Roswell Daily Record
Will shoppers keep spending?
Vol. 120, No. 194 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
STOCKS RISE AFTER MIXED ECON NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
SATURDAY
www.rdrnews.com
AP Photo
WASHINGTON (AP) — The mixed economic signals driving the stock market’s record-setting swings this week keep coming. But on Friday, even a survey showing Americans are dismayed about the economy didn’t stop the gains on Wall Street. Conflicting reports ... - PAGE A7
August 13, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy might not be on the brink of another recession after all. Consumers, who drive most economic growth, spent more on cars, furniture, electronics and other goods in July — and more in May and June than previously thought. That burst of activity is encouraging because it shows many Americans were willing to spend despite high unemployment, scant pay raises, steep gas prices and diminished wealth. If it keeps up, the econo-
my might rebound after growing at an annual rate of just 0.8 percent in the first half of 2011. That’s a big if. Americans Whether remain willing to spend freely despite the stock markets’ wild swings will determine whether the second half of the year is any better than the first. Their 401(k) retirement accounts have shrunk. A sustained stock-market decline tends to slow consumer spending because it reduces wealth, especially for upper -income Ameri-
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INSIDE SPORTS Emily Russo Miller Photo
Students and other well-wishers join (from left) RISD School Board member Pauline Ponce, School Board president Mackenzie Hunt and Sunset Elementary principal Mireya Trujillo at the ribbon-cutting for the newly remodeled school, Friday.
RISD shows off Sunset at open house EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
DUFNER, BRADLEY SHARE LEAD
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods’ stunning downfall has gotten worse: He missed the cut at the PGA Championship. And it wasn’t even close. The player who once dominated golf headed home Friday after shooting a 10-over 150 at Atlanta Athletic Club, coming up short of the cut by a staggering six strokes. With no one seizing control of the tournament, this became another day to focus on Woods’ collapse, his career in tatters because of personal failings and a broken game. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARY
• James F. Redding - PAGE A7
HIGH ...96˚ LOW ....73˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
School officials proudly opened the doors to the newly renovated and remodeled Sunset Ele-
mentary School Friday afternoon during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for parents and students. Construction, which began last year, finished just in time
for the new school year. “We are very fortunate to have had not only remodeling of entire buildings, but also new construction of the kindergarten and first-grade
classrooms,” said Pauline Ponce, a Roswell School Board member and a former first-grade teacher at the school.
cans. The richest 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of stocks. And the richest 20 percent drive about 40 percent of consumer spending, analysts say. That loss of wealth may help explain a report Friday that consumer sentiment hit a 31-year low in August. The Thomson Reuters/ University of Michigan’s survey, completed early this week, showed that market tur moil and the political strife over raising
Vandals target church buses
See SHOP, Page A3
Vandals targeted Tabernacle Baptist Church for the second time this year and spray-painted graffiti on church buses that are used to transport hundreds of Roswell children to and from Sunday services each week, church officials say. The Rev. Pete Merlo, an associate pastor with Tabernacle for about six years, say the vandals spraypainted the word “Southside” in silver and yellow spraypaint on five of the seven yellow retired school buses that were in the church parking lot on Richardson Avenue, Thursday night. “It just kind of bothers me,” Merlo said, adding that the buses benefit the community by providing a transportation service to church. Merlo noticed the graffiti around 10 a.m., Friday, when he happened to be driving past his church on
Appeals court strikes Feds propose more critical health ins requirement ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals panel struck down the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care overhaul Friday, moving the argument over whether Americans can be required to buy health insurance a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court. The divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Congress overstepped its authority when lawmakers passed the so-called individual mandate, the first such decision by a federal appeals court. It’s a sting-
ing blow to Obama’s signature legislative achievement, as most experts agree the requirement that Americans carry health insurance — or face tax penalties — is the foundation for other parts of the law. Chief Judge Joel Dubina and Circuit Judge Frank Hull found in a 207-page opinion that lawmakers cannot require residents to “enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the See HEALTH, Page A3
See SUNSET, Page A3
See BUSES, Page A3
habitat for willow flycatcher ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Federal wildlife of ficials Friday proposed increasing the critical habitat in six Wester n states for the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher, aiming to expand its population and move the migrating bird closer to recovery. The proposal stems from a settlement reached last year with the Center for Biological Diversity, which had challenged a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2005 to set aside more than 730 river miles of critical habitat for the bird. The group complained because that was less than half of what was initially proposed. See FLYCATCHER, Page A3
AP Photo
Bryana Munoz leads Atomic Blast to fast pitch softball glory STORY AND PHOTO BY EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT...B10 FINANCIAL .............A8 GENERAL ..............C4 HOROSCOPES ......B10 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A7 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
Bryana Munoz, fast pitch softball pitching whiz kid.
Bryana Munoz is only 11 years old, but she throws a 53-mile-per-hour fastball. Not to mention a drop ball that dives in front of the plate at the last minute and a change-up that fools batters every time. With that kind of arsenal, it’s no wonder the pitcher, who will enter the sixth grade at Dexter Middle School next week, helped her travel softball team, the Atomic Blast out of Carlsbad, win runner-up at the 2011 USSSA Girls Fast
Pitch ages 10-and-under Class A World Series Tournament in Branson, Mo., last month. She also won the Outstanding Pitcher award for the entire tournament. “We kept winning until we got to the championship,” Munoz said. The Atomic Blast defeated state champions from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Mis-
souri to cinch the secondplace title, and beat out 22 of the other 23 teams that were in the tournament. But it wasn’t an easy ride. Before the double-elimination tournament began on Thursday, July 14, the team had lost three out of four games in pool play Tuesday and Wednesday, and their first bracket See SPOTLIGHT, Page A2