Roswell Daily Record
Skandera: System can be better THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 48 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WHOOPI: LACK NOT A TREND
NEW YORK (AP) — Whoopi Goldberg said Wednesday that the lack of black nominees in major categories of this year’s Academy Awards doesn’t reflect a trend in the film industry. Speaking after hosting the opening of an exhibit of Oscar statues ... - PAGE B6
February 24, 2011
THURSDAY
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ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Public Education Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera acknowledged Wednesday before a crowd of teachers, principals and parents that she’s new to New Mexico and has a lot to learn but she’s confident improvements can be made in the education system that will make students more successful. Skandera told those gathered for a statewide conference on parent
involvement that she’s well aware of the state’s reputation when it comes to education. She pointed to a recent report that placed New Mexico 50th for student opportunity and gave the state a failing grade for student achievement across all grade levels. Skandera said improving the system will take “laser focus” and a long-ter m commitment. She asked for the crowd’s help. “We should take a stand
and not continue to set our children up for failure when we should be setting them up for success,” she said. Skandera also spelled out Gov. Susana Martinez’s education agenda, which includes ef forts to end social promotion, honor successful teachers and increase accountability with a new school grading system.
ESPINOZA’S BILL SLATED FOR DISCUSSION
A Roswell lawmaker expects committee discussion on her education bill, which would stop third-graders from being promoted to the fourth grade if they are not reading proficient, to extend into the weekend.
Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, said Wednesday that her legislation, which was slated for discussion earlier in the day in the House Education Committee, will be on the committee’s Friday agenda. The matter was pushed back after lawmakers ran out of time before heading to the House floor for regular session.
Grass fire consumes 150 acres
See ESPINOZA, Page A3
See SYSTEM, Page A3
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Cadet dies in car wreck • Funeral for Boca soccer star Melissa Bergstein • Roswell man shot, killed in El Paso. • Pearce undecided on Senate run • Kintigh convention center bill dies
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
CC! OF CC HONORS BOY HOOPSTERS
Character Counts! of Chaves County released the final installment of its Winter Athletes of Recognition program on Wednesday and this week’s honorees are from the sport of boys basketball. This week’s winners are Hagerman’s .... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Earl Lynn Tankersley • Virginia ‘Cunie’ Lucero • Barbara Slavich • Manuel ‘Manny’ Lara • Christine Graves • John Lawrence Beckham • Alice Marie Thompson • Clara Prudencio • Marilyn Elliott - PAGE A3, B3
HIGH ...70˚ LOW ....31˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
A half dozen fire departments responded to a blaze east of Roswell on Wednesday that engulfed between 100 and 150 acres of land, fire officials said. The blaze broke out shortly after noon and pockets of scorched area were still smoldering at about 5 p.m. Officials said they were still investigating the cause of the blaze at that time. Multiple crews from Berrendo, East Grand Plains, Sierra, Bitter Lake, Bureau of Land Management and New Mexico Fish and Wildlife units responded, according to county fire officials.
Police arrest York McMahon treats mold illness JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Odessa Police Department apprehended Tracy York, 37, on Sunday. The Roswell woman was wanted by Roswell Police Department for elder abuse, with a warrant issued on charges of neglect of a resident. York was arrested at 3808 N. Texas Ave., Odessa, Texas, on charges of a fugitive from justice. She is being held in Ector County Jail, without bond. Sgt. Duesler of the Ector County Sheriff’s Office explained the process of extradition from Texas. “She’s already appeared
JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Tracy York
before the magistrate. The next step is she will go before the district judge when we ascertain if she is the person wanted. At that
For more than 18 years, Dr. Scott McMahon has served the Roswell community as a pediatrician. At the end of January, he resigned from La Casa Family Health Center and opened his own practice to treat mold illness patients. McMahon’s new practice is run out of his home, 309 S. Kentucky, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Not everyone in town approves of the methods and diagnoses of his new practice — in relation to
Jonathan Entzminger Photo
Dr. Scott McMahon works in his new office.
mold. In a letter to the editor of the Daily Record printed on Feb. 1, BCA Med-
ical Group called into question McMahon’s See MCMAHON, Page A2
Gadhafi hold whittled away as Libya revolt spreads
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — The scope of Moammar Gadhafi’s control was whittled away Wednesday as major Libyan cities and towns closer to the capital fell to the rebellion against his rule. In the east, now all but broken away, the opposition vowed to “liberate” T ripoli, where the Libyan leader is holed up with a force of militiamen roaming the streets and tanks guarding the outskirts. In a further sign of Gadhafi’s faltering hold, two air force pilots — one from the leader’s own tribe — parachuted out of their war-
See YORK, Page A3
plane and let it crash into the eastern Libyan desert rather than follow orders to bomb an opposition-held city. International momentum was building for action to punish Gadhafi’s regime for the bloody crackdown it has unleashed against the uprising that began Feb. 15. In T ripoli, Gadhafi’s stronghold, protest organizers called for new rallies today and Friday, raising the potential for a more bloody confrontation. Militiamen and Gadhafi supporters — a mix of Libyans and foreign African
fighters bused in — roamed the capital’s main streets, called up Tuesday night by the Libyan leader in a fistpounding speech in which he vowed to fight to the death. The gunmen fired weapons in the air, chanting “Long live Gadhafi,” and waved green flags. With a steady rain, streets were largely empty, residents said. In many neighborhoods, residents set up watch groups to keep militiamen out, barricading streets with concrete blocks, metal and rocks, and searching those trying to enter, a Tripoli activist said.
Gadhafi’s residence at Tripoli’s Aziziya Gates was guarded by loyalists along with a line of armed militiamen in vehicles, some masked, he said. In opposition-controlled Benghazi, the eastern city where the uprising began, residents held a mass rally outside the city’s main courthouse, vowing to support protests in the capital, said Farag al-War fali, a banker. They also called a one-day fast in solidarity with them. Afterward, young men went into the courthouse to register to obtain weapons, which had been looted from police sta-
tions and military bases and then turned over to the city’s new rulers, he said. The extent of Gadhafi’s control over the country he has ruled for 41 years had been reduced to the western coastal region around Tripoli, the deserts to the south and parts of the center. After Gadhafi’s speech Tuesday night, militiamen flooded into Sabratha, a town west of Tripoli famed for nearby ancient Roman ruins, and battled government opponents who had taken over, said one resiSee LIBYA, Page A3