Roswell Daily Record
Commissioners canvass election results Vol. 123, No. 269 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
November 8, 2014
SATURDAY
www.rdrnews.com
County Clerk reports few voting glitches BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
The Chaves County Board of Commissioners got to take part in the democratic process Friday morning during a special business meeting in Roswell. commissioners The helped County Clerk Dave Kunko verify the provisional ballots prior to certifying
the votes of the General Election held earlier this week. “There were a few minor glitches with Tuesday’s election,” Kunko told the commissioners, who were there to canvass, or verify, the 2014 General Election results for Chaves County. “We had some ballots come in with the wrong code on the back, and they wouldn’t read.”
The clerk’s of fice was unaware the coding on the backs varied, or it would have been on the lookout for problems before the polls opened. “Things were going fine, then all of a sudden we had ballots that were not reading,” Kunko said. The provisional votes the board approved were primarily by voters who tur ned up at the wrong
polling place on election day, although one ballot was cast as an “in lieu” ballot, which meant a person who was supposed to have voted absentee showed up at the polling place, having never submitted their absentee vote. Confusion also occurred at one polling place where a father mistakenly signed See CANVASS, Page A3
Randal Seyler Photo
Commissioners decline supporting NMAC ‘priorities’ County Clerk Dave Kunko discusses the General Election with the Chaves County Board of Commissioners on Friday during a special business meeting of the commission.
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
The legislative priorities of the New Mexico Association of Counties aren’t the same as the priorities of the Chaves County Board of Commissioners. Commissioners declined to support several of the proposed priorities that were included in a resolution presented to the board on Friday morning. County Manager Stanton Riggs presented the resolution supporting the NMAC legislative priorities to the
Latest phone scam: Missed jury duty
Mendoza honors aunt who died from breast cancer STAFF REPORT SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Roswell resident Jessica Mendoza recently had her head shaved in memory of her aunt, T ia Angie Garcia, who lost her battle to breast cancer on Nov. 2, 2004. Gar cia’s cancer had been in r emission for many years before she
commissioners for approval. “I think we need to take these one at a time,” said Board Chair man James Duffey. “For example, this priority to get Amtrak service for northern New Mexico. I have heard a lot of negative comments about this.” The NMAC priority states: “Support continuation of Amtrak’s SW Chief and create reasonable funding alternatives.” Duffey said that if the
two cousins,” Mendoza said. “She was a beautiful, smart, intelligent, caring, war m-hearted, str ong-minded godly woman. She is our angel.” Mendoza added she is happy her hair will help make a cancer survivor happy. died at age 47. “God bless those who “My T ia Angie Garcia are still battling or surMendoza’s hair was 22 to 24 inches long before was a great mom to my vivors of this horrible she got it cut of f. She has donated her long locks to Locks of Love, a nonprofit that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.
See COMMISSION, Page A3
Scammers claim residents must pay fine or be arrested SUBMITTED BY RPD
The latest phone scam to hit the Roswell area is also being reported in numerous other states. It involves a caller telling people they missed jury duty and will be arrested unless they pay a fine with a pre-paid debit card. Residents in the Roswell area who have received these calls have been told to purchase a Green Dot card. Multiple
reports of these calls began coming in to the local dispatch center Friday, Nov. 7, from area residents inside and outside the city limits. Courts — the entities that issue jury summonses — and law enforcement agencies that serve arrest warrants do not call people to inform them there is a warrant for their arrest. And fines, which are
Health Department Deshotel at Pearl Harbor when first bombs dropped to host flu shot clinic
The New Mexico Department of Health’s Roswell Public Health Office will be hosting a drive-thru flu shot clinic from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the First American Bank, 3220 N. Main St. in Roswell. There is no charge to those attending the clinic, but everyone should bring their insurance card, including Medicaid or Medicare, with them. Everyone six months of age and older should get a flu vaccine each flu season, especially people in the following groups because they are at high risk of having serious flurelated complications or because they live with or care for people at high risk for developing flurelated complications: • Children 6 months through 4 years of age. • Pregnant women (any trimester). • People age 50 and older.
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, lung or heart disease, and those who are immunocompromised. • People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
• People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu.
• American Indians and Alaskan Natives. • People who are morbidly obese.
• Health care and early childhood personnel.
People in these groups should also consider seeing their health care provider to be evaluated for antiviral medication if they develop flu symptoms.
For more information on the no-charge flu shot clinic, call the Roswell Public Health Office at 575-624-6050. TODAY’S FORECAST
HIGH 65 LOW 36
See SCAM, Page A3
BY MARY MORGAN RECORD INTERN
Andrew Deshotel, 93, of Roswell, greets everyone with a warm smile. He has seen much as a sailor in the U.S. Navy, including the first bombs being dropped on Pearl Harbor. Deshotel was born in Louisiana and he worked on a cruise liner. “I didn’t like that kind of ship. I decided to get off that ship and joined the Army,” he said. At 15, he was in charge of communications. But Deshotel soon had a change of heart. “I didn’t like the Army. So I paid my way out, and joined the Navy,” he said. “At that time, I had enough training to be able to teach electronics to sailors. Well, I didn’t like that job so I asked to be transferred to Pearl Harbor,” he said. Deshotel was stationed on the USS Conyngham. At Pearl Harbor, each ship took turns with radio duty.
• TOMMY E. DOW
On Dec. 7, 1939, Deshotel was in charge of radio communication when the first bomb was dropped on Pearl Harbor. The Conyngham was in 14 Navy battles, with Deshotel being in 13 of them. “On the ships all the cooks would go to one of the guns and the engineers would go to another and so on,” he said. “The Conyngham was hit with one bomb. Killed all the cooks. “Out of 222 men, I had to do the cooking. I got help from the younger sailors and I made cooks
• VIRGIE PURCELLA
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B4
out of them. While out at sea the Conyngham was hit by a Japanese sub damaging the engines.” No shots were fired, as both sides thought they had hit their own. After four hours, one engine was repaired and the Conyngham traveled 2,900 miles at four miles an hour in reverse to an island for repairs, then to San Francisco, where Deshotel found more cooks for the Conyngham. Deshotel retired from the Navy after 30 years and worked building airports and air towers. CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
Deshotel
After retiring from that, he opened his own electronics school, which he ran for many years before selling it. Deshotel now lives in Roswell with his wife, enjoying his retirement. Record Staff Intern Mary Morgan may be contacted at 622-7710, ext. 305, or at Obituaries@rdrnews.com. Morgan is the newspaper’s obituary clerk and a general assignment reporter.
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8