Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 78 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
FOSSIL EXPERTS EXPLORE
LAS CRUCES (AP) — Rock picks clinked musically against solid, gray stone, as two researchers from the Smithsonian’s natural history museum in Washington, D.C., chipped away at a hillside, looking for signs of the ancient past. And voila — pay dirt! Or pay rock, rather. Dan Chaney, a Smithsonian research assistant.... - PAGE B3
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours • Residents unhappy about trailer law • Families file against Griffin • Feds eye county over health care • Roswell Lakers compete in Lubbock • Roundup: Broncos 5th after 2 rounds
INSIDE SPORTS
March 31, 2011
Gadhafi’s forces adapt, pound rebels
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
AP Photo
Libyan rebels riding at the back of an armed pickup truck brave a sand storm while leaving Ajdabiya, Libya, Wednesday.
Humane Society reports animal cruelty
Disc golf
AJDABIYA, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi’s ground forces recaptured a strategic oil town Wednesday and moved within striking distance of another major eastern city, nearly reversing the gains rebels made since international airstrikes began. Rebels pleaded for more help, while a U.S. official said gover nment forces are making themselves harder to target by using civilian “battle wagons” with makeshift ar maments instead of tanks. Western powers kept up the pressure to force Gad-
hafi out with new airstrikes in other parts of Libya, hints that they may arm the opposition and intense negotiations behind the scenes to find a country to give haven to Libya’s leader of more than 40 years. Also on Wednesday, an American official and former U.S. intelligence officer told The Associated Press that CIA operatives were sent to Libya this month after the agency’s station in the capital was forced to close. CIA of ficers also assisted in rescuing one of two crew members of an F15E Strike Eagle that
crashed, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Even as it advanced militarily, Gadhafi’s regime suffered a blow to its inner circle with the apparent defection of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa. Koussa flew from Tunisia to an airport outside London and announced he was resigning from his post, according to a statement from the British government. Moussa Ibrahim, a See LIBYA, Page A6
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Humane Society, 703 E. McGaffey Ave., called the Roswell Police Department in to report a case of animal cruelty, Tuesday, after a woman dumped two small dogs into their donation box. The incident took place around 2:30 p.m. and the metal donation box is on the west side of the building. “Even when it’s cool day. That’s a hot time of
Mark Wilson Photo
Andrea Regalado competes in the inaugural Roswell Alien Disc Golf Tournament, Saturday, at the newly expanded disc golf at Enchanted Lands Park.
Governor signs 4 education transparency bills See HUMANE, Page A6
WILCOX SIGNS LOI
For anyone who who has ever played baseball, playing collegiately is a dream. Goddard’s C.J. Wilcox will get to fulfill that dream as he signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College on Wednesday. The college is in Miami, Okla., and has 1,400 fulltime students. Dino Wilcox, C.J.’s dad, said that the Golden Norseman came onto his son’s radar recently. “They are relatively new,” he said. “Actually, the coach (Roger Ward) is the brother of the New Mexico.... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
There are no obituaries today, March 31, 2011.
HIGH ...86˚ LOW ....48˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
AP Photo
Gov. Susana Martinez signs four education transparency and oversight bills during a ceremony at Sandia High School in Albuquerque, Wednesday.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez on Wednesday signed into law legislation aimed at increasing transparency among New Mexico’s public
school districts and strengthening oversight of charter schools. Among the four bills signed by the governor during a ceremony at Albu-
NEW YORK (AP) — When President Obama called for reducing the nation’s oil imports by one-third by 2025 in a speech Wednesday, he echoed similar goals — still unfulfilled — set by every president since Richard Nixon. This time, though, it might just work. The reason: The country is already well on its way to meeting Obama’s goal. More fuel ef ficient cars, mandates to use biofuels, and high prices are cutting into gasoline demand. Meanwhile, domestic oil production rose in consecutive years after two decades of declines thanks to new discoveries in shale deposits throughout the West.
A one-third reduction in oil is not only possible, it’s beatable, analysts say. In recent years the U.S. has been producing more of its own oil while also using less. Both trends are expected to continue. Oil imports have fallen 25 percent since 2005 when the nation imported a record 12.5 million barrels of oil per day. It helps that the president gave himself a head start toward his goal — he wants a one-third reduction from 2008 levels. The economic crisis reduced demand for oil, and therefore imports. Imports have fallen 15 percent since 2008, from 11.1 million barrels per day to 9.4 million barrels per day in
querque’s Sandia High School was a measure that requires financial information about school districts and charter schools to be posted on a gover nment website known as the “sunshine portal.” “Open gover nment breeds greater fiscal discipline, greater constituent engagement and the opportunity to continue our public discourse about the best way to spend the hardearned monies of our overburdened taxpayers,” the gover nor said, standing before a class of government students. Under the new law, schools will have to provide data to the Public Education Department for online publication, including a yearly operating budget, monthly spending as well
Obama calls for oil imports cut
2010. In order to reach the President’s goal, imports must fall another 2 million barrels per day, to 7.4 million barrels per day. If he started with 2010 numbers, imports would have to drop to 6.3 million barrels per day. In 2010, U.S. oil production grew for the second year in a row after 23 years of decline. That’s largely because engineers have recently been able to tap once-unreachable fields of oil in shale deposits in North Dakota, Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming, California and other parts of the West. These shale deposits See OBAMA, Page A6
as a directory of school employees by name, title and salary. Since public education accounts for more than 40 percent of New Mexico’s yearly spending, supporters have argued that the public should be able to easily access information showing how schools spend taxpayer money. Martinez said she’s hopeful the increased transparency will encourage education of ficials and other state leaders to ensure that spending in the classroom is a priority over bureaucracy. The reporting requirement will take effect in July 2012. Another bill signed by Martinez provides for more oversight of charter schools by the state or local school
boards. It requires a contract to be developed that includes guidelines for evaluating the academic performance of the charter school. Yearly visits to charter schools must also be done to assess whether the schools are meeting their educational and governance goals. Academic performance, post-secondary readiness and graduation rates are among the indicators that will be monitored. The new law was developed in response to a critical audit by the Legislative Finance Committee, which recommended a freeze on the establishment of new charter schools until oversight was improved. The other bills signed See BILLS, Page A6
3 treated and released
Jessica Palmer Photo
A vehicle rolled over near the intersection of East Grand Plains Road and Old Dexter Highway. The car was travelling south on NM 256, ran off the road and over corrected. The driver, Ashley Thurman, 22, of Roswell, told officials that she was having alignment problems. Thurman and daughters, 3month-old Faith and 18-month-old Destiny, were treated at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center and released. “Seat belts and child restraints were in use,” said Sgt. Chris Clements of the New Mexico State Police.