OBITUARIES/NATION/RECORDS
Roswell Daily Record
OBITUARIES
Dr. Curtis Ray Foster
Services for Dr. Curtis Ray Foster will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Hermosa Drive Church of Christ in Artesia. Viewing is from 10 a.m. to noon. Burial will be at Twin Oaks Memorial Park. Dr. Foster, 64, passed away Feb. 12, in Fort Worth, Texas. He was born Aug. 20, 1947, in Artesia, and was an avid athlete and hunter in his youth. Curtis received a DDS from Baylor College of Dentistry and practiced for many years in New Mexico and Texas. Survivors include wife Sharon of the home; mother Gladys; brothers Eugene Santo and John Foster; children Jeremy Foster,
PUBLIC RECORDS
Marriage Licenses Feb. 10 Cameron R. Meredith, 20, and Ashley N. Jessup, 23, both of Roswell. Christopher Michael Gabriel, 34, of Winnie, Texas, and Celia Marie Burton, 31, of Roswell. Abraham Ceja-Ruiz, 40, and Maria De Los Angeles Flores-Romero, 41, both of Roswell. Tomas Mendez, 48, and Debra Ann Bradshaw, 47, both of Leveland. Faustino R. Lopez, 34, and Lori Tarin, 31, both of Roswell.
Accidents Feb. 9 5:08 p.m. — 1900 N. Sycamore Ave; drivers — Susan Cunningham, 48, and Katherine A. Thomas, 18, both of Roswell. 6:57 p.m. — 907 N. Atkinson Ave. #6; drivers — vehicle owned by Bobby Freeman, and vehicle owned by Deborah Hendley, both of Roswell. 6:57 p.m. — 907 N. Atkinson Ave. #6; drivers — Anthony Barreras, 27, of Roswell. 7:00 p.m. — Parking lot of 701 E. Country Club
Misty Foster Carpenter, Micah Foster, Brooke Foster and Bron Foster; stepchildren Bradley Dunn and DeAnna Dunn Hurst; grandchildren Summer Guerin, Camille Brack, Sydney Carpenter, Jaxon Foster, Iain Foster, Adalyn Foster and Kairos Foster; and former wife Linda of Roswell. Curtis was preceded in death by his father, Carl Foster. He was loved and will be missed.
Leroy Larry Wilburn
Services are pending at Ballard Funeral Home and Crematory for Leroy Larry Wilburn, 71, who passed away Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012, in Roswell. A further announcement will be made once arrangements have been finalized.
Les Mason
A private memorial service will be held at a later date for Les Mason, age 85, of Roswell, who passed away Feb. 12, 2012, at a local nursing home. Friends may pay their respects online at lagronefuneralchapels.com Arrangements are under the direction of LaGrone Funeral Chapel.
Road; drivers — vehicle owned by Dianna Niece, of Roswell and unknown driver. 10:18 p.m. — Private property 4500 N. Main St.; drivers — vehicle owned by Lawrence Brady of Roswell, and unknown driver. 11:54 p.m. — North Main Street and College Blvd.; drivers — Caryn Lucero, 31, of Roswell. Feb. 11
1:07 p.m. — 2804 S. Wyoming Ave.; drivers — vehicle owned by Pauline Hagen, of Abilene, and Raymond Lujan, 39, of Roswell.
4:50 p.m. — Main and McGaffey streets; drivers — Magarita Falcon, 47, of Angeles, and Micheal Roberts, 33, of Phoenix. 4:55 p.m. — Main and Fifth streets; drivers — Christopher Pilley, 25, of Roswell. Feb. 12
1:15 p.m. — Garden Access, and Monroe Drive; drivers — Hector Hinojosa, 66, and Martha Perez, 32, both of Roswell.
US envoy to hold talks with NKorea in Beijing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. envoy will hold talks with North Korea on its nuclear program in Beijing next week, the first such negotiations since the death of the nation’s longtime leader Kim Jong Il. Glyn Davies, the U.S. envoy on North Korea, will meet Feb. 23 with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Monday. It will be the third round of bilateral talks since last summer, aimed at restarting six-nation aid-for-disarmament negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program. The reclusive nation pulled out of the multi-nation talks in 2009. But it will be the first such contact since Kim died Dec. 17 and power passed to his untested youngest son, Kim Jong Un. It could signal the new regime’s willingness to deal with Washington and address international concerns over its nuclear and missile programs. Shortly before the elder Kim died of a heart attack, the U.S. and impoverished North Korea appeared close to a deal on food aid. The North was expected to sus-
pend uranium enrichment — the main hurdle to restarting the six-party talks. Nuland said the primary focus of next week’s meeting would be the six-party talks. But the topic of food aid — which had been discussed with Pyongyang in December by Robert King, U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights issues — could also be on the agenda even though King will not be in the U.S. delegation. The U.S. has repeatedly said that any decision on food aid would be driven by North Korea’s need for it and U.S. confidence that any aid would not be diverted to the powerful military. The North requested the food aid over a year ago. The last U.S.-funded food distributions ended in 2009 after North Korea expelled staff monitoring its distribution. Since pulling out of the six-party talks three years ago, the North has conducted a long-range rocket test and its second-ever nuclear test in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. It has also unveiled a uranium enrichment program that could give it a new means for making fissile material that could go into a nuclear weapon.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
A7
Romney’s top fundraisers remain anonymous WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite criticism of Fannie Mae by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, his campaign accepted nearly $280,000 in donations raised by a registered lobbyist who once represented the government mortgage giant and whose clients now include a private equity firm and the drug company Pfizer. Yet Romney has not identified all of his sofundraising called “bundlers” who have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, even after President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign released the names of his top fundraisers. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich also haven’t disclosed their bundlers. Ron Paul’s campaign has said it doesn’t use them. For more than a decade, since the election of George W. Bush in 2000, presidential campaigns have identified their bundlers. In an age of “super” political action committees, which can pull in millions of dollars from donors, anonymous bundlers still matter to modern presidential campaigns. Like Wayne Berman, the chairman of Ogilvy Government Relations who gathered $279,075 for Romney in 2011, these are well-connected executives who collect or direct multiple individual contributions of up to $2,500 to a campaign in amounts that can range from $50,000 to more than $500,000. The lack of disclosure prevents voters from knowing who wields influence within a presidential campaign. Keeping their identities secret could end up stinging Romney — like the mishandled release of his income tax returns — if voters conclude he is withholding politically damaging information. Federal law requires only that candidates disclose the identities of bundlers who also are lobbyists, registered which the Romney campaign has done. Berman
and 15 other lobbyists representing a wide range of interests raised nearly $2.2 million for Romney in 2011, according to Federal Election Commission records. Their clients included investment firms and a mortgage processing company accused of “robo-signing” foreclosure documents. But just as disclosing income tax statements is commonplace for leading presidential candidates, voluntarily identifying bundlers has also become standard practice. A corporate executive or a Wall Street broker who acts as a bundler can wield just as much influence as a lobbyist. “Bundlers pose a very similar threat of corruption of candidates and of fice holders just as unlimited contributions would if made directly to the candidate or of fice holder,” said Paul Ryan, associate legal counsel at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center. R yan said the rise of super PACs, which can’t lawfully coordinate their spending with a candidate’s campaign, haven’t diluted the importance of bundlers. “At the end of the day, candidates want money in their own campaign accounts because they have full control over how it is spent,” he said. A Romney campaign spokeswoman did not respond to an email from The Associated Press asking when, or if, Romney intends to identify his bundlers. Obama’s re-election campaign on Jan. 31 released the names of more than 440 bundlers who collected close to $75 million in 2011, including 61 people who each raised at least $500,000. The Obama campaign said it does not accept contributions from lobbyists. But the list includes people involved in the business of influencing government. Michael Kempner, for example, is president and chief executive officer of MWW Group, a public relations firm with a large lobbying business. Kemp-
ner, who raised more than $500,000 for Obama’s reelection bid, is not himself a registered lobbyist. Also on Obama’s list are two fundraisers linked to Solyndra LLC, the California solar company that received a $528 million Energy Department loan and then later went bankrupt, prompting a federal investigation. Obama’s reelection campaign also received about $200,000 in contributions bundled by family members of a Mexican casino owner who fled the U.S. after facing drug and fraud charges. The Obama campaign said it has returned the money. More than 1,000 bundlers collectively raised $152.2 million for the 2008 campaigns of Obama and his opponent, Republican Sen. John McCain, according to the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. Romney’s Republican opponents also haven’t identified their bundlers. But the stakes are higher for Romney, who holds a huge fundraising lead over his rivals. Romney’s campaign raised nearly $57 million in 2011 from individual contributions, which are capped by law at $2,500 each for primary and general elections. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who stunned Romney by sweeping contests last week in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, raised just $2.2 million last year. Gingrich, the for mer House speaker, raised $12.6 million last year and Paul, a Texas congressman, collected $25.5 million. Santorum, Gingrich and Paul have not reported having any registered lobbyists who are bundlers, according to the FEC records. Money is the lubricant for presidential campaigns. But Santorum, seeking to maintain momentum from his recent victories, sought to use Romney’s financial dominance against him with a David-versus-
AP photo
In this Feb. 10, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks in Portland, Maine.
Goliath message. Among registered lobbyists who bundled contributions for Romney is Patrick J. Durkin, managing director of Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank. Durkin bundled $774,750, according to disclosure records filed with Congress. lobbyistAnother bundler, T. Martin Fiorentino Jr. of The Fiorentino Group, represents Lender Processing Services, a mortgage processing company in Jacksonville, Fla. Nevada’s attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against LPS in December that accuses the company of filing fraudulent documents in the months before the state’s housing market collapsed. LPS has said the allegations are false and last month asked a judge to dismiss the case. Romney may be keeping the names of his bundlers under wraps to avoid drawing attention to the emphasis his campaign is placing on large individual contributions and the role that Wall Street and the financial services industry are playing in helping to generate money, said Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert and a professor of government at Colby College in Maine.