07 11 14 Roswell Daily Record

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 123, No. 166 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

July 11, 2014

DHS Secretary Johnson to visit FLETC today BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., will tour an illegal immigration detention center in Artesia today, amid calls for President Barack Obama to deploy the National Guard to the U.S.Mexico border to stop the surge of illegal immigrant children and adults from Central America and elsewhere. Johnson and Heinrich will tour the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, although the president continues to physically stay away from the country’s southern bor-

FRIDAY

www.rdrnews.com

der and continues to call on House Republicans to adopt a comprehensive immigration refor m bill principally supported by Democrats.

“I’m glad the DHS secretary is coming to southeastern New Mexico tomorrow, and I think it would be beneficial for President Obama to visit the border to see the unique problems there, especially now,” U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said in a statement Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-Hobbs, said he is disappointed in Obama’s decision not to tour the southern border while the president raises political funds in Colorado and Texas this

Splish splash

week. Obama on Tuesday publicly played pool and drank beer in Denver with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. “I think that people have a right to be outraged,” Pearce said. “Here he is going around and just playing pool in Denver, and he doesn’t even bother to go to the border.” Pearce in June was appointed by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner to participate on a sevenmember working group of House Republicans examining the national security and humanitarian crises on the border. Pearce said the working group would tour the border this weekend. Obama met with Texas

Gov. Rick Perry Wednesday. Perry said he encouraged the president to immediately deploy the National Guard to the nation’s southern border to stop the surge of illegal immigrants. Perry said enforcing the border with guardsmen would send a strong message to Central American parents not to pay others to illegally transport their children across Mexico and into the United States. Last month, the Obama administration announced plans to convert the FLETC facility in Artesia into one of several temporary sites being established to deal See FLETC, Page A8

AP Photo

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson speaks Monday during a news conference at the U.S. Border Patrol’s McAllen Station. Johnson is scheduled to visit today the temporary illegal immigrant holding site in Artesia.

Commissioners discuss bike trails, communication BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER

Jerry Heck Photo

Johnny Gonzales of Prison Door Ministries, not pictured, holds a tent rally while Station 2 Firefighter Matt Stuart cools down the kids. Gonzales pitched the tent just south of the Roswell Boys & Girls Club on Garden Street. He will be providing free school supplies through Sunday night. Gonzales thanked Arco Electric, DeMaree’s Portable Toilet, Church’s Chicken and Peter Piper’s Pizza for their support.

Members of the Community Improvement Commission and city officials discussed the lack of communication and coordination between various volunteer and city panels on Wednesday morning — especially as they relate to improving bicycle trails around the city. On June 30, the city Parks and Recreation Commission hosted a presentation on bike trails and walkways with expert Tim Rogers, of Santa Fe, discussing various ways to improve Roswell’s bikeways and walkways. Unfortunately, city engineer Louis Najar failed to get an invite to the meeting, and city planner Marlin Johnson went to the wrong meeting place looking for the meeting. “It’s more than just a

matter of re-striping roads when it comes to making bike trails,” Najar said. “When you dedicate bike lanes, you have to take away streetside parking so you can keep those lanes clear. Who wants to go to those businesses and residents and tell them they no longer have street parking?” The commissioners were discussing the need for a bike path connecting the Hondo Park with the Spring River Trail, which was also a topic of discussion at the June 30 Parks Commission meeting. Najar said he estimated the construction cost of a trail at connector $500,000. “That is not including any costs for right-of-way, or environmental studies,” he said. Chairman Trey Nesselrodt said the connecting

Wyoming man points County Democrats to open new office today gun at vehicle, arrested STAFF REPORT

Chaves County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Wyoming man on Wednesday for pointing a shotgun at a vehicle on Highway 285 North. Arrested was Jonathan Hanna, 32, of Casper, Wyo., on charges of aggravated assault and abandonment or abuse of a child, said Lt. Daniel Or nelas of the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded to the call from an Albu-

querque woman at around 4:15 p.m. The woman said a man in a blue pickup had pointed either a shotgun or a rifle at her vehicle near Mile Marker 117 on Highway 285. The woman had her 3-year-old child in the vehicle with her at the time. Deputies caught up with the vehicle near the Fort Sumner tur n of f, said Ornelas. After the pickup was stopped and Hanna was See ARREST, Page A3

AP Photo

This undated photo provided by the New Mexico Game and Fish Department shows a New Mexican meadow jumping mouse at a marsh near Espanola.

HIGH 90 LOW 63

TODAY’S FORECAST

See COMMISSION, Page A3

BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER

State and local Democratic Party leaders will be in Roswell Friday to celebrate the opening of the Democratic Party of Chaves County’s new office. The grand opening will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, and the public is welcome to attend, says Fred Moran, chairman of the Chaves County Democratic Party. The new office is located at 2801 N. Main St. in the Wilshire Plaza. Gary King, Democratic candidate for gover nor, and Deb Haaland, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, will be among the officials See DEMOCRATS, Page A3

Randal Seyler Photo

Chaves County Democratic Party Chairman Fred Moran prepares the new Party office in Wilshire Plaza on Wednesday for the office’s grand opening, which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. today. Party officials will be on hand, along with the Democratic candidate for governor, Gary King.

Santa Fe forest proposes fencing to protect mouse

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service wants to block livestock and campers from stretches of the Rio Cebolla in the Santa Fe National Forest to protect an endangered mouse found in moist, forested areas of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. The plan, outlined in a letter received by ranchers Thursday, marks the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute that has residents and local of ficials from across the West accusing

• JO LYNNE PHINIZY • BARBARA SHELTON

the federal government of trampling on their water and property rights. The fight over the mouse first erupted in southern New Mexico’s Otero County with the fencing of a small spring-fed stream. County commissioners responded by ordering the sheriff to do whatever was necessary to remove or open the gates. Now, that fight has moved north to the Jemez Mountains, where Mike Lucero and more than two

• J. C. “HOOT” SMITH • RALPH THOMAS

TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A2

dozen other families who raise cattle stand to lose their livelihoods. He said the Forest Service is set on building fences around water supplies and there’s not much the families can do. “It’s very frustrating because we don’t know where we stand, and we’re going to have to spend money in litigation just to fight for our rights,” Lucero said. “And you know, we’re fighting our own tax dollars. They’re

using my tax money to put me out of business. That’s ridiculous, and it’s sad.” Some New Mexico ranchers are headed to Washington, D.C., this month for a congressional hearing on the matter.

Federal biologists and environmentalists say now that the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse is on the endangered species list, its streamside habitat in the three states needs to be protected.

CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6

INDEX GENERAL ...............A2

FINANCIAL ..............B5

LOTTERIES .............A2

COMICS .................A9

HOROSCOPES .........A8

OPINION .................A4

SPORTS .................B1

WEATHER ............A10


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