Roswell Daily Record
Wildfire expected to enter NM THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 140 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
$30K RING RETURNED
SANTA FE (AP) — A 45year-old Albuquerque woman is sporting a milliondollar smile today after recovering a $30,000 diamond engagement ring she lost in 1997. “She said it was like being reunited with a long-lost love,” said Lt. Louis Carlos, who returned the ring to the woman Wednesday at the Santa Fe Police Department. - PAGE A8
June 11, 2011
SATURDAY
www.rdrnews.com
SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — A massive wildfire in eastern Arizona that has claimed more than 30 homes and cabins and forced nearly 10,000 people to flee was poised to move into New Mexico on Friday, threatening more towns and possibly endangering two major power lines that bring electricity from Arizona to West Texas. The fire has burned 639 square miles of forest, an increase of 114 square miles from a day earlier, officials said Friday. Lighter winds Thursday
and Friday helped the 3,000 firefighters on the lines make progress, but critical fire conditions remain, said Jim Whittington, a spokesman for the teams battling the fire. High winds were expected to return with a vengeance Saturday. “We have until then to get as much work as we can done and get to the point where we can sit back and watch the winds come,” Whittington said. Fire crews plan to try to strengthen what lines they’ve been able to estab-
‘This is WONDERFUL!’
lish and continue burning out forested areas in front of the main fire to try to stop its advance. It was of ficially just 5 percent contained Friday, but the actual numbers likely are higher, Whittington said. The advances came on the fire’s north side, near the working-class towns of Springerville and Eagar on the edge of the forest. Nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated from the two towns and from several mountain communities in See FIRE, Page A3
AP Photo
State to RIF 44
The Wallow Fire burns near Alpine, N.M., Friday.
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Commission holds anti-lizard meeting • Pearce addresses Job Corps students • Man found dead after cop chase • 2 girls arrested for murder • Grass fire
INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
Children attending the week-long SonSurf Beach Bash Vacation Bible School get rained on courtesy of the Roswell Fire Department, Friday, on the last day of the camp.
SANTA FE (AP) — Nearly four dozen state workers, most of them in the Public Education Department, are losing their jobs next month because of layoffs as agencies deal with budget cuts. The State Personnel Board approved plans Friday to lay off 44 workers in the Education Department, the Economic Development Department, Regulation and Licensing Department, Commission on the Status of Women, State Land Office and Organic Commodity Commission. The job losses take effect July 1 with the start of the new budget year. The layoffs are the first for state workers with civil service protections since the economy nosedived and lawmakers began cutting
Home and Garden on now State panels negate JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
KARLSSON TAKES LEAD
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Robert Karlsson shot a 5under 65 on Friday to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the St. Jude Classic. Karlsson started a stroke behind first-round leader David Mathis and carded six birdies and a bogey to reach 9 under. The Swede, who lost here a year ago in a playoff with Lee Westwood, has played his first six career rounds at TPC Southwind under par with this his lowest score yet. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Mary Adame Herrell • Martha Featherstone - PAGE A8
HIGH .100˚ LOW ....64˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A8 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
New Mexico Enchanted Living is hosting its annual Home and Garden Show June 10 to 12, at the Roswell Convention and Civic Center, 912 N. Main St. Today, the show will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and continue Sunday, from 12 to 4 p.m. “It’s a really exciting event for the area,” show Jonathan Entzminger Photo coordinator Trish Thompson said. “It’s a regional Consumers view vendors’ wares at the Enchanted Living Home and Garden Show at the Roswell Convention and Civic Center, Friday. See HOME, Page A3
See RIF, Page A3
‘unnecessary rules’
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A state commission voted Friday to repeal New Mexico’s energy efficient building codes, becoming the second panel of gubernatorial appointees to move in as many days to roll back environmental initiatives that had been pushed by former Gov. Bill Richardson. With a 7-1 vote, the state Construction Industries Commission negated the codes that Richardson’s administration spent 14
months putting in place. At the time, the measures were touted as the most stringent in the nation. During public hearings held around the state, home builders were split on repeal, which is part of a broader agenda by Gov. Susana Martinez to undo what she called unnecessary rules and regulations that hurt business. Commission Chairman Randy Baker said he was
son, D-S.D., pledged quick action on the nomination. “It is vital that we have strong leaders in place at our financial regulators as we continue the economic recovery,” Johnson said. Gruenberg’s nomination is the first of several vacancies at financial regulatory agencies that Obama must
fill. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees most of the nation’s large banks, has been without a permanent leader since John C. Dugan completed a five-year term last August. The Federal
Obama to nominate Gruenberg as FDIC chairman WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Friday that he will nominate Martin J. Gruenberg to become chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Gruenberg would succeed Sheila Bair, who plans to end her five-year term as one of the nation’s top
banking regulators on July 8. Bair was a holdover from the Bush administration and one of several regulators who helped shape the federal response to the 2008 financial crisis. Gruenberg’s nomination will require Senate confirmation. A longtime Democratic
Senate staff member, he has been No. 2 at the FDIC since August 2005. The independent regulatory agency is charged with maintaining public confidence in the banking system. It guarantees bank deposits up to $250,000. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim John-
See RULES, Page A3
Harlan Hobson: Author, missionary, minister, family man
See FDIC, Page A3
JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Harlan Hobson
Courtesy Photo
The Hobson family name is synonymous with farming throughout Chaves County. Author, minister and missionary, Harlan Hobson, 45, currently of Batavia, N.Y., said the family’s success is rooted in its work ethic. “Work ethic — that was deeply put into me,” Hobson said. “Watching what it takes for a farmer to grow crops and water them and see the crop come forth. There’s a lot of work that is involved … I saw the price that’s paid to do something worthwhile in life. I saw the labor, intensity and work that was
poured in. I enjoyed being a part of it.” Hobson, a son of the southwest, grew up Albuquerque, Broken Arrow, Okla., Flagstaff, Ariz., and spent his summers in Roswell on the Hobson family farm. “I went out in the fields, collecting vegetables. I learned how to irrigate, worked at the garden stand and helped in whatever way possible,” he said. After graduating from Broken
Arrow High School, Hobson attended Eastern New Mexico UniversityRoswell and earned an associate’s degree in 1986. He earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y., before becoming an ordained minister. Today, Hobson spends his days See SPOTLIGHT, Page A3