Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 71 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
March 22, 2014
State heads into new year of severe drought ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The first two months of 2014 marked the driest start to any year on record for New Mexico, and forecasters with the National Weather Service said Friday things haven’t that improved. Senior meteorologist Chuck Jones told state and federal officials during a monthly drought briefing that New Mexico received less than one-third of its normal snow and rain over the winter, and that the lack of snowpack in the mountains is prompting concer ns among water managers.
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“It’s terrible. We’re looking at the snowpack levels and they’re just blowing away,” said Raymond Abeyta with the Bureau of Reclamation. “What has us concerned is the soil moisture levels.” The latest drought map shows conditions have worsened in New Mexico over the past three months, with areas covered by severe drought conditions or worse nearly doubling since December. While record rains helped some areas last fall, officials said the Rio Grande Basin didn’t fare as well. Advisers with the Rio
Grande Compact Commission, which oversees a water -sharing agreement between New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, said Thursday that there was almost no native Rio Grande water in storage above Elephant Butte Reservoir. They also said water supplies flowing by measuring gauges in Colorado and New Mexico have been significantly below long-term averages for more than a decade. Federal wildlife managers are scrambling to find enough water to keep the river flowing this summer
SATURDAY
and asked commission members for their help. They say strategically timed flows will be critical for the endangered silvery minnow’s spawning. More than 2 million silvery minnows have been released in the Middle Rio Grande since 2002, but officials say their numbers are near the lowest since monitoring began more than 20 years ago.
Surveys in October indicate a poor survival rate among the hatchery-raised fish that are being released.
AP Photo
Duffey: County 1 of 3 to receive an outstanding audit In this March 3 image, tumbleweeds crowd the edge of the Rio Grande as it flows through Albuquerque.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
From left, Mine That Bird owners Leonard 'Doc' Blach and Mark Allen, along with actor Bruce Wayne Eckelman, who portrays Bob Baffert in the movie “50 to 1,” arrive at the Galaxy 8 for a VIP premiere, Friday evening.
Man arrested, suspected of multiple counts of sexual contact with minors
A Roswell man was arrested Friday, suspected of 10 counts of sexual contact with a child. Police arrested Uriel “Rudy” Guajardo, 50, at 9 a.m. in a parking lot on the 2300 block of North Main Street. The incidents involved three female children and had occurred during the past year in Roswell, according to Roswell Police Department spokeswoman Sabrina Morales. “The children spoke w i t h t h e i r m o t h e r, ” Morales said. “That’s when officers got involved.” Guajardo is charged with seven counts of criminal sexual contact of
During the county commission meeting Thursday, Heinfeld, Meech and Co. presented the county’s fiscal year 2013 audit report. The report was deemed to be an “unbiased audit” and “the best opinion you can get” by the firm’s representative. Commissioner Smiley Wooton said the positive report made him proud to be part of a county that tended to business as it had. Though the report reveals a shrinking budget, spending cuts and other conservative financial decisions were made to keep the budget in line. The county spent 17 percent less — nearly $6.3 million — than last year.
Most cuts were made to general government, health and welfare budgets, as the county received less revenue from investment income, and the state and federal government. The county received $28.3 million in revenue — $3 million less than in 2012. Total spending was $30.7 million, compared to $37 million in 2012. “The numbers are what they are, and it makes me proud to be a part of this group,” Wooton said. Commissioner Greg Nibert pointed out that the commission would continue to be challenged with some issues in upcoming years funding current projects that are under way. The corrections center expansion and road projSee AUDIT, Page A3
Vehicle runs red light, four cars crash
a minor age 13 – 18 years of age, with force, two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor (a child under 13 years old, to the unclothed intimate parts), and one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor (a child under 13 years of age and clothed), Morales said.
During the investigation, detectives found sufficient probable cause and secured an arrest warrant for Guajardo, Morales said.
Guajardo was taken to the Chaves County Detention Center, where he was held on a $100,000 bond.
Mark Wilson Photo
Guajardo
Teens learn life lessons in Mustang Project
RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Randal Seyler Photo
Captain Jackson, a wild mustang who was caught near the Jackson Mountains in Nevada, is currently part of the Mustang Project at Assurance Home in Roswell.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
Roswell police responded to a four-car accident at the intersection of East Second Street and Lea Avenue at 2:10 p.m. Friday. A pickup truck, sedan, SUV and a passenger van collided after one vehicle ran a red light. No one was injured in the accident, said Sabrina Morales, Roswell Police Department's spokeswoman. The accident remains under investigation. "Be very cautious and obey all traffic laws," Morales said. "With spring break coming, more kids are out of school and with a beautiful day like this, more drivers will be out on the road."
Mine That Bird is probably the most famous horse in Roswell this weekend, but there is a new resident at Assurance Home who might be just as big a hero in his own way one day. Captain Jackson, a wild mustang who is undergoing gentling training as part of Assurance Home’s Mustang Project, has been in Chaves County since
• FLORENCE OPENSHAW • DAWNELL EVONNE SALAS • TROY TRAVIS JAMES
March 9, and he is in the process of becoming a therapeutic animal. “It has been a while since we had a new mustang here,” said Ron Malone, Assurance Home executive director. Assurance Home is a 16-acre facility for severely abused and neglected teens that has been a Roswell fixture since 1979. The home has been at its current location on 18th Street since 1982. The Mustang Project
• LAURA GADBERRY GIBSON • SOLEDAD “SOCORRO” SANCHEZ
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B4
brings in partially tame wild mustangs from Colorado, and the children at Assurance Home help gentle the animals. Eventually, the mustangs are donated to therapeutic riding facilities across the country, where the mustangs become healers for disabled children and adults. In the process of gentling the horses, however, the teens who interact with the animals also learn lessons about trust,
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
respect and life in general.
“Back in 1990, Frank Bell, who is a real-life horse whisperer, started rounding up mustangs from Montana, Colorado and Nevada, and taking them to the prison in Canyon City, where the prisoners would break the horses and then sell them.”
In 2000, The Mustang Project started purchasing See MUSTANG, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8