Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 124, No. 04 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
January 4, 2015
Winter weather grips Roswell BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR
While the 2 to 2½ inches of snow that blanketed Roswell Friday night seemed like a lot if you happened to be driving, it was small change in comparison to what some of the counties north of Chaves County got on the same night. The snow arrived after three or four days of temperatures that stayed below freezing. “Some counties north of you, like Quay and Guadalupe, got up to 12 inches of snow,” said Jason
Frazier, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. Between 9 to 10 inches were reported in Portales. Closer to home, 41⁄2 inches were reported south of the city and 7 inches were reported east of Elkins, which, according to Ghosttowns.com, was once a small ranch community off what is now U.S. 70. Frazier said Friday night’s snowfall was far from making the record books, but the accumulation was not typical for a winter day in Roswell and the surrounding desert landscape. “This doesn’t happen too
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frequently in southern and easter n portions of New Mexico,” he said. The sun finally came out Saturday morning, and the snow steadily melted through the day as temperatures crept up above freezing. A woman on a training run for a marathon was one of the few people in Roswell who ventured outdoors Saturday morning to enjoy the snow, which she said looked beautiful. She said she called a few of her running buddies and asked them to join her on her run, but none took up the offer. Today’s weather should
be sunny with high around 38, Frazier said. Sunday night’s low is forecast at a chilling 15 degrees. Similar weather is on deck for Monday with a night-time low around 24. Tuesday should be the warmest day of the week, with a high near 53. Daytime highs will taper off for the rest of the week, with Wednesday’s high around 37. “Beyond Tuesday things will stabilize with no significant changes in the weather,” Frazier said. Record editor Timothy P. Howsare can be contacted at 575-622-7710, ext. 310, or editor@rdrnews.com.
SUNDAY
Timothy P. Howsare Photo
Aerie, a 6-year-old White Labrador, was enjoying a romp in the snow Saturday morning at Triangle Park along Garden Street. Trotting alongside this playful girl is Nancy Turner, who said the dog belongs to her daughter. A Roswell native, Turner said she hasn’t seen too many snowfalls like the one we got Friday night.
Roswell Toyota tree decoration contest brings teams the green
TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE PHOTOS
the dealership.
Roswell Toyota announced Saturday the winners of its first Christmas tree decorating contest, where school groups decorated trees inside the showroom to win contributions for local nonprofits. Seven trees were decorated, each with a different color theme. General Manager Mike Baker said the winners were determined by customer votes and a total of $3,000 was given out by the dealership. Far left: Holding the first-place check of $1,500 for Valley Christian Academy is Lindsay Black, who works as a receptionist at
Bottom left: Accepting the third-place award of $500 for Goddard Project Graduation is parent and program coordinator Susan House. She said all the Goddard kids were at the basketball game.
Top left: Accepting the second-place award of $1,000 for Roswell High School Project Celebration are RHS seniors Floyd Bell, left, and Aaron Dominguez.
Baker said Roswell Toyota plans to continue the decorating contests in future years as a way of showing support for the community.
IRS tax season set Albuquerque Comic Con starts Friday to begin Jan. 20 STAFF REPORT
SUBMITTED
The IRS will begin accepting tax returns electronically on Jan. 20. Paper tax returns will begin processing at the same time. The decision follows Congress renewing a number of “extender” provisions of the tax law that expired at the end of 2013. These provisions were renewed by Congress through the end of 2014. The final legislation was signed into law Dec 19. “We have reviewed the late tax law changes and determined there was nothing preventing us from continuing our updating and testing of our systems,” IRS
Commissioner John Koskinen said. “Our employees will continue an aggressive schedule of testing and preparation of our systems to complete the final stages needed for the 2015 tax season.” The IRS reminds taxpayers that filing electronically is the most accurate way to file a tax return and the fastest way to get a refund. There is no advantage to people filing tax returns on paper in early January instead of waiting for e-file to begin. More information about IRS Free File and other information about the 2015 filing season will be available this month.
Photo courtesy of CBS Studios Inc.
“But Spock, snow in Roswell only exists in theory!” Actor William Shatner, who played Capt. Kirk in the original “Star Trek” series, is a confirmed guest at the Albuquerque Comic Con, scheduled for Jan. 9-11.
Klopfer, driving force behind changes at library, retires
BY DYLANNE PETROS RECORD STAFF WRITER
Klopfer
With a little luck, fans of the original “Star T rek” series could meet the actor who played their hero, Capt. James T. Kirk. William Shatner is confir med to appear as an invited guest at the fifth annual Albuquerque Comic Con, which will be held Jan. 9-11 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. In the tradition of large comic conventions and film festivals, ACC present the ultimate comic and film lovers weekend with three days of celebrity guests, parties, hundreds of vendors, local artists, film screenings, autograph opportunities, amazing
awards, cosplay and more. Along with Shatner, ACC has announced these confirmed invited guests: • Sargeant Slaughter — WWE, “GI Joe.” • The Bushwacker — WWE. • Cindy Pickett — “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” • Ver ne T royer — “Austin Powers.” • Claudia Christian — “Babylon 5.” • Sean Patrick Flanery — “Boondock Saints.” • Michael Biehn — “The Rock.” • Deep Roy “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” • Comic artists Rich Buckler, Larry Wells and Andy Kuhn. The ACC is located at 401 Second St. NW.
In the past 29 years, a lot has changed at the Roswell Public Library. Some of the changes include the renovation of the library, the reorganization of magazines by year, and the promotion of Books for the Blind, a state-funded program that provides audio books to people who are blind or visually impaired. Rosie Klopfer, interlibrary loan and periodicals librarian, has been the
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TODAY’S FORECAST
driving force behind a lot of the changes. Klopfer, who retired from the library Wednesday after 291⁄2 years of service, was the one who reorganized the magazines and color -coded them by year when she first arrived on May 6, 1985. She also helped promote Books for the Blind, boosting the program 50 percent in the area. Klopfer was bor n into the business of being a librarian. Both her mother and father were librarians and Klopfer met her hus• JAMES (PAT) PATTERSON • DEBORAH M. SEATON • NANCY EVELYN WILLIAMS
band because he worked for her father. Klopfer and her husband moved to Roswell because there were two jobs open at New Mexico Military Institute. Both Klopfer and her husband applied for the jobs, but another opportunity popped up for Klopfer before she started at NMMI. “The city had an opening before my job was supposed to take place so I applied here,” she said. Her husband, meanwhile, took the job at NMMI as assistant director of the
• HAZEL A. CRANDELL • LORETTA RICKETSON RILEY • LUPE MONTOYA URQUIDEZ
Paul Horgan Library and is now the director of the library. Klopfer got people involved with Books for the Blind by going to Kiwanis meetings and nursing homes to promote the program. “That was really nice knowing that I’m helping people who can’t read,” she said. Klopfer didn’t just help people in need though. While ordering books and sending books to other libraries in the area, she also helped the patrons that
• HAZEL DAWN GREEN DAY RASBERRY • CLARIBEL Y. MARSHALL
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B6
came into the library on papers and projects before the Internet came around. “(We helped) students find materials and it was really nice to have kids come back and say, ‘I got an A on my paper. Thank you.’ That was a real rewarding thing,” she said. Klopfer doesn’t just love ordering books at her job. She said the patrons at the library make her job even better. “I think if it wasn’t for the patrons I would have left See KLOPFER, Page A3
INDEX CLASSIFIEDS ..........D1 OPINION .................A4 COMICS .................C4 SPORTS .................B1 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 WEATHER ..............A8