Roswell Daily Record
Windstorm rips the West THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 291 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
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TOGETHER AGAIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a potent political tableau, President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton stepped into a construction site Friday to push a plan for more jobs through energy efficient buildings — a joint appearance that Obama used to prod Congress to extend a current payroll tax cut. - PAGE A7
December 3, 2011
AP Photo
Crews work to clear a fallen tree and other debris caused by the Santa Ana winds, from Orange Grove Boulevard, in Pasadena, Calif., Friday.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Violent winds that wreaked havoc in Wester n states eased Friday but hundreds of thousands of people remained without power and crews struggled to clean up smashed trees, toppled power lines and debris-strewn roadways. In Southern California, where the damage was the worst, several cities maintained states of local emergency for a second day and a dozen school districts remained closed. A street in the Los Angeles suburb of Temple City See WIND, Page A3
NM PREPS FOR WINTER BLAST ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Wind has turned to snow in New Mexico, as wintery weather shut parts of Interstate 40 for a few hours and caused dangerous driving conditions on Raton Pass. Forecasters expected the worst of the storm to hit western and central New Mexico Friday night into today. Meanwhile, 88-mph winds shut down Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway and Silver City was hit with heavy snow.
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SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
Jimmy Copeland, from front, Vern Aguilar and Albert Silva attend a thank you dinner honoring Vietnam Veterans of America Southeast New Mexico Transportation Network drivers.
Vets honor van drivers, Elks at luncheon JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Jim Boeheim maintained his usual stoic facade Friday night while his unbeaten Syracuse basketball team notched another victory. Behind the postgame microphone, it was a different story. The coach returned to the subject of his fired former assistant coach, Bernie Fine, and apologized for his initial remarks involving the men who accused Fine of molestating them as minors. Two of the three men were former Syracuse ballboys. Fine has maintained his innocence. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Leslie W. Fulton - PAGE A3
HIGH ...56˚ LOW ....25˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
NTSB updates crash JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
INSIDE
ORANGE EDGE GATORS
The National Weather Service says the heaviest band of snow is expected along the Interstate 40 corridor from Vaughn and Santa Rosa to Tucumcari. State transportation officials say eastbound I40 at Sedillo Hill was closed Friday evening due to multiple accidents and snow was falling in Tijeras Canyon. Some areas of the state are expected to see a foot of snow. A winter weather advisory remains in effect until early today.
Each week war veterans are transported to their various medical appointments through the Southeastern New Mexico Vietnam Veterans of America’s
Chapter 968’s van program. The SENM chapter held a luncheon, with food provided by Martins Capital Cafe, to honor the 19 program drivers, at its offices on Second Street, Friday afternoon. The program began
around eight years ago, through the efforts of Vietnam vets Frank Carrillo, Frank Ramirez, Jimmy Copland and Perry Stockard. Carrillo, director of the Roswell chapter, said the program generated from the need of trans-
portation for local vets. Originally, the drivers used their own vehicles and paid for the gas. As the program has grown, the organization has received grants and money from donors to See VETS, Page A3
National Transportation Safety Board completed its on-site investigation, late Thursday night, of the plane crash that occurred on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Lt. Robert McDonald, public information officer for the New Mexico State Police, confirmed that pilot Jerry Don Greene, 47, of Snyder and Tracy Martinez, 30, of San Angelo died in the crash. “There were two fatalities and three dead dogs,” said Nicholas Worrell, public affairs officer for NTSB. The Cessna 182 left Snyder, Texas, on Saturday morning for Ruidoso, where Greene owned a vacation home. During the last recorded transmission, Greene inquired about the weather conditions. He told air traffic controllers that he was going to return to
GOP seeks support for End of the line? Announcement today Soc Sec payroll tax plan WASHINGTON (AP) — Courting disaffected conservatives, House Republican leaders offered Friday to overtur n a pair of Obama administration environmental policies and avert a deep cut in payments to doctors treating Medicare patients as part of legislation renewing a Social Security payroll tax cut through 2012. The tax cut, due to expire on Dec. 31, “hasn’t stimulated the economy at all,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, one of several
Republicans who emerged from a closed-door meeting and spoke unfavorably about the proposed extension at the heart of President Barack Obama’s jobs program. “But over the long term, it does add to our deficit,” he added. A one-year extension would cost an estimated $120 billion. The expense would be of fset by cuts elsewhere in the budget, but Republican critics
AP Photo
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain hugs a supporter in Rock Hill, S.C., Friday.
ATLANTA (AP) — Rapidly becoming a mere footnote in the presidential race, Herman Cain sent mixed signals Friday
See CRASH, Page A2
on whether he would abandon his beleaguered White House bid today after a woman’s allegation of an extramarital affair. He said he would make a “major announcement” on whether he would press on — at an event still being billed as the grand opening of a new headquarters. It is the latest — and perhaps final — twist in a campaign saga that has taken the Georgia businessman from unknown longshot to surprise frontrunner to embattled tabloid subject. He arrived at his suburban Atlanta home on Friday afternoon to talk with his wife of 42 years, Gloria, about whether to press on after his campaign See CAIN, Page A3
Jim Ridgway: ‘There’s a place for you in God. Share good news’ See GOP, Page A2
STORY AND PHOTO BY VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............A6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WASHINGTON .........A7 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Jim Ridgway
Jim Ridgway has sailed around the world and fulfilled several roles in life, but he came back to his native Roswell, in the end, to answer a higher calling. He is perhaps best known as a local volunteer who avidly helps Johnny Gonzales of the Roswell Community Volunteer Program. He was also one of the masterminds behind the GIG, a faith-based, open-air weekly event that takes place on the Chaves County Courthouse lawn. But the twists and turns that led Ridgway to the life
he leads today began when he was a teenager; when he suffered a terrible motorcycle accident that was eventually followed by the decision to leave the smalltown life, albeit briefly. In 1968, Ridgway was in a devastating motorcycle accident. “I lay in a body cast for a year,” Ridgway said. Linda Brewington, his childhood sweetheart, helped nurse him back to health. “She pretty much took
care of me for a year,” Ridgway said of Brewington. When he found his health the then 18-year -old who had been born and raised in Roswell saw an opportunity to leave the small-town life and explore the world. He also saw a chance to start a career. So, just a year shy of graduating from Roswell High School, Ridgway quit school to join the Navy. See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3