Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 137 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
ANGRY BOYFRIEND PUTS UP ABORTION BILLBOARD ALAMOGORDO (AP) — A New Mexico man’s decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.
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TOP 5 WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• Birthdays prove lucky for Roswell woman • High risers • Goose Crew triumphs again at HISI • Nintendo says server breached, no data lost • ‘Please release me, let me go’
INSIDE SPORTS
NM double-dipping teachers face pay cut
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Terrelle Pryor’s career at Ohio State, which started with so much promise and potential, came to an abrupt and scandal-ridden end. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Francis C. Cunningham • Dale E. Hamlett
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HIGH ...102˚ LOW ....67˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A12 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A2
INDEX
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
SANTA FE, (AP) — A new state law will take a big bite out of the paychecks of educators who retired, then returned to work for New Mexico schools and colleges while receiving their pensions. About 1,300 public school teachers and other educators covered by the law must make payroll contributions — as much as 11 percent of their salaries next year — into the state’s educational pension fund starting next
Montoya receives maximum sentence
month. The payments won’t improve their future retirement benefits. The employee contributions will help the state permanently save nearly $5 million a year because employers, such as school districts, have been covering the pension costs. Educators are unhappy with the prospect of a double-digit reduction in takehome pay. “Really we’re being penalized for returning to work,” said Mary Helen
Summer fun
Taylor -Ratje, who will teach at an elementary charter school in Las Cruces in the upcoming school year. She retired in 2006 after a more than 30-year career in education, but went back to work in the Las Cruces school system in January 2008 to help support her family. Health insurance was consuming a third of her pension, two children needed financial assistance with college and her husband’s small busi-
ness was struggling. At the time she returned to work, “it was not with the idea that we were going to be paying back into retirement and never get any benefit from it,” said Taylor-Ratje, whose father is former state Rep. J. Paul Taylor of Mesilla. Charles Bowyer, executive director of the National Education Association-New Mexico, said, “basically it’s just unfair. And that’s one of the things that’s really hard for folks to fathom is
how can something be so unfair and still be legal.” The Legislature unanimously approved the pension change for return-towork educators, which Gov. Susana Martinez signed into law March 16. Rep. Lucky Varela, a Santa Fe Democrat, said that lawmakers “felt it was important for them to pay their share in order to get not only the pension but also to draw a salary at the See TEACHERS, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
D’Angelo Montoya, 13, was convicted for the murder of Roswell native Angel Vale, 22, Tuesday. He received the maximum sentence allowed by law in the state of New Mexico. Judge Drew Tatum ordered that Montoya be committed to Children, Youth, and Family Department until age 21 for killing 22-year-old Vale. Vale’s body was found outside her Portales home on July 22, after employees of Something Different Grill became concerned when Vale was an hour late for
Mark Wilson Photo
Paddle boarders and pedal boaters dot the surface of Lea Lake at Bottomless Lakes State Park in an effort to beat 100degree temperatures Tuesday.
Robbers hit Valero gas station, attendant held at gunpoint See MONTOYA, Page A3
BUCKEYE NO LONGER: PRYOR LEAVING OSU
June 8, 2011
A woman was held at gunpoint in an armed robbery after two male subjects entered the Valero Gas Station, 3300 N. Main St, around 10:30 p.m., Monday. The victim reported that one of the two subjects had a handgun. He pointed the gun at the clerk and demanded money. The clerk complied, but was struck in the back of the head with the gun by one of the suspects. The suspects fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. They were last seen running south behind the First American Bank, located across the street. The victim was dazed, but after medical treatment, the clerk returned to work. The suspects were described as “short, Hispanic males, wearing darkcolored bandannas over their faces.” Roswell Police Depart-
Courtesy photo
Excerpts from the surveillance video at Valero, 3300 N. Main St., show the two subjects as they enter the store Monday night, and later as one of the subjects pulls a gun on the clerk. Subsequent footage shows one of the subjects passing the gun to the second who has moved behind the counter. People who have information about this incident are asked to call RPD, 624-7710, or Crime Stoppers 1-888-594-(TIPS)
ment’s Public Information Officer Travis Holley was unable to give any more infor mation while the investigation is still in the early stages. However, he noted that
detectives are seeking assistance from the public for information about the crime.
Emily Russo Miller Photo
Paul DeGeorge, of Harry and the Potters, jams onstage in the parking lot of Roswell Public Library for a performance Tuesday evening.
Harry and the Potters rock Roswell EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Donning matching redand-yellow striped ties
and signature circular wire-rim glasses, the world’s most famous wizSee POTTERS, Page A3
Thousands ordered out of eastern Ariz. town as fire nears
SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — Flames from a mammoth forest fire licked the ridges surrounding the eastern Arizona town of Eagar on Tuesday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of about half the 4,000 residents as surrounding towns also prepared to empty. People started streaming out of Eagar as sheriff’s deputies and police officers directed traffic. Flames were spotted on a ridge on the southeastern side of nearby Springerville and columns of orange smoke rose from the hills. Ash rained from the sky, which was filled with thick smoke, and when the sun peeked through, it was blood-red. Angie Colwell, her husband Mike and their two children were loading up their belonging as authorities ordered their Eagar
See ROBBERS, Page A3
neighborhood to evacuate. “We love the mountains and we’re just afraid of what’s going to be left after the fire comes through,” the longtime resident said. The blaze has burned 486 square miles of ponderosa pine forest, driven by wind gusts of more than 60 mph since it was sparked on May 29 by what authorities believe was an unattended campfire. It officially became the second-largest in Arizona history on Tuesday. No serious injuries have been reported, but the fire has destroyed five buildings so far. It has cast smoke as far east as Iowa and forced some planes to divert from Albuquerque, N.M., See ARIZONA, Page A3
AP Photo
Emily Shupe comforts her 18-month-old son Jax as the family prepares to evacuate to Phoenix as the Wallow fire approaches in Springerville, Ariz., Tuesday.