2013-09-06-Roswell Daily Record

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Roswell Daily Record

Vol. 122, No. 214 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

INSIDE NEWS

- PAGE A6

September 6, 2013

Court date set for Valley Meat Co. JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER

PERU THE GLOBAL LEADER IN BOGUS BANKNOTES

THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

The attorney representing Valley Meat Co. said Thursday a federal judge’s decision to expedite a hearing to decide whether the horse slaughter plant can operate, might allow the plant to open as soon as November. Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Christina Armijo issued a restraining order blocking the plant and an Iowa company from opening. Animal rights activists sued the federal gover nment to stop the practice. Armijo found that horse slaughter facilities posed a great enough risk to health and public safety to warrant a full environmental review before the USDA

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should be allowed to issue permits of inspection. Valley Meat’s owner expected to wait up to a year before a final ruling was made to again allow the federal inspections to begin, attorney Blair Dunn said. “For Valley, it means we may be out of this sooner, rather than later,” Dunn said. The Humane Society of the United States and other groups that spearheaded the lawsuit to halt the inspections filed a motion last month to have Armijo’s ruling clarified, in an attempt to avoid putting up a $495,000 monthly bond. The motion claimed the temporary restraining order was “potentially invalid,” and the bond had “dramatic financial implications”

Jill McLaughlin Photo

A federal judge is expected to decide whether Valley Meat will be allowed to open its doors as a horse meat processing plant at the end of October.

for the animal-welfare groups. Armijo granted an expedited review of not only the bond, but of the entire case. The bond was awarded to Valley Meat and another

plant in Sigourney, Iowa, to cover financial losses incurred while the temporary injunction remains in place. The plaintiffs have since paid the first $495,000 and

ORLANDO INTRODUCES ELECTRIC RENTAL CAR - PAGE B4

INSIDE SPORTS

AP Photo

US: Syria threatens national security President Barack Obama arrives to make a statement about Syria, Aug. 31, in the Rose Garden at the White House.

COLTS DOWN LIONS IN 3 Returning from an injury, particularly one to a knee, is hard for any athlete. Months of rehab is hard enough, but just as difficult is the mental hurdles that must be cleared... - PAGE B1

TODAY’S OBITUARIES

• Juanita Mae Graves Haines • Ray Mitcham

- PAGE A3

HIGH ...93˚ LOW ....65˚

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B5 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION..................A7 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A6

INDEX

Syria, administration officials say in making their case for U.S. missile strikes. Following an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, the White House declared Syria’s 2-year civil war a top risk to American interests. If the U.S. fails to respond, officials said this week, it could encourage America’s credibility other hostile governments with those countries will to use or develop weapons be an immediate casualty See SYRIA, Page A3 if it stands down now on

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in more than two years of a bloody civil war, President Barack Obama has declared Syria a national security threat that must be answered with a military strike — and in doing so he is war ning Americans as much about the leaders of Iran and North Korea as about Bashar Assad.

AP Photo

Protestors opposing military action in Syria stand outside Sen. Patrick Leahy's office, Thursday, in Burlington, Vt.

will likely be ordered to pay for September and October. “The bond should likely have to be posted and tripled,” Dunn said.

Counties ask NM high court to rule on same-sex marriage

See DATE, Page A3

SANTA FE (AP) — New Mexico’s 33 counties asked the state’s highest court Thursday to decide whether gay marriage is legal in the state and to stop the spread of lawsuits that have forced some county officials to start issuing marriage licenses to samesex couples. The New Mexico Association of Counties and clerks statewide filed a petition seeking clarity in a legal dispute that has changed rapidly in the past two weeks since a souther n New Mexico clerk independently began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Since then, seven other counties followed — some because of court orders in response to lawsuits by same-sex couples. More than 900 marriage licenses have been granted to gay and lesbian couples in the state, according to the lawsuit. It remains uncertain See MARRIAGE, Page A3

NM visited with Ariz. District judge orders a hearing in providers before audit suspended Medicaid funding case ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico officials visited at least one Arizona company that took over mental health services in the state before an audit into the New Mexico nonprofits that previously provided those services even began, according to a representative from the audit company.

Lawmakers heard those claims this week during a Behavioral Health Legislative subcommittee hearing in Las Cruces, and some said the remarks contradicted what they were previously told, KUNM-FM reported. The New Mexico Human

AMY VOGELSANG RECORD STAFF WRITER

Even if just one family experiences a house fire, the Red Cross is called, and a Disaster Action Team (DAT) steps up to assess the damage, find a hotel for the family and provide the family with money based on the damage. All of this is given to them via a Client Assistance Card. “Our efforts don’t stop there though,” Landrum said. They also help families fill prescriptions, replace glasses and work with men-

See AUDIT, Page A3

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Why a Roswell psychiatrist had his sincerestored Medicaid funding suspended in 2012 could be the subject of a courtordered hearing. A lawyer says the Department of Human Services may appeal, but the Albuquerque Journal reports that a state District judge ruled Wednesday that Dr. Babak Mirin is entitled to have a hearing.

The department in early 2012 suspended the payments to Mirin’s New Mexico Psychiatric Services but wouldn’t provide details. An investigation by the attor ney general’s Medicaid fraud unit continues. Mirin’s lawyer told Judge Raymond Ortiz that Mirin and his network of providers are owed up to $600,000 for services.

September is National Preparedness Month for Red Cross Throughout 187 countries, 13 million volunteers respond to roughly 700,000 disasters a year, but the American Red Cross does more than show up when these diasters strike. With a branch in Southeastern New Mexico, Red Cross is focused also on individual tragedies, said Development Coordinator Gale Landrum.

tal health situations. The local DAT branch responded to more than 55 fires in Chaves County, as well as surrounding counties. Overall, the Red Cross of Southeastern New Mexico has seven counties in its main jurisdiction, Landrum said. Although they have been very successful in distributing clothes, food and shelters to those hit by disaster – much of it due to the support they receive from Unit-

ed Way, Landrum said – the most challenging aspect of the Red Cross is the recruiting of volunteers.

“I think so many individuals get the perception that if you volunteer you’re committed to everything,” Landrum said. “That’s not the case.”

In the event of a disaster, a volunteer will be notified, and they can then decide at See PREPARED, Page A3

This article is one in a series of stories focusing on local agencies that receive support from the U n i t e d Wa y o f C h a v e s C o u n t y , w h i c h i s c u rre n t l y c o n d u c t i n g i t s annual fundraising campaign.


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