Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 119, No. 250 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
FORECLOSURE FREEZE THAWING WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of U.S. home foreclosures may not slow much after all. Bank of America said Monday that it plans to resume seizing more than 100,000 homes in 23 states next week. - PAGE A5
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
October 19, 2010
Candidates spar over Teague’s income ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The candidates in the chase for a House seat representing southern New Mexico are sparring fiercely over whether incumbent Harry Teague misled voters about his income for the year he first ran for Congress in 2008. Republican challenger Steve Pearce launched a round of television advertising last week saying Teague, D-N.M., pocketed a $3.3 million dividend from his Hobbs oilfield services company, Teaco Energy. But a tax document released Monday by Teague’s campaign characterized the funds as business and interest income, and a campaign spokeswoman said all of the money went back into the company to keep it afloat as the national economy soured. “It’s all a straight-up deal,” Teague told The Associated Press. “We pay taxes. We file tax returns with the IRS every year on all of that
A salute
TUESDAY
www.roswell-record.com
stuff.” Teague, locked in a close race after one term representing the 2nd Congressional District, maintains the $3.3 million never went into his personal bank account. For the 2009 tax year, Teague said a little more than $2 million “of the family’s money” was reinvested. “None of the money came out of the company,” Teague said. “From 2000 through 2007 or 2008, we grew the company quite a bit. The company made a profit and showed profits. But all the money went back into the company to grow the company.” Teague has aired a television commercial saying he has received no salary since being sworn into Congress — “No salary, no bonuses, not a penny,” he says in the ad. Pearce’s campaign responded with another ad claiming that Teague owns two luxury jets despite eliminating health care for his employ-
ees in difficult economic times. A spokesman for Pearce’s campaign, Jason Heffley, accused Teague of “playing a shell game.” The sharp allegations reflect the high stakes nationally for both political parties as Democrats try to maintain a House majority. Teague’s campaign started a push last week to counter Pearce’s assertion, releasing 2008 tax retur ns showing Teague and his wife, Nancy, earned $323,054 and reported dividends of $19,935 in 2008 — the same year the business earned $3.3 million. Heffley questioned how Teague could report $3.3 million in business income but apparently not pay taxes on it. “That’s the question they’re not answering,” Heffley said. “Even if you took a dividend to reinvest it, you still have to report that as income.”
Eyes to remain on brine well
TOP 5 WEB
For The Last 24 Hours
• 2 men die in auto wreck • Suspect in kidnapping turns self in • Parade opens Eastern NM State Fair • Xcel Energy unveils solar energy demo • CC! honors cross country athletes
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
An Honor Guard ceremony is conducted Saturday morning in Bronco Plaza for visitors attending New Mexico Military Institute Alumni Homecoming festivities.
LEE, RANGERS DOWN YANKEES NEW YORK (AP) — Cliff Lee was even better than before in the postseason, and that was no small feat. - PAGE A3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Malcolm Lee Johnson • Naomi Newlin • Barbara Helen Smith • Charlotte Stanger • Matilda Mendoza de Gonzalez • Loretta “Gerry” Porter
- PAGES A3, B5 and B8
HIGH ...80˚ LOW ....49˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
BUSINESS REVIEW .A6 A3CLASSIFIEDS .....B5 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OBITUARIES ...........A3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
CARLSBAD (AP) — There doesn’t appear to be any threat of imminent collapse of an underground cavern formed by a brine well at a busy Carlsbad intersection, but authorities are keeping emergency plans in place as a precaution. State legislators were briefed about issues concer ning the brine well, where a collapse had been feared earlier this year. Geological information suggests the well, near the intersection of U.S. Highways 285 and 62-180, should have displaced almost 6 million cubic feet of salt. Tests last summer led officials to believe there are two voids under the well. While the first void proved to be empty as expected, the lower cavern contains anhydrites, a carbonatebased rock.
Judge likely to deny ‘Adventure’ lets residents experience life with disabilites gay troop order
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge said on Monday that she is leaning toward denying a government request to delay her order halting the military from enforcing its ban on openly gay troops. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips said she would review the arguments from Justice Department lawyers and issue a ruling as early as Monday, or by Tuesday. “My tentative ruling is to deny the application for a stay,” Phillips said at the start of the hearing. Phillips said the government has not proven that her order would harm troops or in any way impede efforts to implement new regulations for the military to deal with openly gay service members. If she rejects the request, Justice Department officials say the Obama administration would appeal. Experts say they will likely find friendlier venues in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco and, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court. “The farther the decision gets from the presentation of evidence in the trial court, the more likely it is that courts will assume the military must have some critically important interest at stake,” said Diane Mazur, a law professor who opposes the policy.
JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Have you ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a schizophrenic? What it would be like to lose one of your five senses, such as sight or sound, or commute around Roswell in a wheelchair for a day? On Monday, participants in the Roswell Convention and Civic Center’s Amazing Roswell Mysteries Adventures, in conjunction with organizers for Disability Employment Awareness Month, spent a few hours experiencing life as a disabled person. “This has really helped me understand more [about] the behavioral disabilities that people have and it’s tiring,” said John Block III, deputy director of the New Mexico Governor’s Commission on Disability. Two teams of adventurers began the day by riding a southbound bus to their starting locations for their adventure. They visited various areas of Roswell, including the fire and police stations, UFO Museum and Research Center, Roswell Police Department, Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell and K-Mart. While on their excursions, some adventurers wore blinding black shades and used a walking stick to simulate blindness. Others sat in wheelchairs, or listened to audio MP3 tracks of noises, sounds
Daugherty trial begins See ORDER, Page A7
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Jonathan Entzminger Photo
From left Lisa McNiven, Governor's Commission on Disability, Disability Systems Coordinator, and Julian Klenck, interpreter, simulated blindness on their Amazing Roswell Mysteries Adventure tour Monday. and voices that a schizophrenic may hear. “The challenging part for me was not being able to see my language — being able to communicate receptively,” said Lisa McNiven, 45, a hearing impaired woman and Governor’s Commission on Disability Systems Coordinator. “It was diffi-
cult for me to be able to feel the language — to be able to understand what was being said. Most of the time, I didn’t understand. I got tired ... I got a little bit frustrated [at] times, because I wanted to know what was being said. It was an eye-openSee MYSTERY, Page A7
The trial of Aaron Daugherty began Monday. Daugherty, 24, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Valerie A. York, 25, and Mark A. Koenig, 23, on June 13, 2009, at 1207 W. Hobbs St. Assistant District Attorney Michael Sanchez began the proceedings by calling the first officials to arrive at the scene of the double homicide. Roswell police Sgt. Michael Taylor described the scene, with bloody foot prints noted on the concrete drive and upon the stairs and York laying in the doorway. He said that he and other of ficers
stepped over the body in order to clear the building and discovered a male victim with a gunshot wound to the head. Defense attorney Harry Wilcox asked each officer if they had taken care to avoid contaminating evidence. RPD police officer John Hancock was called by Sanchez to describe his relationship with Daugherty. Hancock said he and Daugherty had been friends since seventh grade. Both men served in the National Guard in Iraq. When Sanchez asked if Daugherty had changed as a result of his time in the See TRIAL, Page A7