Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 266 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
November 5, 2014
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Chaves County Commissioner James Duffey and his wife, Janet, smile after hearing that Duffey had won re-election Tuesday night.
Max Scally Photos
Espinoza triumphs against Mastin in race for House
State Rep. Nora Espinoza of Roswell rejoices at Republican Party headquarters after seeing she had won re-election Tuesday night. State Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell (R-Roswell), seated next to Espinoza, also won re-election in an uncontested race.
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
State Rep. Nora Espinoza easily defeated her Democrat challenger Tuesday night to win a fifth two-year term in the New Mexico House of Representatives. As of 10 p.m., Espinoza had received 75.5 percent of the nearly 8,000 votes cast. Although only 18 of the 30 precincts in District 59 had fully reported their tallies to the Secretary of State office as of press time, Espinoza’s lead was insur-
ELECTION 2014
mountable. Her opponent, Democrat Dick Mastin of Alto, had yet to reach 2,000 votes as of press time, with 24.5 percent of votes cast.
Espinoza, of Roswell, said she was “excited, humbled and honored” to be re-elected to represent District 59. District 59 includes the western third of Chaves
County, including the western section of Roswell, and much of Lincoln County, except most of Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs, Glencoe and San Patricio. “It says a lot,” Espinoza said. “It says that what I’m doing is what they want me to do.” Espinoza, who won her last contested general election in 2010 with 72.1 percent of votes cast, said her even bigger margin of victory Tuesday was not a result of a single issue. “I excepted about 70 per-
Duffey defeats Ortega to retain commission seat BY RANDAL SEYLER AND JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITERS
Chaves County voters re-elected Republican incumbent James Duffey to the Chaves County Commission by a wide margin Tuesday. Duffey received 1,213 votes, or 63 percent of the votes cast. His Democrat challenger, Eloy Ortega Jr., received 712 votes, or 37 percent of the votes cast in the 11 precincts that comprise the county commission’s District 1. Duffey defeated Ortega by a single vote in a race for the same office
four years ago. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to be anywhere close to last time,” Duffey said late Tuesday at Republican Party headquarters in Roswell with two precincts still to report in the race. Duf fey said he walked the district extensively to meet with voters in advance of Election Day. “It was fun,” Duffey said. “That’s probably the best part about campaigning, getting out and meeting people on a one-to-one basis and getting to know the
See COMMISSION, Page A3
For more election coverage, see pages A2, A6 and A7
ENMU-R board Future of space tourism uncertain elections to be held in February BY DYLANNE PETROS RECORD STAFF WRITER
Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell’s Community College Board passed a motion Tuesday night to hold board elections in February. The motion was passed unanimously, as it is a timely manner, said ENMU-R President John Madden. Three new board members from District 1, 4 and 5 will be elected Feb. 3. People who wish to run for a seat must submit a declaration of candidacy between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Dec. 16. Bond C was also a topic of discussion Tuesday night. “Obviously Bond C is of great importance to us,”
Madden said. ENMU-R will potentially receive $3 million for renovations and upgrades to different buildings on campus if voters approved the bond at the polls. “Roswell campus has $3 million that they really do need for infrastructure projects,” said Steve Gamble, Eastern New Mexico University president. “They’re so important to the well-being of the campus.” Buildings that will receive the money from Bond C include the Aviation Maintenance Technology Center and the Learning Resource Center. With the $3 million, there will also be security upgrades to the entire campus.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal accident investigators have an early sense of what went wrong before an experimental spaceship designed to ferry tourists beyond the Earth’s atmosphere broke apart during a test flight. But they still don’t know why the craft prematurely shifted its shape prior to the deadly crash. And another question looms: How far will the accident push back the day when paying customers can routinely rocket dozens of miles into the sky for a fleeting feeling of weightlessness and a breathtaking view? National Transportation Safety Board investigators worked Monday at the main wreckage area where Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo fell to the ground in the Mojave Desert, but also collected tiny debris 35 miles away. The accident killed the co-pilot and badly injured the pilot who
See HOUSE, Page A3
alone should not have been enough to change the craft’s configuration. Activating the feathering system requires the pulling of a lever — not unlike how a gun fires only when the trigger is pulled, not just because the safety has been disengaged.
AP Photo
In this Nov. 1 photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, Virgin Galactic pilot Todd Ericson, right, talks with NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart, second from left, at the SpaceShipTwo accident site with investigators in Mojave, Calif.
parachuted out of the ship Friday. Acting NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said cockpit video and data showed that the co-pilot unlocked SpaceShipTwo’s unique “feathering” system earlier than planned. The system works somewhat like the wing flaps that
airplanes use to slow for landing — except that SpaceShipTwo’s twin tails rotate up at a far more extreme angle, to a position that creates strong resistance and slows the descent. But while the co-pilot unlocked the system before planned, that action
Questions abound: Why did the co-pilot activate the system at that moment? Why did the tails begin to rotate without the co-pilot starting that process?
Investigators believe once the feathers were unlocked, “aerodynamic forces” buffeting the craft as it hurtled along at about 760 mph caused the feathers to start rotating, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said Monday. Within a few seconds, the craft began to disintegrate, NTSB investigators determined.
Media Arts Center program teaches career skills See ENMU-R, Page A3
Film, graphic design students gain ‘real world’ experience
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
Randal Seyler Photo
Alan Trever, Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell’s Media Arts Center instructor, discusses the film and graphic design programs at ENMU-R with the Roswell Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.
Students in the Media Arts Center programs at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell learn skills that they can put to use on film sets, giving them careers in the movie business. Alan Trever, an instructor with ENMU-R’s Media Arts Center for Film and Digital Media, said he likes
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TODAY’S FORECAST
to get to know the students so he can help them find a suitable career path. Trever spoke to the Roswell Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.
“We don’t want students who are starstruck,” Trever said. “We are looking for students who want to learn the craft of filmmaking.”
Skills students can learn in the film program include operating sound, building props, makeup, and even directing.
• SHIRLEY H. SEARS • HANS JACOB GOTTLIEB • ROBERT GAIL WHITEHEAD
Films that are currently being filmed in New Mexico include “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” T rever said, and “Aquaman.” “They are building a set for the movie ‘Aquaman’ in Deming, New Mexico,” he said. “Think about that for a minute.” The Media Arts Center for Film and Digital Media is a dynamic, cross-disciplinary program that pre-
• EARL (RED) LOUIS WORLEY • JOYCE HALLSTEN
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A8
pares students for the 21st century in digital filmmaking, animation, and graphic design, according to the ENMU-R website.
The MAC program focuses on the art, craft, and business of storytelling. Students choose one area of emphasis, but they study all aspects of the digital arts, whether they are aspiring writers, directors, cinematographers, animators, or graphic designers. CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8 COMICS .................B7 ENTERTAINMENT ...A10 FINANCIAL ..............B4
“We have one student who now, after three years, is one of the top assistant directors for ABC in the southwest,” T rever said. Students from the film program have gone on to work on a number of blockbuster films here in New Mexico. Trever earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from ENMU-Portales, and he was a photographer and
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........B8 LOTTERIES .............A2
See MAC, Page A3
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10