Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 124, No. 74 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
March 27, 2015
Friday
www.rdrnews.com
Gov. Martinez vetoes, signs local bills
By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer
As Gov. Susana Martinez reviews bills recently passed by the state Legislature, two of Roswell’s state lawmakers have already felt both the sting of a gubernatorial veto and the warm political embrace of the governor’s signature. The governor last week issued her first veto of the 2015 legislative session when she vetoed House Bill 379, sponsored by state Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, that would have revised and expanded race-
horse drug testing laws. Also on March 17, the governor approved her first bill of the legislative session when she signed House Bill 49 sponsored by state Rep. Bob Wooley, R-Roswell, which allows county assessors and treasurers to issue tax notices by email if the property owner requests electronic notices. The law takes effect July 1. The governor said allowing county assessors and treasurers to send tax notices via email instead of first-class mail would save counties money on postage and reduce the time tax-
payers need to respond to notices. House Bill 49 was passed by the New Mexico House of Representatives on Feb. 16 by a 59-0 vote, and adopted by the state Senate March 14 by a 39-0 vote. House Bill 379 would have required drug testing for racehorses by the New Mexico Racing Commission to follow internationally recognized model rules published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International, or a successor organization. The bill also would have added pre- and post-race
testing, testing for racehorses out of competition and necropsy drug testing. Currently, the New Mexico Racing Commission has select pre-race testing and random post-race testing, Ezzell said. “What a lot of these tracks are doing is they are doing testing on their own,” Ezzell said. “They were testing in urine only. A lot of these drugs that they are developing will only show up in blood serum plasma.” House Bill 379 would have mandated blood serum plasma, urine or other appropriate test sam-
Ezzell ples identified by the racing commission to be taken from racehorses, while also reconciling conflict-
ing amendments in existing state law by repealing a section of state law. Ezzell’s bill passed the New Mexico House of Representatives on Feb. 26 by a 61-0 vote and the New Mexico Senate on March 14 by a 39-0 vote, after clearing committees in both chambers. However, the governor vetoed the bill on March 17. In her executive message to the House, Martinez said the bill tied the hands of See BILLS, Page A3
The science of having fun Del Norte Elementary School on Thursday hosted its second annual Science Extravangza! The Del Norte Parent-Teacher Organization, parent volunteers and cadets from the New Mexico Military Institute collected donations to help put on a fun-filled night of science demonstrations and experiments. Students spent time building, creating and working with a variety of machines, materials and apparatuses to deepen their knowledge of science. The science stations included kids in a
bubble, crazy hair with balloons, dry ice experiments, do-it-yourself motor, optical illusions, plasma globe, taco sauce cleaner, homemade acid-base indicator, color-changing milk, static electricity and making glowing water. There also was a physics show in the gym. Cadets from NMMI helped out under the direction of their science teacher. With 600 students, DNES is the largest elementary school in the Roswell district.
Max Scally Photos
Top left: Addison Edmonson happily volunteers to be ‘the bubble girl’ in this demonstration as New Mexico Military Institute cadets Victor Raigoza, left, and Brian Harris assist. Above: Del Norte Elementary School staff who helped put on the Science Extravaganza! Left: Dr. Yang Yang, a physics teacher at NMMI, uses paper to visually demonstrate the motion of air flow.
Roswell man pleads Hobbs grows, but NM exodus continues guilty to meth charge Staff Report A Roswell man has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of trafficking more than an ounce of methamphetamine. Jaime Juan Alvarado, 36, faces a possible 20-year prison sentence, and at least three years of supervised release, after he pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Las Cruces to a felony charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Alvarado remains in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Alvarado was arrested on
Jan. 20 in Roswell after agents and officers from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force and the Lea County Drug Task Force executed a federal search warrant at his home. According to the criminal complaint, the law enforcement officers seized 35.7 grams of methamphetamine, heroin, several safes and a digital scale when they executed a federal search warrant. Alvarado admitted in court that authorities found methamphetamine in his kitchen, and that he planned to distribute the drug to others.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A portion of southeastern New Mexico’s oil patch is again among the top 10 fastest growing areas in the nation, according to new data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Hobbs area saw its population increase more than 2 percent to nearly 70,000 between July 2013 and July 2014. The area’s population in 2010 was listed as 64,727. The region includes part of the Permian Basin, which has seen the number of barrels of oil produced each day more than double over the last several years. The boom
has led to housing shortages and more traffic throughout southeastern New Mexico. Lea County, where Hobbs is located, was one of six counties in New Mexico to see a population gain between 2013 and 2014 thanks to shifting migration patterns. “Lea County is kind of in a boom,” said Jack Baker, a senior research scientist with Geospatial and Population Studies at the University of New Mexico. While oil production was a big reason for the influx of people, other mining activity also has contributed to the region’s growth, he said. New Mexico’s remain-
Today’s Forecast
Today’s Obituaries Page A6
HIGH 81 LOW 48
• Paul Andrew Contreras • William G. Liakos Sr. • Ruth (Field) Pruneau
ing counties saw population decreases, with San Juan County in the northwestern corner reporting the biggest drop of nearly 3,500 residents. Aside from highlighting the growth in southeastern New Mexico’s oil and gas country, the latest figures suggest a continued trend of New Mexico losing population. Census figures that take into account the number of births and deaths between 2013 and 2014 show eight New Mexico counties gained population, including Lea County. More than a dozen others saw a population drain.
Overall, the net population figures showed the state lost 1,323 people. “A lot of the exodus is economically related,” said Baker. “The economy is opening up in other places, and people are taking advantage of that.” Baker described the situation as dynamic, with the potential of people coming and going. “If the economy takes off, you have the potential of young, educated people coming in,” he said, “but we don’t expect that happening anytime soon.” See EXODUS, Page A2
Index Classifieds...........B5 Comics..................B4 Entertainment. ....A8 Financial..............B3
General...............A2 Horoscopes.........A3 Lotteries. ............A2 Nation..................A6
Opinion.................A4 Sports. ................B1 Weather...............A8