Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Winds shift; Valley blaze explodes
Vol. 120, No. 156 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
June 30, 2011
THURSDAY
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MINE FAKED SAFETY LOGS
BEAVER, W.Va. (AP) — The owner of the West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 men last year kept two sets of books on safety conditions — an accurate one for itself and a sanitized one for the government, federal regulators said Wednesday. Managers at Massey Energy pressured workers at the Upper Big Branch mine to omit safety ... - PAGE B3 For The Past 24 Hours
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• Roswell man charged with criminal... • Cops will enforce ban • Texas woman dies while hiking • All dirt, no rain • Invaders march to win over Cowboys
INSIDE SPORTS
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER Emergency of ficials announced evacuation orders for Alamo Canyon near Hondo Thursday just before 7 p.m. The Donaldson Fire swelled to more than 43,300 acres Thursday afternoon, after shifting winds more than doubled the size of the blaze, said Jennifer Myslivy, a fire spokeswoman. Five structures were destroyed and hundreds of outbuildings and homes in
Firefighters burn areas of land Wednesday in order to stop the spread of a wildfire in Lincoln County that scorched more than 43,000 acres. the canyon were threatened, she said. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department was helping residents and livestock out of the threatened area.
“The wind just picked up and it shifted (the fire),” Myslivy said. “It’s almost to the ridgeline behind Hondo.
Planes load slurry at RIAC LASL monitors air
TSONGA SHOCKS AT WIMBLEDON
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — For two superb sets Wednesday, everything looked so routine for Roger Federer, precisely the way it did for so many years at Wimbledon — and nearly everywhere else, too. Little comes easily for Federer anymore, even at the All England Club, where he’s won six of his record 16 major championships. Before Wednesday, Federer was 178-0 when taking the first two sets of a Grand Slam match. PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
There are no obituaries today, June 30, 2011.
HIGH .102˚ LOW ...70˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
See WINDS, Page A6
Roswell International Air Center was a landing spot this week for military cargo planes specially designed for dropping slurry on wildfires raging in the state. Three Air National Guard C-130s used the center to fill up on fire retardant and fight blazes from the air over Hondo and near Mayhill, Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s See SLURRY, Page A6
Matthew Arco Photo
Three C-130s flew in and out of the Roswell International Air Center this week to help battle fires across New Mexico.
BBQ, fireworks!
VANESSA KAHIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Elks Lodge will host its annual Veterans Barbeque to honor veterans and their families on July 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the lodge, 1720 N. Montana Ave. Festivities at the Cielo Grande Recreation Area begin at 4 p.m., when the winner of the UFO Festival’s Alien Battle of the Bands is announced.
At 5:30 p.m., the Chaves County Community Band & Youth Band will give a concert. This will be followed by a performance of the Roswell Jazz Band, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The actual fireworks show will begin around 9:15 p.m. The show is expected to last about half an hour. For the safety of those attending the event, Col-
LOS ALAMOS (AP) — As crews fight to keep a New Mexico wildfire from reaching the nation’s premier nuclear-weapons laboratory and the surrounding community, scientists are busy sampling the air for chemicals and radiological materials. Their ef fort includes dozens of fixed-air monitors on the ground, as well as a “flying laboratory” dispatched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The special twinengine plane is outfitted
with sensors that can collect detailed samples.
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., requested the agency’s help early on in the monitoring effort. EPA officials said the flying lab was set to make its initial data-collection flight Wednesday, and state and federal officials have vowed to make findings from all the monitoring efforts public.
“I know people are concerned about what’s in the
Gov. Martinez declares state of emergency on fireworks use ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in New Mexico regarding the use of fireworks, saying conditions across the state are ripe for another devastating wildfire. The governor, at a news conference in Los Alamos, renewed her plea for New Mexicans to refrain from buying and using fireworks as the Fourth of
July holiday approaches and as dry conditions persist throughout the summer. She has made the same plea at each one of her public appearances over the last several days. “I am asking New Mexicans please do not purchase any fireworks. Do not burn any fireworks. Do not use any fireworks this season,” she said, urging residents to only go to
See LASL, Page A6
organized fireworks shows in their communities. State law does not allow the governor to impose an across-the-board ban of fireworks by executive order, but Martinez has said her administration exercised its full authority to ban the use of all fireworks on state and private wild lands on April 22. Several municipal and
RMAC to celebrate New Mexico Centennial with exhibits EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Cities across the state are gearing up for New Mexico’s Centennial celebration. Las Cruces is hosting a day-long SalsaFest and Centennial parade; Hatch, the Chile Capital of the World, is presenting Chile Fest; and Western Heritage Museum is sponsoring a cattle drive from Lea to Eddy counties. Roswell Museum and Art Center announced on Wednesday that it, too, will join the fun and commemorate the day New Mexico entered the Union, Jan. 6, 1912, by collaborating with the Historical Society
See ELKS, Page A6
for Southeast New Mexico to showcase two historical exhibits in the museum and throughout the city. “Every community in the state has contributed in some fashion to New Mexico being what it is today,” RMAC Director Laurie Rufe said in an interview. “This is the avenue that we’re taking.” One exhibit, Roswell: Diamond of the Pecos, slated to open on Jan. 6, will feature early historical photographs and display items pulled from the shelves and archives of the Historical Society’s museum on Lea Avenue to demonstrate how Roswell has transformed from a small trading post in the 1860s to
the present day hub of society for the southeaster n cor ner of the state. Themes in the exhibit will highlight area geography and early inhabitants of Roswell; founders of Roswell and early businesses; early adjacent communities and settlements, like Berrendo, Chihuahuita and Blackdom; industry and economy (one on farming and ranching, the other on oil and gas development); military life, including a history of the German prisoners of war, missile silos and Walker Air Force Base; sporting activities; arts, culture and entertainment; and famous personalities, like
See FIREWORKS, Page A6
Robert H. Goddard, Peter Hurd and John Chisum. “It’s going to be very neat,” Rufe said, adding that the exhibit will be open for an entire year. Another smaller exhibit, Roswell: Now and Then, to open March 5, will delineate a history of Roswell and its most famous buildings and historical sites through a series of vintage and modern photographs by local photographer Michael Van Raes, who is also the RMAC preparator. In the same spirit of statehood, RMAC is also collaborating with See RMAC, Page A6