Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 16 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
It might be an open field today, but in just a few years it will be the location of 56 brand new homes. French Brothers, a homebuilding company based in Alamogordo, is the driving force behind a new housing development near the intersection of Union Avenue and Sorrento Drive in northwest Roswell. They had a small groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning ... - PAGE A2
January 19, 2012
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
New map pairs Adair, Burt in District 33 JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
NEW SUBDIVISION
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Southeastern New Mexico has once again taken a political hit courtesy of state redistricting plans. On Monday, State District Court Judge James Hall adopted a plan, which is being dubbed as a compromise or bipartisan plan, for the boundaries of state Senate districts. According to The Associated Press, Gov. Susana Martinez, other Republicans, a group of Democrats and Native Americans support the adopted plan. Under the plan, Republican Sens. Rod Adair of Roswell and William Burt of Alamogordo are
paired in District 33, currently represented by Adair. Burt, the newest member of the Senate, currently represents District 40, which reappears on the west side of Albuquerque as part of the plan. Burt was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Martinez last year to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Dianna Duran, due to her election to secretary of state. The two Republican incumbents have known each other for around 10 years. Adair has helped various candidates with campaigns in Otero County and has introduced those candidates to Burt, who owns Burt Broadcasting Inc., in
House passes Feed Bill
See DISTRICT Page A3
‘Am I good looking, or what?’
TOP 5 WEB
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
For The Past 24 Hours
• NM school grades are in; 3 RISD schools ... • Campus Educational Center under way • Library gets new sign • Trey gets his wish • Goddard bench key in 70-59 win
INSIDE SPORTS
A white peacock shows off at the Spring River Zoo, Wednesday morning.
LOOK FOR REMATCH
Get ready for the rematch. The Super Bowl rematch, not the Harbaugh coaching family reunion. For a Super Bowl redux to happen, the New York Giants will need another huge road win, this time at San Francisco. And when they get it Sunday, will they face the Baltimore Ravens, who routed them in the 2001 Super Bowl? Or New England, which had its perfect record shattered by the Giants in the big game four years ago? - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Atha Naomi Post • Daniel Mandonado • Dick Mandonado • Teena Kathleen Myers • Jerry Sewell - PAGE A6
HIGH ...77˚ LOW ....33˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERY ...............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
CEO addresses CoA on RRH sale VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The sale of a Roswell hospital was the main discussion point during the Roswell Commission on Aging meeting at Peachtree Village, Wednesday. The commission had a special guest to explain the sale of Roswell Regional Hospital to Lovelace Health System Inc. — the hospital’s CEO and administrator, Rod Schumacher. It had been speculated that RRH, which opened its doors in 2007 with the pronouncement that competition would increase the quality of medical care in the region, would sell to a subsidiary of Community Health Systems Inc., which owns Eastern New Mexico Medical Center. The plan, Schumacher said, was for CHS to create an integrated system of care with both hospitals. However, the Federal
Trade Commission pressured those conducting the sale, claiming that the deal would stifle competition. CHS officials, feeling the pressure, decided to release RRH from the contract. Not long after the deal with CHS failed, RRH was contacted by Lovelace officials. A letter of intent between RRH and Lovelace was created and signed last week. By Jan. 31, the transaction should be finalized. “We think the Jan. 31 deadline is very realistic,” Schumacher said. The hospital, which started out privately owned by a group of doctors, was struggling to survive under current health care reforms, Schumacher said. “It has become almost impossible for a small, stand-alone hospital to continue to do business in this country,” Schumacher See RRH, Page A3
74% of the way there
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Claire Seley updates the United Way sign on the courthouse lawn Wednesday to indicate a rise to 74% in donations totalling $423,562 raised.
Mark Wilson Photo
It was business as usual at the Legislature Wednesday. The second day of the 50th legislative session was filled with bill introductions, both pre-filed and those being presented for the first time. While many bills were introduced on the House Floor Wednesday, controversy erupted early on with the introduction of House Bill 1. The bill, otherwise known as the Feed Bill, funds the Legislature during the regular See HOUSE, Page A3
Prez rejects pipeline — for now WASHINGTON (AP) — In a politically explosive decision, President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected plans for a massive oil pipeline through the heart of the United States, ruling there was not enough time for a fair review before a looming deadline forced on him by Republicans. His move did not kill the project but could again delay a tough choice for him until after the November elections. Right away, the implications rippled across the political spectrum, stirred up the presidential campaign and even hardened feelings with Canada, a trusted U.S. ally and neighbor. For a U.S. electorate eager for work, the pipeline has become the very symbol of job creation for Republicans, but Obama says the environment and public safety must still be weighed too. The plan by Calgarybased TransCanada Corp.
AP Photo
From left, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton, RMich., take part in a press conference on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, to react to President Barack Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.
would carry tar sands oil from wester n Canada across a 1,700-mile pipeline across six U.S. states to Texas refineries. Obama was already on record as saying no, for now, until his gover nment could review an alter native route that avoided environmentally
sensitive areas of Nebraska — a route that still has not been proposed, as the White House emphasizes. But Obama had to take a stand again by Feb. 21 at the latest as part of an unrelated tax deal he cut with RepubliSee PIPELINE, Page A3
US House protests $1.2T debt hike
WASHINGTON (AP) — The GOP-controlled House on Wednesday kicked off another session with a protest vote against raising the government’s borrowing cap by $1.2 trillion, but the maneuver amounted to political theater under a process stacked on purpose in President Barack Obama’s favor. The nearly party-line 239-176 vote puts the House on record against Obama’s use of unprecedented authority — awarded to him through a mechanism devised by the Sen-
ate’s top Republican — to unilaterally raise the socalled debt limit unless Congress can muster the votes to block him. The Senate is sure to kill the measure next week, and Obama’s veto power serves as a final guarantee that the increase will go through as intended and that the nation won’t face another debt crisis like last summer. The political dance choreographed under last summer’s Budget Control Act was designed to permit lawmakers, mostly Republi-
cans, to vote against debt increases but not actually block them — and provoke a first-ever, market-rattling default on U.S. government obligations. The debate offered tea party-backed GOP freshmen an almost three-hour opportunity before C-Span cameras to cast blame on the White House and Democratically controlled Senate for the nation’s fiscal ills. Democrats went through the motions as well, arguing against a measure that they know isn’t going anywhere.