Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 37 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
February 11, 2014
www.rdrnews.com
TUESDAY
Another delay in health law’s employer requirement
WASHINGTON (AP) — Angling to avoid political peril, the Obama administration Monday granted employers another delay in a heavily criticized requirement that medium-to-larger firms cover their workers or face fines. In one of several concessions in a complex Treasury Department regulation of more than 200 pages, the administration said companies with 50 to 99 employees will have an additional year to comply with the coverage requirement, until January 1,
2016. For businesses with 100 or more employees the requirement will still take effect in 2015. But other newly announced provisions, affecting technical issues such as the calculation of working hours, may help some of those firms. More than 90 percent of companies with 50 or more employees already cover their workers without the government telling them to do so, but the debate has revolved around the potential impact on new and growing firms. Most small
businesses have fewer than 50 workers and are exempt from the mandate. However, employer groups were also uneasy with a requirement that defines a fulltime worker as someone averaging 30 hours a week. Republicans trying to take control of the Senate in the November elections have once again made President Barack Obama’s health care law their top issue, casting it as job killer. They want to use the employer mandate to build that case, with anecdotes of bosses reluctant
to hire a 50th worker, or slashing the hours of lowwage workers who need to pay household bills. Monday’s moves by the administration seemed calibrated to reduce that risk.
The reaction of business groups was mixed.
“These final regulations secured the gold medal for gr eatest assistance to retailers, and other businesses, and our employees,” said Neil Trautwein, a vice pr esident of the National Retail Federation.
AP Photo
This photo taken Jan. 31, 2014, shows Tina Wilson, who was a victim of sexual assault while serving in the Navy, outside of her brother’s home in Del City, OK.
AP Photo
This Nov. 27, 2013, file photo shows part of the HealthCare.gov website page featuring information about the SHOP Marketplace.
Senator seeking military records on sexual assault
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is coming under pressure to give Congress detailed information on the handling of sex crime cases in the armed forces following an Associated Press investigation that found a patter n of inconsistent judgments and light penalties for sexual assaults at U.S. bases in Japan. Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who’s led efforts in Congress to address military sexual crimes, is pressing the Defense Department to turn over case information from four major U.S. bases: Fort Hood in Texas, Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia,
the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton in California, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Such records would shed more light on how military commanders make decisions about court martials and punishments in sexual assault cases and whether the inconsistent judgments seen in Japan are more widespread. AP’s investigation, which was based on hundreds of inter nal military documents it first began requesting in 2009, found that what appeared to be strong cases were often See ASSAULT, Page A3
Lawsuit targets NM Fairgrounds lease criticized in Senate hearing child welfare agency
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico’s embattled child welfare agency is the target of a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations. The complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, spells out the details of a custody battle that attor ney Colin Hunter says resulted in a young girl being emotionally and physically abused at the hands of strangers. Hunter said Monday the case is the latest example of incompetence within the state Children, Youth and Families Department, which has come under scrutiny in the weeks since the death of Omaree Varela, a 9-year-old Albuquerque boy who police say was kicked repeatedly by
his mother. In the lawsuit involving the girl, Hunter said a senior investigator with the state agency had called on Belen police to stop the girl’s father, remove the child from his vehicle and return her to her mother despite an earlier court order that had established the father’s custody. The police stop happened Feb. 6, 2012, the same day a special court commissioner had dismissed a temporary restraining order against the father that stemmed from the mother’s ef forts to overtur n the court order. Hunter said the child welfare agency investigator took action despite the See LAWSUIT, Page A3
SANTA FE (AP) — Current and former governmental appointees of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez criticized her administration on Monday for rushing through a 25year lease in 2011 for a company to build a larger casino at the New Mexico fairgrounds. Former State Board of Finance member Tom Tinnin told the Senate Rules Committee on Monday that the lease “didn’t smell right.” He resigned shortly before the board was to review the deal in late 2011. The lease allowed the Downs of Albuquerque, which has long operated a horse-racing track and casino at the fairgrounds, to open a larger casino with more slot machines. Critics have questioned whether political contributions by track owners influenced the deal. Former State Fair Commissioner Charlotte Rode outlined objections she’s previously voiced that commissioners were excluded from much of the process. “They wanted to keep the information secretive,” Rode said.
Enrique Knell, a spokesman for the governor’s office, defended the lease in a statement and dismissed the legislative hearing. “That was nothing more than a taxpayer -funded political circus orchestrated by a desperate candidate for governor where not a single new piece of infor mation was revealed,” Knell said in a statement issued after the hearing. The committee chairman, Sen. Linda Lopez of Albuquerque, is among five Democrats running for governor against Martinez this year. No representative of the Martinez administration appeared before the committee, although Martinez, her political adviser and the state fair manager were invited. Only one GOP committee member attended. The governor’s 2010 campaign and her political action committee received about $70,000 in contributions from two Louisiana owners of the track and businesses connected to them. But Martinez officials have repeatedly said the contributions didn’t play a role in the fairgrounds
lease. “The administration put this lease out for competitive bid, the winner was selected by an independent selection committee, and the administration negotiated a lease with the winning bidder that was in the best interests of the state and would keep the state fair open,” Knell said. Attor ney General Gary King’s office has been reviewing the deal, spokesman Phil Sisneros said in an interview. “We have to separate rumors from fact, and all of that takes time,” Sisneros said. King also is running for governor. The FBI has questioned people about the lease, but the agency won’t confirm or deny there is an investigation of the deal. Commissioner Kenneth “Twister” Smith said he felt pressured to quickly approve the lease because he was repeatedly told a new lease was critical to the fair’s financial success and it was needed before an older contract with the Downs expired in 2012.
State’s Extraterrestrial Culture Day recognizes otherworldly visitors JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Have you hugged an extraterrestrial today? Today’s state-recognized Extraterrestrial Culture Day gives you a chance to do just that. After all, these visitors have come a long way this year to gaining at least some respect. Locally, the town rallied when a baby alien was abducted in July from a mural on Bill Marley’s ranch along Hwy. 285. The loss was heart-wrenching.
Many hoped the child was temporarily lost in space and would return home on its own. “We had hoped it would leave a trail of Reese’s Pieces to find its way back home,” said Roswell Chamber of Commerce Director Dorrie FaubusMcCarty. The Chaves County Sheriff’s Department investigated the incident to no avail. Chief Deputy Britt Snyder expressed concern for its safety. The community gathered Oct. 22 to celebrate the alien child’s replacement.
HIGH 47 LOW 28
TODAY’S FORECAST
Another grand day arrived July 8 when Internet searchers worldwide were greeted with the now famous Roswell Incident “Google Doodle.” The sketch seen around the world marked the 66th anniversary of the spaceship crash-landing scenario. Other interesting events marked 2013 for Roswell’s mystery busters. The Federal Bureau of Investigation posted a 63year-old memo in March of an interview taken in New Mexico from an Air Force investigator who reported
recovering three flying saucers, each occupied by three small human-shaped bodies dressed in blackout suits. The memo was never investigated but viewed 1 million times. In August, expert researchers of the 1947 Roswell Incident weighed in about whether the CIA’s admission of the existence of Area 51, a top-secret site in the Nevada desert, would lead to further proof of crashing flying saucers See E.T. DAY, Page A3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A7 • FREDERICO “LICO” LUJAN • LUCILLA L. ORTEGA • IRENE C. “GRANNY” MAJOWICH • VICTORIA J. (VICKI) HERRON • VINA LENORE BRISCOE LARSON • ANGELINA ROBINSON
Jill McLaughlin Photo
New Mexico celebrates Extraterrestrial Culture Day today, to "celebrate and honor all past, present and future extraterrestrial visitors." These cuddly greenies can be found at Roswell Landing Gift Shop on Main Street.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5 COMICS .................A9 ENTERTAINMENT ...A10 FINANCIAL ..............B4
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .......A10
LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10