09 11 14 Roswell Daily Record

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 123, No. 219 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

September 11, 2014

THURSDAY

www.rdrnews.com

RISD stepping up recruitment to fill 60 vacancies BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR

It could be a marriage made in heaven. Roswell Independent School District needs to fill about 60 teaching positions and Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, is seeking jobs for its education graduates. In mid-October, Tom Burris, district superintendent, and Andy Sweet, assistant superintendent for human resources, are traveling to Midwester n

State to recruit students who will be graduating in December with education degrees. Burris announced the plans during his superintendent’s report at Tuesday’s regular school board meeting. “We have contacts at Midwestern State who have set this up with students who are going to graduate at Christmas,” Burris told the Daily Record on Wednesday. “We will be their sole audience.” Midwester n State is a

state-supported, liberal arts school located midway between Oklahoma City and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Burris said the university has a strong teacher education program, but students graduating from the university’s education college often struggle to find jobs in the surrounding area because of its sparse population. Burris said they plan to return to Midwestern State in March when there will be an even larger pool of

students graduating in May. Burris said about half of the district’s teacher vacancies are in special education. At Tuesday’s meeting, Burris proposed a plan he called “Grow Your Own” in which a local person with a college degree but no teaching background could receive a tuition reimbursement from the district to obtain a teaching certificate from Eastern New Mexico University. The proposed plan would

require a three- to five-year commitment to work in the district. Burris stressed on Wednesday that applicants accepted to the “Grow Your Own” program would have to maintain successful grades or else be required to pay back whatever tuition assistance they received from the district. “I want people to understand what the requirements are,” he said. “We want people to do well, but we don’t want people to start out and then say,

‘Well, I don’t think this is for me.’”

Another benefit of the program is full pay during student teaching.

“This is a benefit to us (having someone working as a teacher),” Burris said. “Typically, what people have to do is forfeit their job during student teaching. They do student teaching with no pay. I did my student teaching with no pay.”

Puzzles allow Cansino to stay active Residents receive scam phone calls BY DYLANNE PETROS RECORD STAFF WRITER

For some, puzzles may seem like a challenge, but Priscilla Cansino is up for the challenge. Cansino, 84, of Roswell, puts together 750- and 1,500-piece jigsaw puzzles almost every day and has created a collection of puzzles that fill her two living rooms. Puzzles are not the only things that Cansino works on. She has been collecting and working on different things for many years. Some of her previous projects include making lamps by hand and making clothes for dolls by hand, as well as fixing dolls. “All my life I’ve been busy. I can’t stand not doing anything,” she said. Cansino’s five children benefit from all the things she works on. They took the lamps for their own homes and even take some of the puzzles that she completes once the puzzles

STAFF REPORT

Dylanne Petros Photo

Priscilla Cansino has been working on puzzles for about three or four years. Her favorite puzzle is of an underwater scene. After putting the puzzle together she framed it herself and decorated the frame with a blue background and lights.

Two Roswell residents received phone calls Tuesday from people claiming to be representing the popular Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, but the callers asked the residents for money in order to obtain their supposed prize checks. The Roswell Police Department is war ning people to be aware of such phone scams and to never give any personal information to anyone on the phone unless they are absolutely sure of the identity of the caller. During each of the separate calls to two different local residents, the caller said he was calling from Publishers Clearing House and the resident was to receive a prize check of $2.5 million. However, the caller instructed each resident to go purchase a prepaid debit card at a local store to turn over to the caller before the prize

See RISD, Page A3

check was presented. The caller asked for the debit card to contain several hundred dollars in order to cover a “bond” related to the prize money. In one case, the caller identified himself as Robert.

Each of the residents who received the calls eventually hung up on the caller, believing it was a scam.

When one man told the caller the call was being traced, the caller cursed at him and threatened to kill him, the man said. The residents’ caller IDs showed the calls coming from different phone numbers, but having the same area code of 876. That is the area code for Jamaica.

Anyone who suspects they have received a scam phone call or has been targeted by any form of scam can call the Roswell Police Department at 624-6770.

9/11 movie set to Kirksey sole applicant for new judgeship nominating wrap in December Judicial commission meets See CANSINO, Page A3

STAFF REPORT

A “made for television” movie partially filmed in Roswell based on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, is set to wrap production at the end of December. The TV movie, tentatively titled “John Hawk’s 9/11,” is about the 9/11 tragedy and is inspired by the true story of an airport executive who was on the 65th floor of the North Tower of the World T rade Center when American Airlines Flight 11 struck, according to director and screen writer Robert Randall. Principal location shooting happened last year in Roswell with Stewart Industries International

Inc. providing an aircraft that was used for filming the parts of the story that occur inside of Flight 11. Since then, the rest of the filming has occurred in California, with Amanda Wiley, Miss Colorado USA 2013, joining the cast, according to Randall. Randall is attempting to recreate a dramatization of that day in September on screen in order to share stories of some of the unspoken heroes. From a subway operator who manually unlocked each door and saved hundreds by backing out of the World Trade Towers before they collapsed to a man

Lincoln County News owner Lilah “Ruth” Hammond, 78, of Carrizozo, died peacefully in her sleep on Sept. 4.

BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR

Hobbs attor ney Lee Kirksey is the only applicant who has applied for the judicial vacancy on the 5th Judicial District Court, according to a news release issued by the court on Monday. The vacancy is due to the creation of a new judgeship by the Legislature in May 2014. The District Judicial Nominating Commission will meet at 1:30 p.m. today at the Lea County Courthouse, 100 N. Main St., Court-

Kirksey

room 3, in Lovington to evaluate the applicant for this position. Kirksey is an attorney with the firm of Maddox,

Angelo State University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting, according to the law firm’s website. In 1999, she graduated magna cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law and was inducted into the Texas Tech chapter of the Order of the Coif for ranking in the top 10 percent of her graduating class.

Kirksey is a shareholder and director of the firm, and has an active litigation practice that includes work in the areas of family law, commercial litigation, oil and gas litigation, guardianships and conservatorships, and general See KIRKSEY, Page A2

Longtime Lincoln County journalist Hammond dies See MOVIE, Page A3

STAFF REPORT

Courtesy Photo

today in Lovington

Holloman & Kirksey. “I am looking forward to answering any questions the commissioners have and I hope to receive their nomination to be appointed as District Judge Division 11,” Kirksey said via email on Wednesday. “Many of the commissioners are attorneys that I have practiced with and against over my 15 years here in the 5th Judicial District so I believe they know me and my qualifications well,” Kirksey said. “I spoke to the Secretary of State’s office this mor ning and was informed that I am running unopposed for election to the same seat in November.” Kirksey graduated summa cum laude from

Lilah “Ruth” Hammond of Carrizozo, 78, owner of the Lincoln County News, died peacefully in her sleep on Sept. 4. Hammond was bor n March 9, 1936, outside of Little Rock, Ark., to the late Mae and Jim Smith. She attended high school in Bartlesville, Okla., where she met and married Bud C. Hammond on July 14, 1957. Bud Hammond worked as a construction mechan-

HIGH 84 LOW 60

TODAY’S FORECAST

ic, and took Ruth and her two children from a previous marriage to parts of Colorado, Wyoming, California and Nevada before settling to Monett, Mo., where the four youngest boys attended school.

Later, Bud, Ruth and youngest son, Jerry, moved to Elk City, Okla., then on to New Mexico. The Hammonds first lived in Jicarilla, and then moved to Carrizozo. Ruth Hammond went to work for the Lincoln County News as a reporter, cov-

• JONITA O. GREEN • ROBERTO BRISENO • JAMES EDGAR MASON

ering Carrizozo Town Council meetings, Capitan and Ruidoso Village council meetings, Carrizozo school board meetings, general stories of interest and advertising sales. She worked with Peter Aguilar at the Lincoln County News, prior to the Hammonds purchasing the newspaper from local retired judge Chuck Rominger in 1994.

She continued working there until she got sick the first time in 2013, when son Jeff took over some of

TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B4

her duties writing editorials while continuing his weekly weather forecast column.

Hammond won several awards for some of her outstanding photographs, most notably black and white and color photographs of the Primm Building fire in Carrizozo. Her work earned her a nomination for a National Photography Award. She has also been featured in New Mexico Magazine.

Hammond was very involved in civic activities. She was a member of the

CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3

Carrizozo Women’s Club, was a founding member of the Carrizozo Industrial Park Committee and she ran for public office as probate judge in 1990, losing by a small margin. For several years, she was involved with, and through the newspaper supported, the Labor Day Street Fair in Carrizozo. Hammond enjoyed stock car racing and was instrumental in starting a women’s stockcar division See HAMMOND, Page A3

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

HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2

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

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

WEATHER ..............A8


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