Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 8 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
January 10, 2014
Southeast NM sees dramatic spike in flu cases JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
A 76-year -old woman became the first to die of the flu this season, and southeast medical clinics reported the most dramatic jump in cases in the state, the Department of Health reported Thursday. NMDOH confirmed the first confirmed flu death
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was a Santa Fe County woman. Southeast New Mexico has seen the largest spike in flu cases this past week, with a nearly 15 percent increase, more than double the statewide increase of 7 percent. “Historically, the Southeast part of the state has among the highest rates of flu-like illness, and it’s like-
ly due to multiple lifestyle factors,” said NMDOH spokesman David Morgan. “The Southeast part of the state has the highest rates of smoking, obesity and chronic disease in the state.” As of Dec. 22, 7 percent of people who sought medical care in Quay, DeBaca, Curry, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Chaves, Eddy and Lea
counties showed signs of the flu. A week later, that number rose to nearly 13 percent.
The northwest region saw an increase of nearly 3 percent, the northeast region saw 4.3 percent of new cases and the southwest region’s cases grew by 5.1 percent. The department does not record infor mation by
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county and doesn’t track every case of the flu, Morgan said. The department has monitoring sites throughout the state at doctors’ offices and urgent care centers. Each week during flu season, they report the percentage of people who visit with a flulike illness.
City approves vet cemetery name The predominant circulating flu strain in New
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
Workers from Guzman Construction Solutions demolish the old New Mexico Rehabilitation Center at the corner of Gail Harris St. and E. Wells.
Rehab center demolition nears completion Center located near the Roswell International Air Center is slated for comDemolition of the former pletion in February. One building remains in New Mexico Rehabilitation use on the property and TESS TOWNSEND RECORD STAFF WRITER
will not be demolished. the new center, according The new location of the to New Mexico Department center continues to use of Health Spokesman the old location’s 7,200square foot laundry faciliSee DEMOLITION, Page A3 ty, due to limited space at
‘Contributing to the delinquency of a minor’ debated in Villela homicide JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Another chapter in the case of the Arnulfo Villela Jr. homicide unfolded in Chaves County District Court, Thursday. The 18year-old Villela was shot to death in the 800 block of East Hendricks Street on July 6, 2012. According to the criminal complaint, Villela and friend Michael Montantez were confronted by Harvey Salinas, Joseph Lucero and Israel Vigil, who were looking for “Josh and Chris.” Punches were exchanged, and the young men drew their firearms and shot Villela. The three were accompanied by Isaac Salazar, 20, and his girlfriend who
was driving the car. Joseph Lucero was 17 years old at the time of the shooting. He pleaded no contest to charges of voluntary manslaughter. Harvey Salinas, who was 15, was tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The court records state that Isaac Salazar did not participate with the confrontation, but fired his weapon as the group made their escape. After the incident, he reportedly helped to hide weapons. Salazar was originally charged with shooting at or from a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Salazar pleaded no contest to both the shoot-
AP Photo
In this Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, photo, engine-less American Airlines jets sit parked at the airport in Roswell.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
ing and tampering charges, but held fir m on the charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The trial on Thursday debated the definition of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. In his opening statement, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Murphy pointed out that both Salinas and Lucero were minors at the time of the homicide. He referred to a 1994 court decision that stated, to qualify as contributing to the delinquency, the defendants’ acts need not have caused the delinquency. The Court of Appeals rejected the concept that the defendant had to have See TRIAL, Page A3
Mexico and the United States is influenza H1N1. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the flu vaccine is a good match for that strain of H1N1. “It’s not too late to get vaccinated,” Morgan said. Flu symptoms may include rapid illness onset, with fever, cough, sore
City Councilors approved naming the new veterans’ cemetery the Gen. Douglas L. McBride-Roswell Veterans’ Cemetery at their meeting Thursday. “I think the name is very appropriate. Gen. McBride has done an awful lot in the community,” said Col. Ron McKay, board member of the Chaves County Veterans’ Cemetery Board. “What a wonderful man he was.” The cemetery was dedicated Dec. 30, at its newly improved grounds adjacent to the South Park Cemetery. The cemetery board and city joined in the past few months to fast-track one acre of the 20-acre parcel donated to the city by the McBride family. The group expects to begin burials in the next few months, with future plans of seeking state and federal approvals to become officially recognized as a federally recognized cemetery. The city’s Building and
See FLU, Page A3
Lands Committee, comprised of councilors Jason Perry, Steve Henderson and Juan Oropesa, approved the name application just before the council meeting. State Rep. Bob Wooley, Dist. 66, attended the committee meeting, along with Mayor Del Jur ney and Councilor Art Sandoval. Wooley commented to committee members and to the cemetery board members that he would be visiting Santa Fe to meet with New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services Secretary Timothy Hale and let him know about the work the group had accomplished. “What Roswell is doing here is leading the way,” said Planning Director Michael Vickers. “We’ve submitted a phenomenal application to Hale the 30th of December. They were pleased with what we proposed for the 5-acre site. … It’s well on its way to being developed.” Vickers also announced at the council meeting that See CEMETERY, Page A3
Student hospitalized after accident
Mark Wilson Photo
A Goddard High School student was transported to a hospital, around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, following an accident. According to a witness, the student attempted to make a right hand turn on to San Juan Drive from Atkinson Avenue. The driver of a black pickup, which was also traveling southbound on Atkinson, tried to pass on the right as the car slowed to make the turn and broadsided the vehicle. Both vehicles jumped the curb. Citations are pending.
Airlines go on a record new jet shopping spree
ROSWELL (AP) — Capt. Paul Wannberg glides an old Boeing 757 over the New Mexico desert, lining up with the runway. A computerized voice squawks elevation warnings. Forty feet. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. Touchdown. Outside the cockpit window sit nearly a hundred airplane carcasses, perfectly lined up. They are jets that nobody wants anymore. And — after 26,057 takeoffs and landings — this 24-year -old
• KIM BELYEU VILLENEUVE • THEDA MAE SHIER
American Airlines plane is about to join them. “This is my first time here, and it’s a sad place,” First Officer Robert Popp tells the control tower. Airlines used to store planes in the desert during slow travel months. Sometimes, unwanted jets would be sold to carriers in Russia or Africa. Today, a man on the other end of the radio responds, “they’re chopping them up.” Airlines are on the largest jet-buying spree in
• CAROLINE GALVAN • SOCORRO PORTILLO
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
the history of aviation, ordering more than 8,200 new planes with manufacturers Airbus SAS and The Boeing Co. in the past five years. There are now a combined 24 planes rolling off assembly lines each week, up from 11 a decade ago. And that rate is expected to keep climbing. The new planes allow the airlines to save on fuel, now their biggest cost, while offering passengers more amenities — some
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
for a fee. Passengers can plug in to work or be entertained by a seat-back TV and fly some international routes nonstop for the first time. And the commercial divisions of Boeing and Airbus get a steady stream of cash for years, which is a key reason investors have doubled the companies’ stock price in the past year. The bulk of the planes
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INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION..................A7
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD ..................A6