Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 135 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
June 6, 2015
Saturday
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Battle over marijuana farm continues By Jeff Tucker record STaff WriTer
A Roswell man who says a proposed medical marijuana farm would be unhealthy for young minds, stigmatize Roswell, potentially increase crime, devalue nearby properties, provide a dishonest environment and have negative economic, social and moral impacts has appealed a zoning boardÕ s recent approval of the proposed pot farm. Terry R. Johnson II on Thursday filed an appeal with the Chaves County Planning & Zoning Department in opposition to the Roswell-Chaves County Extraterritorial Zoning CommissionÕ s May 12 vote in favor of a change in zoning use
that would allow Pecos Valley Pharmaceuticals Inc. to convert the former NatureÕ s Dairy milk processing plant at 5104 S. Main St. into a medical marijuana production facility. The ETZ commissionÕ s approval does not ensure the medical cannabis nursery will be built at the former dairy plant just outside of Roswell, but it does boost the chances of Pecos Valley Pharmaceuticals of receiving a non-profit producers license from the New Mexico Department of Health, said Kevin Cheney, a consultant for the pharmaceutical company. JohnsonÕ s appeal of the ETZ commissionÕ s 4-2 vote in favor of the zoning change is sched-
uled to be heard June 23 by the Roswell-Chaves County Extraterritorial Zoning Authority. Clinton Greathouse, owner of NatureÕ s Dairy and CEO of Pecos Valley Pharmaceuticals of Roswell, said Friday that JohnsonÕ s appeal was no surprise. Ò We kind of expected the appeal from the individual,Ó Greathouse said. Ò I promise you weÕ re going to come ready to battle.Ó
Pot farm debate
Johnson does not state the reasons for his opposition to the proposed pot farm in his appeal. However, Johnson spoke at the May 12 hearing and also filed a letter of opposi-
tion prior to the hearing. In his letter, Johnson said there is Ò a moral issue at stake.Ó Ò I find numerous issues that would have negative economic, social and moral impacts on our community,Ó Johnson wrote the ETZ commission members on May 5. Ò Our strongest opposition lies within the location of such a venture. By locating a medical marijuana facility on the South Main corridor, I feel it would be a detriment to the property value of the surrounding area.Ó The Chaves County Planning & Zoning Department recommended approval of the zoning change to allow the pot farm, See FARM, Page A2
Jeff Tucker Photo
Terry R. Johnson II speaks out against a proposed medical marijuana farm at a May 12 hearing of the Roswell-Chaves County Extraterritorial Zoning Commission. Johnson has filed an appeal of the commission’s May 12 vote in favor of a change in zoning use that would allow an indoor pot farm at the former Nature’s Dairy plant.
Kickin’ it at the park
Bill MoffiTT record correSpondenT phoToS and STory
The Roswell Independent School District is sponsoring free lunches at Carpenter Park, located at Southeast Main and East Bueno Vista Streets, daily at 11 a.m. through July 31 as part of their Seamless Summer Lunch Program. The City of Roswell Parks and Recreation Department is keeping the kids entertained until meal time by offering
games and educational programs for children to participate in from 9-11:30 a.m. as part of their Ò Kids Kicking It at Carpenter ParkÓ program. New playground equipment is also going in at the park under a separate city program. Right: Nancy Lopez Elementary School cafeteria worker Amy Garcia cooks up a fresh batch of cheeseburgers while 10-year-old Jonathan Medrano, shown in the background, goes to find his friends to eat
his lunch with at Carpenter Park Friday morning. Left: City of Roswell workers put in a retaining wall as they smooth out the wood shavings around the new playground equipment going in at Carpenter Park, at the corner of Southeast Main and East Bueno Vista Streets Friday morning. The smooth shavings will be a foot deep all around the equipment thus helping to insure a soft landing for children playing there.
Local briefs: Body ID is hampered Court: NM man By Jared Tucker MulTiMedia JournaliST
Chaves County Sheriff Lt. Mike Herrington said the Office of the Medical Investigator could not confirm the identity of the body found off the Old Clovis Highway Thursday morning because of the advanced stage of decomposition. Ò Because of the condition of the body, OMI will have to go into a specialized investigation,Ó Herrington said. Dental records and other methods will have to be used, he said. They were able to confirm the gender as male, Herrington said, but not the nationality of the body. The cause of death could not be confirmed, and specialized tissue analysis will have to be utilized to say for sure what caused the death, Herrington said.
Prosecutors add battery on a peace officer charge
The woman accused of cutting her 1-year-old sonÕ s neck and abandoning him at a local cemetery before running out of gas near Carlsbad in early May went before a magistrate judge Wednesday for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to bind the case over to district court for felony prosecution. Online
ny battery on a peace officer in Carlsbad. Court records show she waived the preliminary hearing, so the case was bound over to district court. The charge was filed one day prior to Roswell Police filing charges of child abuse, child abandonment and interfering with a child abuse investigation. Olivas is accused of cutting her son LucasÕ throat multiple times and abandoning him at the Lake Arthur Cemetery May 3. Lucas was discovered walking along a white plastic fence wearing only a diaper, police said.
Two men arrested for outstanding warrants Friday
Jared Tucker Photo
Anthony Aguilar, 23, is arrested for a probation violation warrant Friday afternoon at a home on the 70 block of West Byrne Street. The Roswell Police Department was assisted by agents from the FBI and U.S. Marshal’s Office, RPD Sgt. Ray Sharpe said. court records do not yet reflect the outcome of the hearing, but they do reflect a new charge which was added by Carlsbad authorities. Loraine Olivas is charged with felo-
According to Roswell Police Sgt. Ray Sharpe, 23-year-old Anthony Aguilar was arrested after police received information that he and his girlfriend were at 76 West Byrne Street. When the first officer arrived, a man matching AguilarÕ s description was seen sitting on the couch. When the man saw the officer he disappeared out of view, Sharpe said, and his girlfriend went to the front door and gave officers consent to search. Ò He ended up being located in the attic with some evidence that he was See BRIEFS, Page A2
with six DWIs can get license restored
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) Ñ An Albuquerque man convicted six times for drunken driving can have his state driverÕ s license restored despite small traces of alcohol found in a court-ordered device that prevents him from starting his car until he blows into a device, an appellate court ruled this week. In an opinion issued Wednesday, the New Mexico Court of Appeals said a lower court erred when it denied a petition by Monte DeMichele, 53, to restore his regular license. The three-member appeals court said a district judge failed to consider DeMicheleÕ s explanation that the small reading of alcohol in the interlock device was probably the result of him being an insulin-dependent diabetic who produces sugar alcohol in his system. According to court records, DeMichele was convicted six times of driving while intoxicated between 1990 and
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2005. But after an interlock was placed in his vehicle and DeMichele said he was an active participant in Alcoholics Anonymous for eight years, he petitioned to have his license restored. DeMichele had been driving using a state interlock license. A district court judge ruled last year that because interlock records showed small traces of alcohol, DeMichele didnÕ t meet good cause for a license restoration. New Mexico Court of Appeals Justice Cynthia Fry, writing for the court, said the district judge failed to consider uncontested evidence, including DeMichele not facing any further drunken driving violations in more than eight years. Ò We therefore conclude that there is no reasonable view of the information presented to the district court that would permit a conclusion that (DeMichele) failed to establish good cause,Ó Fry wrote.
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are no obiTuaries for Today,
June 6, 2015.
church ................A6 clASSiFiedS ..........B6 cOmicS .................B5 entertAinment .....A8
FinAnciAl .............B3 GenerAl...............A2 hOrOScOpeS.........A8 lOtterieS .............A2
OpiniOn ................A4 SpOrtS .................B1 WeAther ..............A8