Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
SENATE CONFIRMS PANETTA
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved the nomination of Leon Panetta to be the next Pentagon chief, handing him a crowded agenda of overseeing the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, tamping down congressional unrest over the Libyan conflict and cutting the budget. - PAGE A6
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Police suspect arson in Pecos blaze
Vol. 120, No. 149 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
Police are searching for arsonists who set a Pecos Elementary School portable classroom ablaze over the weekend and caused about $120,000 of damage. Unknown suspect(s) broke into building sometime between 10 and 10:42 p.m., Sunday, through the window on the south side of the building. They set it on fire, which “severely” destroyed the interior of the building, according to police reports. “It’s being looked at as arson,” Roswell Police Department spokesman Travis Holley said, adding
June 22, 2011
WEDNESDAY
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that there are no suspects or leads at this time.” The arsonists also broke into another portable, but nothing was taken or tampered with, reports show. Suspects also unsuccessfully attempted to gain entry into two nearby portables. RPD officer Joseph Lannoye, who conducted a field investigation, wrote in a police report that there was “no evidence on or in this building that I could process.” He added he had “little success” lifting fingerprints left behind on the various portables’ windows.
“Dust from the wind and fire crews had coated the prints,” Lannoye wrote. “I attempted to lift the prints with just the dust blown onto them. I had little success dusting the prints once the dust was removed.” Police reports show that the case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department. Holley says that an arson investigator has been assigned to the case. Anyone having information on this crime should contact the Police Department at 624-6770.
Mark Wilson Photo
City hosts NMAC
A weekend fire destroyed a portable classroom at Pecos Elementary School.
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Crews fight Santa Fe forest fire • Gov attends ChalleNGe graduation • Roswell celebrates Juneteenth in style • Police arrest 4th juvie gun burglary suspect • ‘Moooo,’ ...
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Let’s be careful with the fireworks Roswell Fire Department officials said Tuesday they hope residents will use extreme caution when lighting off fireworks this Fourth of July. Officials lit fireworks they said met approval with city ordinances.
MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
INVADERS BEST OSOS
The Roswell Invaders captured their 10th win in the last 11 games on Tuesday by downing the visiting Ruidoso Osos, 9-4, at Joe Bauman Stadium. The Invaders broke open a 4-4 tie in the fifth with a pair of runs, then added two more in the seventh and one in the ninth to win their third straight game. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Carlos N. Anaya • Walter J. Hopkins, M.D. • Virginia Rogers • W.G. “Bill” Patton • Travis Bealer • Chester Castleberry • Marion Sanner - PAGE A6
HIGH ...96˚ LOW ....71˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
City fire officials are urging residents to use extreme caution
when using fireworks this Fourth of July in light of the current severe drought affecting Roswell and Chaves County. Chief James Salas held a press
NM officials brace for wildfire fallout
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — First came the smoke and flames. Now come the fears that damage left in the wake of a wildfire that charred nearly 28,000 acres along the New Mexico-Colorado border will cost one community its main drinking water supply. With the summer monsoon season just weeks away, firefighters working to corral blazes burning around the state are hoping for a little rain, but Raton officials are scram-
bling to come up with ways to keep ash and charred debris from washing into their watershed. Some 7,000 residents depend on the watershed for their drinking water. “It’s pretty much devastated, for lack of a better word,” Raton Mayor Neil Segotta said after flying over the area. Once he got his boots on the ground, it didn’t look much better. “We’ve got quite a few
conference Tuesday, outlined safe ways to enjoy fireworks and even asked that residents refrain, if See FIREWORKS, Page A3
The New Mexico Association of Counties 75th annual Conference is in full-swing in Roswell and Chaves County this week. Officials from across the state rolled into town Tuesday and will attend events through Friday morning. Local officials say more than 600 people are attending the conference this year. Chaves County last hosted the conference 11 years ago, said Stan Riggs, county manager. “We’re real excited to let people see the county of Chaves and the city of Roswell, and just how much we’ve grown in 11 years,” he said. “We’re just real pleased.” Riggs said a number of events are slated to be held at New Mexico Military Institute, which he said is a great way to showcase the academy. “We’ve already received tons of comments,” he said. “We’re pleased to show off the Institute.” One of the events planned for the conference is the ROADEO, scheduled to take place today from 8 a.m. to noon behind Hastings, 1705 N. Main St. The event will be a chance for equipment operators to compete in three different competitions centered on heavy equipment driving and usage. The bulk of the other events consist of different meetings and workshops for county officials. The conference ends Friday mor ning with a breakfast at NMMI.
FDA unveils 9 warning labels RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Rotting teeth and gums. Diseased lungs. A sewnup corpse of a smoker. Cigarette smoke coming out of the tracheotomy hole in a man’s neck. Cigarette packs in the U.S. will have to carry these macabre images in nine new warning labels that are part of a campaign by the Food and Drug Administration to use fear and disgust to discourage Americans from lighting up. The labels, announced on Tuesday, represent the biggest change in cigarette packs in the U.S. in
25 years. At a time when the drop in the nation’s smoking rate has come to a standstill, the government is hoping the inyour -face labels will go further than the current surgeon general warnings toward curbing tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths a year in the U.S. “These labels are frank, honest and power ful depictions of the health risks of smoking,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius See FDA, Page A3
AP Photo
One of the nine new warning labels cigarette makers will have to use by fall 2012.
Valerie Haley says good-bye to Roswell, hello to art school See OFFICIALS, Page A3
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Valerie Haley, right, signs with her interpreter Stephanie Mainello-De Lara during the Roswell Business Alliance meeting at Cattleman’s Tuesday.
The Roswell Business Alliance bid adieu to one of the most valued members of the Roswell Independent School District’s accounting department, Tuesday afternoon, and presented her with a certificate of recognition. RBA President Terri Douglass applauded Valerie Haley, an 11-year RISD employee, for her hard work and dedication to her job. She also heralded Haley, who has been deaf since birth, as a role model to those in the deaf community. “She’s just an amazing, bubbly, outgoing person who never let anything stop
her,” said Douglass, who is also a program manager for the New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and helped Haley find her job, along with job developer Joe Clark. “We consider her just an outstanding success and a role model for people who believe that people with disabilities can work and be very successful.” Haley says she is retiring to attend art school at Texas Tech University, but that she will miss her coworkers. “RISD has really good people,” Haley said through RISD interpreter Stephanie Mainello-De Lara. “I really
had a good work environment; had a lot of opportunities. She added that RISD provided excellent support to help with communication by installing a video phone, providing an interpreter when needed and writing down messages. “Really that’s all I needed,” she said smiling. Haley told the crowd of 50-strong that she was surprised to receive the award, and thanked them. “We wish her the best,” Douglass said. “Everybody that had an opportunity to meet her and work with her really appreciates her.”