1 10 15 Roswell Daily Record

Page 1

Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 124, No. 09 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

January 10, 2015

Councilors hear transit system presentation BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR

City Councilors were treated to a slide presentation from Pecos T rails T ransit Director Anna Aragon on Thursday — a first for the City Council. The presentation was part of City Manager Steve Polasek’s plan to start showcasing city departments and services before the City Council and the public. “We do great things, and

SATURDAY

www.rdrnews.com

I want the councilors and the public to know what we are doing,” Polasek said. Mayor Dennis Kintigh said that the departmental reports were part of a plan to make council meetings more infor mational and public friendly. “We also are planning on holding the next month’s council meeting at the Roswell Museum and Art Center,” Kintigh said. The city is looking at the possibility of moving the monthly council meetings

to the museum and converting the upstairs space at City Hall into a finance department, bringing all the various finance officers into one space, the mayor said.

While the monthly City Council meetings have had reports from department heads, Aragon was the first department head to present a slide show on her department.

“Sorry, I am nervous — I get to be the first department head to do this,”

Aragon said, jokingly. Aragon discussed the popularity of the Pecos Trails Transit, saying that in 2014 the city buses transported more than 700 people a week and 300 people every weekend. “If you look at the numbers, we are moving the entire population of Roswell four times a year,” Polasek said. Aragon said that the buses currently service about 85 percent of the town, and she would like to

Los Cerritos celebrates grand re-opening

see that increase to 95 percent in the future. In 2014, the bus service had a budget of $1.44 million, with $788,114 of that funding coming from the federal government, Aragon said. In 2015, the department is looking at a projected budget of $1.57 million. She also noted that the advertising available on the sides of the buses is there for local businesses and groups to utilize. “When we don’t have

The New Mexico Department of Health reported on Friday that it has confirmed the state’s first flurelated deaths for the 2014-15 influenza season. The five deaths included a 29-year -old man from Curry County; a 79-year old woman from Sandoval County; an 86-year -old woman and 81-year -old woman, both from Bernalillo County; and a 92-yearold woman from Los Alamos County. The department is also reporting an increase in flu activity throughout the state. “We recommend that everyone six months and older get vaccinated against the flu. It’s still not too late to get vaccinated,” said Retta Ward, Department of Health Cabinet Secretary. “It’s also important for

Above: The Roswell Chamber of Commerce Red Coats helped Los Cerritos Mexican Kitchen celebrate its grand re-opening on Thursday. Representing the restaurant are, center from left, Mimi Nevarez, Abel Loya, Joanna Aguilar, manager Roger Garay, and owner Saul Aguilar. The event was a success, and Aguilar said the restaurant had been open for six years and he wanted to renovate it to have a nice place for his customers. Right: Musicians Blacita Herrera, from left, Lorenzo Cobos and Fabien Anaya perform twice a month at Los Cerritos Mexican Kitchen and they were on hand for the re-opening celebrations on Thursday.

The cost of advertising is very low, said Councilor Jeanine Corn Best. “This is probably one of the best secrets in town,” she said. The advertising costs $50 a month for the big signs and $30 a month for the small signs, and the advertiser has to provide the signage, Aragon said.

DOH reports first flu deaths of the season STAFF REPORT

Max Scally Photos

advertisers, we have run signs for things like the RMAC or the Spring River Zoo,” Aragon said.

See TRANSIT, Page A3

people who might have the flu, and especially those at high risk for complications, to talk to a medical provider about getting treated with an antiviral medication,” Ward said. “T reatment with a flu antiviral can make flu symptoms milder and shorter and reduce the risk of complications that can result in hospitalization or death.” The predominant flu strain this year has been influenza A(H3N2), which has been associated with more severe illness and death compared with flu seasons where other strains have been predominant, especially in young children and people greater than 65 years of age, according to the Department of Health. Even though this sea-

Martinez to push Lawmakers propose more money for education for ‘right-to-work’

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez is voicing support for proposals barring private- and public-sector workers from being required to join unions as a condition for employment. The Republican governor said Thursday that she’ll push for right-to-work legislation in the upcoming session and believed the change was needed for the state, the Albuquerque Journal reported. “It is fundamentally wrong to require membership (in a union) in order to get a job or take money from the paychecks of our workers by force,” Martinez told a business audience in Albuquerque.

Three Republican lawmakers have pre-filed a bill that would cover both private- and public-sector workers. Another Republican legislator has a proposal that would affect only private-sector employees. Supporters say the legislation would spur economic growth and attract businesses to the state. Opponents say it’s an attack on unions and won’t create jobs or save the state any money. The proposals come as the Republicans will take control of the New Mexico House for the first time in 60 years. Democrats still See GOVERNOR, Page A3

AP Photo

In this photo taken Dec. 22, 2014, a well pump works at sunset on a farm near Sweetwater, Texas. At the heart of the Cline, a shale formation once thought to hold more oil than Saudi Arabia, Sweetwater is bracing for layoffs and budget cuts, anxious as oil prices fall and its largest investors pull back.

HIGH 43 LOW 24

TODAY’S FORECAST

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Education and child welfare initiatives would get more money under a budget proposal released Friday by a New Mexico legislative committee, but lawmakers warned that overall spending next year could be curtailed if oil prices continue to fall. The plan from the Legislative Finance Committee would increase spending in New Mexico by more than $140 million next year, with an additional $71 million for public schools and another $25 million for expanding early childhood initiatives. The budget proposal forms the foundation for the Legislature’s spending decisions when lawmak-

AP Photo

Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, discusses legislative budget recommendations during a news conference in Santa Fe on Friday.

ers convene for a 60-day session on Jan. 20. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has yet to release her spending recommendations. But

Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said Friday that she was optimistic common ground could be reached on spending for education reforms, child

Sweetwater envisioned becoming a major player in the hydraulic-fracturing boom, thanks to its location atop the Cline Shale, once estimated to be the nation’s largest underground petroleum formation. But those ambitions are fading fast as the plummeting price of oil causes investors to pull back, cutting off the projects that were supposed to pay for a bright new future. Now the town of 11,000 awaits layoffs and budget cuts and defers its dreams.

“Here we are trying to figure out: Is this a six-month problem or is it all over?” said Greg Wortham, head of the Cline Shale Alliance, a private group founded to prepare the region for the oil workers. Industry observers say what’s happening in the Cline — a 10-county area on the eastern edge of Texas’ Permian Basin oil field — signals a contraction in shale development nationwide. “Sweetwater and the Cline are like the first domino falling,” said Karr

See FLU, Page A3

welfare and safety and job creation. Lawmakers described their recommendations as a starting point and warned that the drop in oil prices has resulted in uncertainty about how much the state will actually have to spend in the next fiscal year, which begins in July. A forecast released in December showed $141 million in new revenue was expected for spending increases in the next budget year. That’s half of what officials estimated in August. A $1 change in oil prices causes a $7.5 million change in revenue for

See BUDGET, Page A3

City that prepared for oil boom now waits for bust SWEETWATER, Texas (AP) — Just two years ago, this Texas town known mostly for its annual rattlesnake roundup seemed to be on the brink of a transformation. Expecting a huge influx of oil workers, local leaders spent tens of millions of dollars to improve the courthouse, build a new law-enforcement center and upgrade the hospital. Hotels, truck stops and housing subdivisions were to follow, all catering to truck drivers and roughnecks.

• SALLY JO DAVIS • GENE ALLEN PRAG • NORMA COLLEEN HUNTER HENDERSON TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B4

CLASSIFIEDS ..........B7 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....B6 FINANCIAL ..............B3

Ingham, an Amarillo-based economist focused on Texas energy. “Cline Shale development and all of the marvelous benefits are in the process of being significantly interrupted.”

Sue Young, economic development director in neighboring Mitchell County, agreed: “The frenzy is gone.”

Back in 2012, Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy triggered a flurry of leasing activity when it projected

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

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

See BUST, Page A3 OPINION .................A4

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

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


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.