01 24 15 Roswell Daily Record

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Roswell Daily Record

Vol. 124, No. 21 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

January 24, 2015

SATURDAY

Two ENMU-R board candidates being challenged BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER

Five candidates are running for three positions on the Easter n New Mexico University-Roswell College Community Board. The winners will ear n four-year terms on the fivemember ENMU-R board. All board members serve without compensation. The College Community Board has total authority over taxing and bonding and other fiscal issues relating to the Roswell campus. It also serves as an advisory board to the ENMU Board of Regents, which has the authority over curriculum and administrative issues. The governance arrangement is accomplished

through an operating agreement that is reviewed, revised if necessary, and approved every two years. District 1 board member Mireya P. Trujillo is being challenged by Leandro Gutierrez. District 4 board member Ralph E. Fresquez is being challenged by Michael A. Buldra. Dawn M. Tschabrun is running unchallenged for the District 5 position. District 5 board member Sharon Lombardi did not file for re-election. District 3 board member Eloise Blake and District 2 board member Chad Hamill are not up for re-election in 2015. Elections for the College Community Board are Feb. 3. Voters may cast ballots

USDA service office opens

www.rdrnews.com

Buldra

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 3 at any of eight voting convenience centers. Early voting continues until Jan. 30 at the Chaves County Clerk’s Office in Area D. All five College Community Board candidates were asked to respond to a questionnaire compiled by the

Fresquez Daily Record. Four of the five candidates responded. Trujillo did not respond. 1. Have you been involved with ENMU-R in the past, either as a parent, student, educator or volunteer? Mr. Buldra, District 4 candidate “I was the EMS program

Gutierrez director (from) September 1989 until my retirement in June 2014. I have been a student at various times during those 25 years. During my time at ENMURoswell, I served on numerous committees. I am the recipient of the NOSID Teaching Excellent, Spirit

of Easter n Award, and American Red Cross Hero Award Recipient. My children have been students at ENMU-Roswell.”

SUBMITTED BY U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act. SORNA requires that a convicted sex offender register in each jurisdiction where the of fender resides, where the offender is employed, or where the offender is a student, and that the sex offender maintain current registrations. SORNA provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the U.S., and aims to close gaps and loopholes that existed under prior law and generally strengthens the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs. “The Marshals Service remains committed to the safety of our many communities, and by working with our local, county, tribal and state law enforcement agencies, every investigative lead will be exhausted,”

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, center, presents a certificate to U.S. Department of Agriculture State Director Terry Brunner, left, and USDA Area Specialist Ray Melton, right, during the opening of their new service office at Suite 3 in the Washington Federal Savings Bank building, 300 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Friday morning. The office was formerly located at 1011 S. Atkinson Ave. The agency specializes in financial programs offered by the USDA Rural Development. Brunner had appearances scheduled Thursday and Friday throughout southeast New Mexico.

Mr. Fresquez, District 4 candidate “I have been involved

Federal court sentences 2 men on sex crimes Man sentenced for failure to update sex offender registration while living in Hobbs

Bill Moffit Photo

Tschabrun

Undrio Antwanne Roebuck, 43, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced in federal court in Las Cruces to a year and a day in federal prison for failing to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act while residing in Hobbs. Roebuck will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence. He also will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence. U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said that Roebuck was convicted for violating SORNA, known as the

See CANDIDATES, Page A3

Appeals court to hear NM House Speaker Tripp ‘never expected’ spot assisted suicide case

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The New Mexico Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments Monday in a case that could decide whether some terminally ill patients in the state can end their lives. The case involves a Santa Fe woman with advanced uterine cancer who is asking the courts to clarify New Mexico’s laws preventing her from ending her life and putting doctors in legal trouble. Last year, Second Judicial District Judge Nan Nash ruled the New Mexico Constitution prohibits the state from depriving a person of life, liberty or property without due process. Nash also found doctors could not be prosecuted under the state’s assisted suicide law, which classifies helping with suicide as a fourth-degree felony. Nash’s ruling came after a two-day trial in December 2013 in which two doctors and Aja Riggs, the Santa Fe woman, asked the judge to determine that physicians would not be breaking the law if they wrote prescriptions for competent, terminally ill patients who wanted to end their lives.

Riggs and doctors Katherine Morris and Aroop Mangalik filed their lawsuit in 2012. The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, under former Attorney General Gary King, appealed. ACLU lawyer Laura Schauer Ives said the Attorney General’s Office took the position that only the Legislature could change laws gover ning patients’ decisions to end lives, not the courts. “We strongly disagree,” Ives said. The appeals court could take six months to a year to issue a final ruling, Ives said. The lawsuit has the support of the ACLU of New Mexico, Denver -based Compassion & Choices and the New Mexico Psychological Association, the state’s largest organization of professional psychologists. The psychologists’ group argued that assisted suicide and “aid in dying” for terminally ill patients were fundamentally different. A New Mexico ACLU spokesman said Riggs’ cancer is in remission but is a type that likely will return.

HIGH 50 LOW 24

TODAY’S FORECAST

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Don Tripp, a California-born jeweler, only ran for a statehouse seat because he couldn’t find another candidate. Now the Republican finds himself in the most powerful position in the New Mexico House of Representatives. The lawmaker from Socorro was elected this week as the chamber’s new top leader and is hoping to make a mark as his party takes over as the majority for the first time in 60 years. Despite the long road to the post in a historically Democratic state, Tripp told The Associated Press he didn’t anticipate having the position when he jumped into politics. “I never expected to be here when I started this career,” Tripp, 68, said. “That’s not why I’m serving.” Born in Pasadena, California, Tripp was raised in El Paso, Texas. As a 6-year -old boy, Tripp heard news of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s election while listening to the radio. That’s the last time the GOP narrowly captured the New Mexico House before losing control by a wide margin two years later. His family later moved to Ruidoso, where a young Tripp worked at his father’s jewelry store and at a Mexican restaurant. Later in Socorro, he met his future wife, Rosalind. They’ve been married for 48 years. After graduating with a history degree at New Mexico Tech, a local minister asked Tripp if he’d make him a few crosses and other religious items out of silver. T ripp’s work became popular, and soon he opened his own jewelry shop.

• LISA DIANE STEPHENS • VINCENT J. TALIERCIO JR.

See CRIMES, Page A2

AP Photo

Don Tripp, R-Socorro, is sworn in as Speaker of the House during the opening session for the New Mexico Legislature at the New Mexico state capitol in Santa Fe, Tuesday.

Concern over workers compensation laws brought Tripp to Santa Fe, and eventually he began lobbying lawmakers on behalf of businesses. When the Socorro County GOP asked him to become chair, he accepted and was tasked with finding candidates. But he couldn’t find anyone for the District 49 House seat. “So I threw my name in,” Tripp said. In 1998, he was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives. There, he earned a reputation as a friendly and fair lawmaker who was approachable. House Majority Leader Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, said he’s looking forward to working under the new speaker.

• KATHLEEN LEMKE • LYDIA PAULINE DACY

TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B3

CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Speaker Tripp, and I am proud to have nominated him both in caucus and on the House floor to be the presiding officer of the chamber,” Gentry said.

Some Democrats also praised the low-key GOP lawmaker and expressed hope both parties could work together.

“He strikes me as someone who is honest and someone who will proceed in an even-handed manner, which I think is a fair thing to expect from anyone elected speaker,” said House Minority Leader Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe. “And I’m looking forward to getting to know him a little bit better.” INDEX GENERAL ...............A2

HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2

OPINION .................A4

SPORTS .................B1

WEATHER ..............A8


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