Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
CHILE’S PREZ ACTS ON PARK DREAM
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — President Sebastian Pinera is determined to fulfill an old dream: turning the river that once carried sewage through the center of the capital into a navigable waterway, lined with parks and attractions. - PAGE C4
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Health care debate shifts to states
Vol. 120, No. 20 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
January 23, 2011
SUNDAY
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WASHINGTON (AP) — True or false: States suing to overturn core requirements of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are refusing to carry out the law. If you said “true,” you’d be wrong. Republican state legislators and governors are working on how to deliver coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured, as the law calls for, even as GOP attorneys general lead the legal battle to overturn the law’s mandate that most Americans have health insurance. The result? Perhaps the first practical opportunity for the two political parties to work together on an issue that divides them in Washington.
“I can be philosophically opposed and recognize that we can’t be asleep at the switch,” said Alabama state Rep. Greg Wren, a Republican playing a national role. “I for one have no interest in ceding any regulatory or statutory authority to the federal government in this area and allowing our state to default while we pursue the litigation side,” said Wren, co-chairman of a National Conference of State Legislatures task force on the health care remake. The debate in the nation’s capital seems headed for a stalemate this year because Senate Democrats have the votes to thwart House Republicans’ efforts to repeal the law. Denying the Obama administration money to carry out the law
isn’t a sure strategy either; most of the money was woven tightly into the legislation Congress passed last year. “We will see a lot of small battles in Congress, but the real center of gravity will shift to the states,” said Mike Leavitt, former Republican governor of Utah and health secretary under President George W. Bush. “Bipartisanship is more vibrant in the states than it is in Washington. That doesn’t mean it’s plentiful, but at least it’s alive.” States have to be ready to take on major responsibilities when the coverage expansion gets going in 2014. If not, the federal government will come in and run things. States must set up and operate health insurance markets where
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Author links Monroe and UFOs Local author Donald R. Burleson, Ph.D., speaks during a presentation held at the Roswell Public Library Saturday afternoon.
It doesn’t happen often, but on occasion, the first quarter can decide a basketball game. That occurred on Saturday in Roswell’s win over Ruidoso. Roswell broke open a nipand-tuck game with a 21-6 run to end the first quarter en route to a 29-15 first-quarter lead and a 75-54 win over the Warriors at the Coyote Den. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Bernard Mutter • Donald Ray Patterson • Jim Cogdill • Raymond Gonzales • Juan M. Garcia • Michael Anthony Zamora • Emory Lawrence Jackson • Prestinia Maria Grajeda and Loretta Marie Grajeda Pruett • John Kuzemka • Imogene Coats • Anastacia G. Gomez - PAGE A3, B6, B7
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INDEX
RISD seeks bond support
See DEBATE, Page A3
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
INSIDE
COYOTES WIN 75-54
an estimated 24 million people eventually will buy private coverage, most with the aid of federal subsidies. Also, states must open their Medicaid programs to a broader segment of low-income people. The Medicaid expansion worries state of ficials. They’re already struggling with the costs of the program, draining money from other services from education to law enforcement. Special added Medicaid payments that Washington funneled to the states in the economic downturn will end this year, worsening the crunch. About 16 million newly eligible
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Local author Donald Burleson, a UFO investigator, appeared at the Roswell Public Library, Saturday afternoon, to discuss his controversial book “UFOs and the Murder of Marilyn Monroe.” He proposes that the government murdered Monroe by lethal injection because she knew too much about the Roswell UFO coverup. And he has the CIA documents to prove it. Well, maybe not. The Roswell Daily Record sat down with the author to talk about his evidence. Here’s an excerpt:
Donald Burleson: There had been a CIA memo circulating for several years at the time that I did (“UFOs and the Murder of Marilyn Monroe”). Basically, (the memo was) talking about how Marilyn’s house was being wiretapped and how they were con-
ce r n ed a bou t h er k e ep in g a diary and the Kennedys telling her things that were ... Well, things maybe that they shouldn’t have been telling her. Things, in fact, that were classified in some cases. Of course she had af f a ir s wi th bo th B o bby a nd Jack Kennedy which was pretty well known. Their wives even kn ew ab ou t it . A nd I g ot intrigued with that memo and decided to start to really look into it some more, and so I went looking for investigative work that other people had done on Marilyn, like Donald Wolfe, for example, who had done a really good study of Marilyn Monroe’s last days. And there was definitely something, from his viewpoint, there was definitely something shady about the whole way she died, even though they passed it off as a suicide. Roswell Daily Record: You assert in the book that she didn’t kill herself.
DB: Oh, absolutely. And, in fact, Donald Wolfe came to that conclusion because he looked at the toxicology reports, and he did a lot of good leg work on this thing. But he never made the connection. He even had a copy of that memo in the back of his book, but he never made the connection about what it really said because it has a clear reference in there to UFO-related things and I guess, maybe, he just didn’t want to get into that. I even wrote to him and asked him why didn’t you pursue that? I mean, after all, it’s right there in the memo. You got the memo in an appendix, and he never even answered me. RDR: But you decided to pursue it. DB: Yeah. Basically, I’ve been a UFO investigator for so long that my hands are already dirty. I d o n’ t h a ve t o w or r y ab ou t
A special school district general obligation bond election will be held this upcoming summer in August, Roswell school officials say. According to school district bond r eports, the bond will allow continuation of the remodeling or replacement of four elementary schools already approved by the Public School Capital Outlay Council — a state body which provides grant money to schools based on need. The bond would also allow for remodeling of two high schools, Roswell and Goddar d, and Parkview Early Literary Center without financial assistance from the PSCOC. Superintendent of the Roswell Independent School District Michael Gottlieb said passage of the bond would help bring school buildings and facilities up to code and current safety standards without raising property taxes. Gottlieb noted that all 19 schools in the district have asbestos (although it was recently eradicated from three schools), only two schools have secur e entrances and other schools have antiquated heating and cooling systems. The four elementary schools that would benefit fr om the bond passage ar e Berr endo (total r emodeling cost: $9,880,371 with $7,113,867 from PSCOC), Military Heights (total r emodeling cost: $7,411,839 with $5,336,524 from PSCOC), El Capitan (total replacement cost: $16,969,694
Realtors hold 63rd annual banquet JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Association of Realtors held its 63rd annual dinner and dance banquet Saturday at The Roswell Country Club. “(It) is the annual installation banquet for the Roswell Association of Realtors,” said Diana Bergman, 2010 RAOR president. “We ... install new officers and directors for the coming year. We also announce Realtor of the Year and Rookie of the Year for 2010.” Bergman was the emcee for the program. The evening began with an awards presentation for Realtor of the Year and Rookie of the Year. P.J. Marshall, of Century 21 Home Planning, won Realtor of the Year honors. Marshall was at a loss for words during her acceptance speech. “I don’t know what to say ... thanks,”
Marshall said. “I don’t know what else to say. (I) thank my buddy Richard ... Richard was my (real estate) partner for many years.” Brad Davis, of Prudential Enchanted Lands, Realtors, won Rookie of the Year honors. “This award means a lot to me,” Davis said. “I’m proud to be among the ranks of all the other previous rookies.” The banquet also included three skits on the history of the real estate business, produced by Carole Schlatter of Prudential Enchanted Lands, Realtors. The top 48 real estate sales producers in the community were also recognized. The evening concluded with an installation of RAOR new officers and directors for 2011, by Teresa Ramos, president of Realtors Association of See REALTORS, Page A3
See AUTHOR, Page A3
See RISD, Page A3
United Way
622-4150 of Chaves County
Collected
Jonathan Entzminger photo
Brad Davis, left, and P.J. Marshall hold their awards. Davis won Rookie of the Year at Roswell Association of Realtors’ 63rd annual dinner and dance banquet, Saturday. Marshall won Realtor of the Year.
$427,822 Goal
$460,000
93%
Of Goal Collected