sister if she said anything. The trial lasted one-and-a-half days. State Prosecutor See CSP, Page A3
Affordable Care Act means some Health law glitches: Fatal or fleeting? may have to change health plans TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
This is the second installment of a three-part series about how local residents can adapt to the Affordable Care Act.
Who needs to sign up?
The open enrollment period for health plans on the exchange started October 1 and ends March 31. If you do not enroll in insurance by the end of March, the IRS will garnish money from your tax returns. Open enrollment will start again in Oct. 15, 2014, and run through December. According to the New Mexico Health Exchange (NMHIX), people who undergo “life events” such as marriage, divorce, or a new child may enroll for care on the exchange between open enrollment periods. Native American tribal members may sign up for care through NMHIX at any time. As part of the health care
reform, almost everyone is required to sign up for insurance, with few exceptions. However, you are not required to sign up for a plan through the exchange. The uninsured may pursue plans through private providers. Only plans of fered on the exchange include subsidized premiums. If you make up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which varies based on family size, you may enroll in Medicaid, renamed Centennial Care under ACA. If you already have health insurance through your employer, private health care provider, Medicaid, or some state-sponsored plans, you do not have to sign up for a new health plan. If your job-based health plan is deemed “affordable” under ACA guidelines, you do not qualify for subsidized health insurance. Small businesses are not required to provide health insurance to employees, TODAY’S FORECAST
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but are permitted to enroll at any time during the year. Some designated groups are exempt from the health insurance mandate, meaning they are not required to have an insurance plan and will not be fined if they do not enroll in insurance. Exemptions exist for members of Native American tribes and certain religious groups.
What if I’m on a government-sponsored plan?
Some plans financed with government funds will expire following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The New Mexico Health Insurance Alliance will cease to exist Jan. 1. Small businesses and selfemployed individuals who utilize NMHIA services will need to purchase services through the exchange. Individuals who are clients of NMHIA may also qualify for See HEALTH CARE, Page A3
WASHINGTON (AP) — The glitch-ridden rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care law has opponents crowing: “Told you so!” and insisting it should be paused, if not scrapped. But others, including insurance companies, say there’s still enough time to fix the online enrollment system before uninsured Americans start getting coverage on Jan. 1. After emergency repairs over the weekend, consumers in different parts of the country Monday continued to report delays on healthcare.gov, as well as problems setting up security questions for their accounts. The administration says the site’s crowded electronic “waiting room” is thinning out. Still, officials announced it will be down again for a few hours starting at 1 a.m. Tuesday for more upgrades and fixes. The last major federal health care launch — the Medicare prescription program in 2006 — also had big startup problems. Government leaders who oversaw it say things could look very different in a couple of months for Obama’s law if the administration manages to get a grip on the situation. “There wasn’t enough time for testing, so the dress rehearsal became opening night,” said Michael Leavitt, who as President George W. Bush’s top health official, was responsible for the Medicare drug plan debut. “The moment of truth is going to come in the middle of November, when people want to see the real deal,” said Leavitt, who currently heads a consulting firm that advises states on the health overhaul. “If they don’t
have this running smoothly by then, it’s going to be a bigger problem than we’re seeing today.” Obama’s law — also known as the Affordable Care Act — was designed to provide insurance for people who don’t have access to coverage on the job. Middleclass uninsured people can buy a government-subsidized private plan, while the poor and near-poor will be steered to Medicaid in states that agree to expand the safety net program. The online insurance markets were envisioned as the 21st century portal to an overhauled system. But when the health care markets went live last week, millions of curious Americans overwhelmed federal and state insurance websites. The level of interest could be read as a good sign, since polls just prior to the launch found most uninsured people unaware it was coming. Yet for many, the consumer experience was like a Saturday morning spent twiddling thumbs at the local motor vehicle department. Some prospective customers got a screen that told them to wait — and nothing happened, for hours. Others started to sign up and got trapped by a recurring glitch when they tried to set up security questions to protect their personal accounts. Some who got through all the way to the end found their sessions had timed out, and they had to start over. The administration has mainly blamed high volume. The Health and Human Services department says it is adding servers — workhorse computer equipment — to the system to handle the volume of user requests.
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
• ROSIE CARRILLO TORREZ • L.C. STILES • LYDIA MONTOYA
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5 COMICS .................B3 ENTERTAINMENT .....B8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER...............A8