Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
New voting centers perform smoothly Vol. 123, No. 32 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The new voting system experienced few problems and delivered results within 90 minutes after polls closed following Tuesday’s mill levy election, according to County Clerk Dave Kunko. “I think it went really well,” Kunko said. “I’m very happy with the result.” Easter n New Mexico State University-Roswell elected to change the traditional system and use Voting Convenience Centers for its special election. The
Chaves County clerk’s office provided technical support. ENMU-R is footing the cost of the election. The election’s cost to pay for the technical equipment was an estimated $32,000 to $37,000 to pay for the new system, Kunko said. “We’re going to have to wait until we get some of the invoices back,” Kunko said. “We really have no idea at this point.” The state charges for use of the new machines, computers, printers and other equipment provided by contractor Automated Election Services.
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The clerk’s office continued to pick up the new machines from the 10 polling sites Wednesday, following Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell’s special election. Kunko wasn’t yet able to analyze many results of the technical aspects after using the system at the newly instituted voting convenience centers, he said. Many voters were able to get through the lines and reported short wait times. Around 6:20 p.m. at Church of Christ, Tuesday, some 25 people stood in line to vote. Once at the
front of the line, they were checked in and signed a digital signature pad. They were then printed a ballot and voted on the mill levy question at a standing ballot box. That process went quickly, Kunko said. At other sites throughout the day, voters streamed in at a steady pace. The election only involved one question. “I’ve talked to a few people that were in line. The ones I have spoken to said they were only in line about See VOTING, Page A3
THURSDAY
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Election workers at Church of Christ check in voters Tuesday evening using the new Voting Convenience Center equipment. The new system ran smoothly, said Robbie Higgins, presiding judge at the center.
Fundraiser earns nearly $1,000 for assault survivor JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
AP Photo
In this March 5, 2013, file photo, protesters march on the Texas capitol, in Austin, Texas, demanding that lawmakers expand Medicaid to include an additional 1.5 million poor people.
Finding the uninsured by the numbers WASHINGTON (AP) — Wanted: Millions of uninsured Americans willing to give President Barack Obama’s health care law a chance.
With time running out, it may not be so hard for the administration and its allies to find them. A study for The Associated Press finds that the uninsured
aren’t scattered evenly can pay off big, reaching across the country: half of millions of prospective them live in just 116 of the customers needed to stabination’s 3,143 counties. That means outreach See UNINSURED, Page A3 targeted to select areas
The benefit to raise funds for the victim of a rape who was savagely beaten, stabbed and left for dead raised nearly $1,000. The incident occurred on Jan. 4. The 40-year -old woman is a single mother with two children. She was attacked in her home early in the morning. When she went to get help from neighbors, they did not recognize her. Recently, Nicole Vargas set up a cupcake stand for the “Victim of Pecan Street” outside of Peter Piper’s Pizza. She praised people for their generosity. “We had 300 cupcakes and we raised almost $1,000. One guy in a pickup stopped and gave us $100. We received $450 in checks and another $500 in cash. The money has been tur ned over to the
family already,” she said. The cupcakes that were for sale were donated by Lawrence Brothers, Farmers Country Market, Walmart and Hastings Bookstore. Many churches also assisted, including Roswell Church of God, the Church of the Narrow Way, the Lay Ministry, Lyman and Carolyn Graham, and Mr. and Mrs. Rader. The benefit for the “Victim of Pecan Street” also gathered other goods for the family, such as comforter and a new towel set. “I can’t even see everything we collected,” Vargas explained. The people of Roswell gathered outside the home to hold a candlelight vigil for her on Jan. 6. Neighbors and friends also helped the family move from their house since she could not work and could
Second blade found Hagel urges push for ethics crackdown in a shopping cart handle at Walmart A Roswell police officer responded to Walmart around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, after a customer found a razor blade in a shopping cart handle. The customer alerted a store employee and the store notified the police. This is the second incident of this kind reported in the last two months. To date, both occurred at Walmart; however, RPD Public Information Liaison Sabrina Morales said it could
happen anywhere. The police recommend shoppers inspect all shopping carts prior to handling them. The customer in the first incident was injured, with cuts to the fingers of both hands. Walmart reported no injuries during the second. “If you see something suspicious, we suggest you contact a store employee as well as the Roswell Police Department right away,” said Morales.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Concer ned that ethical problems inside the military might run deeper than he realized, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered service leaders Wednesday to add urgency to their drive to ensure “moral character and moral courage” in a force emerging from more than a decade of war. Almost a year into his tenure as Pentagon chief, Hagel had been worried by a string of ethics scandals that produced a wave of unwelcome publicity for the military. But in light of new disclosures this week, including the announce-
ment of alleged cheating among senior sailors in the nuclear Navy, Hagel decided to push for a fuller accounting. Last month the Air Force revealed it was investigating widespread cheating on proficiency tests among nuclear missile launch of ficers in Montana, and numerous senior of ficers in all branches of the ar med forces have been caught in embarrassing episodes of personal misbehavior, inside and outside the nuclear force. The Air Force also is pursuing a drug use investigation, and a massive bribery
Pope pressured to act on abuse after UN rebuke VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis came under new pressure Wednesday to punish bishops who covered up for pedophile priests when a U.N. human rights panel accused the Vatican of systematically protecting its reputation instead of looking out for the safety of children. In a scathing report that thrilled victims and stunned the Vatican, the United Nations committee said the Holy See main-
tained a “code of silence” that enabled priests to sexually abuse tens of thousands of children worldwide over decades with impunity.
Among other things, the panel called on the Vatican to immediately remove all priests known or suspected to be child molesters, open its archives on abusers and the bishops who covered up for them, and turn the abuse cases over to law enforcement authorities for investiga-
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tion and prosecution. The committee largely brushed aside the Vatican’s claims that it has already instituted new safeguards, and it accused the Roman Catholic Church of still harboring criminals. “The committee is gravely concer ned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual
• OSCAR E. (PETE) KUNKEL • ADAN SOTO MERAZ • BETTY L. MUCCIE
case in Califor nia has ensnared six Navy officers so far. At the same time, hundreds of soldiers and others are under criminal investigation in what the Army describes as a widespread scheme to take fraudulent payments and kickbacks from a National Guard recruiting program. The steady drumbeat of one military ethics scandal after another has caused many to conclude that the misbehavior reflects more than routine lapses. “He definitely sees this as a growing problem,” Hagel’s chief spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John
See FUNDRAISER, Page A3
Kirby, told a Pentagon news conference Wednesday after Hagel met privately with the top uniformed and civilian officials of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
“And he’s concer ned about the depth of it,” Kirby said. “I don’t think he could stand here and tell you that he has — that anybody has — the full grasp here, and that’s what worries (Hagel) is that maybe he doesn’t have the full grasp of the depth of the issue, and he wants to better understand it.”
abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators,” the panel said.
The stinging language surprised the Vatican and put it in damage-control mode, with of ficials strongly defending the church and accusing the committee of allowing itself to be swayed by progay ideologues.
Pope Francis listens to his speech being translated in several languages, during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday.
• CLARENCE PAUL BLANSCET • REINA R. FLORES • RICHARD MIRANDA
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
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INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8