Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
242 homes, 39K acres, 60% contained
Vol. 121, No. 147 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday began plowing through 73 amendments to a $500-billion bill that will set farm policy and fund the food stamp program over the next five years. One of its first votes was to reject a proposal to trim food stamp spending. - PAGE A5
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Friday night shooting leaves two men dead • RPD arrests Mary Beth Lawrence • Weather conditions helping tame ... • Rain, steady progress on Little Bear • Medrano inks letter with ENMU
WEDNESDAY
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NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
SENATE WON’T TRIM FOOD STAMP SPENDING
June 20, 2012
The Little Bear fire stands as the most destructive fire to homeowners in New Mexico history, surpassing the 235 homes burned as a result of the Cerro Grande fire in 2000. The Little Bear fire has destroyed 242 residential structures and 12 outbuildings, resulting in damages estimated at more than $22 million. “One house is too many to lose,” said Dan Ware, New Mexico State Forestry spokesman. “And unfortunately, we live in a time right now where fires are becoming more and more dangerous. Our hearts go out to those who lost their homes. ... “Any time there is damage to property, whether it’s a home or other things on the property, it’s tragic.” David Shell, fire information officer, commented, “On the fortunate side, no lives were lost. And I think
that’s the number one thing right there. No lives were lost, and thus far, there have been only four firefighters injured. And these have all been minor injuries.” The Little Bear fire has burned 39,458 acres and was at 60 percent containment Tuesday, as crews continued to focus on active areas of the fire. Total personnel dipped under 1,000 on Monday for the first time in about a week, and as of Tuesday stood at 981 with 20 incident management crews. Total resources committed Tuesday included 60 fire engines, 8 helicopters and two bulldozers. Crews began a burn out operation inside the containment line north and west of the Rio Bonito subdivision, where the fire is most active. Weather permitting, burn outs will continue for a few more days within the White Mountain Wilderness. On the remainder of the fire, crews per-
AP Photo
Mark Stambaugh, owner of Angus Firewood, surveys the charred debris left after his business fell victim to the Little Bear fire near Ruidoso, on June 11. formed patrol, mop up and rehabilitation in all divisions. Crews placed black line as far south as Argentina Spring earlier this week, and continued black line and containment work Tuesday near White Horse Hill.
“The progress has been phenomenal in ter ms of how much has been accomplished in just this week alone,” said Wayne Johnson, fire information officer. “We put in probably close to 20 miles of fire line, so that’s incredible progress. And not only put
‘But tomorrow may rain, so I’ll follow the sun’
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — Jerry Sandusky’s wife smiled as she took the witness stand on Tuesday to defend him against charges he sexually abused boys in their home and on Penn State’s campus, and jurors also heard police investigators contradict themselves and psychological experts duel over evaluations of the defendant. Dottie Sandusky said she remembered most but not all of the eight men who have accused her husband of abusing them as children. She told jurors she did not see him have inappropriate contact with them ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Giocondo Marcelli Jr. • Baylor “Bee” C. Smith - PAGE A3
HIGH ...95˚ LOW ....68˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B5 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
Spies in the skies?
See FIRE, Page A2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of drones patrolling U.S. skies? Predictions that multitudes of unmanned aircraft could be flying here within a decade are raising the specter of a “surveillance society” in which no home or backyard would be off limits to prying eyes overhead. Law enforcement, oil companies, farmers, real estate agents and many others have seen the technology that was pioneered on battlefields, and they are eager to put it to use. It’s not just talk: The government is in the early stages of devising rules for the unmanned aircraft. So far, civilian use of drones is fairly limited. The Federal Avia-
Group concerned over ENMMC hosts Healthy Woman NM bear management Sunflowers grow wild along the side of East Pine Lodge Road near Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Tuesday.
STANDS BY HER MAN
it in, but mopped it up so that all of those fire lines can be considered contained, which is why you see the containment jump steadily five or more percent. Johnson said crews feel
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — No one knows exactly how many black bears are roaming the mountains that border New Mexico’s most populous area, but conservationists on Tuesday accused state wildlife managers of targeting the area’s bears for removal to bring an end to nuisance calls. The state Game and Fish Department adamantly denied the accusations, saying the number of bears in the Sandia Mountains that were removed or killed in 2010 and 2011 is far below what the group is alleging. Sandia Mountain BearWatch contends a review of logs kept by Game and Fish conservation of ficers showed 49 bears in the
mountain range were trapped and either relocated or killed during the twoyear period. In the past five years, the group said 69 bears have been killed or relocated. “This is very, very destructive to the overall population,” said Jan Hayes, founder of the bearconservation group. Hayes argued the agency’s policies are based on inflated estimates of bear populations statewide, and said the Sandia Mountains need a healthy population to maintain an ecological balance. “We’ve got hantavirus. We’ve got plague,” she said. “These animals are there to
See SPIES, Page A2
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mark Wilson Photo
Brianna Bell, left, Fabiola Sierra, Alyssa Romero and Mariah Stewart in the back, pose for goofy pictures in a photo booth operated by Monkeyshines during the Healthy Woman 8th annual anniversary event at the Roswell Convention & Civic Center, Tuesday evening.
Some lose their patience. Some lose their mind from time to time. And others lose their keys. “The idea is that women deal with all sorts of things every single day. They have to balance their lives, their kids, their home, their work and it just seems like its always too much. And at the last minute you can’t find your keys, or you can’t figure where this is or that is,” said Brooke Linthicum, marketing director for Eastern New Mexico Medical Center. Linthicum is a member of the advisory board of See WOMAN, Page A3
Likelihood of House contempt vote against AG Holder rises
INDEX
AP Photo
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Tuesday.
See BEAR, Page A2
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican House committee chairman said Tuesday he is prepared to follow through on a contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder unless the Justice Department provides Congress with documents on a flawed gun-smuggling probe. The likelihood of a contempt vote today rose after Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Holder failed to reach agreement in a 20-minute meeting at the Capitol. “If we receive no documents, we’ll go forward,”
Issa told reporters. Holder told reporters he would not turn over documents on the gun-smuggling probe called Operation Fast and Furious unless Issa agreed to another meeting. The attorney general said he would explain what is in the materials at that time. Holder wants an assurance from Issa that the transfer of the records would satisfy a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Refor m Committee that Issa chairs. “After this meeting I can-
not say that I am optimistic” for avoiding a contempt vote, Issa said. “The ball’s in their court,” Holder said. “We made what we thought was an extraordinary offer.” Issa spokesman Frederick Hill said that at the meeting, “The attorney general indicated he would only be willing to produce a subset of documents that numbered fewer than 1,300 pages if the committee would first agree that the production of these documents would end the committee’s investigation of the
Justice Department.”
Issa declined the offer.
Holder has said he is prepared to turn over material detailing how the department arrived at the conclusion that federal agents engaged in a risky tactic called gun-walking. It resulted in hundreds of weapons purchased at gun shops in Arizona ending up in Mexico, many of them at crime scenes. Initially, the department denied that gun-walking had taken See VOTE, Page A2