Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 57 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
March 6, 2014
www.rdrnews.com
THURSDAY
Testing shows no health risk for exposed employees Follow-up testing of employees who were exposed to airbor ne radioactive material during the Feb. 14 radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shows exposure levels were extremely low and the employees are unlikely to experience any adverse health effects as a result, according to a news release.
“We have sent samples to the Center for Disease Control for validation,” said Farok Sharif, president and project manager
of Nuclear Waste Partnership. “Biological testing continues on other workers who were at the site following the initial exposure event, and there is always the possibility of positive exposure results from that testing. The ability to detect extremely small amounts of radioactive material also means there may be false positives that occur throughout the testing process.”
After initial testing indicated potential low-level exposure, follow-up biological samples taken from
the 13 employees who were at the WIPP site during the event came back negative for plutonium and americium, the two radioactive isotopes that were detected in preliminary bioassays, according to a joint news release from the U.S. Department of Energy and Nuclear Waste Partnership, the WIPP management and operating contractor.
NWP is working with the United Steel Workers Union to make sure all employee health concerns are addressed, and that
testing is made available to any worker who feels he or she may have been contaminated during the WIPP release event. “We appreciate the DOE’s support and NWP’s willingness to work with our employees to ensure their safety and welfare,” said Ricky Fuentes, president of United Steelworkers Local 12-9477. “Open lines of communication between the Union and NWP have been established to ensure everyone
See TESTING, Page A3
Ash Wednesday
Two meetings planned to address WIPP leak RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Two town hall meetings dealing with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant radiation leak will be held this week in Carlsbad. David Klaus, U.S. Department of Energy deputy under secretary
The Rev. Dale Plummer, rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Roswell, imposes ashes upon the foreheads of congregants on Ash Wednesday, reciting the words, "remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," marking the beginning of the Lenten season.
See MEETINGS, Page A3
Mackey ready to serve on council JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Randal Seyler Photo
for Management and Per for mance; David Huizenga, senior advisor for the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management; Joe Franco, Carlsbad Field Office manager; and Fran Williams, URS technical advisor, will hold a town
Natasha Mackey is ready to make history as the city’s first elected black councilwoman, she said Wednesday. She unseated incumbent Dusty Huckabee to become councilor -elect in Ward 1 Tuesday. “I’m really excited and I have lots of ideas, of course stemming from conversations I’ve held with constituents of Ward 1,” Mackey said. “I’ve spoken with other newly-appointed city councilors. I think we’re going to make a great team to move our city forward.” Mackey is an independent distributor of jewelry and is a distance learning coordinator at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. New councilors will be sworn in Monday. The first council meeting to be held
with newly elected officials will be March 13. Mackey thanked the constituents of Roswell. “I’m looking forward to serving them over the next four years with tenacity and open-mindedness,” Mackey said. “Every quarter, I am going to schedule meet-and-greets to share what’s going on, and so we can stay connected.” In a press release issued Tuesday night, Mackey said she intends to be a “mover and a shaker” and looks forward to being part of the movement to revive Roswell. Mackey has lived in Roswell for a total of eight years and in New Mexico for nearly 20 years. Mackey was one of three candidates to oust incumbents Tuesday. Dennis Kintigh unseated Mayor
Police: Racketeering Child abuse awareness meeting today case grows against duo
The racketeering case against a pair arrested by Roswell Police on Feb. 6 continues to grow, according to a police department news release. Calvin Reese, 23, and Myranda Salayandia, 19, were arrested on Feb. 6, after a Roswell police officer initiated a traffic stop. Reese was arrested on charges of racketeering. Salayandia was arrested on charges of racketeering, identity theft, forgery, and fraud. Although the duo remains incarcerated, additional charges are piling up. Reese and Salayandia are presumed to have engaged in a pattern of racketeering, including numerous
burglaries, larcenies, fraud, fraudulent documents, forgeries, and identity theft, beginning Jan. 3 and ending with their arrests on Feb. 6. Although community members from various areas of the city were affected, many of the pair’s crimes occurred in church and bar parking lots, according to police. Many purses and wallets were stolen from vehicles that were left unsecured. If the vehicle was secured, a window was broken in order for access to be gained. Through the course of the investigation, 41 individual victims have See RACKETEERING, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and a group is working to host an event to bring awareness to the community. Its second planning meeting will be held at 6 p.m. today at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, at the cor ner of 19th Street and Union Avenue. Sherrie Goff, of United Methodist Woman, said: “The goal is to educate people as to what services we have here in town, what they do, how they do it and what they need.” Goff cited an example: New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Family Department. “CYFD needs foster families for their system,
and we hope to get people to open their doors to a foster child or two.“ The event is also to give a number of different service organizations a venue to tell people about their services. They hope to have booths, speakers and entertainment for an experience that will be enjoyed by all. Goff is also working to create a comprehensive list of the programs available, including American Red Cross, Assurance Home, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Club, Chaves County J.O.Y Center, Counseling Associates, CYFD, Down Syndrome Foundation of SE NM, CASA, Esperanza House, Harvest Ministries and Reflections & Recovery.
‘Teacher of Character’ nominees honored Teachers were honored on Tuesday by Character Counts! In Chaves County when the organization recognized 157 teachers who were nominated for the title of Teacher of Character 2014. Fourteen teachers where honored for exceptional character in the classroom. These teachers’ nominations were exceptional and they represent what all teachers desire to do, reach kids on a personal level and help them reach their full potential
as young people. Dolores Ingram, a teacher at East Grand Plains Elementary School, was the gold award Teacher of Character winner. Jaime Torres of Valley View Elementary School, Jennifer Tenorio of Dexter Elementary and Brittany Grif fin of East Grand Plains Elementary School were named silver award winners. Shelly Dunaway of Misouri Avenue Elementary, Tammie Hardt of Universi-
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TODAY’S FORECAST
ty High, Teresa Anreis of Berrendo Elementary, Kassie Carpenter of Dexter High, Carol Fury of Dexter High-Middle School, Eric Evertson of NMMI, Debbie Anaya of East Grand Plains Elementary, Camaryn Henington of Dexter Elementary, Lori Johnson of Washington Avenue Elementary and Pam Wolfert of ENMU-R were all named bronze award winners. Speakers for the evening included Judge Alvin Jones, co-founder of Char-
• JOHN CECIL DONAHUE JR.
They also will tackle issues that may be viewed as contributing factors, such as drug abuse and domestic violence, and economic factors, such as unemployment, so the list is a starting point and contains some of the organizations which do not spring immediately to mind. For example: New Mexico Legal Aide and the Roswell Literacy Council. “There’s a huge amount of service agencies available in Chaves County.” Goff speaks passionately of the enor mity of the problem and how it has a knock-on ef fect in the community. “The issues are so big we often don’t know what to do. This (child abuse) happens in the best of
See COUNCIL, Page A3
families, and often we still have a don’t get involved attitude.” The purpose of tonight’s planning meeting is to get people to step forward. “The United Methodist Women are all about helping children,” she said, but she emphasized that the event and the planning meeting are not limited to UMW. She invited all interested parties to come to the meeting. Many organizations exist to help youth in Roswell and families in distress from S.O.Y. (Save Our Youth) Mariachi and the Unity Center and she hopes that representatives from some of these organizations will also attend. See CHILD ABUSE, Page A3
acter Counts! in Chaves County, who gave a history of the Teacher of Character program. T roy Smother man, pastor of Church on The Move, prayed for all teachers after praising their efforts in teaching our kids. Tom Burris, superintendent of Roswell Independent School District, encouraged the teachers. Keynote speakers Dr. and Mrs. Fresquez spoke about the changes of eduSee CHARACTER, Page A3
TODAY’S OBITUARY PAGE A6
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B5 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8