Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
House nixes Patriot Act extensions
Vol. 120, No. 34 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
ELECTRONIC FLAWS NOT TO BLAME
WASHINGTON (AP) — Electronic flaws weren’t to blame for the reports of sudden, unintended acceleration that led to the recall of thousands of Toyota vehicles, the government said Tuesday. Some of the acceleration cases could have been caused by mechanical defects — sticking accelerator pedals and gas pedals ... - PAGE B3
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Four-car accident • Ruidoso officials declare emergency • Town hall on safety, crime prevention set • Lend-A-Hand Souper Bowl scores big • Pearce opens Roswell office
INSIDE SPORTS
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Michael Young has asked the Texas Rangers to trade him, a request the AL champions are willing to oblige for their career hits leader who is unhappy about his changing role. General manager Jon Daniels, however, said “nothing is imminent” and that the Rangers would trade Young only if they could improve the team in doing so. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Rev. Emanuel Norfor Sylvester Purcell Gerrit de Graaf John Henry Gibson Mary Ann Hoskins Jannie Taylor Frances Horton - PAGE B3
HIGH ...39˚ LOW ....16˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B7 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B7 FINANCIAL .............B6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................B3 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
WEDNESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Tuesday failed to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are key to the nation’s post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law, a slipup for the new Republican leadership that miscalculated the level of opposition. The House voted 277-148 to keep the three provisions of the USA Patriot Act on the books until Dec. 8. But Republicans brought up the bill under a special expedited procedure requiring a two-thirds vote, and the count was seven short of reaching that level.
The Republicans, who took over the House last month, lost 26 of their own members, adding to the 122 Democrats who voted against it. Supporters say the three measures are vital to preventing another terrorist attack, but critics say they infringe on civil liberties. They appealed to the antipathy that newer and more conservative Republicans hold for big government invasions of individual privacy. Earlier on Tuesday, Republicans also pulled a bill from the floor because of dissatisfaction about
Mtn View has water
A school of ficial said the frozen water line in Mountain View Middle School, which broke during the snowstorm last week and caused the school to remain closed, was fixed Tuesday morning. Water has been restored, and the school is ready to be open, weather permitting, the official said. Joe Baca, Roswell school district operations and support services manager, told members of the school board during their monthly meeting, Tuesday, that the 2-inch copper pipe behind a ceiling froze when the weather was below zero. The problem, Baca said, is that there is not enough heat in some areas in the schools, such as custodial and storage rooms. “Those were the areas where we got hit the hardest,” he told the board. After the pipe was fixed on Tuesday morning, the school district called in a certified group from Albuquerque to check the damaged pipe and ceiling for asbestos. Baca also reported that repairs to Roswell High School See WATER, Page A8
‘TRADE ME’
February 9, 2011
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said Republican supporters of the tea party movement should show their opposition to big government by joining Democrats in opposing the measure.
extending trade benefits for three South American countries while continuing a program that helps retrain Americans who lose their jobs to foreign competition. The Patriot Act bill would have renewed the authority for court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple
phones. Also addressed was Section 215, the socalled library records provision that gives the FBI court-approved access to “any tangible thing” relevant to a terrorism investigation. The third deals with the “lone-wolf” provision of a 2004 anti-terror law that permits secret intelligence
surveillance of non-U.S. people not known to be affiliated with a specific terrorist organization. Sen. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the for mer Judiciary Committee chairman who authored the 2001 Patriot Act, urged his colleagues to support the extensions, saying they were needed as a stopgap until permanent statutes could be agreed upon. “The terrorist threat has not subsided and will not expire, and neither should See HOUSE, Page A8
Jonathan Entzminger Photo
Monterrey Elementary kids dig running These Monterrey Elementary School lads get a bit of exercise at the school, Tuesday morning.
JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
More than 400 students, grades K-5, will run or earn hundreds of miles in the Mileage Club program at Monterrey Elementary School for the rest of the school year. The students, along with their parents, are attempting to run a
total of 30,000 miles by the end of the academic calendar. “The parents come also,” Diana Sweet, the school’s physical education teacher, said. “Their miles get to count toward their child’s class.” According to Sweet, parental involvement has helped sustain the program.
“I think it spills over into the classroom as much as it does into the homes,” she said. “In December, parents had accumulated over 1,000 miles.” The school is divided into four running teams — green, pink, turquoise and yellow. However, See RUN, Page A8
Seat search under way Walker Aviation Museum features Love Letters exhibit MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
JONATHAN ENTZMINGER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Through March, Walker Aviation Museum visitors can read love letters written by military wives and their husbands during World War II and the Korean conflict. “The central theme is on the amount of time it took to get letters,” Juliana Halverson, Walker Aviation Museum, board member said. The display includes numerous photos of soldiers posing with their sweethearts during war times and one local original letter submitted by
the Rod Starkey family. Other letters in the display have been gathered from online Web sites like
Ezzell favors optional unions MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Roswell state lawmaker is again attempting to nip at the heels of New Mexico labor unions by introducing legislation that would make joining a union upon employment optional. Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, introduced a bill that would provide that membership in a labor organization not be required as a condition of employment. Workers who decide to opt out of a labor union
would not be required to pay any dues or fees to that group, under the proposal. “Don’t get me wrong, there was a time and a place for unions,” Ezzell said. “But, with all the federal ... and state regulations that are in place — as far as minimum wage, unemployment compensation (and so on) — do we really need this?” It’s not the first time the lawmaker introduced the legislation.
See UNION, Page A8
war-letters.com. Each letter shows the “lost art See LOVE, Page A8
Roswell’s mayor says he is closer to finding a replacement for an empty City Council seat and hopes to make his final decision sometime next week. Mayor Del Jur ney announced on Tuesday that he has found “six to eight good candidates” to fill a vacancy left by the departure of embattled Councilor Rob McWilliams. The mayor is charged with appointing a new member pending the approval of the council. Jurney says the process to fill the vacancy has taken longer than he planned for, but has helped broaden the search. “As this kind of takes its
course, and it’s slower than I had originally thought, more and more people are starting to put their names in for it, and it’s really opening up the candidate field,” he said. “By the middle of next week I will have ... a good opportunity to get back with everybody and make a decision.” Jurney declined to name possible candidates, but said that they come from different fields and encompass a wide range of experience. He said it’s likely the council will hold a special meeting, before March’s regular council meeting, to vote on approving the new member. “I think we’ll be able to make a quality decision,” he said. “I hope that every-
Crews work to restore gas service
RANCHOS DE TAOS (AP) — Isabel and Pablo Gonzales made a paper sign and posted it in front of their home Tuesday mor ning, alerting anyone passing by that they needed natural gas service restored. Soon, they had a crew of three technicians knocking on their door. And not long after that, they had heat and hot water again after a grueling six-day wait. What a relief it was, especially after the mercury plunged dangerously low one night last week. “It was negative-32,” Isabel Gonzales said. “We
didn’t move from the fireplace. We’ve been trying to keep a positive attitude. That’s all we can do.” Meanwhile, another winter storm was bearing down on northern New Mexico and forecasters called for up to 7 inches of snow in Taos and more subzero temperatures. In Albuquerque, New Mexico Gas Company executives held a news conference to apologize for problems that kept 32,000 New Mexico residents in the cold for several days. Gas company president Annette Gardiner acknowledged the utility’s initial
See SEARCH, Page A8
estimates that service would be restored by Sunday night were of f the mark. “We thought this was an attainable goal,” Gardiner said. “As restoration progressed, we realized the work was going to take much longer. We apologize for the delay. Progress has proved to be more difficult than we anticipated.” By late afternoon Tuesday, company officials said service was restored to 85 percent of customers in Espanola and all customers See GAS, Page A8