Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 71 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
The Roswell Police Department held its Active Gunman Training Program, Tuesday. The 8-hour program was initiated by Deputy Police Chief, then Commander, Jody Scifres in 1999 as a reaction to the shootings that occurred in April of that year at Columbine High Scvhool in Littleton, Colo., where - PAGE A2
March 23, 2011
Wetlands get international designation JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
RPD HOLDS GUNMAN TRAINING
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Bottomless Lakes State Park were recognized as international wetlands of global importance, Tuesday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and New Mexico State Parks led a ceremony detailing the recognition and the parks’ special international designation by the Ramsar Convention. The designation was the first for New Mexico and only the 29th in the United States.
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
“This is something to be proud of, not only for the state park and the refuge, but for the citizens of Roswell and Chaves County,” Joe Saenz, Bitter Lake manager said. The Ramsar designation puts Roswell and its wetlands and wildlife parks in “very good company,” Joy Nicholopoulos, deputy regional director of FWS Region 2, exclaimed during the ceremony that included local, federal and state officials. Ramsar designations around the globe include the Florida Everglades, Brazil’s Amazonian Mami-
rau Reserve and now Roswell’s Artesian Wetlands. Roswell Mayor Del Jurney also had words at the ceremony, and handed out the official Ramsar citations of wetlands to Sanez and Joe Kasuboski, Bottomless Lakes park superintendent. Inferencing the Roswell Incident, Jurney said Ramsar designation once again puts the community “on the international field of excellence.” He thanked Bitter Lake and Bottomless See WETLANDS, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
Alan Fiala, southeast regional manager for state parks, views ducks through a Carl Zeiss Diascope during the International Wetlands ceremony, Tuesday.
US’ no-fly control to end soon
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Burglars hit 4, early Thursday • Man found shot • Camel draws crowd • ‘Overwhelmed’ vet gets new home • Rio Pecos Wag-n-Walk howling success
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
CSI Roswell: Girl Scouts crack case Girl Scouts study "Bob", a forensic facial reconstruction mannequin, while learning about the science of crime scene investigation during a CSI Roswell camp, Tuesday.
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Bloody footsteps through the kitchen of the Girl Scouts Service
COYOTES WIN GAME 1
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OBITUARIES
Carol Jean Jankus Paul Hutsell Floie Edith Seitz Onita Pearl Harrison Judy Lucero Geraldine C. Coons Charles ‘Randy’ Brown Baudelio Huerta - PAGE A6
HIGH ...81˚ LOW ....41˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
watching a movie and eating goldfish crackers. It was up to the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest to crack the
Pearce talks timber in Cloudcroft FDA halts some MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
In the stadium that once played host to the single greatest home-run hitting season — sans steroids — in baseball history, it was a hard-hit single in the seventh that gave Roswell its third win of the season on Tuesday. The Coyotes rallied out of a 4-0 hole with seven runs in the final five innings to beat 5A Clovis 7-6 at Joe Bauman Stadium. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S
Center led a gaggle of budding investigators to a shocking crime scene — two alien balloons were murdered Monday night while the pink and purple couple were
WASHINGTON (AP) — The fourday air assault in Libya will soon achieve the objectives of establishing a no-fly zone and averting a massacre of civilians by Moammar Gadhafi’s troops, President Barack Obama said Tuesday, adding that despite squabbling among allies, the United States will hand off control of the operation to other countries within days. Obama said he has “absolutely no doubt” that a non-U.S. command entity can run the operation, although perhaps the most obvious candidate — the NATO military alliance — has yet to sort out a political agreement to do so. The president said NATO was meeting to “work out some of the mechanisms.” Despite the cost — not only in effort, resources and potential casualties, but also in taxpayer dollars — Obama said he believes the American public is supportive of such a mission. Obama spoke as one senior
Matthew Arco Photo
John Braziel, owner of Big Beaver Clearing, gives Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., a tour of forests near Cloudcroft, Monday.
Congressman Steve Pearce, R-N.M., met with constituents in Cloudcroft Tuesday morning to discuss legislation he recently introduced on the House floor that would breathe life into the state’s timber industry, he said. The lawmaker blamed an over-regulated federal government for reducing the number of jobs in the timber industry in the past few decades. Pearce told members of the community, See PEARCE, Page A3
See CSI, Page A3
See LIBYA Page A3
Japan food imports WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it will halt imports of dairy products and produce from the area of Japan where a nuclear reactor is leaking radiation. The FDA said those foods will be detained at entry and will not be sold to the public. The agency previously said it would just step up screening of those foods. Other foods imported
from Japan, including seafood, still will be sold to the public but screened first for radiation. Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex has been leaking radiation after it was damaged in a devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this month. The sea near the nuclear plant has also shown elevated levels of radioactive
See FDA, Page A3
Bill would offer treatment See ’ya later, alligator! Enjoy Florida to some drug offenders
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Allowing the option of sending some people charged with drug possession to treatment rather than jail will benefit the state by reducing court costs and repeat offenders, a state lawmaker said. Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, estimates the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act he sponsored in the House will remove 2,000 to 3,000 cases a year from New Mexico’s courts, saving $18 million. If cases can be diverted away from the courts, “that’s more time and energy the district attorney and the court could devote to violent criminals,” said Maestas, who was a prosecutor for five years. In addition, treatment “deals with the crux of the
crime, which is the addiction itself. So instead of penalizing the possession, you attack the addiction,” he said. Sen. Richard Martinez, a for mer magistrate who sponsored the measure in the Senate, said treatment, not jail time, will reduce the number of repeat offenders. “We’ve got lives here at stake,” said Martinez, DEspanola. “It’s more important to treat them than incarcerate them.” It also makes economic sense, Martinez said. Treatment is less expensive than incarceration, and offenders, rather than the state, will pay for its cost, he said. The measure would go into effect July 1 if signed See BILL, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Roswell’s American alligators, confiscated by Animal Control on Friday, have found a new home in Florida. The animals were discovered by the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force as of ficials were executing a search warrant.
The two juvenile alligators were being kept in overcrowded conditions in a 30-gallon aquarium. Orlando Padilla, Animal Control officer, said it is illegal to keep the American alligators and the owners were in violation of city ordinance because the alligators were kept in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. However, the law
required Animal Services maintain the animals for 72 hours until they spoke with the owners. Municipal Court Judge Larry Loy signed a court order, Monday, to release the animals, which allowed them to be transported elsewhere. Meanwhile Animal Services kennel manager Tammie McKee’s attempts to find placement within the state had met with negative results. According to Animal Services supervisor Joseph Pacheco, the final placement was a cooperative effort coordinated by the Roswell Humane Society working through the offices of the Animal Humane Assn. of New Mexico in Albuquerque and ABQ BioPark Zoo. See GATOR, Page A3