Roswell Daily Record
Gas tanks drain family budgets THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 120, No. 128 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
BETTES DEFINES THE TRAGEDY
NEW YORK (AP) — The Weather Channel’s Mike Bettes arrived in storm-ravaged Joplin, Mo., right after a tornado had ripped through its soul. He looked around, spoke to the camera and began to cry. His emotional outbreak during coverage of Joplin became one of the defining television ... - PAGE A10
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Fire destroys Historic District home • DA drops charges against Harris • State stocks Lake Van with catfish • Feral hog symposium attracts farmers... • Zamora signs LOI
INSIDE SPORTS
PARIS (AP) — If Caroline Wozniacki truly was torn up inside about her latest loss at a Grand Slam tournament, she certainly hid it well. Wozniacki smiled and shrugged while deflecting questions about being No. 1 in the rankings despite never having won a major title. Her wait for a breakthrough was extended Friday, when she was beaten 6-1, 6-3 by 28thseeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the third round of the French Open. After the match, Wozniacki was consoled by her father. She said he told her: "The world still goes on ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• S.M. Dodson • Manuel Salamanca - PAGE A2
HIGH .104˚ LOW ....62˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
SATURDAY
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Nuke lab hot issue Near downtown Seattle, Friday.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — It’s a familiar scene in New Mexico: Peace activists, environmentalists and scientists lining up to oppose expansions of the military and nuclear facilities that are a major economic engine for the state. They were back in force this week, this time to oppose the “bomb factory,” “cash cow” and “jobs program for scientists” — their names for a $5.8 billion nuclear lab being designed to replace the 60year -old lab at Los Alamos National Laboratories where scientists make and store the “pits,” or cores, of the nation’s nuclear bombs. It’s a project that has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade, and one that won’t be finished for at least another decade. But it’s back in the public spotlight, thanks to a new study mapping earthquake danger in the area, a doubling of the facility’s estimated cost and public outcry for caution in light of the nuclear disaster that followed the Japan earthquake and tsunami. “The lesson of Fukushima is don’t build nuclear reactors and nuclear facilities in See NUKE, Page A6
UPSET IN PARIS
May 28, 2011
AP Photo
NEW YORK (AP) — There’s less money this summer for hotel rooms, sur fboards and bathing suits. It’s all going into the gas tank. High prices at the pump are putting a squeeze on the family budget as the traditional summer driving season begins. For every $10 the typical household earns before taxes, almost a full dollar now goes toward gas, a 40 percent bigger bite than normal. Households spent an
average of $369 on gas last month. In April 2009, they spent just $201. Families now spend more filling up than they spend on cars, clothes or recreation. Last year, they spent less on gasoline than each of those things. As Memorial Day weekend opens, the nationwide average for a gallon of unleaded is $3.81. Though prices have drifted lower in recent days, analysts expect the average price for 2011 to come in higher
than the previous record, $3.25 in 2008. A year ago, gas cost $2.76. The squeeze is happening at a time when most people aren’t getting raises, even as the economy recovers. “These increases are not something consumers can shrug of f,” says James Hamilton, an economics professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies gas prices. “It’s a key part of the family See DRAIN, Page A6
Mark Wilson Photo
Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Roswell Chapter, motorcycle group, from left, Frank Carrillo, Vern Aguilar, Leonard Corona, Stephen Aguilar and Joe Moreno, prepare to leave for Angel Fire, Friday morning, for their annual Memorial Day weekend observance. Not pictured is Jimmy Copeland.
Vets head north for Memorial Day EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Vietnam Veterans of America Roswell chapter motorcycle group roared out of town Fri-
day morning to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. VVA Sergeant-at-arms Frank Carrillo says the group makes the six-
hour long voyage to Angel Fire each year to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park and to ride in the Red River Motorcycle Rally, alongside thousands of
veterans from across the state. “That’s our sacred grounds,” Carrillo said, referring to the memoriSee VETS, Page A6
¡Viva! Folklorico presents Mladic could be in The Hague, Monday Tradiciones Mexicanas
MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
Mexican heritage was in full swing at the college’s Per for ming Arts Center Friday evening during the Roswell Folklorico’s 18th annual dance recital, Tradiciones Mexicanas. Brilliantly-colored dresses, elaborate dances and the rich spirit of Mexico filled the auditorium at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell and kept recital-goers on the edge of their seats. The See FOLKLORICO, Page A6
Mark Wilson Photo
Roswell Folklorico performs Tradiciones Mexicanas, Friday, at the Performing Arts Center at ENMU-Roswell.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Ratko Mladic is eating strawberries and receiving family visits in a Serbian jail, but as early as Monday the ex-general could be on his way to face a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, possibly joining his for mer ally Radovan Karadzic on trial for some of the worst horrors of the Balkan wars. The former Bosnian Serb army commander known for his cruelty and arrogance began issuing demands from behind bars Friday, calling for a TV set and Tolstoy novels, and regaining some of his
trademark hubris after a pre-dawn raid in a Serbian village the day before ended his 16 years on the run. Now a disheveled old man, his family claim he’s too ill to stand up to the rigors of a genocide trial and that he’s not guilty of crimes including his alleged role in the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II, the massacre that left 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia dead. Serbia’s war crimes court ruled that the 69-year-old is fit to stand trial and that
ticipants last year — Larry Marshall, a Dexter native who has served as race director for the past 25 years. “It’s a team coordinated event with the town of Dexter, Dexter National Fish Hatchery and about 200 volunteers from up and down the Pecos Valley,” Marshall said. The Milkman Triathlon originated as part of Dairy Day, a local celebration of the dairy industry in col-
laboration with the Midwest Dairy Assn. Dairy Month held in June. Marshall said the original idea to host a triathlon for Dairy Day came from Roswell resident Dennis Pabst and Dexter City Councilman Marvis Frazier, after they saw one hosted by Bottomless Lakes State Park in the mid-1980s. The first race, which he helped organize, had only
See SERBIA, Page A6
Larry Marshall: Race director of Milkman Triathlon for 25 years EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B5 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A7 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10 WORLD .................A3
INDEX
Emily Russo Miller Photo
Larry Marshall hoists up the cream can Milkman Triathlon trophy.
For the past 27 years, hundreds of athletes have flocked to Dexter to run, swim and bike in a triathlon that has a distinct Southeastern New Mexico twist — the Milkman Triathlon. Milk jugs float in the water instead of buoys, Schwan’s ice cream is served at the finish line and the first-place trophy is a cream can with a picture of a cow standing on the USS Leche. Though he won’t admit it, one man stands behind the success of the race, which drew about 300 par-
See SPOTLIGHT, Page A6