Roswell Daily Record
Fewer join unemployment rolls
Vol. 119, No. 313 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
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SECURING NEW YEAR’S NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the biggest public party in the country. Nearly a million revelers will cram into the streets of Times Square to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. - PAGE 7
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THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Far fewer people are applying for unemployment benefits as the year ends, raising hopes for a healthier job market in 2011. Applications are at their lowest level since July 2008, the Labor Department says. They fell to 388,000 in the week ending Dec. 25, bringing the four-week average to 414,000. Until mid-October, the four -week average had been stuck above 450,000 most of the year. Economists say the number of people applying for unemployment benefits predicts where the job market will go over the next few months — so much so that they use this data to help forecast
economic growth. “We’re starting to see a pickup in job growth,” says Conference Board economist Kenneth Goldstein. “We may even get to a point, conceivably by spring, where the consumer is going to say that it no longer feels like we’r e still in a r ecession.” He expects the economy to generate 100,000 to 150,000 jobs a month by spring, up from an average 86,500 a month in 2010. That’s an improvement, but still not enough to cause a big drop in the unemployment rate. To Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Northern Trust, fewer people applying for unemployment benefits suggests the unemployment rate will
slip from 9.8 percent in November to 9.7 percent early next year; that would mean about 150,000 fewer unemployed. The Conference Board’s Goldstein says the unemployment rate might actually rise for a few months as an incr ease in job openings lur es even mor e job seekers back into the labor market. He doesn’t expect the unemployment rate to start dropping until mid-2011 and says it will finish the year above 9 percent. The good news is that layoffs have fallen back to pre-recession levels. In October, 1.7 million people were laid off or fired — the lowest figure since August 2006, more than a year before the Great
JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
In Dorota Mytych’s “Gift of Time,” on display at the Roswell Museum and Art Center, the viewer will have an experience that takes them to Florence, Poland and Roswell through drawings, paintings and mixes of colors. “Color gives you a feeling — a real vibration in feeling,” Mytych said. “Color is very much alive. How it’s put on the canvas — color really vibrates.” One’s visual experience will expand and contrast, depending on where they stand in relation to a piece. The eye will be amused, while examining layers upon layers of paint and blended scenes of time in Mytych’s pieces. “The beauty of everything is in the detail,” she said. “When you ponder, you see the detail — how much is happening. The gift of time is we actually have something to do in our lives between being born and dying.” What makes Mytych interesting is the process she takes to prepare her
work. Mytch’s finished pieces are visual works in motion from dif ferent scenes in time. Each piece, whether a painting or drawing, is a scene from a continuing idea. Nothing is ever “fixed.” “The meeting point about everything (an object), is about things never being fixed,” Mytych said. “They’ve never been unfixable ... something that seems to be fixed is unfixable.” This notion of the unfixed can be seen in the drawings of “Gift of Time’s” “everyday room” pieces. Mytych describes the drawings as being in conversation. She said that they show “things happening on the human level ... in conversation.” “Drawings are in conversation — like life,” she said. “But you don’t need words for that. It’s a world beyond the language.” Although Mytych’s works convey a world that transcends language, she will deliver a lecture at the opening reception of her See ARTIST, Page A3
- PAGE A7
RPD chief likely named next week
Dorota Mytych works in her studio at the Artist-in-Residence program facility.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 VISTAS ..................A6 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B5 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 NATION .................A7
INDEX
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Sheriff, deputies sworn in
Jessica Palmer Photo
Fifth District Court Judge Freddie Romero swears in 38 Chaves County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The Chaves County sherif f and 38 deputies wer e swor n in at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The ceremony took place in the commission chambers at the Chaves County Adminstration Center. Fifth District Court Judge Freddie J. Romero administered the oath. Sheriff James “Rob” Coon explained the process before the ceremony. “Every three
years the sheriff and all the deputies need to be sworn in. New officers are sworn in by me when they start the job, but we have to do it again,” said Coon. In his opening statement, Coon said, “I want to thank my wife and my family and the families of the deputies. We have a great bunch of people here, and I’m very proud to be one of them.” The sheriff was the first to
take the oath, followed by the deputies. “I have one more year and there are a lot of things I want to do,” Coon said. Goals for the year include exploring new grants and obtaining new equipment. Hiring, though, will be his first priority. “I want to replace the people we’ve lost and get up to 100 percent,” said Coon.
Winds buffet city as cold front arrives Winds in excess of 50 miles per hour battered Roswell Thursday. A wind advisory was in effect until midnight. Cars rocked continuously in parking lots. Lights at the Wool Bowl girls’ baseball diamond canted under the buffeting. In some places visibility was limited. The high winds caused power outages around the city. According to the National Weather Service, the excessive winds preceded a strong cold
See ECONOMY, Page A3
Jonathan Entzminger Photo
- PAGE B1
OBITUARIES
Recession started. Layoffs and dismissals peaked at 2.6 million in January 2009. “We’ve stopped the losses, and things ar e kind of tur ning around,” says Mark Christiansen, deputy director of the Workforce Development Center in Riverside, Calif., which has one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates. In past downturns, the economy didn’t start generating jobs until applications for unemployment benefits consistently fell below 400,000 a week. But some economists say the old rule of thumb is outdated. Payrolls were
‘Gift of Time’ on display at RMAC
In a game of runs, the Roswell boys basketball team made the biggest and last run in its 66-59 victory over Goddard in the championship game of the Poe Corn Invitational.
• Nathaniel B. Haymes • Jose Santillan
FRIDAY
www.roswell-record.com
COYOTES WIN POE CORN
TODAY’S
December 31, 2010
front coming from the west. At the Roswell International Air Center, sustained winds were recorded at 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 54 miles per hour. Temperatures Thursday night were expected to plummet to the low 20s. Rain in the evening was expected to create slick roads. Areas from Albuquerque down to eastern Lincoln County are under a winter weather advisory. In the mountains, single-digit temperatures are predicted.
The selection process for new chief Roswell Police Department is drawing to a close as the deadline to replace the incumbent is approaching. Interim Chief Dennis J. Kintigh serves his last day on Jan. 17. Then he will take his place as state representative for District 57 in Santa Fe. “We hope to announce the selection on Jan. 3,” said City Manger Larry Fry. Nine candidates applied. One withdrew. All the candidates have a background in law enforcement. The new chief will have to be certified as a law enforcement officer in the state of New Mexico. Some applications have come from out of state. “There’s one from Florida, but most came from the region,” said Fry. Fry describes the process as challenging. “We want the best we can find for the city of Roswell.” The position requires a number of skills. “We have many different needs,” he said. The chief manages 125 employees, not just officers, but staff as well. He organizes the budget and develops policies and procedures, Fry said. The city manager has narrowed the field to four, but did not name the remaining candidates. The last applicant interview was completed on Wednesday. The next stage of the selection process is to perform the standard background checks on the finalists before announcing the successful candidate. “It’s always challenging. You have to come up with the best from a number of outstanding candidates,” Fry said. A number of people have expressed their opinion to Fry, both members of the public and within the department, as to who would be the best chief. “Everyone has an opinion,” said Fry. j.palmer@roswell-record.com