Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 234 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
ZOO HELPS FERRETS WASHINGTON (AP) — Animal keepers at the National Zoo’s conservation center in Virginia sent 26 black-footed ferrets to “boot camp” Wednesday to prepare the critters for life in the wild as part of an ongoing effort that has fueled the recovery of a species once declared extinct. - PAGE B3
TOP 5 WEB For The Last 24 Hours
• Hospital sold • Drug sting nabs 67 • Teacher suspected of teaching drunk • Police hit wrong house • Iguana on the loose
INSIDE SPORTS
Block resigns from PRC for plea deal
When you talk about high school football in the state of New Mexico, it’s not a matter of opinion to say that Clovis High School is on the topfive list of most storied programs in the state. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Consuelo Sandoval Leyba • Viola May Chester • Donald N. Jones - PAGE B3
HIGH ...90˚ LOW ....59˚
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
SANTA FE (AP) — Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. is resigning as part of a Wednesday plea agreement with the attorney general’s office over the misuse of taxpayer money and election law violations. Block pleaded guilty in state district court to felony charges, including fraudulent use of a state-issued gasoline card and identity theft. He entered a plea of “no contest” to one charge of embezzlement for never returning a car from a Santa Fe automobile dealership that he got in July to have it checked by a mechanic before possibly buying it.
Police later found and returned the car. He also is pleading guilty to three felony charges for violating campaign finance laws and embezzlement during his 2008 campaign. He will appear in court later on that part of the plea arrangement because indictments against Block in the election laws case currently are on appeal. The plea deal ends the appeal and the case will be sent back to the district court. “He decided this was the best thing he can do for the state of New Mexico at this point in time,” Block’s attorney, Carolyn Nichols,
Clock ticking for city horse owner
Jerome Block Jr.
VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Just one year shy of the end of a five-year grace period she was given to get rid of her livestock, Pamela Rhodes had — albeit temporarily — acquired more animals. Rhodes lives on four acres of land on Atkinson Avenue. In 2007, before a neighbor complained about the smell and the noise coming from her home, Rhodes kept horses and goats. Horses are special to Rhodes, not only because family members have owned them but because her daughter, Hailee Lance, 6, seems to be especially gifted with them. Lance has helped tame several horses and trained her pony, Buddy. Lance is also involved with 4-H, which might help the little cowgirl pay for college some day. “That’s going to be her future scholarship,” Rhodes said of Lance’s work with horses. “Without that I don’t know how she’s going to go to college.” Unfortunately, Rhodes’ home is on the wrong side of Atkinson Avenue. Although she lives just blocks from the Eastern New Mexico State Fairgrounds and is surrounded by county land, her home, which is on the west side of Atkinson Avenue, falls just within city limits where livestock is prohibited. If Rhodes lived just across the street on the east side of Atkinson Avenue, she would not be selling her home in an attempt to keep the horses that mean so much to her and her daughter.
said after Wednesday’s hearing. Block declined to talk to reporters and he made no statement to the court, other than answering brief questions from the judge. Attorney General Gary King called Block’s plea and resignation “another important step” in the prosecution of government corruption in New Mexico. The plea deal was announced in state district court in Santa Fe and came a little more than a month before a legislative panel was to meet and decide whether Block
Testimony continues in Herrera trial
See BLOCK, Page A6
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Vanessa Kahin Photo
The prosecution continued to present evidence Wednesday in the State of New Mexico versus Israel Herrera. Herrera is accused of felony homicide for the Nov. 22, 2010, shooting of Stephen Foster, 25. Eyewitness Tina Rodriguez (Herrera) told about the events of the evening and how, when she went inside Hastings, she heard gun fire. Foster told her later that someone had driven past and shot at him. Foster and Rodriguez eventually drove to Herrera’s house at 1104 W. Walnut St., she said. After a short conversation Foster returned to the car visibly upset. As he went into reverse, she said, “He was ducking behind the dashboard, leaning to his right, over my lap.” Rodriguez described a “pop, glass breaking, and his eyes closed and he melted on to the floor.” She admitted under cross examination that Foster had argued with a couple of people on the phone that evening, but she said she could not say what topic was being discussed. Assistant District Attorney Debra Hutchins then called Herrera’s girlfriend, Joanna Peña, to the stand. She was reluctant to answer questions, until Hutchins
Obama appeals health care setback to high court See HORSE, Page A6
GODDARD TO FACE CLOVIS
September 29, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — Raising prospects for a major election-year ruling, the Obama administration launched its Supreme Court defense of its landmark health care overhaul Wednesday, appealing what it called a “fundamentally flawed” appeals court decision that declared the law’s central provision unconstitutional. Destined from the start for a high court showdown, the health care law affecting virtually every American seems sure to figure prominently in President
Hailee Lance, 6, brushes her pony, Buddy, on Wednesday.
Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election next year. Republican contenders are already assailing it in virtually every debate and speech. The administration formally appealed a ruling by the federal appeals court in Atlanta that struck down the law’s core requirement that individuals buy health insurance or pay a penalty beginning in 2014. At the same time, however, the winners in that appellate case, 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Busi-
ness, also asked for high court review Wednesday, saying the entire law, and not just the individual insurance mandate, should be struck down. The Supreme Court almost always weighs in when a lower court has struck down all or part of a federal law, to say nothing of one that aims to extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans. The bigger question had been the timing. The administration’s filing makes it more likely that the case will be heard and
Cattlemen’s coming back
TODAY’S FORECAST
decided in the term that begins next week. Repeating arguments it has made in courts across the country in response to many challenges to the law, the administration said Congress was well within its constitutional power to enact the insurance requirement. Disagreeing with that, the 26 states and business group said in their filings that the justices should act before the 2012 presidential election because of uncertainty over costs and requirements.
See TRIAL, Page A6
On the issue of timing, their cause got an unexpected boost from retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who said voters would be better off if they knew the law’s fate law before casting their ballots next year. The 91-year-old Stevens said in an Associated Press interview that the justices would not shy away from deciding the case in the middle of a presidential campaign and would be doing the country a service.
Study to evaluate problems facing local youth JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 LOCAL ..................A5 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 NATION .................B3
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Ole Noriega of Betco and other laborers work around the clock remodeling Cattlemen’s Steak House in an effort to be ready for a grand re-opening by this Friday. The new and improved restaurant will feature a bar, new carpeting, lights and furniture, and a revised menu.
In an effort to evaluate the youth in the community and the ways in which programs can be developed to solve the issues affecting them, the Chaves County Comprehensive Strategy Board voted to conduct a developmental assets study at Roswell and Goddard high schools Tuesday morning. The study, titled “Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors Survey,”will be administered to middle schools in Chaves County next week, and Pecos Valley schools the following week, according to Charlotte Andrade, program director for CSB. CSB, created in July 2001 by Chaves County, is a collaboration of all agencies in the community which deal with juvenile justice issues. Dedicated to addressing delinquency prevention and providing an alternative to incarcerating youths, CSB voted to provide RHS and GHS with the survey using grant funding from the New Mexico Children Youth See STUDY, Page A6