07-15-2011

Page 1

Roswell Daily Record

INSIDE NEWS

COMPANIES TO CURB ADS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s largest food companies say they will cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children, proposing their own set of advertising standards after rejecting similar guidelines proposed by the federal government. A coalition of food companies — including General Mills, ConAgra Foods and ... - PAGE B6

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Revenues improve; $360M in ’13

Vol. 120, No. 169 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico’s financial picture is improving and more than $360 million in new revenues will be available in the upcoming budget year, lawmakers were told Thursday. After several years of budget shortfalls and weak revenues, New Mexico faces the prospect of having additional money that could help restore recent cuts in programs, replenish the state’s cash reserves or potentially allow for tax reductions. However, Republican

July 15, 2011

FRIDAY

www.rdrnews.com

Gov. Susana Martinez’s top budget adviser warned legislators not to start a “spending spree.” According to an updated financial forecast released to the Legislative Finance Committee at a meeting in Socorro: •Revenues in the justcompleted 2011 fiscal year should be nearly $111 million more than previously anticipated. Economists expect revenues will be almost 10 percent higher than the previous year, but a third of the improvement is because of tax increases

The Martinez administration has directed state agencies to prepare “zero growth” budgets for next year. The administration will use those agency budget proposals to prepare its spending recommendations for the 2012 Legislature.

approved in 2010 to help plug a hole in the state’s budget. Part of the growth also comes from energyrelated revenues because oil and natural gas prices were higher than economists anticipated when they prepared a revenue forecast last December. •Revenues should be

almost $120 million higher than expected in the current budget year, which started this month. Economists project revenues to grow 4.9 percent over 2011. •The state should collect about $5.8 billion in its main budget account in the next fiscal year, which

TOP 5 WEB

For The Past 24 Hours

INSIDE SPORTS

Mark Wilson Photo

Firefighters and firefighter recruits perform liquid propane gas drills Wednesday evening at the Louis Jones Training Facility in Roswell. The recruits are training to become certified firefighters.

Rookie firefighters walk into the blaze EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER

Rookie firefighters, step-by-step, walked into the blaze for one of the first times Wednesday night as they

WASHINGTON (AP) — Almost as soon as it began, former baseball star Roger Clemens’ perjury trial ended Thursday — in a mistrial the judge blamed on prosecutors and said a “first-year law student” would have known to avoid. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton left the question of a new trial up in the air. But he called a halt to the trial under way after prosecutors showed jurors evidence that he had ruled out — videotaped revelations that a teammate had said he’d told his wife Clemens confessed to using a drug. - PAGE B1

TODAY’S

learned how to battle a controlled liquid petroleum gas fire at the Louis Jones Fire Training Facility in southwest Roswell. Eleven rookies and recruits wearing full gear and gas masks took

turns extinguishing 800-degree fires that burned up to about 50 feet high by kneeling down beside a bur ning propane tank and gas meter and tur ning of f dummy

UFO Festival organizers had just one thing to say to city councilors Thursday night: Can we do it again the same way next year? The event ran so smoothly, said Julie Shuster, one of the event’s planners, that she requested to renew the same basic contract between the UFO Museum and Research Center and the city of Roswell for the next festival, pending approval from the UFO Museum board of directors. “This was a hugely successful event,” Shuster said during the monthly council meeting, thanking the city, county and state for contributing to the success of the annual Fourth of July four -day festival. “We do appreciate all the help we did get.”

ATF changes policy Talks, warnings, compromise?

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firear ms and Explosives will soon notify New Mexico gun dealers of a new measure that requires them to report sales of two or more assault weapons to the ATF if the guns are purchased by the same buyer within five business days. The policy change will go into effect in mid-August, ATF spokesman and special agent Tim Carroll said. “We should be sending out letters in about two weeks,” explaining the new

policy, said Carroll in a phone interview from Washington, D.C. The Department of Justice announced the policy shift Monday, stating that Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas will now be required to report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles — greater than .22 caliber and with detachable ammunition clips — in an effort to crack down on illegal gun traf ficking into

Flood barriers

See ATF, Page A3

WASHINGTON (AP) — With time growing short and warnings more dire, the first, fragile signs emerged Thursday of a possible compromise to raise the nation’s debt limit and avert a potentially catastrophic default on Aug. 2. Under a plan discussed by the Senate’s top two leaders, President Barack Obama would receive See DEBT, Page A3

OBITUARIES

• Colleen Nicole Doyle • Patricia Ann Penn - PAGE B6

HIGH ...96˚ LOW ....72˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........C1 COMICS.................B5 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A6 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A6

Let’s do this again!

See REVENUES, Page A3

EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER

• Crash kills one in two car head-on collision • Man faces seventh DWI charge • Motorhome catches fire • Panel approves nightclub • Man slams into pole and house

MISTRIAL

starts in July 2012. That would mean about $367 million in “new money” is available to appropriate for programs and services when the Legislature meets in January to start work on the 2013 budget. That pool of money represents the difference between projected revenues and maintaining a flat budget — little growth in spending next year except for Medicaid, which provides health care for about a fourth of the state’s population.

INDEX

Mark Wilson Photo

Michael Barela, left, and Josh Hammond of the Lincoln County Road Department install concrete barriers along Rio Ruidoso east of Ruidoso Downs, Thursday, to help divert potential floodwaters from the River Ranch RV Park. The park received high water from Wednesday’s rains after the river left its banks and came close to several homes, although there was no property damage. The park was swamped by floodwaters in July 2008 and several homes were destroyed after the remnants of Hurricane Dolly dumped tremendous amounts of rain in the Ruidoso area.

See ROOKIE, Page A3

See COUNCIL, Page A3

AP Photo

President Barack Obama meets with congressional leaders regarding the debt ceiling in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Thursday.

Births drive Latino growth

WASHINGTON (AP) — With immigration slowing, babies bor n in the U.S. rather than newly arrived Mexican immigrants are now driving most of the fast growth in the Latino population. A new analysis of census data highlights a turning point in Hispanics’ rapid U.S. growth. Demographers point to the potential for broader political impact as U.S.-born Mexican-Americans widen their numbers over non-citizen, foreignbor n counterparts, who wield no voting rights. The analysis focuses on the growth of MexicanAmericans, who make up more than 60 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population. Tracing a mass Mexican migration to the U.S. that began in 1970 and reached its height during the 1990s, it finds that young Mexicans who crossed the border many

years ago are now adding to the population by having many children. Currently, the median age of Mexican-Americans is 25, compared to 30 for other Hispanic subgroups, 32 for blacks and 41 for whites. Mexican-American women on average will have given birth to 2.5 children by their mid-40s, higher than for other groups. Meanwhile, immigration from Mexico has fallen off in recent years, dropping by 60 percent since 2006 after a souring U.S. economy and stepped-up border enforcement made it harder and less desirable for undocumented workers to enter the country. As a result, the number of new immigrants from Mexico declined over the last decade to 4.2 million, from 4.7 million in 1990-2000. In all, the Mexican-AmerSee LATINO, Page A3


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