Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 130 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
May 30, 2014
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
NJ Gov. Christie stomps with Gov. Martinez BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined Gov. Susana Martinez at a Roswell coffee shop Thursday morning as the two presidential prospects had a frenetic hour-long meet and greet with local residents and leaders with less than a week to go before the New Mexico primaries. Christie said he would campaign all day Thursday for Martinez in the Republican stronghold of southeast New Mexico, with stops in Roswell, Artesia and Carlsbad, before he headed of f to Memphis, Tenn., to campaign for Gov. Bill Haslam. Christie and Martinez have become political soul mates in recent years, campaigning for each other in their respective states. Christie, chairman of the Republican Gover-
nors Association, said Martinez is “one of my best friends in the entire Republican Gover nors Association.” “Gov. Martinez and I have been friends for four years,” Christie said. “I was here in Roswell four years ago. I’m thrilled to be back. I’ll come back as often as she asks me to. She’s been an outstanding gover nor and I’m really proud to call her a friend. Any help I can give as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, I am ready, willing and able to give.” The prospect of the two moderate GOP governors for ming a presidential ticket in 2016 was the little spoken backdrop of Thursday morning’s event in Roswell as Christie works at shaking the reputation of not being a team player within the GOP. “When I was running for
re-election last year, there was only one other governor in the country that I asked to come and campaign with me, and it was Gov. Martinez because we share the same values and the same approach to solving problems,” Christie said. “We know that bringing people together of all parties is so important to providing the right type of leadership for our states. While there were lots of people that I could have asked, the only one that I did was Gov. Martinez. We’re friends, so for me to come out here is a personal pleasure and not just a political trip.”
Asked the obvious question by a reporter about a possible presidential ticket comprised of the two governors, Christie did not rule out the possibility. “Who knows?” Christie See GOVS, Page A3
Jeff Tucker Photo
Gov. Susana Martinez and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie embrace oil man Ray Willis during a campaign stop Thursday morning at Roswell’s Stellar Coffee Co. Martinez and Christie, both presidential prospects, have campaigned for each other in their respective states and have become close political allies.
Support falters as Shinseki fights
Kidz help with gift bags
Randal Seyler Photo
Kidz Helping Kidz was on hand Thursday to help Prison Door Ministry prepare gift bags for Father’s Day, June 15, when the ministry will be distributing food baskets at the Boys & Girls Club. From left are Jordan Alaniz, Gabriel Greene, Kidz Helping Kidz president Stacy Silvas, Johnny Gonzales of Prison Door Ministry, Alexandra Gonzales, Kayla Ewing and Freddy Lavaro. For more information about the food basket giveaway or to make a donation, call 624-7579.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki eroded quickly Thursday, especially among congressional Democrats facing tough re-election campaigns, even as Shinseki continued to fight for his job amid allegations of delayed medical care and misconduct at VA facilities nationwide. Shinseki spoke privately with lawmakers and met with nearly two dozen veterans groups, assuring them that he takes the reports seriously and is moving swiftly to fix problems. On Friday, he is to address the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, outlining his plans for corrections. A federal investigation of operations in the troubled Phoenix VA Health Care System found that about 1,700 veterans in need of care were “at risk of being lost or forgotten” after being kept off an official waiting list. While initially focused on Phoenix, the
investigation described Wednesday by the VA Department’s inspector general found broad and deep-seated problems in the sprawling health care system, which provides medical care to about 6.5 million veterans annually. The interim report confirmed earlier allegations of excessive waiting times for care in Phoenix, with an average 115-day wait for a first appointment for those on the waiting list — nearly five times as long as the 24-day average the hospital had reported. House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said they were reserving judgment about Shinseki. But with the situation threatening to affect congressional elections in November, the chorus of lawmakers calling for his departure grew by the hour. Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Mary Landrieu of
Phone scammer New questions about WIPP waste mix seek payment to cancel warrant BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
If you get a phone call saying “you owe cash because you missed jury duty,” then you are talking to a scammer, said Lt. Daniel Or nelas of the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office. “We don’t work that way,” Ornelas said. “We don’t collect money, and if there is a warrant out on you, we won’t call you, we’ll come knock on your door and pick you up.” Or nelas said Chaves County residents have been reporting getting phone calls from a scam artist who claims to be part of a “Fugitive Task Force” with the “Roswell Sherif f’s Office.”
“Fugitive Task Force sounds impressive, but we don’t have one of those,” Ornelas said. The telephone scammer tells the person answering the phone that he or she has a warrant out for his or her arrest due to missing jury duty, and the only way to keep from being arrested and jailed is to pay money to the person on the phone. “We had one resident in here who was nearly 100 years old, and he was really upset, he’d never been in any trouble,” Ornelas said. Ornelas called the phone number the scammer had provided, but got no useful information. On Thursday when he called the number, it was no longer in service. See SCAM, Page A3
HIGH 92 LOW 68
TODAY’S FORECAST
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New questions are being raised about what was mixed with the waste that caused a radiation release from the gover nment’s underground nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico. The Albuquerque Journal reported Thursday that Los Alamos National Laboratory approved using products that some experts say are widely known to cause a heat reaction when mixed with other contents in the drums that were shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. New Mexico Environment Secretary R yan Flynn said the leading theory continues to be that the leak was caused by a reaction between nitrate salts and the organic cat litter packed with the waste to absorb moisture. However, emails posted online by the New Mexico Environment Department show Los
• DORIS L. CLARK
Alamos approved using other organic ingredients known to be incompatible with nitrate salts in the waste. Department chemist Cole Smith called the products “a bad combination.” The emails show that Los Alamos approved the use of two products requested by contractor EnergySolutions to neutralize the pH balance of drums sent to the nuclear waste dump. In one email asking for approval in August 2013 to use a new liquid, EnergySolutions industrial hygienist Zeke Wilmot noted “criticality safety issues are not my area of expertise,” using a term referring to nuclear engineering that focuses on preventing an inadvertent nuclear chain reaction. Wilmot said “it may be advisable to have LANL personnel weight in on these issues as well.” A subcontractor
TODAY’S OBITUARY PAGE B4
See SHINSEKI, Page A3
This May 10 photo provided by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shows waste stacks in a storage room with broken magnesium oxide bags and heat damage, seen as black streaks on the rim of the container at center, on top of a standard waste box at the WIPP site in Carlsbad.
approved the change in September. In statements, officials with Los Alamos and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant said they continue to investigate all possible causes of the Feb. 14 radiation leak that contamiCLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
nated 22 workers with low levels of radiation and has shuttered the federal government’s only permanent nuclear waste repository indefinitely. EnergySolutions did not respond to the newspaper’s interview request.
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD ..................B4