Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 77 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
FARLEY GRANGER DEAD AT 85 NEW YORK (AP) — Farley Granger, the 1950s bobby sox screen idol who starred in the Alfred Hitchcock classics “Rope” and “Strangers on a Train” has died. He was 85. Granger died Sunday of natural causes, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City .... - PAGE B6
TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• RPD seeks shooting suspect • First a fire guts the house, then .... • DA moves to dismiss Harris case • Estancia topples NMMI for Classic title • Demons pound Capitan
INSIDE SPORTS
March 30, 2011
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
US Tomahawks hit Libyan armories
AP Photo
Secretary of State Hillary Rodam Clinton during a press conference after the Libya Conference at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, Tuesday.
Feds eye county over health care
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping up attacks far from the frontline fighting, a U.S. Navy ship fired 22 Tomahawk cruise missiles at weapon storage sites around Tripoli on Tuesday, a day after President Barack Obama said the U.S. was moving into more of a backseat role in the Libya military campaign. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, held talks in London with an envoy from the Libyan political opposition group trying to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi. In Washington, under
Diggin’ it
questioning by Congress, NATO’s top commander, U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, said officials had seen “flickers” of possible al-Qaida and Hezbollah involvement with the rebel forces. But Stavridis, testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, said there was no evidence of significant numbers within the political opposition group’s leadership. The Navy Tomahawks targeted storage sites for surface-to-surface missiles near the Libyan capital, while combat aircraft of the U.S. and its partners in an
international air campaign struck at ammunition storage depots and other military targets in wester n Libya. The rebels, though, were reported in full retreat after trying to march on Sirte, a city about halfway between Tripoli and the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi. All 22 Tomahawks were launched from the USS Barry, a guided missile destroyer in the Mediterranean, according to a U.S. defense official. It was the highest number of TomaSee LIBYA, Page A8
MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
Chaves County officials say intensified scrutiny by the federal government on how New Mexico administers the state’s indigent health care services may have a harmful effect on the county’s ability to provide medical care to its most needy residents. The news came in a statement issued by the Chaves County Commission late last week after local officials drastically lowered the amount of money set aside to send to the state for matching funds from the federal government under New Mexico’s Sole Community Provider Program. The program requires counties to send funds to the state, which then draw matching federal dollars that are paid to local hospitals for providing health care services for the indigent. See FEDS, Page A8
Mark Wilson Photo
Roswell Job Corps electrical wiring students dig a trench on the grounds of S.O.Y. Mariach Cultural and Education Center, Tuesday, preparing the area for future festivals. The students will eventually wire the area with electricity, which can be utilized by vendors during the festivals.
Families file against Griffin Residents unhappy about trailer law JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
CREDITORS SUE BRYANT DALLAS (AP) — In the 18 months before Dez Bryant signed with the Dallas Cowboys, he apparently spent like a superstar. He bought at least seven men’s watches and two more for women. He paid $65,500 for a diamond cross made of white gold and $60,000 for a custom charm. He ordered a set of dog tags made of white gold and diamonds, and all sorts of other .... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Wilbur Lee James • Laura “Rosie” Savage • Victorio M. Fuentez • Doane Morgenthaler • Ruby Hilliard • Lukas Tyler Breeden • John Matthew Verespy • Charles Corzine - PAGE B9
HIGH ...76˚ LOW ....41˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
Family members of shooting victims John Bugarin and Johnny Garcia filed a class action lawsuit against Deputy District Attor ney John Griffin, Monday. A motion from defense attorney Gary C. Mitchell was heard on Friday in Judge Freddie Romero’s court to dismiss the charges against Larry Harris. Harris, 48, is charged with the Jan. 12, 2000, killing of John Bugarin. During the 2000 police investigation, Harris admitted to shooting Bugarin in self defense. The 10-year -old cold case was reopened at the instigation of Sherif f’s Deputy John Wayne Davis, for mer Roswell police detective and the
investigating officer at the time. The Sherif f’s Of fice brought in Supervisory Special Agent Robert Morton to view the scene at Preferred Pipes and Tobacco Shop, 1805 S. Sunset Ave. Morton concluded that the evidence refuted Harris’s testimony. Harris was extradited from Lubbock in April 2010 to face one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Of ficials believe the Bugarin case and the September 1994 murder of Johnny Garcia are linked. Harris’s wife was married to Garcia at the time of his murder. Immediately after the dismissal hearing, father Enrique Bugarin said, “I am of the belief he (Griffin) is being discriminat-
Dusty crops
ing. He is being negligent in deciding what cases to prosecute.” The notice filed in District Court on Monday says “the basis for the lawsuit is ... Selective Prosecution, Discrimination, Negligence, failure to properly per for m the duties of a Public Service.” Griffin was unwilling to comment about the lawsuit. According to federal law prosectors are immune from civil action. Nearly 35 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors cannot face civil lawsuits about how they handle criminal cases in court, and unanimously upheld that decision in January 2009. j.palmer@roswell-record.com
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
There’s only one area in the city where mobile homes can be lawfully placed next to residential homes, but the residents of the neighborhood are none to pleased about it. A handful of angry householders met with the mayor last week to complain about the nearly 30year-old zoning ordinance after a 1977 Bain trailer moved into the South Highlands Subdivision, part of a neighborhood off East Reed Street in southeast Roswell, earlier in the month. Roberto Ramos, who lives seven lots down from the trailer, says he is worried about property values decreasing, especially after he remodelled the house he bought in 2006.
“This house, because of what I’ve done, is probably worth $30,000 or $40,000. With the trailer there, it's going to be worth less,” Ramos said. Longtime South Highlands resident Martha Anderson says she thinks the zoning ordinance is discriminatory since the neighborhood is predominately “upper poor.” “We’re property owners, taxpayers,” she said. “This would not be allowed on the north side, or Enchanted Hills, or anywhere else.” City zoning administrator Louis Jaramillo says mobile homes are allowed in the South Highlands Subdivision and multiple other subdivisions in the neighborhood based on a “conditional use” outlined in ZonSee TRAILER, Page A8
Gov. looks at line-item veto of tax
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
A crop duster sprays a farm field near Dexter, Friday afternoon, under clear, blue skies.
SANTA FE (AP) — Republican Gov. Susana Martinez is looking at a maneuver once used by her predecessor, Democrat Bill Richardson, to end run the Legislature and selectively reject a tax increase that lawmakers approved. Martinez is considering using her line-item veto powers to eliminate a $128 million tax increase on businesses in a measure the Legislature passed to keep the state’s unemployment compensation program from running out of money next year, Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said. Taking that approach would allow the governor to
stop the tax increase, which she’s already promised to do, but preserve nearly $80 million in cost savings and benefit reductions that could improve the solvency of the unemployment fund. It would be a high-risk move by the governor, who campaigned last year against raising taxes to fix the state’s financial problems. Democratic legislative leaders question whether the gover nor can legally make a line-item veto in the unemployment legislation. Darnell said no decisions have been made. “We continue to explore
and consider all possible actions that can be taken in the near -ter m and in subsequent legislative sessions to ensure economic stability and growth in New Mexico,” Darnell said in a statement. Under the state Constitution, the gover nor can make line-item vetoes only in appropriations bills. The unemployment bill doesn’t include the “making an appropriation” language typically found in bills that allocate money for programs and services. But that didn’t stop Richardson last year from See VETO, Page A8