Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 176 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
July 23, 2014
WEDNESDAY
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More immigrants deported from Roswell Tuesday BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
A second flight of illegal immigrants that had been housed in Artesia departed the United States from the Roswell airport Tuesday morning, this time bound for Guatemala and El Salvador. The flight of mothers with children who had recently crossed the U.S.Mexico border illegally departed Roswell International Air Center at about 8:30 a.m. aboard a McDon-
nell Douglas MD-80 aircraft, an airport of ficial said. The flight contained only about 20 passengers upon take-off from Roswell, said airport manager Jennifer Brady Griego. Asked about the low number of passengers on the jet with a seating capacity of about 140, a federal representative was illusive. “I don’t have numbers I can share with you at this time,” said Leticia Zamarripa, spokeswoman for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and Enforcement and Removal Operations. Zamarripa did confirm a group of mothers with children who had recently crossed the nation’s southern border were flown out of Roswell Tuesday en route to Guatemala and El Salvador. Zamarripa said the immigrants had been temporarily detained at the Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia. The immigrants were among the 59,000-plus illegal immigrant children apprehended in the United States since October. Federal authorities predict 90,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, will be apprehended in the United States this year. As of July 15, there were 570 illegal immigrants housed at FLETC in Artesia, said DHS Deputy Press
Secretary Marsha Catron. The Artesia facility, whose idle dormitories have been converted to housing for the immigrants, has a maximum bed capacity of 672 people. Zamarripa said Tuesday’s flight to Guatemala and El Salvador included adults who had been previously scheduled to be removed to the Central American nations. Tuesday’s flight followed a July 15 departure from Roswell, when 38 adults and children who had been
held at the Artesia center were deported to Honduras. According to a statement issued Tuesday by ICE, the deportations are a result of expedited action by President Barack Obama. “As President Obama, the vice president, and (DHS) Secretary (Jeh) Johnson have said, our border is not open to illegal migration and we will send recent illegal migrants back,” the statement said. “We expect additional migrants will be See FLIGHT, Page A3
Area vets well served by transportation network
color blind. Later, when posted in Korea, Harrison discovered that his color blindness provided an Robert Romero was a advantage — an advantage sailor in the U.S. Navy he kept secret. That discovfrom 1962 to 1965. ery was that when on field On Monday mor ning, exercises, he could easily Greg Neal of the Southeast see camouNew Mexico Vetflaged troops erans T ranshiding in the portation Netwood line, or work gave the edge of the sailor a lift in a forest. Harrivehicle much son was a less imposing mechanic than a naval who worked ship — a maroon on howitzers minivan. and tanks. Once Romero He enjoyed was on board the his time in van, Neal, who is the Army. both a driver and “I am a board member worker but I for the nonprofit like to be in transportation Jerry Heck Photos the woodservice, navigated less than two Above: Marine veteran and Roswell resident Greg work,” Harrisaid. miles to pick up Neal is a volunteer driver and board member of son another veteran, Southeastern New Mexico Veterans Transportation “Just leave John Harrison, Network. Left: Navy veteran Robert Romero gets me alone and who served in picked at home by Southeast New Mexico Veterans I will work. I the U.S. Ar my Transportation Network for a doctor’s appointment at was an E4 and that was from 1965 to the Artesia Community Based Outpatient Clinic. fine with me. 1967. Romero was bor n in ilar trade in the Navy as an My sergeant wanted me to Cuba. Twenty years ago, engine-man on destroyers put in for E5, but I learned never to volunteer for anyRomero, a welder and iron- and carriers. Harrison has been in thing.” worker, moved to Roswell He remained a mechanic to work on the construc- Roswell about eight years. tion of the dairies. Also, he Once he received his draft after the Army. He worked was involved with several notice, he went to sign up. on large 20-cylinder diesel school renovation projects. During his induction physWhen speaking of the ical, he learned that he was See NETWORK, Page A3 school projects he explained to his surprise how badly iron can deteriorate in the roofs and walls of support columns. “You wonder what was holding the building up,” he said. Romero had a sim-
BY JERRY HECK RECORD STAFF WRITER
Daily Record ‘Ancient Aliens’ to feature ‘Roswell Rock’ takes home 7 WTPA awards BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
STAFF REPORT
The Roswell Daily Record won seven awards in the West Texas Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were announced over the weekend at the association’s annual convention in Graham, Texas. The Daily Record competed in Division A, which is for daily newspapers that serve communities with populations less than 50,000. There are about seven or eight papers in the division, said Mary Dudley, who serves as secretary on the WTPA board. The judging period ran from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013. The Daily Record took home third
place for general excellence, and second place for both sports coverage and advertising. For mer public affairs reporter Jill McLaughlin won third place for Journalist of the Year. McLaughlin now serves as communications director for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. The Daily Record also received third place for both news writing and feature writing and second place for a special section. “Winning seven awards shows our desire to always strive for excellence,” said Publisher Charles Fischer. “I want to commend our entire staff for working toward journalism excellence.”
A mysterious piece of lapidary discovered in 2004 by a Roswell deer hunter will be the subject of an upcoming episode of “Ancient Aliens.” The “Roswell Rock” was found by Robert Ridge, 56, while he was deer hunting in 2004 near Cedar Hill in Chaves County. “ I saw so met hi ng t h at didn’t look right,” he said. “I knew as soon as I saw it that it was something special,” Ridge said. After Ridge found the stone, which has a unique carving on it, he kept it for years before making the stone’s existence publically known. “Ancient Aliens” came to town nearly a year ago to film this episode, which will air on History Channel 2 at 9 p.m. on Aug. 15, as part of the show’s seventh season. “We did a lot of tests on the stone, including x-ray, CAT scans and put it under a high-powered microscope,” Ridge said. The examiners also used a grinder to remove a small
HIGH 97 LOW 69
TODAY’S FORECAST
TUNE IN
The Roswell Rock episode of Ancient Aliens will air at 9 p.m. on Aug. 15 on the History Channel 2 (Channel 324 on CableOne).
Randal Seyler Photos
Roswell resident Robert Ridge found the mysterious “Roswell Rock” in 2004, while he was deer hunting in Chaves County. The rock will be featured in an upcoming “Ancient Aliens” episode, which will air on the History Channel 2 at 9 p.m. on Aug. 15.
sample from the back of the stone for analysis. “It really about killed me to see them grinding on it,” Ridge said. The show features hypotheses of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial
• ELDON WESLEY WHITTEN • JUANITA FAY BROWNING • JERRY CHAVEZ SR.
contact. “‘Ancient Aliens’ explores the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years,” according to the History Channel website. “From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early
• SUNNY KATHLEEN VILLEDA • LAURA LISETTE PEMBERTON (GESSERT)
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A8
See ROCK, Page A2
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8 COMICS .................B7 ENTERTAINMENT .....B8 FINANCIAL ..............B5
Ridge displays the “Roswell Rock.” The design is the same as that of a crop circle that appeared in 1996 in England, said Ridge.
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........B8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10