01-10-12 RDR NEWS

Page 1

Roswell Daily Record

Vol. 121, No. 8 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city on Monday launched a yearlong 75th anniversary celebration of the opening of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge with a string of parties, guided tours and festivals to be held along the waterfront graced by the burnt-orange span... - PAGE A3

January 10, 2012

Romney rivals go after front-runner

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Mitt Romney’s declaration that “I like being able to fire people” set off a tempest on the eve of the New Hampshire Republican primary as his rivals seized a chance to rough up his presidential prospects beyond the race he’s expected to win Tuesday. Never mind that Romney was talking about American consumers being able

GOLDEN GATE ANNIVERSARY LAUNCHES

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

TUESDAY

www.rdrnews.com

to “fire” their health insurance companies, not about a boss laying off workers. His off-the-cuff comments Monday played into growing questions about whether his drive for profits at a private equity fir m came at the expense of workers. “Gov. Romney enjoys firing people, I enjoy creating jobs,” GOP rival Jon Huntsman told reporters at a

Concord, N.H., rally. “It may be that he’s slightly out of touch with the economic reality playing out in America, and that’s a dangerous place for someone to be.” Newt Gingrich said Romney’s firm “apparently looted” the companies it took over, and he promised a clamorous challenge ahead, no matter what happens in New Hampshire.

“I spent three weeks with Gov. Romney saying a variety of foolish things like, you need broad shoulders, and, you need to stand the heat,” Gingrich said. “I mean, fine, OK, I’ve got broad shoulders, I can stand the heat. Now, we’ll see if he has broad shoulders and he can stand the heat.” The former Massachusetts gover nor, who had

Iran sentences ex-Marine to death America hits

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AP Photo

In this Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, video frame grab image made from the Iranian broadcaster IRIB TV, U.S. citizen Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, accused by Iran of spying for the CIA, sits in Tehran's revolutionary court, in Iran. An Iranian court has convicted Hekmati and sentenced him to death, state radio reported Monday. Iran charges that Hekmati received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A former U.S. Marine interpreter arrested while on a trip to visit his Iranian grandmothers has been sentenced to death as a CIA spy, state radio reported Monday, in a case likely to become a new flashpoint in the escalating tensions between Tehran’s defiance over its nuclear program and Washing-

BRONCOS STUN IN OT

DENVER (AP) — “Pull the trigger,” John Elway told his Denver Broncos star, Tim Tebow, trying to shake the quarterback from a threegame funk. Tebow went one better — he pulled off an upset. A rejuvenated Tebow... - PAGE B1

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OBITUARIES

Utah Gordon Dennis Verna MacCallum Edwin Ancel Purcell Bobby Dean Fitt Lowell-Alvin Watson Sr. Billy D. Prince Gloria Mac Ewen Dixie Goodart Helen Lanier Michael Payne Elizabeth Gary - PAGE B3

HIGH ...48˚ LOW ....29˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

See ROMNEY, Page A6

brakes on health care spending

TOP 5

INSIDE

practically adopted New Hampshire as his home, has held a comfortable lead in pre-primary polls, leaving his opponents essentially vying for second place while hoping New Hampshire’s capacity to spring a surprise might yet break their way. Romney tried to shrug off the fallout from his

ton’s efforts to impose more crippling sanctions. It was the first time an American citizen has been sentenced to death in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “We are seriously concerned regarding the death sentence, secrecy, and continued lack of

transparency surrounding the prosecution,” said Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesman for the New York-based group. The espionage charges against Arizona-bor n Amir Mirzaei Hekmati were similar to previous prosecutions against

WASHINGTON (AP) — Is health-care relief finally in sight? Health spending stabilized as a share of the nation’s economy in 2010 after two back-to-back years of historically low growth, the government reported Monday. Experts debated whether it’s a fleeting consequence of the sluggish economy, or a real sign that cost controls by private employers and government at all levels are starting to work. The answers will be vital for Medicare’s sustainability, as well as for workplace coverage. U.S. health care spending grew by 3.9 percent in 2010, reaching $2.6 trillion, according to the report by the Health and Human Services department. That’s an average of $8,402 per person — far more than any other economically advanced country. Still, the increases for 2010 and 2009 were the lowest measured in 51 years. And health care as a share of the economy leveled off at 17.9 percent, the first time in a decade there’s been no growth. The main reason for the slowdown was that Americans were more frugal in their use of health care, from postponing elective surgery to using generic drugs and thinking twice about that late-night visit to the emergency room. “Although medical goods and services are generally viewed as necessities, the latest recession has had a dramatic effect on their utilization,” said the report published in the journal Health Affairs. “Though the recession officially ended in 2009, its impact on the health

Southern NM hit Many US communities are with winter blast blocking medical marijuana HOBBS (AP) — Travelers making their way through far southeastern New Mexico are being war ned about severe driving conditions as the latest winter stor m crosses the state. The New Mexico Department of T ransportation says there are white-out conditions in the Hobbs and Jal area and travel is being discouraged. Roads in the Sacramento Mountains and in southwestern New Mexico near Luna and Que-

mado Lake are also icy. Snow was also falling early Monday throughout the Mesilla Valley. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for far southeastern New Mexico and a weather advisory for much of eastern New Mexico until Monday evening. About 2 inches of snow were reported on the ground in Hobbs by midmorning and visibility had dropped to about a quarter of a mile.

See EX-MARINE, Page A6

More and more states are saying yes to medical marijuana. But local governments are increasingly using their laws to just say no, not in our backyard. In California, with the nation’s most permissive medical marijuana laws, 185 cities and counties have banned pot dispensaries entirely. In New Jersey, perhaps the most restrictive of the 17 states that have legalized marijuana for sick people, some groups planning to sell cannabis are struggling to

See SPENDING, Page A6

AP photo

In this Feb. 1, 2011, file photo, medical marijuana clone plants are shown at a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif.

Fresquez to run for new term seat in Ward IV JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER

CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8

INDEX

Amarante Fresquez

See MEDICAL, Page A6

Councilor Amarante Fresquez, a for mer superintendent of the Roswell Independent School District, says he is seeking election for his Ward IV seat during the municipal election in March. Following councilor Rob McWilliams’ resignation, the city council voted unanimously in favor of the mayor’s recommendation to have Fresquez fill the vacancy in Ward IV, in mid-May. “I’ve just barely gotten my feet wet in terms of the exposures to the function of the city. However my vast experience in dealing with big organizations have allowed me to step in to this position real quickly in that I’ve dealt with big

budgets, I’ve dealt with a lot of personnel. I’ve done a lot of hiring and firing,” Fresquez said. Fresquez highlighted the council’s vote in favor of the mayor’s proposal to add a Municipal Infrastructure Gross Receipts Tax to the city’s current GRT, as one of the more important decisions made during his short time on the council. “The city owns a lot of facilities that generate income and revenue for the city. Some of those facilities are in dire need of renovation and upkeep. It’s important for us to pass that GRT because it’s going to help to enhance the infrastructure of all these facilities. It will also help to attract future businesses that will provide employment for individuals in the community,” he said. Fresquez added that some

surrounding communities have the tax in place, putting Roswell at a competitive disadvantage to attract prospective companies. “We have to come to a reality that we can no longer depend on state and federal help as much as we used to in the past for economic reasons. This GRT, it’s up to us as a city, as a family, to do whatever we can for our own city. We have to look at in that way as a family kind of effort, rather than depending on big brother and sister to help fund a lot of the efforts that we used to rely on. We have to do it ourselves as a community,” Fresquez said. As chairman of the council’s fire committee, Fresquez was pleased and privileged to be part of the See FRESQUEZ, Page A2


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