05-12-2011

Page 1

Roswell Daily Record

Officials nix bear’s turf grab

Vol. 120, No. 114 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

May 12, 2011

www.rdrnews.com

THURSDAY

MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER

‘CHAMPAGNE LADY’ DEAD AT 87

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Norma Zimmer, the “Champagne Lady” of TV’s “The Lawrence Welk Show” and a studio singer who worked with Frank Sinatra and other pop stars, has died. She was 87. Zimmer died peacefully Tuesday at her Brea, Calif., home, Welk’s son, Larry, said Wednesday. - PAGE B3

TOP 5 WEB

Pursuing of suspected criminals is part of the job description for law enforcement officers, however not all suspects are covered in fur and have four paws. Police safely captured a black bear outside Roswell Wednesday after a flurry of 911 calls led officials on an hour -long chase. Wildlife officials say the bear traveled up to 70 miles before it was spotted just northwest of the city. “I believe this is a first,” said Mark Madsen, spokesman for New Mexico Fish and Wildlife. “We never had a bear in Roswell.” Madsen suspected that the about 80-pound male bear likely came from the Capitan Mountains. The animal, about one year old, was probably “kicked loose” from his mother, he said, Mark Wilson Photo explaining that it is not uncommon practice with Game and Fish personnel examine a tranquilized bear that had wandered into a pecan orchard near Pine Lodge and Brown maturing male bears. roads, Wednesday afternoon.

For The Past 24 Hours

• Air tanker extinguishes neighborhood • Local wildfire • Kautz charged ... Bodge was diabetic • Rocket boys complete repeat • Invaders fall to Ruidoso in debut

INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo

“This bear was probably looking for new territory,” he said, adding, “it’s extremely dry this year” and weather and the search for food may have driven him farther from his home. With more than 20 years experience with working for the state Fish and Wildlife, Madsen said he’s never heard of a bear coming this close to Roswell. The sight also took Chaves County Sheriff deputies by surprise, who worked to keep the animal from coming closer to town by wrangling it into the pecan orchard. “We tried to get him to a tree,” said Lt. Mike Wood, of the Chaves

County Sheriff’s Department. Wood explained he could not believe a call over the radio regarding a bear being near the city, until he saw it for himself. Officers kept the animal at bay until an official with four hunting dogs chased the bear up a tree, where he was safely tranquilized. Wildlife officials say they planned to continue to monitor his health while he was sedated. They said the bear would likely wake after between one and three hours, at which point they planned to release it back into its natural habitat.

Officials close Lincoln NF over fire conditions Eager hounds pick up the bear’s scent.

MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER

HEAT DENY CELTICS

MIAMI (AP) — Behind Boston much of the season. Behind Boston much of the game. No more. Not only has the Miami Heat caught the Celtics — they have officially gone past them, and into the Eastern Conference finals. Vanquishing the team they couldn’t beat for so long with a 16-0 run to end the game, Dwyane Wade scored 34 points, LeBron James put the Heat up for good with a 3pointer with 2:10 left on the way to a 33-point effort, and Miami topped Boston ... - PAGE B1

TODAY’S OBITUARIES

• Eva “Ann” Hammond • Percy F. Blair - PAGE B3

HIGH ...86˚ LOW ....55˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B5 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WASHINGTON .........A3

INDEX

Federal officials announced plans Wednesday to close more than 1.1 million acres of public land in southeast New Mexico due to extreme fire conditions. The U.S. Forest Service issued a statement an-

nouncing that Lincoln National Forest will be closed beginning at 8 a.m., today. Officials pointed to at least three fires that charred about 88,000 acres, including the stillactive Mayhill Fire, in the region. Fire officials said Wednesday afternoon that the Mayhill Fire is only 20 per-

cent contained and has already burned through 21,000 acres. It continues to burn in the Lincoln National Forest and on private land. “Forest service law enforcement and staff will be patrolling forest roads and trails,” the press release stated. “Signs will be placed along highways

mattarco@roswell-record.com

and flyers will be posted throughout the communities to remind the public that the Lincoln National Forest is closed.” The last time the forest was closed to the public was in 2008 and 2006, according to Garth Smelser, Lincoln National Forest deputy forest supervisor. Smelser said the 2008

closing lasted from May to July and in 2006 the land was off limits from January to July. He said both closures were due to similar extreme fire conditions. The Lincoln National Forest was the home of Smokey Bear, a cub who

RPD begins search FCCLA makes patrol pillows for 2nd deputy chief to comfort displaced children JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER

The Roswell Police Department received approval from city government to start the search for a second deputy chief. “This is not really new,” said Police Chief Al Solis. “At one time we had two deputy chiefs.” The second position was eliminated five years ago, and Solis is restoring it. The new post for deputy police chief was listed on the city’s employment website Monday. Solis referred to it as pri-

marily an organizational change within the department, with one deputy chief to be in charge of operations while the second would be in charge of support and administration. The city will accept applications from people within the RPD, but it is also looking outside the department. Solis said he would be interested in receiving applications from out of state as long as the applicant fulfills all the listed qualifications. See RPD, Page A6

See FOREST, Page A6

EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER

Sometimes all it takes to comfort a child is a blankie and a teddy bear. That’s why a local nonprofit organization recently gave area law enforcement officials and charities “patrol pillows,” pillowcases filled with goodies to quiet fears of children who are facing scary situations like being removed from their home. See PILLOWS, Page A6

Mark Wilson Photo

Area school students deliver “patrol pillows” to a waiting Chaves County Sheriff’s patrol vehicle Wednesday afternoon.

RAiR artist’s Spellbound evokes visual sense of language JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER

Jonathan Entzminger Photo

Jennifer Moses’ “Over Under,” on display in Spellbound, at the Roswell Museum and Art Center.

Think outside the box. It is a common utterance that was once the campaign slogan for fast food chain Taco Bell. That slogan can only describe the makeup of Jennifer Moses’ Spellbound, on display at Roswell Museum and Arts Center, 100 W. 11th St., through June 5. The 42-piece exhibit features collages, drawings and paintings based on the New Englander’s southeast

New Mexico experience. Each piece evokes an abstract scene birthed out of the Hitchcockian theme, which inspired the exhibit’s name. Look intently at Cloud Hallucination and you will see Carlsbad Caver ns. Examine Spider’s Strategem and experience nature through Moses’ eyes. For the more eccentric audience, you might peer at the Hobby Lobby Series, which seems to streamline the artist’s conscience and shopping expe-

rience by displaying what she calls “the rows of tantalizing craft supplies at Hobby Lobby.” “Observed moments like spider webs, as well as the big sky (and) the flat layers of land have really influenced the work,” Moses said. “The decorative papers ... I’ve let that come into the work. I’m letting my influences be experiential and more wide-ranging than before.” Moses’ conception and See MOSES, Page A6


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