11-30-2010

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Roswell Daily Record

11-30-2010.qxp:NEW LAYOUT

11/29/10

10:41 PM

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INSIDE NEWS

FEDERAL PAY FREEZE WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a two-year freeze of the salaries of some 2 million federal workers, trying to seize the deficit-cutting initiative from Republicans with a sudden, dramatic stroke. - PAGE A2

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

U.S.: Document leaks are a crime

Vol. 119, No. 286 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

November 30, 2010

TUESDAY

www.roswell-record.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Striking back, the Obama administration branded the WikiLeaks release of more than a quarter of a million sensitive files an attack on the United States Monday and raised the prospect of criminal prosecutions in connection with the exposure. The Pentagon detailed new security safeguards, including restraints on small computer flash drives, to make it harder for any one person to copy and reveal so many secrets. The young Army Pfc. suspected of stealing the diplomatic memos, many of them classified, and feeding them to WikiLeaks may have defeated Pentagon security systems using little more than a Lady Gaga CD and a portable computer memory stick. The soldier, Bradley Manning, has not been charged in the latest release of internal U.S. government documents. But officials said he is the prime suspect partly because of his own description of how he

It’s a geyser!

pulled off a staggering heist of classified and restricted material. “No one suspected a thing,” Manning told a confidant afterward, according to a log of his computer chat published by Wired.com. “I didn’t even have to hide anything.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asserted Monday that WikiLeaks acted illegally in posting the material. She said the administration was taking “aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information.” Attorney General Eric Holder said the government was mounting a criminal investigation, and the Pentagon was tightening access to information, including restricting the use of computer storage devices such as CDs and flash drives. “This is not saber-rattling,” Holder said. Anyone found to have broken American law “will be held responsible.” Holder said the latest disclosure, involving classified and sensitive

AP Photo

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responds to questions on the disclosure of secret diplomatic documents by online whistle-blower WikiLeaks, on Monday, at the White House in Washington.

State Department documents, jeopardized the security of the nation, its diplomats, intelligence assets and relationships with foreign governments.

A weary-looking Clinton agreed. “I want you to know that we are

TOP 5 WEB

For The Last 24 Hours

• Waiting for Santa • Many water problems related to ... • Santa arrives at Roswell Mall • High Plains Aquifer does not hold ... • Black Friday shoppers out early

INSIDE SPORTS

Mark Wilson Photo

VALLEY CHRISTIAN BOYS WIN There is no substitution for experience and the Valley Christian boys basketball team showed why in its 59-48 win over the Goddard junior varsity team, Monday.

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TODAY’S OBITUARIES • • • •

Glyn Gray Patricia Jo McFerraz Helen Blake Imogene Kronauer

- PAGE A7

HIGH ...52˚ LOW ....19˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 ENTERTAINMENT.....B5 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B5 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8

INDEX

Ken Birks and his grandson Avery Birks, 6, watch as a water geyser rises high above the parking lot at Roswell Regional Family Care, 2335 N. Main St., on Friday morning. The water eruption resulted after a vehicle accidently ran over an exposed plastic pipe next to a water main.

Fire kills couple

See LEAKS, Page A3

A Roswell couple died in an early-morning house fire Monday, officials said. George Romero, 70, and his wife, Celia, 65, died after officials say an electrical fire started in the couple’s garage. It spread to the rest of the home at 711 N. Orchard Ave. Roswell Fire Department Chief James Salas called the blaze an accident and blamed over-loading electrical cords as the cause. Salas said the couple likely died from smoke inhalation and urged all city residents to install and maintain smoke detectors in their homes. “A smoke detector most likely would have saved their lives,” he said. “There was a smoke detector in the residence but it was not

Pearce goes on listening tour Arrests made after disturbance at church MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER

Congressman-elect Steve Pearce launched a listening tour in Roswell Monday, as he prepares to return to Washington following a two-year hiatus. Pearce, R-N.M., took questions on a wide range of issues during the nearly two-hour event at the Chaves County Administrative Center. He says the 17-city stop in southern New Mexico is aimed at finding ideas for job creation and spurring the economy. “(We want to) get a local flavor of the issues,” said Pearce, while adding, “We must grow the economy.” Before touching on the economy, the about 40 attendees of the war m audience touched on top-

See FIRE, Page A3

MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER

Matthew Arco Photo

From left, Congressman-elect Steve Pearce meets with residents Monday during a listening tour of southern New Mexico.

ics ranging from immigration, public employee unions, health care reform and veteran services. Much of the discussion

came back to improving the economy. “The process to go through to get any sup-

Recount under way in District 1 race The recount for a County Commission race won by two votes was under way Monday at the Chaves County Administrative Center. Judge Charles Currier presided over the first day of the recount after Democrat Eloy Ortega petitioned District Court to review the results for the County Commission District 1 race. Of ficials are slated to resume the recount beginning at 9 a.m. today. “I think this all boils to how accurate the

See PEARCE, Page A3

machines are,” said James Duffey, the Republican candidate who was announced the race’s winner in the days following the Nov. 2 election. Both candidates attended the first day of the recount, along with their lawyers and representatives of their political parties. Of ficials counted ballots from 10 precincts and sorted through some of the absentee ballots, according to county election officials. Ortega declined to comment.

A fight broke out Sunday outside a local house of worship that resulted in multiple arrests of churchgoers by the Roswell Police Department, officials said. Interim Chief Dennis Kintigh told reporters Monday that ongoing disturbances between members of the Old Paths Baptist Church and city residents over the weekend culminated with a physical altercation outside of Church on the Move. The fight sent a Church on the Move pastor to the hospital. “What we have here is a group of people who are behaving in a way that cause other people to feel uncomfortable,” said Interim Chief Dennis Kintigh. “To my knowledge, this is the first instance of actual violence.” Jeremy De Los Santos, of the Old Paths Baptist Church, along with Caesar Chavez and Rolando Iglecias were arrested after police say protesting turned physical. Iglecias is accused of pushing 63year -old Church on the Move Associate Pastor Savino Sanchez to the ground and hitting him, according to police records. “I do not know what trig-

Courtesy Photos

Above, Jeremy De Los Santos was arrested after a physical altercation Sunday which occurred with an associate pastor at Church on the Move, where Troy Smothermon serves as pastor.

gered the physical altercation,” Kintigh said. Iglecias was charged with battery and disturbing lawful assembly. De Los Santos and Chavez were arrested for being party to unlawful acts and disturbing lawful assembly. “This is the second time they’ve come on to our See CHURCH, Page A3


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