Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 60 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
March 9, 2014
www.rdrnews.com
SUNDAY
Jurney: ‘I am blessed—It’s been a great ride’ JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mayor Del Jurney sat in his office at City Hall on his last official day Friday. He wore a suit jacket and a white dress shirt with the top button undone, in his usual style. Surrounding him were photos of his wife, Kristie, and son. Plaques hung on the wall. A vase of flowers had lost their color and began to droop as they stood in a vase behind the dark-wood desk. Jurney tried to begin his final interview about his time serving as mayor of a
community in which he had spent most of his life. He began to tear up and stopped. “Forgive me if I get emotional,” he said, as he sat in a chair in the middle of the office. “You know, it’s not everybody that’s had a chance to have the opportunity to do something like this. To fill this office and to be the mayor of this community,” Jurney said. “It’s a great honor and it’s a great privilege. And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that. And Kristie has, too. It’s been a great experience for the two of us for a lot of
different reasons.” The polite and easygoing gentleman, known for wearing cowboy boots with his suits, has led the community through several trying times in recent months. The event with the Berrendo Middle School shooting placed him at the center of a media stor m, when he became one of the faces of Roswell after national media descended upon the community. But the positive experiences were what Jurney recalled most. “There are so many great things happening, as
having had the chance to fill this role, we got to see all that,” he said. “...It’s really fascinating, all the different components and all the different things that make Roswell the community that it is. “And for that, I am blessed,” Jurney said. “It’s been a great ride.” Jur ney was defeated Tuesday following a long campaign, bringing his one-term as mayor to an end. But, he doesn’t resent Dennis Kintigh, who was elected to replace him. “It’s politics,” Jur ney
Jill McLaughlin Photo
See JURNEY, Page A3
Mayor Del Jurney's last day at his office was Friday.
Storms do little to help relieve drought
Pancake festival
SANTA FE (AP) — A drought across New Mexico will like persist despite a spate of recent snow and rain and more to possibly come this weekend. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report indicates a few inches of snow that fell in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains last weekend still aren’t bringing the state’s water levels close to where they need to be, the New Mexican reported. “It’s bad,” said Wayne Sleep, the state’s snow surveyor with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. “We’re so far behind at this point that the recent storms are helping but not bringing us anywhere near where we need to be.” Sleep said the predicted water supply for the Rio Grande between March and July is going to keep dropping. In the Upper Rio Grande,
Randal Seyler Photo
The Kiwanis Club of Roswell held its 45th annual Pancake Festival Saturday at the Roswell Convention & Civic Center, attracting hundreds of breakfast-hungry diners. The pancake festival is the club’s annual fundraiser, and proceeds go toward youth activities. The crowd was also treated to entertainment, including music by Rafael Manchego and Marisa Coates and the percussion team from Mesa Middle School.
total flows through June are likely to be at 50 percent or 70 percent of average, Sleep said. But flows past the San Marcial gauge near Elephant Butte are likely to only reach 13 percent of normal levels. For the water year dating to October, the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range Basin was at about 77 percent of total average precipitation. The snow-water equivalent was 59 percent of normal on March 6. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the drought forecast through May 31 indicates drought conditions will only worsen. The state currently has no areas considered in “exceptional drought conditions.” But the percentage of the state living in extreme drought, the next level down, jumped from 14.8 to 23 percent in one week.
E-file search warrant Ruiz’s struggles helped him achieve success program saves time JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Chaves County Magistrate Court has started a program that allows the police to e-file search warrants. It learned of the system from smaller courts with only one magistrate court judge who must sign all paperwork. “As a former police officer, I’m very concer ned about efficiency. Anything we can do to save an officer’s time and taxpayers’ money,” said Judge K.C. Rogers. He explained that the previous process required officers to stay at the scene to guard it while one retur ned to the department, typed up the warrant, delivered it to one of two magistrate court judges who in turn read it, signed it and returned it. The officers would then serve it at the scene. “It could take between two and three hours to
complete,” Rogers said. “Meanwhile, the other officers are just standing around waiting. This can be done within 30 minutes. “You kind of lose the swing of investigation when there’s nothing to be done until you get the warrant,” The program also utilizes video services that allows the of ficer to swear and affirm their testimony so it is witnessed by the judge. Judge John Halvorson relayed a story of an old homicide that required a full 30 warrants, 15 that had to be served that night. “It took all night and a further 15 warrants had to signed the following day.” The e-file program allows the officer at the scene to type up a complaint on their computers, send it to the judge on a cell phone, allowing an electronic signature and any comments to be added by the judge. The documents are See E-FILE, Page A3
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Tom Ruiz, or “Tom A” as many know him, is rarely seen around town without his pocket microphone in hand. His voice is even more familiar to listeners across southeastern New Mexico as Kevin Bonner’s sidekick on the popular “B and the Breakfast Club” radio morning talk show. Listeners have joked with him about his life’s ups and downs. They know all about the details of his 92-day marriage. They laugh about his battle of the bulge. But what they don’t know the story of his perseverance to overcome personal tragedy and his dedication to pursue his dream that led him to Roswell. One of four children, Ruiz grew up traveling the western states. His father was a migrant farmhand, who had legally moved to Texas to marry his moth-
er. “We worked on several far ms doing migrant work,” Ruiz said. “As kids, we didn’t know better. It was grapes in the summer in California. We picked tomatoes, potatoes. You name it. And we trekked across the country in a Buick ‘68.” His father would pull up to roadside rest stops at the end of the day. The family would unfold blankets and climb onto the big car. “Everybody slept on the hood. We would stare at the stars at night,” Ruiz said. “That was pretty cool. What a way to see the country!” In 1974, his father died tragically as result of a violent crime. Ruiz was 13 and the oldest child. He remembers sitting across from his mother at their small kitchen table shortly after. “She looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Don’t get in trouble because I
Tom Ruiz, of the “B and the Breakfast Club” radio morning talk show.
can’t help you,’” Ruiz said. “She didn’t blink. Didn’t stutter. I never got into any trouble after that. “Six years later, she was gone.” His mother moved the children back to Midland, where her family lived.
Ruiz later entered school at Midland College. During his freshman year, he took an internship at a radio station in the city to pursue his goal of broadSee RUIZ, Page A3
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TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A9 • JUANITA ZAMORA TRUJILLO • BENITO C. (HAMMERHEAD) ORTEGA • BEATRICE (BEA) VIVIAN GRAHAM • LAWRENCE HARRIS • LOIS SCHOEN • WINIFRED “WINNIE” BLOUNT • SIXTO G. GURROLA
CLASSIFIEDS ..........D1 COMICS .................C4 ENTERTAINMENT .....B9 FEATURE ................B7
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SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10
WORLD ..................A5