Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
THE BIG SPLAT
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a spectacle that might have beguiled poets, lovers and songwriters if only they had been around to see it, Earth once had two moons, astronomers now think. But the smaller one smashed into the other in what is being called the “big splat.” The result: Our planet was left with a single bulked-up and ever-so-slightly lopsided moon. - PAGE B3
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Court nixes PRC energy surcharge
Vol. 120, No. 186 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
SANTA FE (AP) — A regulatory plan to encourage New Mexico electric utilities to promote energy efficiency has run into legal trouble. The state’s highest court has struck down a decision by the Public Regulation Commission requiring New Mexicans to pay a surcharge to cover part of the money lost by utilities when customers use less electricity because of energy conservation.
August 4, 2011
THURSDAY
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Utilities could earn nearly $10 million from the fees over about two years, according to estimates provided to regulators. The state Supreme Court invalidated the PRC’s order in a ruling issued last week. The court said regulators failed to use a costbased ratemaking approach in deter mining the surcharge last year. The amount wasn’t tailored specifically for each utility or based on actual costs
The state’s largest electric utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico, expected to receive about $4 million from the energy efficiency surcharge approved by the commission, according to PNM spokeswoman Susan Sponar.
incurred by the individual companies. Without doing that, the court said, there’s no way to deter mine whether the surcharge is “just and reasonable.” “I think it’s a big win for
consumers,” said Peter Gould, a Santa Fe lawyer for New Mexico Industrial Energy Consumers, which challenged the order along with Attorney General Gary King.
‘Lead porker comin’ thru! Make way! Make Way!’
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Pigs are paraded into the arena for the Swine Show during the Chaves County Fair at the Eastern New Mexico State Fairgrounds Tuesday morning.
Gould’s group represents larger electric customers, including the University of New Mexico, the city of Albuquerque and Intel. “If you allow rates to be set on this basis ... the commission could do the same thing with service charges, they could do the same with kilowatt hour rates and they could do the same thing with fuel clause recovery. Some utilities
School bond election Aug. 30
See PRC, Page A6
A special school district general obligation bond election will be held Tuesday, Aug. 30, to allow for the continuation of the remodeling or replacement of four area elementary schools, and the remodeling of Roswell and Goddard High schools and Parkview Early Literacy Center. The bond will not increase taxes, Roswell school district officials say, since it will replace another bond that just expired. In 2010, residents inside Roswell city limits paid $7.916 per $1,000 of tax levies toward Roswell schools. Of that amount, $5.696 went towards debt
Going nowhere: Economy struggles to find footing GARRETT LIKES RYAN’S CONFIDENCE
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Cowboys coach Jason Garrett likes the confidence of Rob Ryan, even though Dallas’ new defensive coordinator sometimes has a way of showing it that can run counter to the message to players. One of the first things Garrett said at the start of training camp was that it was time to stop talking and get to work. While Ryan has ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shoppers won’t shop. Companies won’t hire. The government won’t spend on economic stimulus — it’s cutting instead. And the Federal Reserve is reluctant to do anything more. Without much to invigorate growth, the economy may be in danger of slipping into a stupor like the one Japan has failed to shake off for more than a decade. And Wall Street is spooked. The Dow Jones industrial average Wednesday barely broke an eight-day losing streak, finishing up about 30 points. A nine-day losing streak would have been the Dow’s first since February 1978. Even with the gain, the Dow has fallen 828 points, or 6.5 percent, over the past nine trading days.
Investors didn’t even pause to celebrate the resolution over the weekend of a dangerous debt standoff in Washington. Stunned by news last week that the economy barely grew in the first half of 2011, economists are lowering their forecasts for the full year and recalculating the odds that the economy will slide back into recession. The stocks that have fallen the furthest have been those of companies that fare best in economic expansions. Industrial companies like Caterpillar and Boeing, energy companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and retailers like Amazon and Coach have all fallen by more than the broader stock market. Investors have pushed govern-
Ice cream sociable
OBITUARIES
• Ermenia Arredondo • Ernest J. Bennett • Charlie B. Trotman • Linda S. Duckett • Mark G. Vickers - PAGE B3
HIGH .100˚ LOW ....73˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Jessica Palmer Photo
Sue and David Heckman held an Ice Cream Social for Neighborhood Watch’s National Night Out, Tuesday. According to adviser Richard Lucero, the purpose of the annual gathering is to encourage organized neighborhoods to have social functions to strengthen neighborhood bonds.
ment bond yields to their lowest level of the year. The 10-year Treasury note now yields 2.6 percent. Bond yields typically fall when the economy is weak because nervous investors view bonds as a safe place to park their money, and there’s less chance that inflation will erode their value. The economy started sputtering early in the year. Economists at first thought the slowdown would be temporary, the result of a shortterm rise in gasoline prices and an earthquake in Japan that disrupted shipments of auto parts and electronics. But the weakness persisted. And it worsened as a political fight over
See SCHOOL, Page A6
AP Photo
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday.
Egypt’s Mubarak goes on trial See ECONOMY, Page A6
CAIRO (AP) — From a bed inside the defendants’ cage, an ashen-faced Hosni Mubarak showed a glimmer of his old defiance. Egypt’s former president wagged his finger in the air and denied all charges against him Wednesday as he went on trial for alleged corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters who helped drive him from power. The spectacle, watched live on state television by millions of Egyptians, calmed the fury of those who suffered under his rule — some of them parents of children gunned down during the uprising that toppled the longtime president. The father of a slain protester, among those sweltering in the heat outside the courtroom on the third day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was ecstatic. The ailing 83-year -old Mubarak lay on a hospital bed as his sons, one-time
AP Photo
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak lays on a hospital bed inside a cage of mesh and iron bars in a Cairo courtroom, Wednesday.
heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, stood protectively beside him, at times trying to shield their father from the camera and hundreds of spectators. Dressed in white prison uniforms, the two younger Mubaraks denied charges of corruption. The sight of Mubarak lying helplessly in bed
inside the grim metal and wire cage was a stunning moment for Egyptians — and for a region known more for its presidents-forlife and absolute monarchs than democracy or accountability. With Arab Spring revolts sweeping the Middle East, the sight of Mubarak durSee EGYPT, Page A6