04 15 14 Roswell Daily Record

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 123, No. 91 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

April 15, 2014

Pearce to hold prairie chicken town hall today cans an explanation for why their extraordinary cooperative efforts to preserve lesser prairie chicken habitat were not good enough.” The FWS listed the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species in March. Several industry leaders and officials in southeastern New Mexico hoped the agency would not list the bird, after months of negotiating and spending millions on conservation agreements. Officials in the five-state prairie chicken range fear the listing could further impact agriculture, oil and gas and other activities. Pearce met with ranchers and small oil and gas producers in Lovington Monday, who had concern about what rights they would

JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER

Congressman Steve Pearce has invited anyone affected by the recent listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife of the lesser prairie chicken to join him at 1 p.m. today for a town hall meeting at the Roswell Chamber of Commerce. “You have a right to ask government officials why they made the decisions they made,” Pearce said. “Their choices affect your right to farm your land, graze your cattle, or continue the energy boom that’s created so many good-paying jobs throughout southeastern New Mexico. “Federal officials owe New Mexi-

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have in the future, he said. The nearly 90-minute discussion included questions about what rights the residents would have going forward if they did not sign conservation agreements with the government, Pearce said. “We had a big turnout in Lovington,” Pearce said. “It was very productive. Everybody has a waitand-see attitude. There is deep concern about the listing’s affect on the ability to ranch or have oil and gas wells.” Pearce, R-Dist.2, announced Monday he would host three town halls for local citizens this week to provide a venue for them to meet face-to-face with him and federal officials. Representatives of the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management were invited to attend. “I’m just trying to get the information out and have people get their questions answered,” Pearce said. “I’m there just to see that we get that. It’s an important discussion for the community. There is a lot of nervousness. People have the right to ask the questions.” As of the date of the listing, ranchers and other landowners had signed range-wide conservation plan agreements to participate with the federal government on more than 3-million acres.

Hispanic contribution to rocketry recalled Fatal crash See PEARCE, Page A3

blamed on drivers lack of attention

RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER

When Dr. Robert H. Goddard was in New Mexico creating the era of rocketry that would usher in the Space Age, he had a little help — his Hispanic assistants referred to by Walter Winchell as “his Don Quixotes.” Roswell resident Erinda Ornelas Vale wants the contribution of the Hispanic community to Goddard’s research remembered, and she wants to honor the men who helped Goddard as well as the famous professor when the city celebrates “Aiming For The Stars” in October. Vale, 74, says she remembers hearing stories of her father, Pablo Ornelas, and her uncle, Tony Or nelas, and their work with Goddard in the 1930s. “Many years ago as I watched the American astronauts step on the moon I heard Walter Winchell say, “if it were not for Robert Goddard and his Don Quixotes we would not be seeing this today,” Vale told the League of United Latin American Citizens recently. She asked the LULAC membership to help her promote the history of the Hispanic involvement with Goddard. Former Mayor Bill Brainard initiated the idea to hold a twoday event to honor the legacy of rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard and his years of research in Roswell. See ROCKETRY, Page A3

Courtesy Photo

Pablo Ornelas on the steps of a bank in Spur, Texas, in the 1930s. Ornelas was one of Robert Goddard’s “Don Quixotes” who helped build and launch rockets in Roswell in the 1930s.

Regional legislators speak at annual lunch JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER

State legislators provided attendees with a legislative update from this year’s session Monday at the Chamber of Commerce’s Lunch and Learn. The main topics included explanations of recently passed legislation, education funding, capital outlay, oil and gas revenue funds and agriculture. House representatives Nora Espinoza, Dist. 59, Bob Wooley, Dist. 66, Candy Spence Ezzell, Dist. 58, were joined by Sens. Stuart Ingle, Dist. 27, Cliff Pirtle, Dist. 32, Bill Bert, Dist. 33, and Gay Kernan, Dist. 42.

Rep. Steve Pearce

“Overall it was a good session. In a 30-day session we’re supposed to do a budget and that’s it,” said Ingle, Senate minority leader. “There was a lot of joint resolutions introduced this year thank goodness only three passed, because that’s something folks vote on. I’m not against voting on things. But there was junk introduced there that were just hideous.” Ingle explained the process of passing this year’s budget and how he was pleased that the Legislature was able to get it done before the session See LUNCH, Page A3

A Carlsbad woman died Monday after the car she was driving was struck by a commercial truck. State police say driver inattention was a contributing factor in the crash. Officers responded to the intersection of U.S. 285 and Derrick Road, between Carlsbad and Loving, at 8:06 a.m. One victim was reportedly unresponsive at the scene. Initial reports showed that Carl Deisher, 47, of Artesia, tried to turn westbound onto Derrick Road off U.S. 285 while driving a 201 Kenworth truck. He tried to make a wide right turn. Oralia Lara, 50, of Carlsbad, was driving southbound in the outside lane of the highway. When Deisher turned, his commercial vehicle crossed directly in front of Lara’s 2011 Honda passenger car. Lara was not able to avoid crashing into the See CRASH, Page A3

Obama speaks with Putin on Ukraine tension WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaking for the first time in more than two weeks, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin showed little sign of agreement Monday, with the U.S. leader urging pro-Russian forces to deescalate the situation in eastern Ukraine and Putin denying that Moscow was inter fering in the region. The White House said Russia initiated the phone call, which came as pro-Russian forces deepened their insurgency in Ukraine’s east, seizing more than a dozen government buildings. “The president expressed grave concern about Russian government support for the actions of armed, pro-Russian separatists who threatSee UKRAINE, Page A3

AP Photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Monday.

SUBSTANTIAL REWARD MINIATURE BULL TERRIER paulweinberg7@gmail.com HIGH 73 LOW 44

TODAY’S FORECAST

• JANE BARBEE RAY DENIO • RONALD EUGENE HILL • RICHARD T. COOK

TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6

CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4

INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4

SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER ..............A8


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