Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 207 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
August 28, 2014
Final city manager candidate interview today said Wednesday.
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
The final candidate for the job of city manager will be in Roswell today, where he will be interviewed by the City Council in a workshop beginning at 3 p.m. at City Hall. The workshops are open to the public. The City Council will consider the candidates in an executive session during a special meeting on Sept. 2, Mayor Dennis Kintigh
“We will go into executive session, and we’ll have the 10 councilors give their thoughts, concer ns and questions about candidates,” Kintigh said. “I want it to be a free-wheeling conversation, I want to hear what they have to say and I think they will be a little more candid when they’re not being recorded.”
Kintigh said every candidate has been in town for two full days, with Kenneth Young, who is being inter-
THURSDAY
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viewed today, arriving in Roswell on Wednesday. “Every visit has begun with an 8 a.m. meeting between me and the candidate on the first day, and everyone has ended with a 5 p.m. meeting between me and the candidate on the second day,” the mayor said. Kintigh said all of the candidates also met with various city staff members, and he wants to also get the city employees’ input before making a decision.
Once all the discussion is
done, Kintigh said he will recommend a candidate to the City Council on Sept. 9 for approval by the full council. Young has served as the senior project manager for the of fice of the county administrator in Loudoun County, Virginia, since 2012. Loudoun County has a population of 350,000 with 3,200 employees and a $1.98 billion budget,
Randal Seyler Photo
Steven Polasek, city manager of Keller, Texas, is interviewed on Monday by Roswell City Council members. Polasek was the fourth candidate to be interviewed by city officials and staff members during the past two weeks. The final candidate will be in town today for an interview with the councilors, beginning at 3 p.m. at City Hall.
See CANDIDATES, Page A2
Elvis has left the driveway
Right: Submitted Photo
Elvis Presley signs an autograph for Steve Elrod, who as a teenager lived in an apartment building across the street from Graceland. Elrod now lives in Roswell and was a former truck driver for Pepsi Co. He performs around town as a singer in a country band, where he is often asked to sing a song by The King.
Resident Steve Elrod says he met Presley growing up across the street from Graceland
Below: Timothy P. Howsare Photo
Steve Elrod with some of the Elvis memorabilia recently sent to him by his mother.
BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR
To the world, he was “The King,” but to Steve Elrod and the other teenage boys who he played football with, Elvis Presley was the friendly neighbor who lived across the street. Elrod and his wife, Kim, moved to Roswell about six years ago from West Memphis, Ark., when Kim was offered a management job at Wal-Mart. But during the late 1970s, after his parents divorced, Elrod said he, his brother and mother lived in an apartment in Memphis, Tenn., across the street from Graceland. “As a matter of fact, the apartments were called Graceland Apartments,” Elrod said. “From Elvis Presley Boulevard to our apartments there was a vacant lot — about 25 to 50 yards straight back were vacant lots. Our apartments were set back from that and built on an
incline to where you could pretty much look over the walls surrounding Graceland.” Elrod said while he and his pals were playing pickup games of football on one those vacant lots, they would frequently see Elvis coming and going from Graceland in his limo or riding on one of his motorcycles. In this day and age, it may seem strange that a celebrity like Elvis would have no qualms of moving about freely in public, but it was a different world 40 years ago, Elrod said. “Back then, you didn’t have the paparazzi hounding Elvis like they do celebrities today,” Elrod said. “So, he was always out and about riding his motorcycles, riding horses on the Graceland grounds. He had stables there but mostly he kept (the horses) at his ranch — Circle G ranch in Walls, Miss. See ELVIS, Page A6
Man beaten, stabbed for Man acquitted of child molestation charges firing dairy employee
2 brothers, suspects, arrested BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
A Chaves County man was beaten and stabbed on Tuesday by masked attackers after he was tasked with firing one of the suspected attackers from his job at a local dairy. Chaves County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Cheyenne II Dairy, located at 185 E. Calusa Road near Dexter at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, where they found a 35-year -old employee of the dairy had been beaten and stabbed. “We believe this attack was in retribution for one of the brothers being fired,” said Lt. Mike Herrington of the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office. Two masked men attacked the victim and beat him with a baseball bat and stabbed him several times.
“The only way the victim recognized his attackers was by their voices,” Herrington said. “He didn’t know what they were saying, but he recognized the tone of their voices. He was fighting for his life.” The victim was taken to the hospital where he was listed in stable condition. “He had stab wounds in the head, upper arm and back area, and he had lumps all over from the baseball bat,” Herrington said. Deputies served a warrant at 1509 Lipan Road, where they recovered the knife, the baseball bat and the clothing worn by the attackers, Herrington said. Arrested were two brothers, Ismael and Esequiel Chairez, in connection with the attack. Herrington would not See ATTACK, Page A3
HIGH 91 LOW 63
TODAY’S FORECAST
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Roswell man who had pleaded no contest to molestation charges involving three young girls has been found not guilty on all charges during two jury trials in 5th Judicial District court in Roswell. Shay Dickinson, 49, most recently of 119 Oliver St., was allowed to leave the Chaves County Detention Center two weeks ago after spending two and a half years in the jail while his case was pending. Dickinson was initially charged in March 2012 with three counts of criminal sexual penetration in the first degree and three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the second degree — one each for each of the three young sisters he allegedly molested on March 14, 2012.
• CORRINE ARCHULETA • ENRIQUE GOMEZ TORREZ • JOANN GRAY
Shay Dickinson
According to court records, Dickinson had sexual contact with three daughters of his ex-girlfriend, ages 2, 4 and 7 at the time. Prosecutors said the girls’ mother was present at her home on South Birch Street at the time of the alleged assaults. Assistant District Attorney Debra Hutchins, who was prosecuting the case in 2012, said the mother
• WILMA LOU RILEY • DELORACE JEAN “TUDY” BARNETT
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A3
Photo from mugshots.com
of the three girls noticed changes in their behavior. The mother reported to Roswell police that her daughters were mimicking sexual activity with each other. The girls said they had lear ned the sexual behavior from Dickinson, court records state. The three girls were forensically examined by Esperanza House and all three sisters were put into counseling.
The three counts of criminal sexual penetration in the first degree each carried a maximum possible sentence of 18 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. The three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the second degree each carried a maximum possible sentence of nine years in prison and a $10,000 fine. In total, Dickinson faced a possible 81-year prison sentence and $75,000 of fines on the six felony charges. The charges stemmed from a March 14, 2012, incident during which Dickinson allegedly touched the private areas of the three girls. One of the girls also made contact with Dickinson’s penis, court records alleged. See ACQUITTAL, Page A6
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
FINANCIAL ..............B4
LOTTERIES .............A2
COMICS .................B5
HOROSCOPES .........A8
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8