Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 66 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
March 16, 2014
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Deal to purchase New Mexico Gas Co. opposed
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A Florida company making a bid to buy New Mexico Gas Co. will address concerns about layoffs and costs to consumers at a public hearing next week. The state attorney general and other New Mexico stakeholders have expressed worries about Teco Energy Inc. purchasing the utility, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday. Teco reached an agreement last May with Continental Energy Systems LLC, the parent company of New Mexico Gas, worth
In bloom
about $950 million, including the assumption of $200 million in debt. The company in September filed for regulatory approval from the state’s Public Regulation Commission, which will hold a series of hearings starting March 22. “It’s a pretty contested case,” said Carolyn Glick, the commission hearing examiner assigned to the case. “Almost everybody who has filed testimony has opposed the transaction.” Opponents say Teco is paying too much for the deal and has
plans to cut 100 jobs in New Mexico. Company executives say there are plans to eliminate 136 jobs — 99 of those in New Mexico. Teco President and CEO John Ramil told The Journal on Thursday that the positions being cut are “back office” jobs. The cuts will make New Mexico Gas more competitive and efficient and help lower rates, he added. Company officials previously offered to share up to half of a projected $7.9 million in annual savings from the workforce cuts
with customers by issuing unilateral rate cuts that would stay in effect from 2015 to 2017. The company also said it would retain New Mexico Gas President Annette Gardiner. But representatives for energy consumers said they haven’t see anything official. “Teco has been very reluctant to provide specifics,” said Peter Gould, general counsel for New Mexico Industrial Energy Consumers, which represents large users such as the University of New Mexico. “They have yet to
explain how the job cuts and consolidation will impact customer service.” After testimony is heard from both sides, Glick will make a recommendation on final approval by the five-member commission.
New Mexico Gas serves about 509,000 customers, most of them residential. If the deal officially closes, Teco’s subsidiaries would serve more than 1.5 million regulated electric and gas utility customers in Florida and New Mexico, the company said.
Blended test results saved nuke missile crews from failure
WASHINGTON (AP) — Failings last spring by nuclear missile operators at an Air Force base in North Dakota were worse than first reported, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Mark Wilson Photo
Airmen responsible for missile operations at Minot Air Force Base would have failed their portion of a major inspection in March 2013 but managed a “marginal” rating because their poor marks were blended with the better performance of support staff — like cooks and facilities managers — and they got a boost from the base’s highly rated training program. The “marginal” rating, the equivalent of a “D” in school, was reported previously. Now, details of the low per for mance by the launch of ficers, or missileers, entrusted with the keys to missiles have been
revealed. “Missileer technical proficiency substandard,” one Air Force briefing slide says. “Remainder (of missile operations team) raised grade to marginal.” The documents also hint at an exam-cheating problem in the making among launch crews at Minot, almost a full year before allegations of widespread cheating erupted this January at a companion nuclear base in Montana. An official inquiry into the troubled inspection of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot in March 2013 concluded that one root cause was poor use of routine testing and other means of measuring the proficiency of launch crews in their assigned tasks. For example, commanders at Minot did not ensure that monthly written tests were supervised.
Faith, family helps Thorp leads cadets in music, travel woman overcome People come and go from the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center which is awash with spring blooms.
With up to
Family support and dwelling in one’s dreams are the keys to a successful, happy life, says Bridget Brown, of Chicago, who is a successful public speaker, film star and personal coach. Brown, 27, also happens to have Down syndrome. The disease has not stopped her from living the life she wants, nor does it define her, and she credits her family, faith, teachers and her friends for her many successes. “Meister Eckhart said it best,” Brown says, “If I say only one prayer a day, it is ‘thank you.’” Brown says she has been blessed in her life by special teachers and friends, and recounted how one lifelong friend stood up for her when she was being bullied in school. “She is my hero, and she changed my life. We were together in elementary school, junior high and high school, and we graduated together on the
same stage.” “My friend is a giver of hope for me, and she encourages me to smile,” Brown said, “She is the reason I am here today, and she’s my champion.” Brown and her mother, Nancy, were in Roswell on Saturday as the keynote speakers at the second annual Down Syndrome Foundation of Southeast New Mexico’s Educational Workshop, held at New Mexico Military Institute’s Toles Learning Center. Brown redefines the term “inclusion” by being the first person with Down syndrome to be included in her school district, according to her website, butterfliesforchange.org. She graduated in 2005 as a result of this successful school experience. She is a national public speaker and shares tools and strategies she used to be successfully included. She also is a person-centered planning coach and works with young adults with disabili-
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If there is a theme to the life of Lt. Col. Steven Thorp, it would be Southeastern New Mexico. “I’ve lived a Highway 70 life,” jokes Thorp, choral director and associate professor of music at New Mexico Military Institute. Thorp hails from Alamogordo, and he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. He has spent the past 17 years teaching at NMMI, and the previous 12 years, he taught at Roswell High School. “I was recruited from Roswell High by former music director Mike Donovan. I owe him for this fantastic opportunity — him and former Dean William Gibbs, I owe those two gentlemen a debt of gratitude.” “When I was a high school student in Alamogordo, I came over here for a week one summer, and I remember being impressed when I saw the
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grades that were posted,” Thorp recalls. “I thought, ‘either these are some poor students or the standards here are really high — and I imagined it was that the standards were really high. And I was right.” Thorp never attended NMMI as a student, nor was he ever in the military. “My rank is an honor and relates only to the Institute,” Thorp says. “I was never in the military, and I remember growing up in the ’70s and watching the daily news reports on the Vietnam War and the casualty counts. That really affected me.” Thorp’s parents, Don and Maud, encouraged him in his pursuit of education — his father is a highly regarded music educator as well. “I told myself when I was young, there were two things I would never do — I would never teach, and I would never be in the military,” Thorp says with a laugh. “Never say never.” His father was a high
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Lt. Col. Steven Thorp, associate professor of music and choral director at New Mexico Military Institute, discusses his 17-year-long career at NMMI on Friday.
school choir director as well; in fact, Thorp took choir classes under his father in high school. “It’s like that song,
‘Leader of the Band,’ Thorp said. “Dad’s my ‘Leader of the Choir.’ He See THORP, Page A3
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