Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 21 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
January 24, 2014
County seeks to realign Berrendo River JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Berrendo River’s natural path as it meanders along the east side of North Main Street may be straightened out to avoid future flooding problems. Chaves County Flood Control Superintendent Dick Smith is in the early stages of designing a plan to protect homes and businesses next to the river, following the disaster caused by the river’s flooding in
September. “It’s a big job, and I don’t know for sure exactly what I’m going to do yet,” Smith said. “I’m looking at different alternatives.” The floodwaters that rushed through the Berrendo River Sept. 9 were considered a 1,000-year event, Smith said. Even so, the channel handled it with minimal damage. “We go through and remove excess vegetation (regularly) and keep water flowing smoothly,” Smith
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said. “But we did have damage. The bridge on Main Street handled it. We didn’t have a problem until it got down to the railroad trestle.” From what Smith can determine, the river must have run regularly 115 to 120 years ago. The section that needs to be realigned starts where North Kentucky Avenue terminates. The river takes a turn and loops around, then heads north as it nears Blue Mountain Road
before it hits North Main Street and crosses beneath the bridge. Smith is looking at cutting across the land to bypass the looped section and build a dam, straightening the river. As it is now, the river is naturally trying to run across Blue Mountain Road and into the Holiday Inn, Sam’s Club and Walmart area. “There are no definite plans,” Smith said. “We’re thinking about cutting
Cool down
Geese fly and land in the waters of Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Tuesday.
Mark Wilson Photo
FRIDAY
across and building a damlike structure. Water does not want to turn at a right angle. We would need to slow it down and still it, and let it go to the right.” The riverbed would remain natural earth and vegetation would be allowed to grow, Smith said. Following last year’s flash flooding, the condition of the riverbed remains poor. The waters ripped up banks behind a spa business and throughout the
channel. “Right now, it looks like an (atomic) bomb went off in there,” he said. The main concern is to preserve the riverbanks from further erosion, Smith said. Several banks sustained damage as the rushing waters hit and bounced off of them, he said. One home was flooded on Blue Mountain Road during the storm. The county does have
SANTA FE (AP) — If some lawmakers have their way, New Mexico voters will be busy in the November general election deciding a host of policy questions ranging from legalizing marijuana to increasing the minimum wage.
change statutory law, go straight to voters if approved by the Legislature. That provides a way to bypass the governor and a potential veto. “I don’t want us to get into the process of saying, ‘OK, well we think the governor won’t sign it, so let’s do a constitutional amendment,’ “ said Senate President Mary Kay Papen, a Las Cruces Democrat. Papen expressed reservations about the proposal that would have voters determining whether New Mexico follows neighboring
Legislature faces flood of proposed amendments to state constitution A flurry of proposed constitutional amendments in the Legislature has Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and some lawmakers questioning whether the Constitution — a document defining fundamental law and rights in New Mexico — is being misused. Constitutional amendments, unlike a bill to
See RIVER, Page A3
See AMENDMENTS, Page A3
Documentary explores Espinoza pursues another term as state rep unsolved mass murder at the Las Cruces Bowl JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
“A Nightmare in Las Cruces” opens at Icon Cinemas today. Originally released in 2011, this film is a documentary about the 1990 robbery and execution-style mass murder that occurred at the Las Cruces Bowl on the morning of Feb. 10, 1990.
The film’s director, Charlie Minn will be holding question and answer sessions about the film and the unsolved cold case during some of the weekend showings.
Minn, who had been showing his Juarez film trilogy in Lubbock, was approached about showing “A Nightmare in Las Cruces” for the first time in Roswell as a possible way to tur n up new leads on this crime that has
remained unsolved for more than 20 years. Minn said, “The two men, if alive, could be anywhere today. Who’s to say they didn’t escape to Roswell and hide out for all these years? Anything is possible.” One of the victims was Stephen Teran, who had attended New Mexico Military Institute. Teran, his 2year-old daughter and five others were executed during one of the worst unsolved crimes in New Mexico history. The film tells the heartbreaking story that deeply affected the New Mexican community. Four of the victims were children. Two victims remain alive today, and See DOCUMENTARY, Page A3
first elected in 2006 with 59 percent of the vote. She was reelected in 2008 and 2010 with 65 percent and 72 percent. In 2012, she ran unopposed. Espinoza said she has never voted for a tax increase, and that “my focus has always been economic growth and incentives to grow jobs in Southeastern New Mexico.” Her legislative successes include a law that protects children from methamphetamine by bringing charges of child abuse against adults who expose children to meth; a bipartisan measure that allows gifted high school students to enroll in college courses; and various measures in support of ranchers and agriculture. Espinoza and her husband, Sonny, have been married 39 years. They have a son, daughter-inlaw and granddaughter.
Jill McLaughlin Photo
State Rep. Nora Espinoza, RDist. 59, seen here speaking at a luncheon at the Roswell Job Corps this year, will run for her fifth term.
Mackey wants to be a ‘fresh voice’ for city’s Ward 1
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Natasha N. Mackey, a distance learning coordinator at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, is running for City Council in Ward 1.
State Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Dist. 59, will seek a fifth term this year, as she continues to support education, oil and gas, tourism and agriculture initiatives for Chaves and Lincoln counties, she said Thursday. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to represent Chaves and Lincoln counties and to be their voice,” Espinoza said. I’m just looking forward and would love to have the support of the community to continue representing them.” Espinoza is a leading member of the House Education Committee, and serves on the Business & Industry Committee and the Interim House Health and Human Services Committee, Disabilities Subcommittee and Water and Natural Resources Com-
mittee. “I’ve worked very hard to achieve real change in education and we are on the verge enacting meaningful refor ms that will make a difference in the lives of our kids and all New Mexico families,” said Espinoza. “I have worked closely with Gov. Martinez to try to end social promotion, teach our children to read by third grade, and target funding to early reading intervention programs.” She said she believes in supporting reform in education. “We can’t continue being 49th in the nation,” she said. “I strongly support that our kids master the minors. By the third grade, they should be able to read before we push them through to the fourth grade.” Espinoza, a for mer teacher who now runs her own small business, was
Many know her as “The Jewelry Lady,” and some might recognize the work she’s done to help clean up the city. Most recently, Natasha N. Mackey put her singing and acting talents to work in the musical, “Hairspray,” at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. The multi-talented and energetic Mackey, who
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TODAY’S FORECAST
also works full-time at ENMU-R, decided to run for City Council this year, against incumbent Dusty Huckabee in Ward 1.
“I want to be the fresh voice for Ward 1,” Mackey said.
Chatting during lunch Thursday, Mackey’s enthusiasm was evident. She took time to explain why she decided to run for local office, even though she was celebrating her birthday.
• MARY VIRGINIA LOWE • PABLO RODRIGUEZ
“I think it’s another way I can honor God and serve my community,” Mackey said. “I prayed about it and felt it was something I could go for, and I could do.”
Mackey has spent the past eight years as a distance learning coordinator at the college, helping students test for general education development (GED). She is also a published author of “Walking in Kingdom Authority,” a
• THOMAS (TOMMY) EARL SANDERS
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
self-help Christian book used for group bible study. Mackey said she discussed her decision to run for City Council at length with her cousin, Hobbs County Commissioner Crystal Mullins. “She let me know it’s hard work, but it’s rewarding work, so I wanted to pursue it,” Mackey said. Mackey’s first goal would be to improve safety in the community, she said.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
“It’s what’s causing our crime rate to be so atrocious compared to other cities in our state and in our nation,” she said. She would also like to pursue improving the aesthetics in the community and bring in new businesses and find ways to sustain economic growth for the ones that are here. “I think that can be done through working with See MACKEY, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD ..................A7