Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Sheriff’s Office investigating homicide Vol. 123, No. 118 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
May 16, 2014
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Roswell Police looking into separate shooting at residence BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Chaves County sheriff deputies responding to a shots-fired report on Wednesday found a dead body early Wednesday morning. County deputies and Roswell police officers responding to the report
found a deceased man in a residence on the 4500 block of West Matthews Street at about 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, said Lt. Daniel Ornelas of the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office. “Once the area was secured, the deputies at the scene called the Criminal Investigation Unit,” Ornelas said. Sheriff’s Office investiga-
tors have a person of interest, but no arrests have been made at this time. The name of the deceased has not been released, pending further investigation. The cause of death was also not immediately available, Ornelas said. In a separate incident, Roswell police officers also responded to the 100 block of East Bland Street in ref-
erence to shots fired at about 4:26 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a news release from the police department. Officers discovered a door had been forced open at the residence and multiple shots were fired into the home. No injuries were sustained. At press time, there was not an estimated dollar
Right: Courtesy Photo
A New York-based film crew was in Roswell earlier this week filming a professional development and training film at Mesa Mid-
educational literature business for 90 years. They were at the middle school filming teachers and students on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mesa Middle School was chosen to represent one of
Officials upset by WIPP contract transfer
CARLSBAD (AP) — A decision to transfer a recordstorage contract for the government’s troubled underground nuclear waste dump to a Tennessee company is a “crime against the taxpayer” and sends the wrong message as the project struggles to recover from the most significant setback in its history, community leaders said in a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. City and county leaders on Tuesday issued the objection to a recent announcement by the Nuclear Waste Partnership, which runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in southeastern New Mexico for the federal Department of Energy, that it had awarded the contract to handle all of the dump’s archives and documents to a Tennessee-based company, TFE Inc. TFE replaces S.M. Stoller Corp.,
which employs about 90 people in Carlsbad. The change comes as the dump is indefinitely shuttered by a mysterious radiation leak that contaminated 21 workers with low levels of radiation. “NWP and all of WIPP are currently embroiled in the most significant setback of the project’s 15-year history,” the letter said. “NWP should be building confidence in Southeastern New Mexico right now, and subcontracting with an outside company who will be laying off a large group of local people doesn’t exactly seem like the wisest way to build community relations.” They also questioned the legality of the contract, saying the Waste Isolation Pilot Project Records Archive was “created federally with the full understanding that the facility would be in Carls-
HIGH 91 LOW 58
TODAY’S FORECAST
presented the 19-page resolution to the commissioners. The planning and zoning department requested the commission approve the resolution. If it had passed, the resolution would have amended the county’s zoning ordinance, giving the county the ability to regulate the location, licensing and operation of sexually oriented businesses in the county, such as adult bookstores and strip clubs. The city of Roswell adopted a similar measure in July 2013, with a 1,000 See COMMISSION, Page A3
BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR
Mesa Middle School Principal Jennifer Cole is prepared for her interview by the Scholastic film crew, who were in Roswell on Tuesday and Wednesday filming a professional development video focusing on the middle school’s implementation of the Read 180 program.
dle School. The film crew was from the company Scholastic, which is a leading publisher of educational texts and a provider of reading material to schools — and Scholastic has been in the
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Commission mulling adult business measure
Duran’s Democratic challenger says she is the better choice
Daniel Kasuboski, a Read 180 teacher at Mesa Middle School, teaches students Kody Gilpin, Isabell Sanchez and Breyanna Mendoza on Thursday in Roswell. The students, as well as Kasuboski and teacher Chris Carrillo, took part in a professional development video which was filmed at the middle school on Tuesday and Wednesday by the academic publishing company Scholastic.
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
are related. If anyone has information related to the Bland Street shooting, call RPD at 6246770, Ext. 216 or Crime Stoppers at 888-594-8477 immediately. Anyone with information on the West Matthews Street shooting is urged to call either Crime Stoppers or the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office at 624-7590.
The Chaves County commissioners on Thursday postponed a resolution that would have established zoning restrictions and regulations for adult businesses in the county. After considerable discussion Thursday morning, the commissioners voted unanimously to table the resolution, to form a committee to review the proposal, and to potentially host a public forum on the topic. Anders Sheridan, director of the county’s planning and zoning department,
Above: Randal Seyler Photo
Scholastic features Mesa Middle School students, teachers in training film
amount as to how much damage was done to the home, according to the release, and the investigation is continuing. There are no suspects. Ornelas said the Sheriff’s Office investigators have met with the District Attorney’s Office and the Roswell Police Department and they are looking into the possibility that the two incidents
bad, as would the consolidation of records.” “... Abandoning these facilities now is a crime against the taxpayer,” the letter said. Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Recovery Manager Jim Blankenhorn told a town hall meeting last week that after several trips into the half-mile-deep repository, officials believe the radiation leak was likely caused by a chemical reaction in nuclear waste that was mixed with nitrate salt. A switch from a non-organic substance to organic was what triggered the event, Blankenhorn said. Among the possibilities that officials have since confirmed are being studied: A switch in the type of kitty litter-type substance that is used to absorb moisture in waste containers before they are sealed.
• DORA LORRAINE “SISSY” CAMPBELL • ELENA VILLALOBOS
Scholastic’s programs, “Read 180,” which the middle school has used for four years. The reading program has proven sucSee SCHOLASTIC, Page A2
505 faces
The county clerk of New Mexico’s most populated county, Bernalillo, believes she is a better choice for secretary of state than the incumbent, Republican Dianna J. Duran. Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat who has served as Bernalillo County clerk for seven years, holds bachelor degrees in political science and Spanish and a master’s degree in political science, all from the University of New Mexico. Oliver said she has been a Democrat ever since she registered to vote at age 18. “I felt that my personal
Oliver
views were in line with the Democratic Party,” adding that many of her viewpoints are moderate or conservative. See OLIVER, Page A3
Rey Berrones photo
Roswell resident Lauren Schmitz has her picture taken by photographer Wes Naman for the 505 faces project. Drawing its name from when New Mexico was a “one area code” state, the 505 faces crew is traveling around the state in their mission to document the lives of 505 New Mexico residents. More information on the project can be found at 505faces.com. • GLORIA NAVARETTE • JOHN TYDLASKA JR. • CHRISTOPHER BRANDON BYRD
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A8
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B7
COMICS .................B6
FINANCIAL ..............A9
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A9 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10
WORLD ..................A9