Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 215 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
September 6, 2014
SATURDAY
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Firefighters fill sandbags, prepare for rainy weekend Fire Station evacuated after mold found
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
The National Weather Service in Albuquerque is forecasting a two-day rainfall total of two to five inches for southeast New Mexico, and the Roswell Fire Department has been preparing for the weekend by filling sandbags. “We’re preparing for the rain, we spent the morning filling sandbags,” said Deputy Fire Chief Devin Graham. “We’ve got that going, and we’re bracing for some rain, but hopefully not flooding.” Besides preparing for the weekend’s rain, Fire Station One on South Richardson Avenue has been evacuated due to the discovery of mold in the building,
Graham said. “We have had some issues come up,” Graham said. “We had some positive tests for mold, and we’ve gotten everybody out of here — we had to get a hotel room for the guys.” The equipment and firefighters from Station One are now at the Days Inn, which was the most centrally located hotel the city could find. Graham said the firefighters would be at the hotel for at least the weekend. “We had to find somewhere with space for all the equipment and keep the coverage in district one,” Mayor Dennis Kintigh said. As for the mold, Graham said he’ll know more on Monday when a specialist company arrives to do an
evaluation of the fire station and, hopefully, begin the mold remediation process. “We will know more Monday after noon, as far as extent of damage, but we did have a positive test for mold,” Graham said. Meanwhile, a flash flood watch is in effect for portions of the east central and southeast plains, according to the weather service, and that includes the south central mountains and highlands and the Little Bear burn area near Ruidoso. Roswell is right in the middle of the predicted deluge. Heavy rainfall is forecast over the watch area with amounts ranging from two to five inches. Locally heavy rainfall amounts to near
two inches are possible across the central and southwest mountains late today into tonight, according to the National Weather Service. This includes the Whitewater Baldy bur n area. The threat of heavy rain and flash flooding will continue across the southeast plains and south central mountains today and then focus further west across the southwest mountains on Sunday. “Hopefully, we won’t get more rain than we can handle,” Graham said. “But it’s not looking like a very good weekend for doing outdoorsy stuff.” City Editor Randal Seyler may be contacted at 6227710, ext. 311, or reporter02@rdrnews.com.
City cancels ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ event due to rain the people had were pretty big and they would damage the turf.” The annual event had been held in the parking lot of Roswell Honda, but this year the organizers felt the barbecue competition had outgrown the dealership parking lot. This year’s event included the barbecue and salsa competitions along with musical entertainment. “We will reschedule the event for a future date,” said Staci Vandewart, digital communications manager and marketing director, on Friday. “Visit Roswellhonda.com for more information.”
STAFF REPORT
The fifth annual Roswell Honda Cowboys & Aliens BBQ and Salsa Competition scheduled for today has been cancelled due to rain. The event was to be held at the Cielo Grande Amphitheater, but due to inclement weather the city has postponed the event. “It’s just with the amount of rain we got last night, the turf is too wet to get the equipment out there,” Parks Supervisor Mike Ramey said on Friday. “Some of the rigs that
Nature’s Dairy had tradition of excellence BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR A Roswell tradition of excellence ended on July 31 when Nature’s Dairy delivered the last of its fresh milk to stores and schools in Chaves County. For more than 35 years, Nature’s Dairy had been supplying fresh milk to the residents of southeastern Mexico, either New through grocery stores, restaurants and even in the school cafeterias. Nature’s Dairy Inc. was located at 5104 S. Main St. in Roswell, and employed 30 workers and generated about $8,279,414 in annual revenue. Randal Seyler Photo With the shuttering of the production line, 24 Nature’s Dairy in Roswell produced fresh milk for stores and school districts throughout southeast New Mexico for more employees are now out of than 35 years.
work. “Nature’s Dairy is an institution in Roswell, and we used them for quite a few years to serve our kids,” said Superintendent Tom Burris of the Roswell Independent School District. “I certainly was sad to see them go out of business, and we wish all of them well.” Burris said the dairy’s milk was a staple for the school district’s cafeterias. “It came as quite a shock to us when they went out of business,” Burris said. “We appreciate everything they have done over the years and the service and quality of their product was just wonder ful. We also appreciate their service to See DAIRY, Page A3
Counties warned on Murder defendants to appear in court Tuesday immigrant detentions
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico county jails may face litigation from inmates kept in custody for no other grounds than receiving a hold request from federal immigration authorities. Counties recently received letters about potential lawsuits centering on immigration holds which lawyers deem false imprisonment, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Grace Philips, general
counsel for the New Mexico Association of Counties, said many counties — if not all — have received letters, though she doesn’t know whether they were filed by the same attorneys. In a letter to Bernalillo County, which operates one of the largest jails in the country, attorneys R yan Villa and Olsi Vrapi say they represent a class of See IMMIGRATION, Page A3
AP Photo
From left, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor’s office of economic development, and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk answer questions following a news conference at the Capitol, in Carson City, Nev., on Thursday.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Two Roswell men charged with murder are scheduled to appear in Chaves County Magistrate Court next week for their preliminary hearings. Gilbert Lucero, 32, who is charged along with his brother, Steven Lee Lucero, of murdering 30year -old Isaiah “Blue” Sanchez on June 4 at a vacant Roswell home is scheduled to appear before Chaves County Magistrate
Judge John Halvorson at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. On Aug. 20, Chaves County Magistrate Court Judge K.C. Rogers found sufficient probable cause to believe Steven Lucero, 30, murdered Sanchez. Rogers bound over all the charges against Steven Lucero to 5th Judicial District Court. Both Steven Lucero, most recently of 701 E. Ninth St., and Gilbert Lucero, most recently of 612 Greenbriar St, are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to
commit first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and armed robbery. The brothers are being held without bond at the Chaves County Detention Center. They both face potential maximum sentences of 99 years in prison on the first-degree murder charges alone. According to court records, Vanessa Lucero, the ex-wife of Steven Lucero, lured Sanchez to his death at the dark Roswell home at 1812 N. Maryland Ave. that lacked electricity.
The Lucero brothers were lying in wait at the home and hidden before they attacked Sanchez with a gun and knives, court records state.
The Lucero brothers shot and stabbed Sanchez repeatedly, leaving him still breathing face down in a pool of blood in the home’s kitchen, court records state.
According to court records, Vanessa Lucero told a detective she wit-
Lawmaker: Colleagues to scrutinize Tesla deal RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick says it’s too early to say whether a huge package of tax breaks and incentives needed to land Tesla Motors Inc.’s lithium battery factory will have smooth sailing at a special legislative session next week. The North Las Vegas Democrat said Friday that she and her colleagues must scrutinize details of the legislation before voting on state incentives that could total $1.3 billion in
costs over 20 years. Kirkpatrick’s comments came a day after Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared Nevada the winner of a high-stakes battle with California and three other states for the $5 billion “gigafactory,” which will mass-produce cheaper batteries for its next line of more-affordable electric cars. The deal has prompted concerns from both conservative and liberal groups in the Silver State. “I have had many conversations with legislators. They need enough time to
look at it to get their questions answered,” Kirkpatrick told The Associated Press. “Everybody is openminded about looking at the legislation and excited to have it on the forefront. But we have to do due diligence to make sure the things we want are in there.” Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, want to ensure Nevada workers get first crack at jobs as well as “decent” wages and health care coverage, Kirkpatrick said. They also want to
• ALFRED (PAT) CROW • EDNA K. JOHNSON
• ANDY DANIELS • BOBBY GONZALEZ BARELA
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B4
See MURDER, Page A3
ensure Tesla is held accountable if it fails to meet its goals.
“Accountability is everything,” she said. “We don’t mind incentives. But if they don’t meet requirements, we need to get a return on our investment.” Legislative leaders are gearing up to start the special session Wednesday, she said, and its length will depend on questions raised by the legislation. The public will be given a chance to testify during the session.
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HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
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