Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 278 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
19 noncitizens may have voted in NM
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Demi Moore is ending her marriage to fellow actor Ashton Kutcher, she told The Associated Press on Thursday. Moore, 49, and Kutcher, 33, were wed in September 2005. The couple’s relationship became tabloid fodder in recent months as rumors swirled about .... - PAGE B4
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SANTA FE (AP) — At least 100 of New Mexico’s registered voters appear to be noncitizens, and 19 of those people have cast ballots in past elections, according to a report issued Thursday by the state’s top election official. Secretary of State Dianna Duran, whose office has been reviewing the records
SPLITSVILLE
November 18, 2011
of New Mexico’s 1.1 million registered voters, said she’s referring the cases of 104 people to the attorney general’s office for additional investigation. She also has asked the individuals for clarification about their registration records. Under the law, only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote. The secretary of state’s
Commission OKs zoning changes
Statewide registration records contain 2,608 records with duplicate Social Security numbers. Those are cases in which different individuals have the same number.
office has been comparing information in voter registration files with driver’s license data, cross-checking Social Security num-
bers, names and addresses to verify the accuracy of the state’s registration rolls and detect potential voter fraud.
Duran, a Republican, supports a change in law to require voters to show identification at the polls, and earlier this year she raised questions whether some noncitizens may be wrongly registered to vote in the state. The issue See VOTE, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Ignoring a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation for denial, the Chaves County Commission unanimously approved zoning changes from agricultural to commercial and from agricultural to mixed use residential for properties west of Southeast Main Street/US Highway 285 and south of Sagebrush Valley Road/State Road 13, at its regular meeting, Thursday. Hagerman resident Marshall Decker submitted both zoning requests because he wishes to develop an RV and manufactured home park in the area. Some residents of the area where the park would be developed objected to the change based on their concerns for water availability, increased traffic, trash and litter and septic systems. In its approval of both requested zoning changes, the commission included the stipulations that no shallow or domestic wells will be drilled for the property and that water would be obtained by Decker transferring in a minimum of 17-acre feet of senior Artesian water rights and providing a water distribution system to serv-
Mark Wilson Photo
First-graders at Monterrey Elementary School compete in the sport of speed stacking, Thursday.
Will Monterrey make ‘Guinness’? VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Monterrey Elementary School may soon be named in “Guinness World Records.” In an attempt to join a world-
wide effort to break a record, Monterrey students put in 30 minutes of sport stacking, Thursday, in the school’s gym and in one of its portables. Participants around the world devoted time to sport
stacking as part of Guinness World Records Day, a day devoted to the performance of unusual activities for the sake of setting a world record.
Romero dismisses Montoya case Tommy Peña gets 40 years on 8 fed counts See ZONING, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
GATEWAY READY FOR MELROSE
Each week offers a different challenge in high school football. Last week the task for the Gateway Christian Warriors was to stop a high-powered Mountainair offense and avenge a Week 1 loss to the Mustangs. The Warriors put check marks next to each of those challenges and beat Mountainair to advance to the 8-Man state championship game where a new team and set of challenges awaits. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Steve Contreras • Howard Hicks • Lois Green - PAGE A6
HIGH ...77˚ LOW ....42˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
Agreeing with the defense that the prosecution “failed in its burden of proof” and did not place the defendant at the scene of the killing, 5th District Court Judge Freddie Romero dismissed the case of the
State of New Mexico versus Frank Montoya, Thursday. The trial was conducted under heightened security and with attempts made to restrict the number of observers in the courtroom. Montoya was charged with the April 14 killing of Rodney Sanchez, 31, during a
shoot-out on East Byrne Street where his brother, Brandon Lucero, 19, was also killed. The case resulted in the 14-year -old defendant being transferred from the Chaves County Juvenile Detention Center to a facility in another county following a series of death
RECORD STAFF REPORTS
See ROMERO, Page A3
A Roswell man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces to a total of 40 years imprisonment for his conviction on eight federal offenses stemming from a carjacking and drive-by shooting in Roswell in April
is contaminating drinking water supplies. Industry officials in New Mexico contend the process is well regulated and that there have been no documented cases of contamination in the state that stem from fracking. “We felt like it was appropriate to step out and advance a rule that would create a registry that would be accessible so people could view that and understand what is being inject-
ed deep underground to stimulate these wells,” said Steve Henke, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. Some companies operating in the state already voluntarily disclose details about their fracking fluids, but Henke said the practice should be mandatory. The commission made some changes before adopting the rule. The final language is expected to be issued in January.
See MONTERREY, Page A3
2010. Tommy Peña, 26, was convicted on charges including conspiracy, carjacking, using and carrying a firear m during and in relation to a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of firearms and
Regulators unanimously approve fracking disclosure rule
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico oil and natural gas producers will be required to disclose the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing operations under a proposal approved Thursday by the state Oil Conservation Commission. The commission made a unanimous decision to support the disclosure rule during a hearing in Santa Fe after taking testimony from industry experts and watchdog groups.
The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association submitted the proposal in an effort to address public concerns about the practice, which involves pumping water, sand and other chemical compounds underground to free oil and gas trapped in the rock. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been used for decades to enhance well production, but federal regulators have been investigating whether the practice
Incoming! MESA students build trebuchets VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B4 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT ...B11 FINANCIAL .............A7 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................BA WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Goddard High School MESA students compete in the Trebuchet Project by hurling pumpkins, Thursday morning.
Goddard High School students obliterated pumpkins at the school, Thursday, all in the name of science. Students involved in the school’s Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement club joined forces with those studying physics to build trebuchets — a kind of catapult that uses a counterweight to propel its arm, which usually has an See MESA, Page A2
See PENA, Page A3
Instead of posting the ingredients of fracking fluids to an online registry called FracFocus, commissioners want companies to list the chemicals and their volumes on a form that will be submitted to the state Oil Conservation Division. Gwen Lachelt with Earthworks’ Oil and Gas Accountability Project was disappointed with the commission’s decision.
Judge Loy seeks re-election
See FRACKING, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Roswell Municipal Judge Larry G. Loy announced his intent this month to run for re-election. Municipal judge candidates and five City Council seats will be on the ballot in the March city election. In a letter regarding his re-election, Loy listed several community commitments that have been successfully met under his tenure. Loy helped to reduce jail costs and free up funds that were needed for other community activities through partnerships with city and county
Judge Larry G. Loy
administrations. He also explored and utilized alterSee LOY, Page A3