Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 234 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
September 28, 2014
Mayor discusses military surplus, drainage STAFF REPORT
Mayor Dennis Kintigh stopped by the Roswell Daily Record of fice on Thursday for his monthly round table meeting with the editorial staff. The main topics of the discussion, as suggested by our readers, were the city’s use of surplus military equipment and the recent heavy rains and the resulting floods. Question: Has the city
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considered returning its armored vehicle or other military surplus equipment to the U.S. Government?
Answer: I don’t know all the stuff we have gotten from the gover nment. I did, in a letter to the editor that you guys were kind enough to publish, talk about this and I think my letter highlights the complexity of the issue, On that Mother’s Day in 2010 when officers were ambushed,
they were lucky. The shooter was on his way to getting onto the roof with a sniper rifle, but they got to him before he got up on the roof. And I’m sorry, but like I said in my letter, that wasn’t in Afghanistan or Iraq, but that was right here.
A lot of these things are needed to protect these guys. We didn’t have the MRAP (mine-resistant vehicle) then and three officers were wounded. I’m not
keen on the militarization of police, but I am strong on keeping our people safe.
I don’t think we need anything more, but one of the biggest advantages we have with that vehicle is that it has air conditioning and the guys riding in it get to ride in an air -conditioned interior of a vehicle — the vehicle they had before did not have air conditioning and it can get pretty darn hot here in the summertime.
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Question: Was there any cost for getting the MRAP or was it free?
to ask (Police Chief Phil Smith) about that. I’ll find out.
Answer: As far as I know, it was free.
Question: Moving on, why are there no stor m drains in Roswell?
Question: The second part of that question is, who decided to get MRAP; did it cost anything to ship it to Roswell? Answer: Don’t believe it cost us anything but I don’t know the details, I will have
Employees of the Daily Record traveled to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Press Association annual convention where the paper won 11 state press association awards including first place for breaking news story, first place for investigative reporting and first place for column writing. The newspaper also won the 2014 AP Member of the Year award.
Valles Caldera preserve to ask for more funding
SANTA FE (AP) — The Valles Caldera National Preserve decided this week to ask Congress for more federal funding to manage operations for another five years. The preserve’s board of trustees voted at its quarterly meeting Wednesday to submit a recommendation for extending federal appropriations through 2020. There are inherent government functions that will likely require aid on the federal level, Valles Caldera Trust Board chairman Kent Salazar said. Those functions include compliance with historicpreservation and environmental laws, forest restoration and infrastructure repairs. More than 60 percent of the preserve was affected by recent wildfires and post-fire flooding, officials said. The 90,000-acre preserve in the Jemez Mountains was a private ranch with grazing and logging operations before the federal government bought it in 2000. If the trust is not financially self-sufficient by the end of this fiscal year, the board can
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request Congress for more funding under the Valles Caldera Preservation Act. Under the act, the trust can also be dissolved and the preserve would be transferred to the U.S. Forest Service, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have also proposed legislation giving control of Valles Caldera to the National Park Service. The nine-member board will send a formal letter to Congress sometime in the next few weeks. “Until Congress addresses the long-term disposition of the Preserve, the Board supports the continuation of the trust’s experimental land management structure and we are confident that the trust will continue to make great strides in implementing its innovative, sustainable, and science-based management goals,” Salazar said in a news release. The board also approved the fiscal year 2015 budget, which takes into account flat funding from the previous year of about $3.4 million.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
See MAYOR, Page A3
Daily Record wins 11 state press awards BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR
Courtesy Photo
Answer: That’s interesting, and if you look at it, there is a similar condition throughout all of the southwest — a lot of cities were built without them.
The Roswell Daily Record was presented five first-place and six second-place awards Saturday night at the New Mexico Press Association’s 106th annual convention, which was held at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa about 15 miles north of Albuquerque. The Daily Record competed in the Daily Class II Division, which includes daily newspapers with a circulation less than 11,000. Along with the 11 state press awards, which were judged by the Texas Press Association, the Daily Record also won the
2014 Member of the Year Award from The Associated Press. The AP picked the Daily Record because it had made the most contributions to the news agency over the year, surpassing even the Albuquerque Journal. The AP said the Daily Record’s work in both stories and pictures has helped newspapers throughout the state. In the state press contest, the Daily Record won first place for breaking news for its coverage of the Middle Berrendo School shooting in February. The coverage was a team effort that produced several stories and photos
Hale retires from music ministry at Grace Community Church BY SHANNON SEYLER SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Mary Hale, a professional musician who has worked with church music in Roswell for 34 years, is officially passing the baton to a new director. Following her retirement on Friday, she’ll be turning over her duties to Worship Pastor John Cantu at Grace Community Church. In a race, when one runner passes a baton to another, the race doesn’t stop, and the same holds true when handing over a musical baton. “I fully intend to remain active within the church,” Hale said. She has served as music director at Grace Community Church since it opened, working with both youth and adult choirs and providing guidance, talent and insight to the vocal and instrumental music programs under her supervision. She also served as music director at Christ’s Church in Roswell for 18 years.
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Hale earned a Bachelor of Music Education/Flute Performance degree and a Master of Arts degree from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. She is also the co-principal flutist for the Roswell Symphony Orchestra, where she’s been playing for 37 years. Additionally, she has been principal flutist for the Southwest Symphony in Hobbs since 1984. Following her graduate education, she relocated to Phoenix, Ariz., studying with Marjorie Yates of the Phoenix Symphony. She would later be a resident of Washington, D.C., working on Capitol Hill for the late New Mexico Representative, Harold L. Runnels. During her time there, she studied with Linda Jonas at American University and played with the D.C. Community Orchestra. In 1992, she took first prize at an instrumental competition at the Christian Artists Music Seminar in Estes Park, Colo. She has tutored hundreds of aspiring flutists and other
Hale
instrumental students. As a classically trained musician, she’s in a prime position to help church musicians expand their musical talents.
“I can teach skills that a casual musician may not be aware of,” Hale said. During her years as a See HALE, Page A2
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