Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 124 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
May 23, 2014
NMMI reaps $250K in state land sale proceeds BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The New Mexico State Land Office reported earnings of more than $2.8 million at its monthly oil and gas lease sale in Roswell on Tuesday. All of the funding will go to beneficiaries of the land office, such as hospitals and public schools across the state, and New Mexico Military Institute, which will reap more than a quarter million dollars from Tuesday’s lease sale. A total of 37 tracts of land, covering 7,887 acres
$16,000; a 160-acre sale to Federal Abstract Co. of Santa Fe for $2,500; and a 160-acre sale to Robert Hooper for $50,000. In total, the Institute will receive $254,546 as a result of Tuesday’s land lease sale. Commissioner Ray Powell of the New Mexico State Land Office said the Institute drew the lucky straw when beneficiaries of state lands were designated a century ago. Oil and gas lease sales provide revenue from oil and natural gas production on state trust lands for trust beneficiaries. “By the luck of the draw, each beneficiary was
of state lands in Chaves, Eddy, Lea and Roosevelt counties, were sold Tuesday, at an average price of about $367 per acre. Several of the tracts were designated for the New Mexico Military Institute, which is one of the land office’s beneficiaries. The military institute was the beneficiary of a 320acre sale Tuesday to Yates Petroleum Corp. of Artesia for $43,926; a 160-acre sale to Turner Oil & Gas Properties of Oklahoma City for $129,120; an 80-acre sale to Yates Petroleum for $13,000; a 320-acre sale to Petroleum for Yates
assigned land at statehood,” Powell said. “They (NMMI) got the land, most of it down in the Permian Basin, before we knew there was oil and gas. The last time I checked, about 85 percent of their re-occurring revenue comes from these working lands. So this is a really significant amount of money.”
The Permian Basin is a 250-mile wide, 300-mile long sedimentary basin largely contained in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It is one of the See NMMI, Page A3
Randal Seyler Photo
Shellea Owens of the New Mexico Health Department, center, presents a medal Thursday morning to one of 17 Nancy Lopez Elementary School third-graders who completed the Mayor’s 5-2-1-O Challenge, while City Councilor Juan Oropesa, left in background, represents the mayor’s office, along with Paula Camp of Healthy Kids Chaves County, behind Owens, and Tamara Fresquez, at right, of Healthy Kids New Mexico.
‘Healthy Kids’ rise to mayor’s challenge are healthier kids, thanks to programs like the mayor’s 5-2-1-O ChalStudents at Chaves lenge, sponsored by County elementary schools Healthy Kids New Mexico. Students from Nancy BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY
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Lopez Elementary School mayor’s office, along with received medals and cer- Paula Camp of Healthy tificates during a presenta- Kids Chaves County, tion Thursday morning. City Councilor Juan See CHALLENGE, Page A3 Oropesa, representing the
Timothy P. Howsare Photo
New Mexico Military Institute will receive $254,546 as a result of the State Land Office's land lease sale in Roswell this week. Leasing rights for 7,887 acres of state lands in Chaves, Eddy, Lea and Roosevelt counties were sold Tuesday for a total of $2,890,000.
Veteran health care becomes campaign issue
WASHINGTON (AP) — The growing furor over veterans’ health care moved to the political campaigns Thursday as congressional candidates from both parties called for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to be fired. Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is challenging Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, was among those calling for Shinseki’s removal amid investigations of VA patients dying while awaiting treatment and falsified appointment records. Democrat Rick Weiland, who is running for South Dakota’s open Senate seat, also called for Shinseki’s ouster, as did a Democrat running for an open House seat in New Jersey and two Republicans challenging vulnerable Democrats in northern Minnesota House districts. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., added to the calls for Shinseki’s resignation, saying the
VA crisis was “a national that embarrassment” requires new leadership. Shinseki, 71, said Thursday that he intends to remain on the job. “I serve at the pleasure of the president,” he told reporters at the Capitol. The former Army general and chief of staff added that “this is not the first time” he has faced controversy in his career. Grimes, the Kentucky Senate candidate, said the government had defaulted on a “solemn obligation to our veterans. I don’t see how that breach of trust with our veterans can be repaired if the current leadership stays in place,” she said. Grimes has tried to distance herself at times from President Barack Obama, who is largely unpopular in her state, and she demonstrated her independence by calling for a Cabinet member’s removal. McConnell said earlier this week that the predica-
Meetings to discuss Census: Carlsbad growing the fastest in state city upgrades, zoning The city of Roswell’s Streets and Alleys Committee and the Planning and Zoning Commission will meet next week. The Streets & Alleys Committee will meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, at the City Hall conference room at 425 N. Richardson Ave. The committee is scheduled to discuss traffic signal upgrade needs at Atkinson Avenue and Bland Street. The traffic signal’s control cabinet is considered obsolete and other upgrades have been recommended. Updates of the 2016-20 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, and the Union Avenue project between West College
Boulevard and West Eighth Street, are also on the committee’s agenda. The committee is also scheduled to discuss the closure of East Country Club Road at North Kentucky Avenue for sewer work from May 30 through June 2. The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, in the City Hall council chambers at 425 N. Richardson Ave. The committee is scheduled to host public hearings on five zoning cases. The first scheduled public hearing is about a proposed zoning change for three lots at Tuckers subdivision at 207 N. Union Ave. See MEETINGS, Page A3
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STAFF REPORT
SANTA FE (AP) — Carlsbad and other oil patch communities in southeastern New Mexico are the fastest growing in the state, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. According to the agency’s latest estimates, the population of Carlsbad increased about 3.4 percent, to 27,653 people, from mid-2012 in July 2013. Nearby Hobbs was close behind with growth of 3.1 percent. The six fastest-growing communities were in Lea and Eddy counties in the oil-rich Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico, which has experienced a boom in energy production because of advances in drilling technologies. Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway said the oil industry is drawing workers to the area, but that potash mining, tourism and agriculture also are helping fuel the city’s economy. “It was just growing so fast that housing couldn’t keep up. They’re building as fast as they can,” Janway said in a telephone interview. Near the community are Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the Waste
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• SHIRLEY HUBBARD CALKINS • ELDON KEITH (BUBBA) LONG • DONNA WERTZ
Janway
Isolation Pilot Plant, the federal government’s underground nuclear waste dump. The Census Bureau released population estimates for about 100 large and small incorporated places in New Mexico. Janway and Carlsbad City Administrator Steve McCutcheon took issue with the Census Bureau’s population figure for the city, saying they believe the population much larger than 27,653 based on increases in water
See VA, Page A3
meters, water usage and other local data. “How big the number is, you know, is debatable,” McCutcheon said, “but that it is growing significantly is not. We agree with the census people on that.” Rounding out the 10 communities with the largest rates of population growth are Jal, 2.8 percent; Tatum, Eunice and Lovington, each at 2.7 percent; Sunland Park, 2.3 percent; Rio Rancho, 1.3 percent; and Red River and Hope, 1 percent. Here are the July 2013 population estimates and growth rates over 2012 for the state’s largest cities: — Albuquerque, 556,495, 0.3 percent. — Las Cruces, 101,324, 0.3 percent. — Rio Rancho, 91,956, 1.3 percent. — Santa Fe, 69,976, 0.9 percent. — Roswell, 48,611, 0.2 percent. — Farmington, 45,426, -1 percent. — Clovis, 39,508, 0 percent. — Hobbs, 36,041, 3.1 percent. — Alamogordo, 31,368, -0.4 percent. — Carlsbad, 27,653, 3.4 percent.
If energy comes into your home by an overhead power line, you need to be careful to stay at least 10 feet away, especially when you’re up on a ladder. And if you see any low-hanging lines, stay away and call 1-800-895-1999. Learn more about safety at xcelenergy.com/Safety.
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A7
xcelenergy.com/Safety
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