Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 227 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
September 20, 2014
Esperanza House closes after losing city funding BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
Esperanza House, a safehouse interview program for children who are victims of sexual abuse, has closed, after losing $50,000 in funding from the city of Roswell. The program provided forensic interviewing for abused children and nursing exams for women who had been sexually assaulted. Those programs are now being divided between
Chaves County CASA and the Roswell Refuge, according to officials. “At this point, I’m not ready to comment on anything regarding Esperanza House,” said board president Gracie Gonzales on Friday. A Roswell city official, who asked not to be identified, said he thought the services offered by Esperanza House were substandard. He said he based his opinion on watching a forensic interview perfor med at Esperanza
Rainbow after the rain
House. “I was appalled by their per for mance,” the official said. Esperanza House was formed in 1992. It became a 501(c)3 in 1993. The organization deals with sensitivity with some of the most difficult off all crimes, the sexual abuse of children and sexual assaults upon adults, under any name from criminal sexual penetration to criminal sexual contact. Esperanza House does the forensic interviews and forensic exams of victims. It
operates the SANE program, which stands for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. Qualified nurses must be registered with a minimum of three to five years experience. They take an intensive six-day class and undergo a mentorship where they work with other nurse examiners. The nurses must also take a certain number of continuing education units to maintain their SANE status. The city had historically
Timothy P. Howsare Photo
This rainbow was seen around 5 p.m. Friday from South Lea Street. After what seemed like endless days of clouds and rain, the sun finally came out.
NM average gas price falls to less than nat’l SUBMITTED BY AAA NEW MEXICO
The average for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel in New Mexico is now $3.26, according to the AAA New Mexico Weekend Gas Watch. That price is six cents less than one week ago and 13 cents less than one year ago. Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in the Land of Enchantment, drivers in Las Cruces are paying the most at $3.23 per gallon while drivers in Albuquerque and Santa Fe are paying the least at $3.20 per gallon. Drivers in New Mexico are paying 10 cents less
per gallon than the national average of $3.36.
The average price at the pump typically falls during this time of year due to decreased demand and the transition to winter-blend gasoline, which is cheaper to produce because it does not have to meet the same federal emissions reduction requirements as in the warmer summer months.
“Drivers usually experience savings at the pumps during the fall driving season and we are seeing that happen again this year,” said AAA Texas/New Mexico Representative Doug Shupe.
Real men sew quilts
“CASA” stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, and the program deals with domestic violence and abuse cases.
Last year in Chaves County alone there were over 1,400 referrals of child abuse to social services and several hundred temporary restraining orders filed in cases of domestic violence where children were involved, according to the Chaves County CASA web-
Court OKs pot ballot questions
SANTA FE (AP) — The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that two of New Mexico’s most populous counties can poll their voters in the November general election about lowering penalties for marijuana possession. The court ordered Secretary of State Dianna Duran to place the advisory questions on ballots in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties. The counties will survey their voters on whether they support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Bernalillo County also will ask voters about a possible tax levy to pay for mental health services. The counties, however, won’t be obligated to follow whatever direction voters give on the issues. Bernalillo County Commission chairwoman Debbie O’Malley called the court’s ruling a “victory for voters and democracy really.”
See ESPERANZA, Page A3
“The voters have a right to weigh in on these issues,” she said outside the courthouse.
Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico said his group is mounting a campaign in support of the marijuana proposals.
“The time for playing politics with our ballot is over, now we can start having a conversation about the issue and move forward,” Davis said in a statement.
Duran, a Republican, warned that the court’s ruling will allow nonbinding ballot questions to proliferate in future elections, causing paper ballots to be lengthy and printed in small, hard-to-read type. “It had been my prayer that the court would follow the law and not yield to partisan pressure,” Duran said in a statement. “Good luck putting the public opinion poll genie back in the bottle.”
Quilter R. Charles White, right, discusses the detailed work that went into one of his quilts with another quilter, Rick Schneck of Belen. Scheck said he and his wife made a day trip to Roswell for the quilt show. “This is a good show,” Schneck said. “They have some very good stuff here.” White lives in Roswell and won the People’s Choice award in the 2012 show. He won an honorable mention for one of his quilts in this year’s event. The Blooming Quilts show, presented by the Pecos Valley Quilters, continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Roswell Convention & Civic Center. This year’s best of show is Affairs of the Heart by Phil Burns. His quilt is sponsored by Krumland Auto Group.
Oilfield worker lost in flooding dies
Gov. Susana Martinez listens as area authorities describe the flooding on Friday, following heavy overnight rainfall in Lakewood. Around three dozen Eddy County residents have been evacuated due to flooding from remnants of former Hurricane Odile.
HIGH 81 LOW 65
provided $50,000 in annual funding to Esperanza House, but that money was not budgeted for the coming year. The money typically came from the Roswell Police Department budget, according to the city official. A call to Police Chief Phil Smith was not returned. CASA will handle the forensic interviews of children, while the Refuge will provide sexual assault nursing examinations, said Carrie-Leigh Clouter, CASA executive director.
Timothy P. Howsare Photo
AP Photo
TODAY’S FORECAST
SATURDAY
www.rdrnews.com
• CORINA V. ROMERO
LAKEWOOD (AP) — One oil field worker was killed and 40 more were stranded in flood waters as the r emnants of Hurricane Odile moved thr ough southeastern New Mexico on Friday, authorities said. Eddy County emergency officials told KOB-TV that the man was found dead after his vehicle got stuck in water near Loving early Friday. A passenger climbed to safety. Officials found the missing oilfield worker’s body later in the day. His name was not immediately released. Also Friday, the National
TODAY’S OBITUARY PAGE A2
Guard said it was working to rescue 40 other oilfield workers stranded on a county road near Artesia. Flooding also forced the evacuation of an RV park in Eddy County. Residents fled Lakewood’s SKP Ranch R V Park early Friday after its evaporation pond flooded and the park’s emergency sirens sounded, the Artesia Daily Press reported The high waters engulfed vehicles and closed a number of roads. “If we didn’t get out when we did, we would have had to be evacuated by helicopters,” park resident Robert Nyman said.
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8 COMICS .................B7 ENTERTAINMENT ...A10 FINANCIAL ..............B5
Nyman was one of the residents airlifted out of a similar flood last year.
Gov. Susana Martinez visited the evacuees at a temporary shelter set up at the Eddy County fairgr ounds. “We will be in constant contact with the emergency operations center to say, ‘Give these people a br eak,’” Martinez said. Sever e weather also flooded the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, closing the park for a second day on Friday.
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .......A10
LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10