Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 32 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
Budgets and driver’s licenses in focus at session Finally reaching a decision on House Bill 2, which encompasses the state’s budget, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee made several alterations to the bill, specifically cutting the amount allotted to be spent in the 2013 fiscal year, Monday morning. In January, the Legislative Finance Committee
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proposed a budget that would increase spending in the state by $250 million next year. The estimated projection of revenue coming into the state during the next fiscal year has been increased, hence the proposal to increase spending. This projected new money was based on natural gas price projections of $5.60 per million British thermal units.
The committee reduced the $250 million in antici-
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • • • • •
Gary A. Martinez Kenneth Lewis A.J. Fleming Viola Williams Jeff Smith
A plan to go forward with the establishment of a dog park, Wool Bowl renovations and a proposal for a J. Kenneth Smith Bird and Nature Center were all discussed at the Roswell Parks and Recreation Committee meeting Monday evening. Members of the committee include Chairman Dusty Huckabee and councilors Barry Foster and Elena Velasquez. The cost of a fence and written approval from the Independent Roswell School District are the two main elements standing in the way of giving pet owners a place to take their four-legged companions to play and run around. The current allocated space, which is located on the south end of the Wool Bowl, is slightly less than 1.5 miles. Parking is also available next to the loca-
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico’s participation in a regional cap and trade program aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions became more unlikely Monday with a unanimous vote by state regulators. The decision by the Environmental Improvement Board to repeal the cap and trade rules came in response to petitions filed by New Mexico’s largest electric utilities, oil and gas developers and others who feared the rules would push businesses and jobs to neighboring states. Gov. Susana Martinez, a critic of regulating carbon emissions at the state level, was pleased with the board’s decision, spokesman Scott Darnell
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the governor, signaling her approval. “The gover nor has already said she will not sign anything unless it’s a total repeal,” Ezzell said.
Nuñez’s bill was first tabled 5-4 on a party-line vote during a House Labor and Human Resources Committee meeting. A substitute for the bill, which includes various amendments that rendered the bill so that it echoed the current driver’s license law,
was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. Once there, committee members replaced the substitute with Nuñez’s original bill, which was then subsequently passed out of the committee.
“With this being an election year, with 79 percent of the voting public saying yes repeal the bill, I think a lot of people from the other See SESSION, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
AP photo
A member of the Free Syrian Army stands guard as anti-Syrian regime protesters hold a demonstration in Idlib, Syria, Monday.
US closes Syrian embassy as diplomacy collapses BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Monday in a new Western push to get President Bashar Assad to leave power and halt the murderous grind in Syria — now among the
Regulators repeal carbon cap and trade rules INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Elite and Eli. One and the same. And now there are two Super Bowl championships and two MVPs to prove it. Eli Manning is the big man in the NFL after one-upping Tom Brady and leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the... - PAGE B1
pated revenues to $215 million due to plummeting natural gas prices, according to Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell. The budget bill and Andy Nuñez’s, I-Hatch, bill, which enables only those with a social security number to qualify for a New Mexico driver’s license, are expected to be discussed on the House floor today, Ezzell said. The bill, House Bill 103, included a message from
Dog park and renovations discussed
See DOG PARK, Page A3
GIANTS OUTDUEL PATS, 21-17
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
WHERE ARE THE PROFITS?
February 7, 2012
said. “This is a regulation that failed to pass the Legislature and was instead rushed through without sufficient science, with even some proponents admitting that it wouldn’t have a tangible positive impact on the environment,” Darnell said. “It was a regulation that threatened jobs and would have burdened our families with higher energy costs.” Members of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association agreed, saying it was bad public policy for New Mexico to unilaterally take on an issue that is global in scope. Environmentalists said they weren’t surprised by See CARBON, Page A3
deadliest conflicts of the Arab Spring. Although the diplomatic effort was stymied at the U.N. by vetoes from Russia and China, the moves by the U.S. and Britain were a clear message that Western powers see no
point in engaging with Assad and now will seek to bolster Syria’s opposition.
“This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime,” British ForSee EMBASSY, Page A3
Deeper Iran sanctions; US targets its central bank
WASHINGTON (AP) — Targeting Iran’s economy, the U.S. ordered tough new penalties Monday to further pinch the country’s financial system and encourage Israel to give sanctions more time before any military action against Iran’s nuclear program. The new, stricter sanctions, authorized in legislation that President Barack Obama signed in December, will be enforced under an order he signed only now. They give U.S. banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to move money despite earlier restrictions imposed by the U.S. and Europe. The action against the
Central Bank of Iran is more significant for its timing than its immediate effect. It comes as the United States and its allies are arguing that tough sanctions can still persuade Iran to back off what the West contends is a drive to build a nuclear bomb. The U.S. and Europe want to deprive Iran of the oil income it needs to run its government and pay for the nuclear program. But many experts believe Iran will be able to find other buyers outside Europe. The European Union announced last month it would ban the import of Iranian crude oil starting in July. The U.S. doesn’t buy Iranian oil, but last month it placed sanctions on Iran’s banks to make it harder for
the nation to sell crude. The U.S., however, has delayed implementing those sanctions for at least six months because it is worried about sending oil prices higher at a time when the world economy is struggling. Iran exports about 3 percent of the world’s oil.
The faster and more painfully sanctions can be seen to work, the better the case to shelve any plan by Israel to bomb Iran, a preemptory move that could ignite a new Mideast war. Taking this initial step against the Central Bank, the first time the U.S. has directly gone after that major institution, is one way the Obama administraSee IRAN, Page A3
A push for family input to detect dementia earlier WASHINGTON (AP) — Alexis McKenzie’s mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife’s sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store. Then their phone service was cut off. “I mailed that check,” McKenzie’s father insisted. No, he’d mailed the phone company a bank deposit slip instead. McKenzie visited and discovered spoiling food. Dad the caregiver was in trouble, too. Dementia can sneak up
on families. Its sufferers are pretty adept at covering lapses early on, and spouses are sometimes there to compensate. Doctors too frequently are fooled as well. Now specialists are pushing for the first National Alzheimer’s Plan to help overcome this barrier to early detection, urging what’s called dementiacapable primary care, more screenings for warning signs and regular checks of caregivers’ own physical and mental health.
For a doctor to ask someone with brewing dementia, “How are you?” isn’t enough, says Dr. Lau-
rel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center who is part of a federal advisory council tackling the issue.
“So often I hear, ‘The doctor only asks my mom how she is. She says fine and it’s over,’” says Coleman. “That’s not dementiacapable, or dementiaaware, primary care.”
Family input should be mandatory, she told a recent council meeting. It’s the only way to know if the person really is eating and taking her medicines as she claims, and not forget-
See DEMENTIA, Page A3
AP photo
Alexis McKenzie, right, executive director of The Methodist Home of the District of Columbia Forest Side, an Alzheimer's assisted-living facility, shares a light moment with resident Catherine Peake, in Washington, Monday.