Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 124, No. 85 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
April 9, 2015
Thursday
www.rdrnews.com
Lt. gov. says pressure building for special session By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer Lt. Gov. John Sanchez says momentum is building for a special legislative session to rectify the legislative train wreck that unfolded in Santa Fe last month when state lawmakers failed to pass a capital outlay bill. Sanchez, who spoke to local Republicans in Roswell Tuesday at the Chaves County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner, told the Daily Record’s editorial board Tuesday afternoon that negotiations with Democrat leaders for a special session are ongoing. “I think right now we’re working through some of the details and trying to negotiate with Senate
Democrat leaders to try to strike a deal so that if we come up, we don’t waste tax dollars in a lengthy special session that we don’t accomplish anything,” Sanchez said. “I believe that we can come into Santa Fe one day. By the way, the typical cost for one day of opening the session is about $50,000.” Leaders of the first Republican-controlled New Mexico House of Representatives since 1954 and the historically Democrat-controlled state Senate were unable to reach an agreement on an annual capital outlay bill by the end of the 60-day legislative session on March 21. About $270 million for capital projects requested by state legislators, includ-
ing $6.4 million for Chaves County, went unfunded without the annual spending bill. Roswell Mayor Dennis Kintigh said the city’s top capital outlay request was for state funding to assist the city in building an $8 million hangar at Roswell International Air Center, large enough to accommodate the largest American airplane, a wide-body Boeing 747-8. A clearly agitated Republican Gov. Susana Martinez said shortly after the 2015 session she had “no plans at this time” to call for a special session for lawmakers to re-consider the annual capital outlay bill, known at the Roundhouse See SESSION, Page A3
Max Scally Photo
Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, center, meets with Daily Record Vision Editor Christina Stock and Staff Writer Jeff Tucker while at the newspaper Tuesday afternoon. Sanchez spoke to local Republicans Tuesday night during the Chaves County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Roswell Convention and Civic Center.
Names linked to MainStreet Roswell opening
Vet van damaged
By Jeff Jackson Record City Editor
Shawn Naranjo Photo
The rear window was recently smashed in one of the vans operated by The Southeast New Mexico Veterans Transportation Network (SNMVTN). Magil Duran, president of SNMVTN, said the damage likely occurred over the weekend and that it will cost $310 to replace the window. Duran said it appears someone smashed the window with a wooden board. The network provides free transportation for local veterans to VA clinics in Albuquerque, Artesia and El Paso. The network’s offices and parking area are located on West Second Street across from the Krumland Auto Group dealerships. Duran said the van with the smashed window and two others operated by the network will be donated to the Ruidoso Veterans Transportation Network on April 19. Anyone with information about the vandalism incident can call the network at 622-0729.
Although the job has yet to be advertised publicly, the director’s post of MainStreet Roswell is starting to attract interest from some plum figures locally. Two names that have surfaced among five people to have had at least brief discussions with the organization include local event organizer Barbara Gomez and former Roswell City Council member Judy Stubbs. “I know myself there have been four people that have sort of applied,” board member Darryl Burkfield said, while Stubbs said she “knows for a fact” that the number has reached five. The 30-hour-per week position has been open since Dusty Huckabee submitted his resignation last
month, and is the organization’s only paid position, but the board has been busy enough preparing for the Fourth of July UFO Festival, Burkfield said. “We have not given it the fervor we’ve needed to because Peggy (Seskey) and myself are putting the UFO Festival together,” Burkfield said. “The fact is it is going to be advertised.” MainStreet Roswell is the local arm of state and national coordinating programs that focus on historic preservation in more than 2,000 communities, according to a description on the state agency’s website. The state program uses a four-point approach of organization, economic positioning, design and promotion to assist cities See NAMES, Page A3
Witness: Police officer didn’t warn Hospital celebrates Volunteer Week man before shooting him eight times Submitted
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — An eyewitness whose cellphone video put a South Carolina police officer in jail on a murder charge said Wednesday that he did not hear the white officer give any warning before he fired eight times at the back of a black man who can be seen in the footage running away before he falls to the ground. Feidin Santana told NBC News that while walking to work Saturday morning, he saw Officer Michael Thomas Slager controlling Walter Lamer Scott on the ground, and began recording when he heard the sound of a Taser. “Mr. Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser,” said Santana, a barber originally from the Dominican Republic. “He was just looking for a way to get away from the police.” Slager initially claimed he fired in self-defense after the suspect he had pulled over for a broken
brake light grabbed his Taser. Santana’s recording documented a different scenario. It begins at a moment when both men are standing, as Scott pulls away from the officer and an object appearing to be a stun gun falls to the ground, trailing wires. As the unarmed man runs away, Slager then pulls out his Glock pistol and fires eight times at the back of the 50-year-old man, until he crumples to the ground about 30 feet away. Santana also said he didn’t see the officer render any first aid to Scott after he was on the ground. Santana said he was so shaken by what he had witnessed that he initially considered erasing the video from his phone and leaving town. “I felt that my life, with this information, might be in danger,” Santana said. Santana said he changed his mind after Today’s Forecast
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AP Photo
A man holds a sign during a protest for the shooting death of Walter Scott at city hall in North Charleston, S.C., Wednesday. Scott was killed by a North Charleston police office after a traffic stop on Saturday. reading the version of events as recounted by the police, which didn’t match what he had seen. He said he provided the video to the dead man’s family because he didn’t believe anything would happen to Slager if he didn’t come forward. After the video was made public by a lawyer representing the fami-
ly on Tuesday, Slager, 33, was swiftly fired and charged with murder, potentially resulting in a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. A judge ordered the ex-officer jailed without bond, pending trial. But that did little to quell the outrage of an See WITNESS, Page A3
National Volunteer Week is April 12-18 and Eastern New Mexico Medical Center is honoring the men, women and members of the Pastoral Care Program who volunteer their time to help others. The dedicated volunteers have built a foundation of trust, confidence and growth between the hospital and the Auxiliary/Volunteer Services. The enormous number of volunteer hours and monetary support provided by the Auxiliary has played an important role in making ENMMC the outstanding health care facility that it is today. The core of the volunteer program is the Auxiliary, a nonprofit organization established in 1958. Their purpose is to render services to ENMMC and its patients and to assist in promoting the health and welfare of the community. The Auxiliary generates money through sales at the Hospitality and Thrift Shops, memorials, donations and membership dues. During 2014, over
Index
Today’s Obituaries Page A2, B4 • Alice Marie Alsup • Earsley “Chico” Barnett III • Jack Richard Dexter
• Dorothy Elizabeth Herring • Brett Leach • Rev. Edward Dean Lee
• Florentino Loya • Brad Todd • Helen Louise Walker
$62,750 in scholarships was awarded to students pursuing careers in the healthcare field. Almost 30,000 volunteer hours were recorded during this same time span. As the volunteers have discovered, helping others is one of the most rewarding of all experiences. The care and enthusiasm that volunteers bring to their work helps make each patient’s hospital experience as pleasant as possible. The positive attitudes, camaraderie, respect and working relationship between patients, employees, physicians and other volunteers are marks of true professionalism by the volunteers. Each volunteer is well-trained and proud of their contribution to the overall picture and success and efficiency to ENMMC. During National Volunteer Week — and all year — please join Auxiliary/Volunteer Services in saluting its volunteers.
Classifieds...........B6 Comics..................B5 Entertainment. ....A8 Financial..............B3
General...............A2
Opinion.................A4
Horoscopes.........A8
Sports. ................B1
Lotteries. ............A2
Weather...............A8