Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 146 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
June 18, 2014
WEDNESDAY
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City, county approve $323K for econ development BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
While Roswell city leaders mull over the city’s advertising and marketing expenses, the city of Roswell and Chaves County have allocated more than $320,000 for other economic development efforts. The City Council on Thursday approved a $120,000 allocation in the city’s 2014-15 fiscal year budget for the Economic Development Corp. of Roswell-Chaves County.
The City Council also approved a $55,000 allocation to the Roswell Chamber of Commerce and a $23,186 allocation to the Hispano Chamber of Commerce. The city budget allocations follow similar action by Chaves County last month. The county commissioners, in their $44.9 million interim budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, allocated $80,000 for the Economic Development Corp. of Roswell-Chaves County,
Firefighters compete
$40,000 for the Roswell Chamber of Commerce, and $5,000 for the Roswell Hispano Chamber of Commerce. In total, the city and county allocated $323,186 to the EDC and the city’s two business chambers. Each of the three entities had requested more from the county. The EDC had requested $120,000 from the county, the Roswell chamber had requested $110,000, and the Hispano chamber had requested $23,186.
The EDC and two chambers had their financial requests fully funded by the city, said City Councilor Caleb Grant. The county approved the economic development funding in halves. The three entities will receive the other halves in January after meeting performance standards set by the county. The city did not set any performance standards for the two chambers and EDC. The city had previously
Jeff Tucker Photo
Hagerman firefighter Brian Erickson (foreground) competes Saturday at the Firefighter Combat Challenge on the lawn of the Lindell Andres Community Center in Hagerman. More than a dozen firefighters from the Hagerman, Sierra and District 8 fire departments competed for the fastest time in a challenging agility test.
allocated its funding for the two chambers through the EDC. The EDC suggested this year that the city directly fund the two chambers, instead of using the EDC as the fiscal agent. At a June 5 meeting of the city’s Finance Committee, Grant, chairman of the committee, said allocating funds directly to the three entities would give the city better control of its finances. Roswell chamber Executive Director Dorrie Faubus-McCarty said the
Roswell chamber needs additional funding now to increase staffing. “We nor mally were receiving $43,500,” Faubus-McCarty said. She said the chamber offers “no benefits whatsoever” for its few full-time employees, although she said the chamber is working on making salaries for chamber staff more competitive and also adding health insurance. Grant asked at the
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
adoption by the public. On day eight, the animal is destroyed, according to City Councilor Natasha Mackey, who spoke to the Roswell Kiwanis Club on Tuesday. “The purpose of the special meeting is for us to get this agreement in place, so we can work with the rescue groups,” Mackey said. “We need to get some rules and regulations in place. Our goal is to rectify this situation.” According to shelter officials, 32 animals were killed since the mayor’s decision — 27 animals were killed on Thursday and Friday and five on Monday. On Thursday, the mayor suspended the rights of local animal rescue groups to take animals out of the
Council to discuss shelter agreement in special meeting The Roswell City Council will hold a special meeting Friday to discuss the city’s proposed letter of agreement with animal rescue groups. The special meeting has been called for 10:30 a.m., and the councilors will discuss the plan that Mayor Dennis Kintigh outlined on Monday in a news conference. Meanwhile, the city animal services shelter has reinstituted its policy of killing animals after seven days of captivity. Animals are held for the first four days to give the owners time to reclaim the animal from the shelter, and the last three days the animal is available for
See FUNDING, Page A3
Report: Gov’t pays 76 Navajo Nation wildfire threatens homes, sheep percent of premium under health care law
WASHINGTON (AP) — People who signed up for coverage under President Barack Obama’s health care law are paying about $80 a month in premiums on average, the administration reported Wednesday. The new numbers from the Health and Human Services Department cover only the 36 states where the federal government took the lead in setting up new insurance markets, accounting for about 5.4 million of the 8 million people who signed up nationally. Major states like California and New York were not included, but that may not affect national averages by much. The law limits what people pay for a benchmark plan to a fixed share of their income, regardless of where
they live. Among the major findings: — Taxpayers are subsidizing 76 percent of the average monthly premium in the 36 federally administered markets. — The average premium is $346 a month, but the typical enrollee pays just $82. Tax credits averaging $264 a month cover the difference. The government pays the subsidy directly to insurers. — After tax credits, Mississippians paid the least for coverage — averaging just $23 a month on average premiums of $438. Among people in the 36 states, New Jersey residents paid the most — an average of $148 on premiums averaging $465 a month.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire near the Arizona-New Mexico border grew Tuesday as it approached two communities and threatened traditional grazing lands on the Navajo Nation, where sheep are a staple of life, their wool is prized for its use in rugs, and mutton is on the menu of restaurants throughout the region. The Assayii Lake Fire ballooned to more than 19 square miles in less than two days while making its way across winter and summer grazing lands in the Chuska Mountains. The flames destroyed at least four structures and threatened about 50 homes near the rural communities of Naschitti and Sheep Springs, fire officials said. Some homes in Naschitti were evacuated Monday afternoon, and authorities
This June 12 file photo shows Iraqi men lining up outside of the main army recruiting center to volunteer for military service in Baghdad, Iraq, after authorities urged Iraqis to help battle insurgents.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
AP Photo
This image provided by InciWeb shows a plume of smoke in the Chuska Mountains near Naschitti on Sunday.
were urging desperate Navajo families to refrain from going into the mountains to search for their sheep and other livestock because of the fire’s erratic
behavior.
“They haven’t contained any of it yet, and they’re just letting it burn right now because the winds are so high, and that presents
a problem,” said Leo Watchman, head of the Navajo Nation’s Department of Agriculture. “How See WILDFIRE, Page A3
Prospect of new Iraq fight turns hawks into doves
WASHINGTON (AP) — The prospect of the U.S. military returning to the fight in Iraq has turned congressional hawks into doves.
AP Photo
See MEETING, Page A3
Lawmakers who eagerly voted to authorize military force 12 years ago to oust Saddam Hussein and destroy weapons of mass destruction that were never found now harbor doubts that air strikes will tur n back insurgents threatening Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s govern-
• LENDELL N. HAWKINS • RITA ARAGON TORREZ • MARY O. ELY
ment and Baghdad. Fears of Mideast quagmire and weariness after a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan loom large for even those who talk tough on national security. More than 6,000 Americans died in those wars, which cost a trillion dollars. As President Barack Obama mulls his next step, there is little unanimity in Congress on what the United States should do despite some
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
Republican voices — most notably Sen. John McCain — loudly calling for air strikes and stepped-up military action. The sectarian violence between the pro-government Shiites and Sunnis adds to congressional uncertainty.
Obama will discuss the situation in Iraq with House and Senate leaders of both parties at the White House Wednesday. State Department and Pentagon officials will hold closed-doors briefings with
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lawmakers over the next couple of days.
“Where will it lead and will that be the beginning or the end?” Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said, when asked about air strikes. “We don’t know that. This underlying conflict has been going on 1,500 years between the Shias and the Sunnis and their allies. And I think whatever we do, it’s not going to go away.”
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