Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 168 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
ROAD WORK CAUSES SALES DROP
BLOOMFIELD (AP) — Chihuahua Tortilla Factory has been open beside U.S. 64 for about seven years, but today the factory and fulltime restaurant are facing a crisis that owner Fernando Reyes blames on the ongoing road-widening project. - PAGE A2
July 14, 2011
Obama to GOP: ‘Don’t call my bluff’
THURSDAY
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AP Photo
President Barack Obama meets with congressional leaders regarding the debt ceiling, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Wednesday.
Keeping cool in the pool
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama bluntly told Republican congressional leaders Wednesday they must compromise quickly if the gover nment is to avoid an unprecedented default, adding, “Don’t call my bluff” by passing a shortterm debt limit increase he has threatened to veto. The presidential warning, directed at House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., marked an acrimonious end to a two-hour negotiating session at the White See DEBT, Page A3
BERNANKE: FED READY TO ACT WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday the Fed is ready to act if the economy gets weaker. He warned them that allowing the nation to default on its debt would send “shock waves through the entire financial system.” Underscoring how fragile the economy remains two years after the Great Recession, Bernanke laid out three new steps the Fed could take, including
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a fresh round of government bond purchases designed to stimulate economic growth. The Fed chair man stopped short of promising anything, but Wall Street appeared comforted that the central bank was poised to act. The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 150 points during his testimony to Congress, and closed up 45.
Currier orders hearing See FED, Page A3
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
• Crash kills one in twocar head-on collision • Man faces seventh DWI charge • Panel approves nightclub • Man slams into pole and house • Gov. Martinez visits and praises Roswell
INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
Youngsters keep the heat at bay Wednesday afternoon by shooting hoops in the Cahoon Park swimming pool.
Michael Gomez, Jesus Carranza’s defense attorney, presented a motion in Judge Charles C. Currier’s court, Wednesday, to have one of the state’s key witnesses evaluated for psychological disorders. Carranza, 27, is charged with the murder of 16year -old Zachary Perez. The youth’s body was found in a vacant lot near East Fifth Street on Feb. 13, 2011. According to the criminal complaint, Perez was drinking with his brother, James Ortega, at Missouri Avenue Park before they were picked up See HEARING, Page A3
P&Z OKs wind farm permit LAX service won’t return
US ADVANCES TO FINALS
MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany (AP) — Abby Wambach sure knows how to deliver. A goal, a promise and soon, she hopes, a World Cup title. The U.S. women had fans on edge once again until Wambach broke a tense tie with her header off a corner kick in the 79th minute Wednesday. Alex Morgan scored three minutes later to seal a 3-1 semifinal victory over France, and the Americans let loose with a party that carried all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Next up, a trip to the World Cup final Sunday in Frankfurt ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Colleen Nicole Doyle • Roy “Cleveland” Fields - PAGE B3
HIGH ...99˚ LOW ....73˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Chaves County may house its first commercial wind farm in the near future after the county Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special use permit for wind energy conversion systems near Highway 172, Tuesday night during its business meeting. The issue will next appear before the Chaves County Commissioners during its monthly meeting July 28. If approved by county commissioners, 15 towers would be built on large agricultural properties, owned by three separate landowners, north and south of Aberdeen Road/Highway 249 approximately one to four miles west of Tower Road and Highway 172, in the first phase of the project, according to the county staff review that recommended approval of the project. Kyle Paulson, project manager for Compass Wind Projects LLC., based in Denver, applied to build the commercial wind farm June 13, records show. In a wind energy guide submitted to county commissioners, Compass Wind argues that wind
power has environmental benefits that electricity cannot offer, such as no air emissions, no fuel to mine, transport or store, no water required for cooling, unlike conventional power plants, no water pollution and no mercury emissions. The report also shows that an operating modern wind farm is no louder than a kitchen refrigerator or a moderately quiet room. The group also says wind energy projects are proven economic development drivers in the areas where they are sited through job creation, local project spending, annual property and sales taxes and annual landowner easement payments. County P and Z director Marlin Johnson said that county commissioners had previously approved the development of wind farms in 2003 and 2004 on Mescalero Ridge near Caprock, but that development never occurred. A wind farm situated in Roosevelt County just northwest of Elida is partially located in Chaves County, Johnson added.
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
City officials said Wednesday that the airline route between Roswell and Los Angeles International Airport will not be reinstated after an unsuccessful meeting with American Airline officials in Dallas. Mayor Del Jurney, City Manager Larry Fry, and other officials met with American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, representatives in late June to try to convince the airline to return LAX service to Roswell after it was discontinued about a year ago. The city did not offer the airline a deal, or a minimum revenue guarantee, at the meeting, Fry said. Instead, officials pointed to the success of the American Eagle route between Roswell and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which still flies four flights daily with high ridership since operations began in 2007.
District rejects water loan proposal
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Fears of having the shortest irrigation season on record are coming true for thousands of farmers who depend on the lower Rio Grande to water their crops as a persistent drought refuses to release New Mexico from its grip. The New Mexico Compact Commission had offered to loan water to the Elephant Butte Irrigation District to extend the irrigation season, but the district’s board of directors recently declined the offer. District Manager Gary Esslinger said Wednesday that the district appreciated the state’s efforts to find See WATER, Page A3
FEDS DECLARE 16 COUNTIES DISASTER AREAS
Unfortunately, Fry said, the airline didn’t bite, citing financial concerns. “They don’t see it as being profitable,” Fry said. “At this point in time, it doesn’t seem very workable from their standpoint.” American Eagle claimed it had lost $150,000 per month when it pulled LAX service in September 2010, a year after it began, due to low ridership. Monthly ridership had averaged only 39 percent, then later around 45 to 55 percent. Bill Ar mstrong, the for mer president of the Chaves County Economic Development Foundation who originally advocated for the route and now fights for its reinstatement, said past ridership was low partly because the once-a-day flight take-off was at 7 a.m., which was fine for Roswell residents, but not for See LAX, Page A3
What is that wet stuff?
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Sixteen New Mexico counties have been designated as natural disaster areas due to drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the designation Wednesday. It covers counties that stretch from the northeast down to the central portion of the state.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the designation will provide help to hundreds of New Mexico farmers and ranchers who have suffered significant losses to small grains, pasture and forage crops.
The agency says farmers in several other counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall says this summer has been a real struggle for New Mexico. He pointed to extreme drought, record temperatures and fires that have destroyed land and crops.
Mark Wilson Photo
Downtown Roswell shoppers try to fend off a downpour while heading to shelter during a mid-afternoon thunderstorm, Wednesday. Rain continued on and off through the afternoon and evening, settling the dust and bringing welcome relief to the unusually dry conditions and 100°+ temperatures.