Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
New recycling center open to public
Vol. 120, No. 13 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
January 15, 2011
SATURDAY
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EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
TUNISIAN UPRISING TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — After 23 years of iron-fisted rule, the president of Tunisia was driven from power Friday by violent protests over soaring unemployment and ... - PAGE A3
Politicians usually don’t jump at the chance for a photo op in front of piles of trash at a landfill. But on Friday morning, Roswell community leaders were eager to show off the city’s new recycling center. Keep Roswell Beautiful, the Roswell Chamber of Commerce and the City of Roswell, hosted a red ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrating the grand opening of the new 12,000-squarefoot facility. “It’s so spacious and state-of-the-art and organized,” Keep Roswell Beautiful Coordinator Renee Roach said. “The parking and the drive-thru is just so convenient.” Mayor Del Jurney said he hopes the new center will encourage more people in Roswell to recycle. A state
New RPD Chief Solis feted at reception See RECYCLE, Page A2
TOP 5 WEB
For The Last 24 Hours
• Sign reg. passed on 2nd go-round • More than 500 attend yellow ribbon ceremony • Solis sworn in as RPD Chief • NM Rehabilitation Center opens its doors • Subway robbed at gunpoint
Mark Wilson Photo
Guests and dignitaries attend the grand opening celebration of the newly opened Roswell Recycling Center, Friday morning at 3100 Brasher.
JESSICA PALMER ROSWELL STAFF WRITER
INSIDE SPORTS
FAIRLEY DECLARES FOR DRAFT MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Nick Fairley, Auburn’s other big-name star, also is heading to the NFL after winning the Lombardi Award and helping Cam Newton lead ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • Nicholas Paul Aragon • Wyatt Hedrick • Hazel M. Powell • John W. Watson - PAGE A6
HIGH ...56˚ LOW ....24˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................A7 ENTERTAINMENT.....B6 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B6 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A3
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
New Roswell Police Chief Al Solis is greeted by S.O.Y. Mariachi musicians during a fiesta held at S.O.Y. Mariachi, Friday evening.
New Roswell Police Chief Alfonso Solis was feted at a reception held by S.O.Y. Mariachi, 1120 S. Grand Avenue, sponsored by the Hispano Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m., Friday. The new chief and his wife, Rosie, were treated to a mariachi band and fine food. Numerous government officials attended, including city and court officials, state and federal legislators. Each spoke highly of Solis’ qualifications for the job. Senator Tom Jennings said, “It’s fantastic. He’s had many years in law enforcement as a marshal … and he’s been working at the jail, so he’s seen it from all sides.” He hoped that now the Hispanic community would not be afraid of the police. City Councilor Elena Velasquez, who works on the police committee, said that she was looking forward to working with him.
“We are blessed to have found a man with such qualifications,” she said. “I believe he will be an asset to our police department.” In his opening statement, Mayor Del Jurney praised the S.O.Y. Mariachi’s for the positive impact the group had had on the children of the community. About the new chief, he said, “I anticipate great things … We’re here to recognize and we’re here to celebrate …. I know Al will work from his heart.” Solis then made a statement describing his first day on the job. “I really hit the floor running,” he said and he referred to it as a “baptism by fire” with a home invasion that occurred, Thursday night. “I had no doubt that the crime scene investigators knew their job, but I went to the crime scene,” Solis said. “I wanted to console the victims. I have been the victim
Law group disputes public docs Woman killed in accident, child injured ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An environmental law gr oup is raising questions about the handling of public documents as it pushes forward with two lawsuits over how Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration is handling new rules for greenhouse gas emissions and groundwater pollution. An official at the State Records Center crossed out the filing dates on the greenhouse gas and
groundwater rules after the administration requested their publication in the state register be halted. Without publication, the rules cannot become effective. Even though it’s standar d practice at the record center to cross out filing dates on rules that are pulled back, an attor ney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center contends all rules filed with the records center are offi-
cial public documents and that it is inappropriate — and perhaps illegal — to r edact the stamp showing the date and time the rules were officially filed. “It’s a little distressing that people are so casual about these things. It’s an official filing. It’s not a casual thing,” Bruce Frederick, a staff attorney with the law center, said Friday. “The mecha-
See GROUP, Page A3
See FETED, Page A3
A vehicle - pedestrian accident claimed the life of Prestina Grajeda, 66, and caused serious injuries to a 2-year-old girl. The incident took place at the cor ner of Second Street and Garden Avenue, around 5 p.m., Thursday. The vehicle pulled from the Farmers Country Market parking lot and proceeded through the intersection, said Travis Holley, spokesman for Roswell Police Department.
The vehicle struck a woman who was pushing a stroller across the street. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the child taken to Lubbock for treatment. The child sustained fractures to the back of the skull, nerve damage and bruises to her lungs. She was still listed in critical condition late Friday afternoon.
her last recital in June. “It’s been a great life. I’m so fortunate,” Wright, 78, said. “But I’m getting to a stage where I just want some time for me.” Wright, a Roswell native, began tap dancing when she was 8 years old after her mother saw a Shirley Temple movie. “Everybody that had a daughter thought she was Shirley Temple,” Wright laughed, adding that her mother used to dress her up and curl her hair just like Temple’s.
At the time, she and her family were living in Long Beach, Calif., where her parents worked in the shipyards to help with the World War II effort. She says, luckily, a ballet class was required at the studio in order to tap dance, and the rest is history. When she retur ned to Roswell as a teenager, she enrolled in the only dance studio here at the time,
After 40 years, Miss Minnie to take final bow this spring EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
After 40 years of teaching ballet in Roswell, Minnie Wright will retire her ballet slippers and take a final bow on stage this upcoming spring. The owner of Miss Minnie’s School of Ballet, a petite blonde who nearly always keeps her hair pinned up neatly in a bun, says she plans on moving into her Ruidoso summer home per manently after Emily Russo Miller Photo
LEFT: Minnie Wright instructs a student to "get her core in" during a ballet class at Miss Minnie's School of Ballet.
See MINNIE, Page A3