Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 243 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
OCTOBER 8, 2011
SATURDAY
AG answers critics on gun-smuggling issue
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday that his testimony to Congress about a controversial gunsmuggling probe was truthful and accurate and that Republicans are engaging in political posturing when they say otherwise. In his most forceful criticism of Republicans during his time as attorney general, Holder said that he had
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE GOES TO ACTIVISTS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
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The president said he has complete confidence in Holder ...
said little so far about the gun-smuggling probe because the Justice Department inspector general is investigating it but that he could not sit idly by while a Republican congressman suggested that law enforcement and gov-
ernment employees be considered accessories to murder. Key Republicans say the attor ney general knew many months earlier than he has admitted that the gun-smuggling probe by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Hay fire at Three Amigos Dairy
Tobacco, Firear ms and Explosives involved agents letting guns pass from small-time straw purchasers to arms traffickers. “I have no recollection of knowing about” the operation, called ‘Fast and Furious,’ or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it,” Holder said in a letter to key Republican and Democratic members of Congress who over-
Veterans cemetery gets closer to reality
OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three champions of women’s rights in Africa and the Middle East on Friday in an attempt to bolster the role of women in struggles to bring democracy to nations suffering from autocratic rule and civil strife. - PAGE C1
WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Firefighters work to keep a smoldering hay fire from spreading outside of a metal structure at Three Amigos Dairy located on East Darby Road near Midway, Friday afternoon. A fire official said that the fire began early Friday morning and was temporarily contained until high winds caused it to re-ignite.
Earlier in the week Roswell football coach Robert Arreola said that if his team could beat Moriarty on Friday, he believed that would solidify the Coyotes’ spot in the 4A playoffs. Roswell obviously bought into that concept as they came out and dominated the Pintos from the start in a 356 waxing at the Wool Bowl. The Coyotes took control of the game on their second possession. Roswell started the drive at its own 25 and on the first play ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Margaret L. Bush • Carlos Cunningham • Robert Vigil - PAGE B3
HIGH ...72˚ LOW ....50˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........C3 COMICS.................B6 ENTERTAINMENT.....B8 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................C1
INDEX
The dream of Roswell’s own veterans cemetery is almost a reality — and fairgoers have an opportunity to be a part of the city’s monumental addition. Vietnam veteran Bert Eldridge has been vying for a local veterans cemetery for more than a year. His effort was greatly aided by a generous donation of land — 25 acres — located just north of South Park Cemetery. The land was donated by Hanson Operat-
United Way campaign Jazz Festival gets under way ahead of 2010 numbers JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
MEDRANO SHINES FOR COYOTES
See HOLDER, Page A3
VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 • State’s Van of Enchantment brings ... • Blessing of Animals set for Sunday • Roswell man dead after high-speed chase • Bands and food and rides and all kinds .. • Clovis passes Roswell for five-set win
see Justice Department issues. He said that before early this year, “I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation and it is my understanding that the for mer United States Attorney for the district of Arizona and the former acting director and
Roughly seven weeks into its annual fundraising campaign, the United Way of Chaves County has already surpassed the amount it raised at this time during last year’s campaign. The campaign, which kicked off Aug. 15, has raised 13.84 percent, or $79,579, of its total goal of $575,000. “Last year we were at about eight percent at this time and the goal was $460,000. So our goal is 25 percent higher,” Sherry Mumford, UWCC executive director, said. First initiated in 1956, the annual fundraising campaign is going well so far this year, Perry Toles, co-chairman for the campaign, said. “This amount is ahead of where we were last year. At this time we have a little bit of residual
from last year’s campaign that was chaired by Travis Hicks that we can be grateful for.” A new marketing sponsorship program was established this year, that has provided funds to help market the campaign. “We have a community that cares. I know our community will step up. All we have to do is go out there and ask them. So that’s our goal, ask everyone we can. Touch every household, every person and ask them to help,” Mumford said, adding, “And this really helps the agencies, too, because even when they do fundraisers there are only a few of our agencies, that I can think of, who can raise the amount of monies that we give them through fundraisers.” Schools have been some of the early donors to the
See VETERANS, Page A3
VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Although the jazz and the fall breeze were cool, the sixth annual Roswell Jazz Festival kicked off with a warm New Mexico welcome at the Chaves County Courthouse lawn, Friday. The brief, lunchtime concert, which featured a sampling of several of the artists who will be playing throughout Roswell this weekend, also began with a few words in memory of the person who helped make the festival possible. Frank Schlatter, who started what was first called the Pecos Valley Jazz & Arts Festival with longtime friend and fellow musician Roger Dickerson, passed away earlier this year. Paula Grieves, a Roswell Jazz Festival committee member,
Mark Wilson Photo
Musicians jam Friday afternoon at the courthouse during the sixth annual Roswell Jazz Festival Kick-Off Concert.
offered a welcome to the crowd and artists as well as a few words in Schlatter’s memory. “Mi casa es su casa,” she said. Spanish for “my house is your house,” Grieves said the phrase is locally known as a welcome for someone with whom one shares a strong bond.
“It’s the kind of friendship that expresses you are family,” Grieves said. It was this same kind of invitation and welcome, Grieves said, that Schlatter expressed when he asked Dickerson to come to Roswell when Dicker-
See JAZZ, Page A3
Carolyn Cronk receives fragment of Hebrew scroll VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Carolyn Cronk keeps a valuable piece of Jewish history, and the story of how she came to have it has as many twists and turns as her life. Originally from Texas, Cronk grew up and went to school in Fullerton, Calif. She admits she’s “lived in a lot of places,” with a modest yet playful smile. She has lived around the world and been immersed in a life of church and missionary work, in part, because of her late husband. Cronk married the love of her life, Richard, just two days after graduating high school in 1956. In 1960, Richard graduated from college, and in 1965, Richard’s work transferred him to Albuquerque. Cronk recalled living on Eubank Boulevard, which was, at the time, the westernmost point of the city.
See UNITED, Page A3
The Cronks moved to Moriarty, bought a farm
but eventually went back to Hawaii, and stayed for four
and enjoyed a quiet country life for 11 years. Cronk joked that the family grew “hay, cows and kids.” The Cronks had six children. With nostalgia Cronk recalled her time in Moriarty, describing days of milking cows and churning butter. “I really liked Moriarty,” she said. “Because we lived there the longest, and because we raised a family there, we called New Mexico home.” Cronk also enjoyed Hawaii, where she lived when Richard’s job sent him on an all-expenses paid trip for six months. They returned to Moriarty,
years. “While we were there, my husband felt (the) calling to be a pastor,” Cronk said. Richard attended the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. His first church was located in the Mojave Desert near Parker Dam, where the Colorado River separates California and Arizona. When the mission church closed for good, the Cronks were left almost destitute. Cronk thought of the Mojave Desert resorts, and the “snowbirds” who traveled there from up north when the winter months hit their homes the
Vanessa Kahin Photo
Carolyn Cronk holds a framed piece of a Hebrew scroll.
hardest. “That’s when our congregation was the biggest, in the winter,” Cronk said. She then decided to send resumes to some of these “snowbirds.” Soon, Richard was called to a church in
Michigan. The Cronks then pursued a desire to become missionaries, a dream that was almost interrupted when Richard was diagSee SPOTLIGHT, Page A3