03-02-11

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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Senate rule change bars cameras

Vol. 120, No. 53 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves described the future of crisis-ridden sitcom “Two and a Half Men” as uncertain while star Charlie Sheen spoke of a drug-free life with two “goddess” girlfriends at his home dubbed Sober Valley Lodge. - PAGE A8

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For The Past 24 Hours

• Car wreck leaves one injured • Neighborhood squabble gets nasty • It’s all about you, Sage • RCLT’s new home vandalized • Berrendo 8th-graders win city title

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MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER

SHOW’S FUTURE UNCERTAIN

March 2, 2011

A week after its implementation, a local lawmaker and one of the Senate’s top officials is defending his decision to introduce an upper house rule change that could limit video and audio recordings of committee meetings, despite having caused a good-government group to question its constitutionality. Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, says his Senate resolution that would allow committee

Gadhafi forces retake towns

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi’s forces battled poorly armed rebels Tuesday for control of towns near the capital trying to create a buffer zone around his seat of power. The increasingly violent clashes threatened to transform the 15-day popular rebellion in Libya into a drawn-out civil war. Amid the intensified fighting, the international community stepped up moves to isolate the longtime Libyan leader. U.S. Defense Secretary

heads or the ranking minority party member to prohibit photography, video or audio recordings during committee meetings, is a rule change aimed at “looking for fair play” in the upper house. The resolution was introduced after senators voiced concern over video recordings being used by the governor to put pressure on lawmakers to stop New Mexico from granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. The new rule went into effect following a 35-3 vote

in favor of the measure. Jennings says bi-partisan support for the resolution shows that it aims to prevent citizen testimony and lawmakers from being a part of a “political commercial.” “We had problems with people coming into committees and video taping, and then going out and putting that on the web as a political function,” he said. “If people come and ... take parts of what’s said out of context for political purpos-

ESPINOZA’S BILL PASSES HOUSE

A bill introduced by a local lawmaker that would stop third-graders from being promoted to the fourth grade if they do not meet reading proficiency standards passed the state House of Representatives by a 62-5 vote, Tuesday. The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Nora Espinoza, RRoswell, will go to the Senate next. “This is exceptional victory for those who want the very best for our children,” Espinoza said in a statement. In a press release, Gov. Susana Martinez applauded the passage of the bill for halting the practice of “social promotion,” or promoting public school students to the See READING, Page A3

See CAMERAS, Page A3

Headed for Las Cruces

Mark Wilson Photo

Students from the Berrendo Middle School Orchestra rehearse, Tuesday evening, at Pueblo Auditorium for an orchestra festival to be held today at Oñate High School in Las Cruces. Berrendo students will be joined by the Roswell Youth Orchestra which is comprised of students from Goddard, Roswell and University high schools.

The paper is good; bill is bogus Pot at Pecos; no busts See LIBYA, Page A3

JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER

RHS OPENS SEASON WITH LOSSES

The Roswell boys baseball team opened its season with a twin bill against 5A Mayfield. The Coyotes, who lost 12 seniors from last year’s team, struggled against the bigger school, but showed flashes of what the future holds. Roswell dropped Game 1 18-0 in five innings and lost Game 2 15-2 in five innings. In the first game, the young Coyotes were done in by errors and inability to hit the ball. Roswell coach Dane Kyser said that his team had a case of the butterflies before the first game. - PAGE B1

Roswell Police Department received a report of a $5 bill altered to look like $50 from Office Max, 2755 N. Main St., Tuesday morning. The bill is unique in its manufacture because it was made from an existing $5 by bleaching out the five and the image of

Abraham Lincoln. The five was replaced with $50 and the image of Lincoln replaced by a picture of Ulysses S. Grant. Because the bill was authentic, the paper passed the standard pentest used by store staff to check bills and the watermark was present. Only by close examination was it noted that the watermark, which con-

Accident with injuries

sists of a reproduction of the presidential image nor mally found on the bill, was a picture of Lincoln, not Grant. The strip found on bill was also present. However, the strip lists the denomination. Therefore, the strip said $5 rather than $50. The bill had been See MONEY, Page A3

The Roswell Police Department received a call from Barbara Ryan, principal of Pecos Elementary School, 600 E Hobbs St., on Monday after an 8-yearold student was found in possession of marijuana. The drugs were found in his pocket wrapped in newspaper. The boy was questioned and reported to school officials that he received the marijuana from another student, also age 8.

• Webb Edward Lee - PAGE A6

HIGH ...82˚ 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

Matthew Arco Photo

A head on collision, Tuesday, at Southeast Main and Hobbs streets sent the driver of one vehicle to the hospital with minor neck and back injuries, according to emergency officials. Police say the driver of one of the vehicles ran a red light. Alcohol was not a factor, police said.

See POT, Page A3

Walker wants deep cuts for schools

TODAY’S OBITUARIES

Officials questioned the second student. She said she found the marijuana on a table in her front yard in the 300 block of East Lewis Street. Both children denied smoking marijuana. Roswell Independent School District did not repond to multiple calls for comment from the Roswell Daily Record. The incident was report-

AP Photo

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker enters the Assembly chambers at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Tuesday.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — After focusing for weeks on his proposal to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights, Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday presented his full budget — a plan that cuts $1 billion in aid to public schools and local gover nment but avoids any tax or fee increases, furloughs or widespread layoffs. Walker said the cuts could be paid for in large part by forcing government employees to pay more for their pension and health

Xcel Energy seeks 6.9 percent overall rate increase in NM

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Xcel Energy Inc. is asking the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to let it raise electricity rates for the state’s residential customers by an average of $9.32 a month, or nearly 11 percent. The request, filed Monday, proposes to raise rates on businesses as well, ranging from an average of $6.47 a month to $56.69 a month, depending on how much electricity a business

uses and the time of year. Company spokesman Wes Reeves said Tuesday it could be up to 13 months before new rates would go into effect. “The increase in demand in New Mexico has really been phenomenal, especially in the southeast where we’re seeing a lot of energy businesses expand. ... Electric rates need to keep up with demand and the investment we have to make to keep up with that

demand,” Reeves said. Xcel’s requested 6.9 percent overall increase would raise its revenue in New Mexico by $19.9 million, which the utility said would help fund construction to improve the electric system’s reliability and strengthen the area’s economic competitiveness. The company supplies electricity to about 100,000 people in New Mexico through Southwester n Public Service Co., its whol-

ly owned subsidiary based in Amarillo, Texas. The company serves a large part of eastern New Mexico, stretching from Tucumcari south to Jal and including Clovis, Portales, Roswell, Hobbs, Artesia, Carlsbad and some smaller communities. Demand for electricity has grown more than 10 percent since 2008, much of it from higher industrial and commercial use, the company said.

See SCHOOLS, Page A3

The utility plans to invest about $2 billion through 2015 to make generating plants more ef ficient, reduce emissions, and improve capacity and reliability in transmission and distribution. Xcel said the New Mexico rate increase would recover about $750 million of that cost. Xcel owns two generating plants west of Hobbs and buys energy from a third in See Xcel, Page A3


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