Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 4 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
January 4, 2013
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SATURDAY
Judge delays hearing on horse slaughterhouse JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Santa Fe district judge decided Friday to delay Attor ney General Gary King’s request to permanently stop a Roswell company from opening a horse slaughterhouse after his attor neys admitted they were not prepared for the hearing. District Judge Matthew Wilson extended a temporary ban on Valley Meat Company’s operations for
10 days.
“The plaintiff indicated that he did not have witnesses ready for today’s hearing and that he was not ready to proceed to a hearing on the preliminary injunction,” Wilson wrote in his order to reschedule the hearing for Jan. 13.
Wilson found that immediate and irreparable injury may result if the temporary restraining order issued last week was not extended and that the public interest “is better served by strict
compliance with the state’s laws in prevention of possible unsafe food from entering the food supply and possible damage to the water supply.” Wilson also ordered that the court will consider Valley Meat’s motion to dismiss the case on grounds that the court lacks jurisdiction and that the court should require a security of bond from the attor ney general in the matter.
“The attorney general’s office showed up unpre-
pared and asked the judge to not allow us to present testimony on all of the stuff they’ve been basically ambushing us with,” said Valley Meat’s attorney A. Blair Dunn. “Since we weren’t allowed to put on our evidence, the judge went ahead and extended the (temporary restraining order) … we’re going to have a full evidentiary hearing on the 13th. We’re pleased with that.” Any time a judge wants more facts and more expla-
nation, he is doing what he is supposed to do, Dunn said.
“This is no different than federal court. When the facts and the law actually make it in front of a judge instead of just the AG or HSUS — or whoever it is screaming — the judges have always gone with us,” Dunn said. “And we feel very confident, because we know what the facts actually are. We know what the law actually is. We’re not running around Chicken
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
City of Roswell employees sod the grounds of a new park under construction at the site of the old Missouri Avenue Elementary School, Thursday.
SANTA FE (AP) — A legislative committee has recommended pay raises for state workers with a budget proposal Friday that would increase New Mexico spending by nearly $254 million next year. The plan from the Legislative Finance Committee provides at least a 1.5 percent pay increase for state agency and public school workers and the potential for raises of 3 percent or more for certain employees. The budget proposal will form the foundation for the Legislature’s spending decisions when lawmakers convene Jan. 21 for a 30-day session. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez plans to outline her budget recommendations next week. Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat and committee vice chairman, described the budget as a starting point and said he
expected the Democraticcontrolled Legislature to resolve any differences with the governor. The committee proposed spending about $6.1 billion on public education and general government programs, including courts, prisons and health care for the needy, in the fiscal year that begins next July. That’s about a 4.3 percent increase over this year’s budget. About $2 of every $5 in spending increases would go for higher salaries. Enrique Knell, a spokesman for the governor, said Martinez is willing to work with legislators in a bipartisan manner, but the committee’s proposed budget “doles out millions of dollars worth of untargeted, across-the-board government employee pay raises, while dramatically underfunding economic development efforts.”
AP Photo
An employee weighs portions of retail marijuana to be packaged and sold in Denver, Tuesday. Colorado started marijuana sales Jan. 1, a day some called "Green Wednesday."
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TODAY’S FORECAST
King filed the state lawsuit last month after a federal appeals court vacated an earlier order that had stopped the horse slaughter operations in the U.S. by barring federal inspections. Valley Meat had planned to open Jan. 1 until King filed the lawsuit asking for an emergency
5K run will benefit injured RPD officer
Under construction
Lawmakers propose pay raises for state workers
Little, like the attorney general’s office is, filing lawsuits of false impending doom.”
The Steve Meredith 5K Fun Run to benefit Sgt. Steve Meredith, who was injured in the line of duty, will be held on Saturday, Jan. 11, at Cielo Grande, 1612 W. College Blvd. The race will encompass two loops or trails. The first track is about 1 mile long while the second is 2 miles. Runners will follow the first smaller path and end with the large track. Amanda Mason, whose husband is a police officer, said: “Sometimes, people forget just how dangerous this job can be.” Meredith was on duty at the time he was injured on Oct. 21, 2013. He was helping to barricade a section of Hwy. 285 while officials conducted an investigation,
See HEARING, Page A3
when a commercial vehicle plowed into another vehicle, which was legally stopped at the road block, killing the driver whose truck then careened into the median strip and hit the Roswell Police Department sergeant. Meredith was flown out of state for treatment. His condition was listed as critical. However, he is on the mend. “It’s not just the financial support; it’s the emotional support. It is a way to thank the law enforcement community for the work they do and the sacrifices they make every day.” Pre-registration cards appeared on Dec. 27, and the response has been good. A total of 65 people have already paid their registration fees for the Fun Run. Mason said she has received
Dexter Postmaster Clemmons retires TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
Harmon “Chip” Clemmons started his career with the U.S. Postal Service as a clerk in Casper, Wyo., in 1979. That was back when automation was taking its first baby steps and postal service employees still had to manually sort mail on a regular basis, sitting on stools and pitching letters into cubby holes. Clemmons said he has witnessed astounding alterations to the postal service in his 34-year, four -month and 24-day career. He’s seen increased automation of mail sorting and delivery, as well as drastic cuts in staffing. “I’ve been amazed at the changes I’ve seen,” he said. “There’s so many new things that maybe I’m
not even comfortable with.” Friday, he retired from his role as postmaster at Dexter Post Office after almost 27 years in the position. Ruth Ann Brown, postmaster at Lake Arthur Post Office and friend of Clemmons, said she hates to see Clemmons retire. Brown described Clemmons as a mentor and champion of postal service employees. She said he is intelligent, kind, compassionate, dedicated and patient. “He’s such a good representative of the postal service,” said Brown, who met Clemmons 28 years ago when she began her career with USPS. “He’s just a great guy.” As postmaster in Dexter, Clemmons oversaw See CLEMMONS, Page A3
See 5K, Page A3
Courtesy photo
In this 2012 photo, Harmon "Chip" Clemmons holds a cashbook used by the post office in Blackdom, founded by black settlers in 1901 and abandoned in the 1920s, in the Dexter Post Office. The relic was discovered in DPO's archives and passed on to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in 2012.
Legislator seeks NM vote on marijuana legalization
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A state legislator wants New Mexico voters to decide whether to legalize sale of recreational marijuana. Democratic Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque plans legislation for a constitutional amendment for marijuana legalization, the Albuquerque Journal reported Friday. Ortiz y Pino says his proposal would take an approach on use of marijuana similar to what is
done with alcohol and that it will be modeled after a referendum that Colorado voters approved in 2012. If approved by New Mexico legislators, the legalization proposal would go on the state’s November general election ballot. “I think the argument we’ll make is that this is basically an opportunity for the public to decide if they want to do it,” Ortiz y Pino said. “If they don’t (vote for it) we go back to the drawing board.” If voters end up approv-
• LEONARD CLAUDE “BUSTER” FERGUSON JR.
• JANE RUSSELL OBERKAMPF DAVISSON GIBSON
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B5
ing the proposal, lawmakers in 2015 could consider specifics on how marijuana might be sold, taxed and regulated in New Mexico, Ortiz y Pino said. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez opposes drug legalization, but constitutional amendment proposals go straight from the Legislature to the ballot. “As a prosecutor and district attorney, the governor has seen firsthand how illegal drug use destroys lives, especially among our youth, and she
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opposes drug legalization or decriminalization ef forts,” spokesman Enrique Knell said in a statement. Knell called the proposal an effort to increase liberal voter tur nout in the November election, when Martinez will be seeking re-election. A Republican legislative leader, House Minority Leader Nate Gentry, said this year’s 30-day legislative session is too brief for adequate consideration of the issue.
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