Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
GOP to choose House speaker Saturday Vol. 123, No. 268 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
November 7, 2014
FRIDAY
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Ezzell running for majority whip
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Christmas came early for Republican members of the New Mexico House of Representatives who won a majority in the body Tuesday after wandering 60 years in the legislative wilderness as the minority party of the House. House Republicans and Republicans-elect will caucus Saturday in Albuquerque to select their leaders, including a new speaker of the 70-member body, said Emily Strickler, communications director for the Republican Party of New Mexico.
Ezzell for whip
Roswell-area rancher state Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell told the Daily Record she is running for House majority whip, the No. 3 leadership position in the House. “I think that people realize I am not a politician,” she said. “I’m an everyday working person. I think I bring fresh insight to the floor.” House Republicans entered election night with 33 of the body’s seats, but increased their numbers after picking up four seats to reverse the numbers and take a 37-33 majority.
The field of Republicans seeking leadership positions, such as House speaker, has been opened up by the retirement of current House Minority Floor Leader Don Bratton of Hobbs, who did seek reelection in 2014. Current Minority Whip Nate Gentry of Albuquerque, a contender to become speaker, did win re-election Tuesday. One thing is certain: Republicans will not chose Democrat House Speaker Ken Martinez of Grants as their leader. “We deserve this and hopefully some great
changes will come from it,” Strickler said. “We’ve been plagued by the progressive agenda for some time here in the New Mexico Legislature.”
Saturday after noon’s House Republican caucus will likely determine the next House speaker, majority floor leader, majority whip and committee chairs. The last time House Republicans chose a speaker was after the general election of November 1952, when the United States conducted its first nuclear
Tabitha Denny, instructor and owner of CrossFit Vision in Roswell, will host the CrossFit Throwdown this weekend, beginning on Saturday in Cielo Grande Park.
Republican state Reps. Bob Wooley and Candy Spence Ezzell, both of Roswell, pause for a photo election night at Chaves County Republican Party headquarters in Roswell. Ezzell is running for majority whip in the New Mexico House of Representatives, which will be controlled by Republicans in January.
CrossFit competition, Food Truck Throwdown come to town Saturday See HOUSE, Page A2
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
Randal Seyler Photo
Max Scally Photo
Saturday will bring great food and fitness buf fs together at Cielo Grande Park for the Food T ruck Throwdown and the Hangar 84 Warrior Throwdown. The first ever Hangar 84 Warrior Throwdown, a competition sponsored by CrossFit Vision of Roswell, will be held Saturday and Sunday. A portion of the proceeds raised with the CrossFit competition will be donated to Jerami Stovall, a 28year -old man diagnosed with cancer. CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program that is favored by many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations
units, martial artists and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes around the world. “I’ve got 42 athletes ranging from novice up to RX, athletes who have been around for a while,” said Tabitha Denny, instructor and owner of CrossFit Vision in Roswell. “We will also be raffling off a 42-inch TV and some autographed shirts by two CrossFit athletes — Chris Spealler and Andrea Ager — they are famous in the CrossFit community,” Denny said. Spealler and Ager gave Denny autographed shirts so they could auction them off. “This is our first one, and I hope it will grow next year and at least double in size,” Denny said. The Roswell event has attracted athletes from all over New Mexico and part of Texas.
“There are five workouts total, and everybody does four workouts,” Denny said, explaining the way a CrossFit Throwdown works. “The athletes earn points for each workout, then the top individuals in each division move to the fifth workout.”
Typically the top two to five athletes compete in the final workout and the top finishers are the winners.
The competition workouts include different types of lifting, sprinting, a variety of skills. According to crossfit.com, the workout uses the same program for elderly individuals with heart disease as it does for cage fighters — the difference is the program scales load and intensity to the individual.
Police investigate shot Committee declines action on inventory that injured man’s foot Police are investigating a shooting that occurred this morning in the area of South Garden Avenue and East Deming Street. A 26-year -old Roswell man was injured by a single gunshot to the right foot during an altercation, according to a news release from the Roswell Police Department. The man was taken to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center for treatment. Police received a 911
call at 9:19 a.m. on Thursday, alerting police to the shooting.
SUBMITTED BY RPD
used at a variety of sites, from large retailers and convenience store/gas stations to a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant. In one instance, “funny money” was given to an icecream vendor who sells the treats from a truck she drives around town. These nine instances that occurred at local businesses have been reported to police since Sept. 1. In a 10th instance related to
Detectives have two potential suspects in the case, according to police, and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Roswell Police Department at 624-6770 or Chaves County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-5948477.
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
City Councilor and Finance Committee Chair man Caleb Grant refused to approve the city’s fixed asset inventory certification on Thursday when he discovered two reports were incomplete. The fixed asset inventory certification is required as part of the city’s auditing process, City Budget Supervisor Toni Reeves told the committee, which consists of Grant and Councilors Jason Perry and Art Sandoval. Sandoval, however, was absent from Thursday’s meeting. The fixed asset inventory needs to be approved by the full City Council in November to meet the deadline
requirement of Dec. 1, Reeves said. “What is presented is 99 percent complete,” she said. Reports from transit and the garage were yet to be turned in to Reeves, she said. “Why not?” Grant asked. “I’m not going to do anything with this today. You’re telling me it’s not correct.” “What if we schedule a special meeting prior to the City Council meeting?” asked Perry. “We can make it as late as possible so Toni can get the rest of the information for us.” City Manager Larry Fry said the federal requirements for asset inventory changed over a decade ago to include fixed infrastructure assets, such as roads, bridges and water lines, making the asset inventory process both extensive and complex.
Counterfeit money showing up at businesses Fake bills seen locally are often of poor quality In the past two months, Roswell businesses have reported nine instances to police in which someone used or tried to use counterfeit money to purchase merchandise, the Roswell Police Department reports. In most of the cases, fake $100 bills were passed by the customer to the store clerk or other employee. The fake money has been
HIGH 71 LOW 43
TODAY’S FORECAST
counter feit money, a woman who was being arrested for an unrelated crime was discovered to have fake money in her purse.
amount of fake moneyrelated fraud cases usually seen in the city, according to the RPD detective who handles most of the cases involving counter feit money.
While the manufacture of counterfeit money is a federal crime that can result in up to 15 years in prison, the use of counter feit money locally is classified as fraud. The recent number of such cases indicates a slight rise from the
The detective says many of the counterfeit bills that have been passed locally are of poor quality and “look horrible.” Others, though, look more similar to the real thing at first glance and can go unno-
• LLOYD HAROLD CARRELL
• VIRGIE PURCELLA
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B6
Reeves showed the committee members a stack of binders approximately three feet thick. “This is all the inventories for every asset, and there are just two of us who handle it,” she said. She explained that for the first half of the year, her department is busy preparing the city’s budget for approval in July. “Then we have to start to work on the inventory.” Perry asked Reeves to get the finalized copy of the information to the committee before the special meeting, which will be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 13, prior to the November City Council meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. See FINANCE, Page A3
ticed by a busy store clerk. Many times, the counterfeit is simply a photocopy of a real bill, with some fakes easier to spot than others. However, much of the fake money has gone unnoticed until the customer is gone from the store. In only two of the nine local cases since CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8 COMICS .................B7 ENTERTAINMENT .....B8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
See THROWDOWN, Page A3
Courtesy Photo
Sept. 1 have the fakes been noticed before the purchase was completed. Both times, the store clerk or manager seized the fake money and the customer fled. A photocopy — as well as some other forms of counSee COUNTERFEIT, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........B8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10