Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 124, No. 38 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
February 13, 2015
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Council discusses carousel, children’s museum By Randal Seyler Record City Editor The son of the woman who donated the historic carousel to the city of Roswell in 1970 urged the City Council to consider moving the antique wooden attraction into an appropriate structure during Thursday’s council meeting. David Stevens, son of nationally recognized carousel historian, author, and co-founder of the National Carousel Association, Marianne Stevens, implored the councilors to consider moving the 100-year-old wooden horse carousel into a climate controlled facility such as the one proposed by developer Trey Nesselrodt. “My family has been in
Roswell since 1952, and my mother, Marianne Stevens, restored the antique carousel and donated it to the city in 1970,” Stevens told the council. “When I learned of the prospect of relocating the carousel to a new facility I was very excited.” The antique wooden horse carousel located in the Spring River Park and Zoo, is a rare wooden horse carousel and is one of only about 100 left in the country. The carousel features hand-carved horses from various artisans and even a few from foreign countries. The facility for the carousel was part of a proposal for a Roswell Museum and Art Center annex. which
would be built in downtown Roswell on Third Street, in a building being renovated by Nesselrodt. The project calls for the creation of a 15,000 square-foot children’s museum between Second and Third streets, where Nesselrodt is looking to develop a market and restaurant. The City Council was also meeting at the Roswell Museum and Art Center for the first time on Thursday. The council has relocated to the museum for its monthly meetings with the intention of turning the council chambers at City Hall into a city finance department.
See COUNCIL, Page A3
Randal Seyler Photo
David Stevens, son of the late Marianne Stevens, who donated the antique wooden carousel, which is located in the Spring River Park and Zoo, to the city in 1970, discusses preservation of the nearly 100-year-old attraction during Thursday’s Roswell City Council meeting.
Community shows Roswell Refuge some love
‘Doggy Savior’ on trial today
By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer
Max Scally Photos
Above: Miss New Mexico Jessica Burson and Mayor Dennis Kintigh draw the winning tickets. Right: Front row from left, Mayor Dennis Kintigh, Roswell Refuge Executive Director Cindy Wilson and Miss New Mexico Jessica Burson. Back row, Refuge board member Anna Curtis and thrift store managers Donna Eastes and Mary Lou Christiansen.
Roswell Refuge Executive Director Cindy Wilson said the refuge was pleased to receive community support for its annual Teddy Bear Raffle. Teddy bears large and small were sold with candy and other treats as Valentine’s Day gifts. Everyone who bought a bear was entered in the raffle. There were around 25 winners who received a variety of gifts, such as jewelry, flat-screen TVs,
dinner and shopping certificates. The fundraiser is conducted to raise awareness about domestic violence. Eighty-six bears were sold and raffle prizes were donated by several local businesses and individuals. Additionally, the Refuge
Thrift Store is now open. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday. The thrift store is located next to the Refuge at 1215 N. Garden Ave. For more information, call 624-3222.
A six-person jury was impanelled Thursday for the trial of the operator of a Roswell animal rescue group charged in connection with a dog mauling of a Roswell boy last summer. The trial for Sammye S. LaFlar, the operator of Doggy Saviors, is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. today in Roswell before Chaves County Magistrate Judge K.C. Rogers. A six-person jury, with two alternates, was selected Thursday morning. LaFlar, 59, is charged with one petty misdemeanor count of dogs running/ found at large and one misdemeanor count of failure to vaccinate dogs. LaFlar’s animal rescue associate, Janice C. Ensconatus, on the eve of her jury trial pleaded no contest Jan. 14 in Chaves County Magistrate Court to three petty misdemeanor charges of dogs running/ found at large. Ensconatus, 66, was sentenced by Chaves County Magistrate Judge Pat Casados to 182 days of
unsupervised release for each of the three charges, with the sentences to run concurrently. Ensconatus was not fined, although she was ordered to pay $179 of court costs. She faced a maximum possible penalty of 180 days in jail and a $500 fine on each of the three petty misdemeanor charges. LaFlar and Ensconatus were both charged with allowing dogs to run wild after the June 11 dog attack on 9-year-old Colby Prince of Roswell. According to court records, LaFlar adopted three mixed-breed pit bull dogs from Roswell Animal Control Services and transferred the animals to Ensconatus, who had the dogs housed at the barn of a man in the 5000 block of Vista Lane. Chaves County animal control deputy Laura Hite reported the three pit bulls escaped the barn and at least two of them attacked Prince on his neighboring property in the 5000 block See TRIAL, Page A3
House passes bill to Genealogy expert offers research tips end social promotion Staff Report
Legislation that would end the policy of social promotion in schools cleared the New Mexico House of Representatives Thursday by a bipartisan vote of 38-30. State Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, is a sponsor of the bill that would end the policy of promoting students from grade to grade, even when they cannot read. “I hope the state Senate listens to the people of New Mexico and brings this bill to a vote,” said Espinoza, chair of the House Education Committee. “The people have spoken, and they want to put our students first.” The bill would help teachers identify struggling readers and provide them with targeted instruction to catch up to their peers. On the House floor Thursday, state Rep. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque, said both President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton support ending social promotion in schools.
“Improving our schools and helping struggling students learn continues to be one of our top priorities,” said Youngblood, also a sponsor of the bill. “Today, we took a huge step in the right direction to improve our schools.” The bill also emphasizes parental involvement. For example, once a struggling reader is identified, parents are given strategies to help their child improve his or her reading skills. House Republicans say studies show that students are four times more likely to drop out of school if they are unable to read proficiently by the third grade. One study found that 88 percent of high school drop-outs were not proficient readers in the third grade. House Republicans also say New Mexicans overwhelmingly support ending the policy of social promotion in schools. A recent Albuquerque Journal poll found 74 percent of New Mexicans want to end social promotion in schools.
Today’s Forecast
HIGH 68 LOW 33
By Jeff Jackson Record Staff Writer
While growing up in the Texas Panhandle, Suzanne Lamontine liked to hear stories from her father. Those tales later spurred Lamontine into family research, formally called genealogy, and 35 years later she’s still at it. “My dad was a big story-teller and he used to tell stories about when he lived on a ranch up in the Panhandle so I just got interested in that,” Lamontine said Thursday after delivering a talk of her own at the monthly meeting of the Roswell Genealogical Society. “Unfortunately I didn’t really get into it a whole lot until a lot of the old people had died. I’ve traced my husband. He was part Potawatomi Indian and I’ve done a lot of research on his family. That’s been very interesting. And I had people on my mother’s side from Canada that originally came from England and Ireland and one German,
Tim Howsare Photo
Suzanne Lamontine has developed key strategies for genealogy projects and shared her ideas at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Roswell Genealogical Society. that I know of, in the mix that came in 1884. You learn a lot of history. “Anybody knows me they know I like to find out about my people, not just where they lived and when they died and who their kids were,” Lamontine said in prefacing her discussion topic, “Tips for
Finding Your Ancestors in Newspapers, City Directories and Genwebs.” “I want to find out about these people, so newspapers can be a gold mine for finding that information out as well as directories and genwebs.” Much of a family’s research can be conduct-
• H. Ross Tenneson • Margaret Lee Langenegger
See LAMONTINE, Page A3
Index
Today’s Obituaries Page A7 • Mary Ann Greeson • Glenn “BooBoo” Marler • Jerry Douglas Turner
ed online using Google or using a genweb, a method that collects a variety of websites for the researcher, said Lamontine, who serves as vice president of the local genealogical organization. “The genwebs consist of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research. They’re non-commercial and provide free access. Not every county has a website or if they do it won’t have anything on it because they’re all volunteer work. You can go into the U.S. genwebsite and they have it broken down into states. You can go into your state and go into the county and see what they have,” she said. “Genwebsites are a treasure and you just never know what you’re going to find. I’m a big believer in them.” With any Internet-based search, a key strategy is to refine the search elements as you proceed, she said. “I always start out with
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