03-22-12 rdr news

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Roswell Daily Record

President visits SE NM THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 121, No. 70 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

DID HE, OR DIDN’T HE? OH, HE DID!

CHICAGO (AP) — It may be hard to imagine Rod Blagojevich looking anything but boyish in his trademark dark, helmet hair. But his longtime barber said Wednesday that the former Illinois governor has been dyeing his hair for years and now that he is in prison — where dyes are banned — it will soon turn gray. - PAGE B3

TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours

• Portales police arrest Roswell rape suspect • President Obama to visit New Mexico oil ... • Anti-lizard rally today • Mother Nature makes waves • Dexter plates 26 in win over NMMI ...

March 22, 2012

THURSDAY

www.rdrnews.com

State, local pols greet Obama NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER

Air Force One came to Roswell, Wednesday, touching down at the Roswell International Air Center at approximately 5:20 p.m., the second stop for President Barack Obama on a four-state tour that focuses on his energy plan. Obama met with Gov. Susana Martinez and Mayor Del Jurney shortly after exiting the jet, and greeted a crowd of about 40 people before he left for a speech in Maljamar. “It was a real honor, to stand at the bottom of the steps as he got off Air Force One,” Jurney said. “You see that on TV, when he comes down and talks to people, and to be one of those was a true honor.” Jurney said he shared a few words with Obama about the president’s energy policy, letting him know how imporNoah Vernau Photo tant it is that oil and gas continue to be Mayor Del Jurney and Gov. Susana Martinez greet President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken strong in Roswell and southeastern New Salazar at the Roswell International Air Center, Wednesday afternoon. Mexico. “I did talk to him about oil and gas,” See GREET, Page A6

President outlines energy strategy

INSIDE SPORTS

JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER

GOODELL DROPS HAMMER

The NFL handed down sweeping and unprecedented punishment Wednesday for bounties paid out on big hits, suspending New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton without pay for next season and indefinitely banning the team’s former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, who now works for the St. Louis Rams. Payton is the first head coach suspended by the league for any reason. He is accused ... - PAGE B1

TODAY’S OBITUARIES

• Geneva Rose Lewis • Antonia Gonzales • Jimmy Bullock • Ronald Mathews • Charlotte Kay Arver - PAGE B3

HIGH ...74˚ LOW ....45˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8

INDEX

President Barack Obama outlines his energy strategy in Maljamar, Wednesday afternoon.

Mark Wilson Photo

As an American flag blew in the wind and a massive oil rig maintained its presence behind him, President Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of about 300 individuals in Maljamar about his administration’s commitment to expanding domestic oil and gas production, and the need to reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. The stop was part of the president’s two-day, four-state visit to Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ohio, to highlight his administration’s “all

See ENERGY, Page A6

Anti-lizard group rallies far from Air Force One NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER

Citizens opposed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species classification of the dunes sagebrush lizard rallied Wednesday at the International Law Enforcement Academy, where protesters hoped to send a strong message to President Barack Obama, who flew into Roswell prior to his speech in Maljamar. The rally, staged about a mile from where Air Force One landed, featured an open mic for its participants, many of whom expressed their concerns that the listing would have drastic effects on local oil and farming industries. Attorney Gregory Nibert said county commissions from Chaves, Lea, Eddy

and Roosevelt counties, as well as governmental agencies in Texas, have combined their efforts, attempting to be at the forefront of the decision-making process. “We’ve made two efforts to try to collectively have meetings with them,” Nibert said. “The Fish and Wildlife Service has refused to meet, to allow us our proper place at the table in this process. So we’re very fearful that this policy is being directed down from D.C., to the local folks, and really doesn’t care about the local people.” Rep. Dennis Kintigh, RRoswell, said he conducted a scientific review on the matter with state professors and biologists, submitting the findings to county commissions. “Sadly, the issue over the

dunes sagebrush lizard stopped being a scientific one, and it has become a political one,” Kintigh said. “And I say ‘sadly,’ because the people who made it political are the advocates for its listing, the environmentalist types. They have put forward a concept that is not supported by science, and they have pushed long and hard for it. It is simply not valid.

“That’s the message that we as community need to understand, we need to repeat over and over again. We need to get that message through to the leadership in Washington, D.C., that we’re not going to tolerate a politically-driven listing that attacks this industry.”

In a telephone interview, Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said that to gauge the effect

Noah Vernau Photo

Protesters stage an anti-lizard rally at the International Law Enforcement Academy, Wednesday afternoon.

that the lizard’s listing could have on jobs, he looks at similar decisions that have impacted the country. “When they put the spotted owl on (the list), it began to shut down logging

across the country,” Pearce said. “When they listed the delta smelt, it shut down 27,000 jobs in the San Joaquin Valley. We only See RALLY, Page A6


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