06-02-12 rdr news

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Roswell Daily Record

1,200-plus fight Gila inferno

Vol. 121, No. 132 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

SATURDAY

www.rdrnews.com

RESERVE (AP) — A wildfire burning in what New Mexico’s governor called “impossible” terrain in an isolated, mountainous area of the state continued its rapid growth Friday as forecasters called for thunderstorms and dry lightning that could spark even more fires.

60 YEARS AS MONARCH

June 2, 2012

The massive blaze in the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico is the biggest in state history and the largest currently

AP Photo

LONDON (AP) — The patriotic bunting is ready, the golden carriage on standby, the boats freshly painted, the shops filled with royal souvenirs. The normal ebb and flow of British life gives way in the next four days to a series of street parties, flotillas, outdoor concerts and finally the appearance of an elderly great-grandmother - PAGE A8

burning in the country. It scorched an additional 39 square miles in the past day, growing to nearly 340 square miles, as more than 1,200 firefighters worked to halt its spread.

Firefighters conducted more burnout operations in an effort to corral the erratic blaze that has injured six people, the fire’s incident management team said Friday. None of the injuries was serious.

Mom has parental rights

The fire was about 10

TOP 5 WEB

For The Past 24 Hours

• Work continues • Udall leads round tables on city visit • Peachtree celebrates veterans • Local Memorial Day festivities honor ... • Elks host Veterans Prayer Breakfast

INSIDE SPORTS

Mark Wilson Photo

Folklorico espectacular dazzles Roswell Folklorico performs its 19th annual Noche Espectacular at the ENMU-R Performing Arts Center, Friday evening.

NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER

Roswell Folklorico brought vibrant colors and cultural music to the ENMU-Roswell Performing Arts Center on Friday, presenting

FEDERER MOVES ON

PARIS (AP) — If it seems Roger Federer breaks one record or another every time he wins a match, that’s because he does these days. Then again, good as Federer is, he can’t top this: His next opponent at the French Open, Belgium’s David Goffin, is unbeaten in Grand Slam main-draw matches. (OK, so the kid’s only 3-0, but still.) Yes, before Federer can take on Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros this year, he’ll need to defeat Goffin, the first “lucky loser” — a player beaten in qualifying who sneaks into the field via ... - PAGE B1

TODAY’S OBITUARY

• Daniel P. Tavarez - PAGE A8

HIGH ...99˚ LOW ....68˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

traditional dances and costumes from seven regions during the group’s 19th annual Noche Espectacular. Fifty-eight dancers from the ages of four to 80 entertained an exuberant crowd, and helped to preserve Mexican her-

percent contained. Fire information officer Gerry Perry said most of the resources were being focused on the northern and wester n ends of the fire. “The wind situation looks a whole lot better, but we’re still expecting that we’re going to be busy,” he said. Though crews were helped over night with increased humidity levels,

itage with more than 20 performances.

The show began with a tropical dance from Veracruz that was choreographed by Sweet Leilani’s,

See FIRE, Page A3

SANTA FE (AP) — A same-sex partner of an adoptive mother has legal parental rights and can seek child custody, New Mexico’s highest court ruled Friday in a precedent-setting case. The unanimous ruling by the state Supreme Court came in the case of a Santa Fe area woman who wanted joint custody of a child adopted by her partner during their 15-year relationship. Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, hailed the court decision. “It’s huge. The court fully accepted the argument that New Mexico’s parentage statutes must be applied in a gender neutral way to men and women equally, and regardless of a parent’s sexual orientation or marital status,” said Minter, whose group represented the woman, Bani Chatterjee. The court’s decision reversed a 2010 ruling by the state Court of Appeals that New Mexico law applies to biological or adoptive

‘Anything goes’ now in City gets $99K for Rail Yard campaign financing?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Is it “anything goes” now in America’s campaign finance system? John Edwards is acquitted of using campaign cash as hush money. There’s an explosion of high-dollar super political action committees in the presidential race. It’s all stoking criticism of revisions and regulatory loopholes in a system that was intended to keep better control of political money after Watergate. Loosening the law has made it easier for politicians to butt up against the legal line — if not cross it — and for wealthy Americans to influence who wins of fice, from the White House on down. All told, the immense amount of money in Ameri-

can campaigns, the cozy relationships between candidates and their financial backers — and now, too, a seeming lack of accountability for alleged rule-breakers — is fueling the public’s long-standing distrust of its politicians and doubts about the credibility of the system.

Spanning many weeks, the Edwards trial in North Carolina showcased what prosecutors said was a classic case of misusing campaign funds: Here was a former presidential candidate, they said, who channeled large sums of money from a deep-pocketed donor to cover up a love child and a mistress. But jurors acquitted Edwards, See CAMPAIGN, Page A3

See FOLKLORICO, Page A2

See MOM, Page A3

JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER

The city is anticipating the retention of 17 jobs, the creation of two new jobs, and an untold economic benefit thanks to $99,000 in Local Economic Development Act funds for the expansion of the Roswell Rail Yard. The news of the funding came Friday from Economic Mark Wilson Photo Development Cabinet Secretary Jon Barela. Railroad tracks near East Pine Lodge Road stretch north“The Rail Yard is a eastward. major economic driver in the city of Roswell,” be used to construct Railway Co., which owns Barela stated in a press 1,000 feet of rail spur for the majority of the main release. “It’s essential the expansion of Carls- rail lines statewide. SR that state dollars go to bad-based Southwestern has leased the line from infrastructure projects, Railroad’s existing opera- Clovis to Carlsbad. The like the Roswell Rail Yard tions. The line on which current spur, located at expansion, that will help the spur is situated is the cor ner of Virginia to create and retain jobs.” leased to SR by BurlingThe LEDA funding will ton Northern & Santa Fe See RAIL, Page A3

Richard Smith brightens the corner with a guitar and a song NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER

CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10 WORLD .................A8

INDEX

Noah Vernau Photo

Roswell’s troubadour Richard Smith plays his guitar at the northwest corner of Second and Main streets.

You probably recognize Richard Smith as the fullbearded gentleman with sunglasses who plays guitar on the northwest corner of Second and Main streets, a familiar sight in downtown Roswell since 2009. Demonstrating a broad taste in music, Smith entertains passersby almost every day at the busy intersection with song selections from Brooks & Dunn to Frank Sinatra. Whether you are a resident running an errand or a tourist checking out the

UFO Museum, you have likely seen Smith perched outside the Republican Party of Chaves County headquarters, strumming his red, weather -beaten Oscar Schmidt guitar. “I’ve met people from all over the world at this spot — from Asia, from Europe. Not long ago I met a lady from Spain,” Smith said. “They come across the globe to see that museum.”

Smith was bor n near Geneva, Ill., in 1955, and grew up just outside Mauston, Wis. Ready to put the harsh winters of the Midwest behind him, he joined the military soon after graduating from high school, working for a time as an Army chef in California. Smith traveled a lot in See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3


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