Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 249 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
October 16, 2014
Pearce, Lara face off on immigration, health care
THURSDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Candidates for 2nd Congressional District debate in Las Cruces BY TODD G. DICKSON LAS CRUCES BULLETIN
LAS CRUCES — In a televised debate taped Wednesday by KRWG-TV at New Mexico State University, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce defended his record against Democratic challenger Roxanne Lara of Carlsbad, who repeatedly accused Pearce of frequently voting along tea party lines. Pearce said Lara was mischaracterizing his voting record and touted his bipartisan legislative efforts on issues such as immigration reform. On immigration, however, the two differed on how to resolve the millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally. Lara favors a bill passed by the Senate that would create a “pathway to citizenship” for them with conditions that require them to pass background checks, learn English, pay back taxes and
put them at the end of the line for applying for citizenship. “A pathway to citizenship is not a free pass,” she said. Pearce characterized the pathway as amnesty, which he predicted would result in another rush of illegal immigration similar to what occurred this summer. “Saying you come here and we’ll take care of you is not the solution,” he said. Pearce said he favored a quicker process of gaining citizenship and a guestworker program for those who don’t desire citizenship but are willing to do jobs not being filled by citizens. Lara said bringing those people “out of the shadows” would make them contributing members of society and that the broken immigration system needs a total overhaul, not minor fixes. “Just passing comprehensive immigration reform along will bring more than
$1 trillion into the economy over two decades,” she said. Throughout the one-hour debate, moderated by retired broadcaster Sam Donaldson, both Pearce and Lara tried to take moderate positions. For example, Lara promised to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget, while Pearce said The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal had cited him as willing to work with Democrats more than other Republicans. One of those efforts resulted in an immigration reform bill that he co-sponsored with progressive Democrat Beto O’Rourke of El Paso. O’Rourke represents the 16th Congressional District of Texas. Lara focused on Pearce’s voting record, saying he voted 92 percent of the time along tea party lines, which has contributed to the gridSee DEBATE, Page A3
Pearce has huge funding edge in closing weeks BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
With fewer than thr ee weeks to go before general election day, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce has a milliondollar campaign war chest, while his Demo-
Pink with purpose
crat opponent has largely expended her campaign resources.
Pearce, R-Hobbs, had $1,158,151 cash on hand of campaign funds as of Sept. 30, according to his cam-
Berrendo Elementary School student council representatives and officers celebrate “Pink Out Berrendo” day Wednesday. Hundreds of students wore pink clothing or colored their hair pink to mark Breast Cancer Awareness month. Student council members sold pink bracelets for $1 to raise money for local breast cancer awareness charities. Pictured in the middle, back row, is special education teacher and student council adviser Trieva Rue.
Annual Reading Round Up event promotes literacy BY DYLANNE PETROS RECORD STAFF WRITER
There were no electronics in sight. Children playing football, bobbing for apples and families roasting hot dogs and marshmallows were just some of the activities at the ninth annual Reading Round Up at Dexter Elementary School Wednesday evening. The literacy event was the brainchild of Nancy Miles, for mer district librarian of Dexter schools, and Amy Deutsch, district librarian and Reading is Fundamental coordinator. “I had the privilege of working with Mrs. Deutsch and we together conceived this idea,” Miles said. The event started because Reading is Funda-
mental, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide books to all children, requires schools that are part of the organization to coordinate an evening event, Deutsch said. “We just started brainstorming what would be a fun activity to get families together and celebrating reading and encouraging families and encouraging reading,” she said. There were more than 1,000 books at the event, all of which were free to students. Each elementary student could choose three books to take home. “For some of our kids these are the only books they own,” Deutsch said. “By opening it up to families to come, families can See READING, Page A6 TODAY’S FORECAST
HIGH 88 LOW 50
Las Cruces Bulletin
Retired broadcaster Sam
Donaldson, center, moderated the debate of 2nd Congressional District candidates U.S. Rep. Steve
Pearce, left, and Democrat-
ic challenger Rocky Lara, of Carlsbad, held Wednes-
Police investigate shooting incidents See FINANCES, Page A3
STAFF REPORT
Jeff Tucker Photo
Photo courtesy of the
Rowell Police are investigating three recent shooting incidents, one occurring Tuesday night and the other two Wednesday morning. Todd Wildermuth, RPD public information officer, said no other information is currently available. Wildermuth said it was unknown if the police were looking for one shooter or three. He also said it was unknown at this time whether any of the bullets had been recovered for a forensic comparison. Wilder muth was also unable to say whether the investigation was being conducted as a single investigation or as three separate incidents. A 19-year -old woman came to the police station on Tuesday at 9:42 p.m. to report that while she was driving north on North Main Street near the intersection with Fifth Street, a white pickup truck rammed her Ford Expedi-
day at New Mexico State
University in Las Cruces.
tion, and then someone in the truck shot at her vehicle. No information is available at this time as to the number of shots fired, or if the gunfire struck the vehicle, according to a news release from the Roswell Police Department. No injuries were reported. Officers were dispatched to the 900 block of Hickory Drive at 4:09 a.m. on Wednesday, where several shots had been fired at a home. The residents in the house, two women and a 13-year -old boy, were awakened by the gunfire. At least some of the shots entered the home, according to the release. No injuries were reported. Then at 7:38 a.m. on Wednesday, police responded to the 700 block of East Third Street, where a man had been shot in the leg. A passerby who was walking in the area saw the wounded
‘Aiming for the Stars’ celebrates Goddard legacy BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
On Friday, luminaries from the science and aerospace worlds will be shining brightly in Roswell, as the city hosts “Aiming for the Stars,” a public event honoring Roswell’s most famous “ s t a r, ” r o c k e t p i o n e e r Robert H. Goddard. This first ever event will showcase space history, New Mexico’s observatories and science museums, and exhibits from NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Friday begins with an “invitation only” luncheon honoring the people and agencies that supported Goddard in his research, namely, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and famed aviator
Randal Seyler Photo
“Aiming for the Stars,” a public event honoring Roswell’s most famous “star,” rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard, begins at 1:30 p.m. on Friday with a symposium, held in New Mexico Military Institute’s Pearson Auditorium. Goddard is honored with a statue at the Roswell Museum and Art Center, seen on Wednesday.
Charles Lindbergh. D r. M i c h a e l N e u f e l d , one of the guest speakers, will accept the award on the behalf of the
• ALBERTA TRUJILLO ROMERO • ARTHUR T. VEAL • JOSE J. PADILLA
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
Smithsonian. Dana Draper of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation will be on hand for the awards
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
See SHOOTINGS, Page A3
luncheon, as well as Gregg Maryniak from the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. “The luncheon is invitation only, but the symposium and the expo on Saturday are free and open to the public,” Laurie Rufe told the Chaves County Tourism Council on Monday. The event is the brainchild of for mer Roswell Mayor Bill Brainerd, and it will feature four noted speakers for a Space Science Symposium beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, at New Mexico Military Institute’s Pearson Auditorium. “This is a once-in-alife time expe rience for people if they have any interest at all in space,” See GODDARD, Page A6
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8