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Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY

Vol. 124, No. 106 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday

May 3, 2015

SUNDAY

www.rdrnews.com

Kintigh talks flooding, jobs, development

Q: Reports over the radio say the flooding issue has been resolved at the veteran’s cemetery. Is that true? A: I think that’s a little overly optimistic. We have the drainage system in place, if you’d had a chance to go out and look at it where the “Dennis’ ditch” was. That’s all been finished off and now there’s an actual drain pipe that runs down to the detention pond. The fundamental greater difficulty is it’s flat. There’s no slope to that, and unfortunately if we get another heavy rain there’s going to be ponding. This is not unique to the veteran’s cemetery unfortunately there’s many areas around this town. We’ve experienced this more, I’d say, in the last 18 months,

Mayor Dennis Kintigh visited the RDR offices to have a Q&A session with reporters. Here’s a part of the interaction. two years-something like that. We’ve had a lot of heavy rains in that time frame and so it’s come to light this lack of slope and drainage in certain parts of this community. So, yes, we’ve got it better from where that paved culdesac is, but I’m still concerned about the lack of slope. Q: Back when (veteran’s cemetery board president) Mr. Eldridge had resigned, I know there was proposed pricing and regulations requiring burial vaults. Was that ever passed by the cemetery board? What’s the status on that? A: No, I don’t think so. I’d

have to double check that. It’s interesting because that whole issue has come to the surface again. The whole idea of the burial vaults is basically like a, in this concept, would be a vinyl, plastic-type-almost like a cover that would go over the top of the casket. You could have concrete ones or more exotic ones that are a lot more expensive, but the idea was you could do this and it would prevent settling and it would protect (and) keep the casket intact. These on the veteran’s area are going to be double-stacked cemetery plots. Because the concept is, two

caskets go in there. If the veteran dies first, the veteran goes in first, they are dug a little deeper, and then the spouse. So there’s advantages to that, but there’s extra cost. There’s a lot of push back over that. Candidly, we didn’t get that result. We got...staff changes came into place, some transitions. And we’re going to have to re-visit that. Q: It’s my understanding, with these pay raises, there’s people who have been with the city for decades (who received) 17, 25 cent raises. Can you elaborate and explain why some who are veterans of the city got such small raises while See MAYOR, Page A2

Just a member of the herd

Jared Tucker Photo

“Marketing is a weak term,” Roswell Mayor Dennis Kintigh said Thursday while explaining to RDR reporters the duties of a newly created position that replaces the job of city marketing director.

Experts: Convictions will be tough to win in Baltimore case

AP Photo

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore state’s attorney, speaks during a media availability Friday in Baltimore. Mosby announced criminal charges against all six officers suspended after Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody.

Shawn Naranjo Photos

Above: This herd of antelope appear to have gotten in on the action as this balloon landed Saturday north of Berrendo Road and west of Sycamore Avenue. About a dozen balloons stayed up in the air until the pecan orchards were cleared and the balloons could land near the Relief Route. The 28th annual Old Timers Balloon Festival ends today. About 70 balloonists and their crews participated in this year’s festival. Left: The camera angle makes it appear the three balloons in the background are taking off in sequence.

Mud, muck and fun

New Mexico Military Institute Cadet August Beckwith helps runners clear a mud mound at Saturday’s mud and obstacle race at NMMI’s White Field. Runners of all ages got a little dirty participating in the annual New Mexico Mud Invasion. For more photos of the Mud Run, see Page B5.

Today’s Forecast

HIGH 88 LOW 56

with Gray. State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby announced the charges Friday amid the backdrop of a city in turmoil — four days after public anger over Gray’s death triggered riots, with heavily armed troops enforcing a nightly curfew, and the day before scheduled protest marches expected to draw thousands. Within hours, the city’s police union questioned the prosecutor’s impartiality, accusing her of a rush to judgment and demanding she recuse herself from the case. Even some of those who support Mosby’s stand worry further violence might erupt if she fails to win convictions. Alan Dershowitz, a wellknown criminal lawyer from New York and professor emerSee EXPERTS, Page A3

Ex-Marine Bloodhart proud to volunteer By Jeff Jackson Record Sports Writer

Jeff Tucker Photo

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s top prosecutor acted swiftly, charging six officers in the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered a grave spinal injury as he was arrested and put into a police transport van, handcuffed and without a seat belt. But getting a jury to convict police officers of murder and manslaughter will be far harder than obtaining arrest warrants. Legal experts say the case is fraught with challenges. The widely shown video that captured the nation’s attention shows Gray, 25, being loaded into a police transport van, but not what happened once he was inside. Other than the accused officers, the only known witness is a convicted criminal later placed in the van’s other holding cell, unable to see what was happening

Now in his seventh decade, Jim Bloodhart won’t stop working. He volunteers much of his labor in local causes to build homes, deliver toys during the holidays and, during the last four years, bring together a cemetery for veterans. Through various pro bono projects and his work as an electrical contractor, Bloodhart, at 71, grinds through 65-hour weeks. “I have worked hard all of my life and I have worked two jobs at one time at different times,” Bloodhart said, “and when I got involved with the charities then I decided it was time to give back. Life had been pretty good to me over the years. I made a pretty good living, not an exceptional one, so

this is my way, maybe trying to make sure I get into heaven.” Bloodhart joined the Marines after graduating high school in 1961 in Shelby, Ohio. While not being sent to Vietnam during four years of active duty, he was stationed in Yorktown, Virginia, at a naval weapons facility during a tense 13 days in late 1962. The entire world was nervous about the Cuban Missile Crisis. “That particular duty station, we supplied all the munitions out of that base to Norfolk, the Navy. We did railroad convoys, truck convoys, barg-

es to supply munitions to all the ships in the Norfolk fleet,” Bloodhart said. “That base was real high security because we even had nuclear materials there. My job at the time was security for the base and that was before I went to electronic school.” He recalls standing guard as well. “We had what was called a port-starboard watch. They put everybody on the same watch. So you actually had two people on every patrol route and every duty station 24/7. You were on four hours and off eight hours for that time period and it got very long and very tiring. It was traumatic for the whole country, but it was one of those things you did what you had to See SPOTLIGHT, Page A2

Today’s Obituaries Page B6, B7

• Andrea Christina Leon Contreras • Leonard Claude Ferguson Sr. • Jeneva (Neva) Irene Glenny • Clara Apodaca Jauregui

• Genevieve A. Jones • Herbert Pruit (Pat) Joyce Jr. • Maxine Mae Morrison Machen • David Newsom • Donald F. Peter

Jeff Jackson Photo

In addition to the Elks lodge, Jim Bloodhart is an active member in Habitat for Humanity, the Marine Corps League and several other organizations in Roswell.

Index Classifieds...........D1 Comics..................C4 Entertainment. ....A8 General...............A2

Horoscopes.........A3

Nation..................B7

Lotteries. ............A2

Sports. ................B1

Opinion.................A4

Weather...............A8


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Sun 05 03 rdr by Roswell Daily Record - Issuu