Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 58 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state nearly three weeks ago asked Monday for a meeting with Gov. Scott Walker to talk about changes to his plan to eliminate most public workers’ union rights, a request the governor dismissed as “ridiculous.” - PAGE B3
TUESDAY
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House OKs higher worker pension payments
SANTA FE (AP) — Public employees and educators will pay more for their pension programs while government lowers its contributions under a nearly $111 million budget-balancing proposal approved by the House on Monday. By trimming government pension costs, the measure cuts state spending to help balance the budget. Supporters say the pension changes will prevent possible worker furloughs or layoffs. “Without this legislation or something similar ... the budget doesn’t
NO MEETING
March 8, 2011
At the car show
work,” said House Republican Whip Donald Bratton of Hobbs. The bill passed the House on a 43-26 vote and was sent to the Senate. Under the legislation: — About $49 million will be saved by requiring state workers, public school employees and college faculty to contribute an extra 1.75 percent into their pensions next year while the state reduces its payments by a similar amount. This will expire after one year. Supporters say a 2 percent reduction
in the federal Social Security withholding tax will offset the pension change, which otherwise will reduce a worker’s take-home pay. — The state did a similar 1.5 percent pension swap two years ago and that will be continued for two more years, saving $42 million annually. — Postpone for the next two years the pension contribution increases mandated by a 2005 law to shore up an educational retirement program. The state will save more than $19 million next year
and almost $39 million in the following fiscal year. Approval of the bill came after the House rejected a proposal to make permanent the 1.5 percent pension swap. Supporters said it would improve the state’s longterm finances. “It’s only fair and reasonable to the rest of the hundreds of thousands of workers across the state of New Mexico that help fund this very generous retirement program to make this shift and make this shift permanent,” said Bratton.
SWAT team trains hard JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB For The Last 24 Hours
• Wag-n-Walk preparations • Women’s History Month honors 4 • Day care providers fight for subsidies • Deputy hopefuls begin the process • Mulliken ‘great role model’
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Brothers Christopher Garza, top, Christian Garza, bottom left, and Atanacio Munoz get a peep inside the cab of a 1947 International during a car show and health fair held at Lawrence Brothers IGA Saturday.
RACHEL ALEXANDRA EXPECTING FOAL IN 2012 LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Rachel Alexandra is going to be a mom. The 2009 Horse of the Year is in foal with an expected due date of Feb. 1, 2012. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Marjorie Allen Schulz • Lawrence J. Ferns • Gertrude Lucille Van Eaton • Patricia Ann Clausen - PAGE B3
HIGH ...75˚ LOW ....31˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
Roswell Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team consists of 13 men, although Sgt. Jon Meredith reports they are one man down. The team remains on call 24/7. The SWAT team is called upon during hostage situations, a barricade situation when a subject has a gun, and on search warrants where the suspect has a history of violence or is a known gang member. The SWAT team gets called out on an average of once a month, Meredith said. However, this varies. “We can get called out twice in a week,” he said. To maintain team readiness, the men train twice a See SWAT, Page A7
Against Libya’s Group gathers to protest bill rebels, Gadhafi controls the skies RAS LANOUF, Libya (AP) — Repeated airstrikes by Libyan warplanes on Monday illustrated the edge Moammar Gadhafi holds in his fight against rebel forces marching toward the capital: He controls the air. After pleading from the uprising’s leaders, Britain and France began drafting a U.N. resolution for a nofly zone in Libya that could balance the scales. President Barack Obama warned that the U.S. and its NATO allies are still considering military options to stop what he called “unacceptable” violence by Gadhafi’s regime. NATO decided to boost flights of AWACs surveillance planes over Libya from 10 to 24 hours a day, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said. “I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Colonel Gadhafi. It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward. And they will be held accountable for whatever violence continSee LIBYA, Page A7
A group of local residents gathered Monday to peacefully protest a bill prohibiting the issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. The bill in question passed the New Mexico House of Representatives by a 42-28 vote on Friday. Nearly 40 people attended the peaceful vigil held at St. John’s Catholic Church, 506 S. Lincoln Ave. A march the group had planned did not take place due to the high winds. Felipe Botello passed out literature calling attention to the fact that immigrants pay taxes in New Mexico and help the economy. He pointed out that the people who will be the most influenced are parents with children. “They have to respect the (traffic) laws. If they’re not going to get a driver’s license, they can’t get insurance,” he said.
Jessica Palmer Photo
People discuss the dilemmas faced by illegal aliens at a peaceful vigil held at St. John's Church on Monday afternoon.
For Botello, the issue is one of safety. “In 1991, I had an accident. INS got involved,” Botello said. He was laid up for two years, in a wheelchair for six months and unable to work. “The families are scared,” Botello said.
Richard Garcia, president of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said, “This is not a just a Hispanic issue. We are all immigrants here.”
The bill would af fect about 80,000 people in New Mexico.
Former Rep. Heather Wilson seeking US Senate seat
INDEX CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 AP Photo
Former New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, foreground left, listens as former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., announces her intention to run for the U.S. Senate, in Albuquerque, Monday.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Former Republican Rep. Heather Wilson made official Monday what had been rumored for days — she’s running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Wilson announced her decision to seek the GOP nomination at an Albuquerque paper supply warehouse packed with more than 100 supporters. The warehouse was decorated with a huge American flag behind the podium. Wilson’s family, and a who's who of New Mexico Republicans, flanked her as she made her announcement. Introduced by for mer U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, Wilson criticized President
Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress, and said the nation's free market system, economy and tradition of limited government are under assault. “If we stand by and do nothing, history will judge our generation as the beginning of America’s decline,” she said. Domenici said she is “experienced, ready and can do the job.” More than 40 Republican officials and former officials also said they would support her candidacy. Former New Mexico congressman and Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. said the crowd for Wilson’s announcement was important to show her level of support to other Republi-
cans and perhaps persuade them not to challenge her in the 2012 primary. The 50-year -old Wilson represented an Albuquerque-area congressional district for five terms. She gave up the seat in 2008 to make an unsuccessful run for the GOP nomination for the state’s other U.S. Senate seat, left vacant when Domenici retired. Wilson lost the 2008 GOP primary to Steve Pearce, who ran for Senate rather than seeking re-election in New Mexico’s 2nd District. Pearce lost in the general election to Democrat Tom Udall. Wilson, who has been a private consultant in AlbuSee WILSON, Page A7