Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 81 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
April 3, 2014
Martinez announces child welfare reforms
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Responding to what she called the tragic death of a 9-year -old Albuquerque boy, Gov. Susana Martinez unveiled more than a dozen policy changes and directives on Wednesday intended to reform the way child abuse cases are investigated in New Mexico.
The moves came in response to criticism that the system did not do enough to protect Omaree Varela, who police said was kicked to death by his
mother after previous reports of abuse. Martinez personally reviewed the case and spent the past three months with other state officials taking a broader look at how child abuse and neglect investigations were being handled. “Omaree died in a manner that no child should ever experience,” the governor said. “He was betrayed by the one person who should have loved him and protected him the most and
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that was his mother.” Martinez intends to sign a number of executive orders requiring caseworkers to review police reports and other documents before making any investigative decisions, and to establish child advocacy centers around the state where caseworkers will meet regularly with authorities to investigate reports of child abuse or neglect. Part of the gover nor’s focus will be on Valencia County, which she identi-
fied as a high-risk, highneed area concerning child welfare services. “It makes no sense for an officer and a caseworker to investigate the same incident and never share notes or even speak with one another beyond their initial meeting,” Martinez said. In the case involving Varela, Albuquerque police and Children, Youth and Families Department officials have been criticized for not removing the boy from his home after receiv-
AP Photo
Lucy Hamlin and her husband, Spc. Timothy Hamlin, wait for permission to re-enter the Fort Hood military base, where they live, following a shooting on the base, Wednesday, in Fort Hood, Texas.
Crews make first descent into WIPP
CARLSBAD (AP) — Crews made their first trip into the federal government’s underground nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico on Wednesday to begin investigating a radiation release in February that contaminated 21 workers, the U.S. Department of Energy said. Two crews of eight made the initial descent into the half-mile deep Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, and no airborne radiation was detected, the agency said. Officials called the entries a critical first step toward figuring out what caused the leak. But they said more expanded trips will be needed to continue the probe and assess the extent of damage. The crews Wednesday established an underground operations base, installing
air monitors and communications lines, the agency said. Shipments to the dump were halted Feb. 5 after a truck hauling salt in the mine and repository caught fire. The dump was shuttered nine days later after the mysterious leak sent low levels of radiation into the air. A series of safety shortcomings were cited by a team that investigated the truck fire. But crews had been unable to get underground after the radiation release to find the source of the leak and determine if the incidents are related. Also Wednesday, Los Alamos National Laboratory said its first shipment of waste made it to west Texas for temporary storage until the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant can reopen. Los Alamos is under a tight deadline
to get nuclear waste off its northern New Mexico campus before wildfire season peaks, and the New Mexico dump is the federal government’s only permanent repository for waste from decades of nuclear -bomb building The dump’s closure left federal officials scrambling to find an alternative for the last of nearly 4,000 barrels of plutonium-contaminated tools that Los Alamos has promised to have removed from outdoor storage on its northern New Mexico campus by the end of June. The state of New Mexico pressured Los Alamos to speed up removal of the waste after a massive wildfire in 2011 lapped at the edges of lab property. Los Alamos said about 100 shipments remain, and it hopes to send about 10 a week until the waste is cleared.
THURSDAY
ing reports of abuse. On Wednesday, Gil Vigil, one of the two Albuquerque police officers under investigation for how they handled an abuse call at the Varela home last June, was fired, said his attorney Sam Bregman. Vigil did nothing wrong and the firing was unjustified, Bregman said. The boy’s mother, Synthia Varela-Casaus, has pleaded not guilty to more than 20 charges related to the boy’s death.
Rep. Gail Chasey, DAlbuquerque, stressed that boosting caseworker and legal staff would be a key element in reforming New Mexico’s child welfare system. Still, the governor’s initiatives sound like a reasonable beginning, she said.
“We absolutely must build a system where children who are in danger are immediately removed from the danger and, on the
Gunman kills 3, wounds 16 at Fort Hood Army base
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A soldier opened fire Wednesday on fellow service members at the Fort Hood military base, killing three people and wounding 16 before committing suicide at the same post where more than a dozen people were slain in a 2009 attack, authorities said. The shooter apparently walked into a building and began firing a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol that had been purchased recently. He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building and kept shooting. He was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot. As he came within 20 feet of an of ficer, the gunman put
See MARTINEZ, Page A3
his hands up but then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun. The officer drew her own weapon, and the suspect put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger a final time. The gunman, who was married and served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems. Before the attack, he had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the senior officer on the base. The suspect had arrived at Fort Hood in February from another base. He was taking medication, and See FORT HOOD, Page A3
Reins for Life receives $5,000 donation
Randal Seyler Photo
Cecelia McCray, manager of Galaxy 8 Theaters in Roswell, presented a check for $5,000 to Reins for Life therapy ranch on Wednesday. The donation was raised with the March 21 VIP premiere of “50 To 1,” the film about local racehorse Mine That Bird’s winning the Kentucky Derby. On hand for the check presentation were, from left, Damian Roman, Reins for Life owner Terry Bogle, John Fladd of Roswell, Regina Munoz of Dexter, Chip Clemmons of Reins for Life, Mark Allen, owner of Mine That Bird, Bobbie Parker, Cecelia McCray of Galaxy 8, Dr. Leonard Blach and Andrew Lewis of Artesia.
Library board submits Border Patrol sends more agents to South Texas 4 nominations to mayor RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Members of the Roswell Public Library board of directors chose four candidates to fill three open board seats during a special meeting on Tuesday. Board members nominated current member Patty Bristol to fill one open seat. Bristol is completing a partial term for a former member and if approved by the mayor, she would begin fill-
ing her first official term on the library board. There were 10 nominations for the remaining two seats, and the board members heard resumes and letters from the candidates describing their various qualifications. “We have such a wonderful selection of candidates, I am really impressed with the quality of individuals who have applied,” said See BOARD, Page A3
HIGH 72 LOW 38
TODAY’S FORECAST
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — More than 100 Border Patrol agents from California and Arizona have been shifted to the southernmost tip of Texas, the country’s busiest sector for illegal immigration, the agency announced Wednesday. While arrests of immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally have fallen or stabilized on other parts of the border, they’ve soared in South Texas, driven in large part by immigrants from Central America. The temporary assignments are the latest signal the agency is trying to adjust its staffing to meet the new reality along the Southwest border. The temporarily assigned agents arrived at the Rio Grande Valley this week, and the length of their stay is
• JAMES RICHARD “JIM” PETTY
not set, said Border Patrol spokesman Danny Tirado. Last year, the Rio Grande Valley sector also began receiving the bulk of the new academy graduates. Nearly 3,100 Border Patrol agents were assigned to the Rio Grande Valley last fiscal year, about 1,000 fewer than the Tucson, Ariz., sector, even though the Texas sector sprinted past Tucson last year in total arrests. The Border Patrol made more than 154,000 arrests in the Rio Grande Valley sector last fiscal year, an increase of 58 percent from the previous year. Tucson made almost 121,000 arrests. The pace is accelerating this year. The Rio Grande Valley sector has
TODAY’S OBITUARY PAGE A2
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
already made more than 95,000 arrests midway through this fiscal year and seized more than 300,000 pounds of marijuana. The agents from Arizona and California are joining some already sent from the neighboring Laredo sector.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, characterized the shift in resources as a “risk-based approach” aimed at disrupting criminal smuggling organizations.
Additionally, the agency and its local and federal partners have identified members of such criminal organizations that it will target for arrest. It did not release their names. INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD ..................A6