Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 107 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
SHEEN TOURS TWISTER AREA
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Actor Charlie Sheen toured an Alabama neighborhood leveled by tornadoes and said Monday he wants to organize a relief event for victims in the state. After going through the decimated Alberta City neighborhood in Tuscaloosa, Sheen told ... - PAGE A10
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
May 4, 2011
White House: Bin Laden was unarmed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Osama bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALs burst into his room and shot him to death, the White House said Tuesday, a change in the of ficial account that raised questions about whether the U.S. ever planned to capture the terrorist leader alive. The Obama administration was still debating whether to release gruesome images of bin Laden’s corpse, balancing efforts to demonstrate to the world that he was dead against the risk that the images could provoke further antiU.S. sentiment. But CIA
WEDNESDAY
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Director Leon Panetta said a photograph would be released. “I don’t think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public,” Panetta said in an interview with “NBC Nightly News.” Asked again later by The Associated Press, he said, “I think it will.” Asked about the final confrontation with bin Laden, Panetta said: “I don’t think he had a lot of time to say anything.” The CIA chief told PBS NewsHour, “It was a firefight going up that compound. ... I think it - this was all split-second action on the
part of the SEALs.” Panetta said that bin Laden made “some threatening moves that were made that clearly represented a clear threat to our guys. And that’s the reason they fired.” The SEALs were back in the U.S. at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington for debriefing on the raid, lawmakers said after meeting with Panetta. The question of how to present bin Laden’s death to the world is a difficult balancing act for the White House. President Barack See BIN LADEN, Page A8
AP Photo
A Pakistani youngster shows metal pieces of what appeared to be a U.S. helicopter, collected from a wheat field outside the house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden lived, in Abbottabad, Tuesday.
Police investigate teenager’s death
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• A hero comes home • US celebrates bin Laden death • Jury acquits Gomez of 1st-degree murder • Broncos sixth at WJCAC tourney • Broncos finish season 13-41
INSIDE SPORTS
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Take-Back response surprises officials Courtesy Photo
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day run by the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office was a success.
LITIANO TOSSES NO-HITTER
CHICAGO (AP) — Francisco Liriano pitched the major leagues’ first no-hitter of the season, throwing his first career complete game in the Minnesota Twins’ 1-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night. Liriano (2-4) walked six and struck out two, throwing 123 pitches in the 95th major league start for the 27-yearold left-hander. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES • • • • • •
Jimmy Lee Moffett Lydia Avila Jerome Zangara Betty J. (Hill) Downey Fred Flowers Neiahmiah Gonzales - PAGE A9
HIGH ...85˚ LOW ....49˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....B9 FINANCIAL .............B3 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
Federal and local law enforcement agencies joined together to give Roswell residents an opportunity to rid their homes of dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The event on Saturday was
held at the Neighborhood Watch building located at the corner of Fifth and Main streets. Neighborhood Watch Adviser Richard Lucero expressed surprise at the response, “A lot of See TAKE-BACK, Page A8
At 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Roswell Police Department received a 911 call about a 14year -old female who was found dead inside the family residence on the 1200 block of West Hobbs Street. “The case is being investigated as child abuse resulting in a death,” said Officer Travis Holley, RPD spokesman. He said the case is not being called a suspicious death, but there are too many questions about the case. Detectives conducted interviews throughout the day. Family members have been questioned. “The interviews have focused mainly on the family,” Holley said. The mother was home at the time the call was made, but HolSee DEATH, Page A8
State wildfire risk high Hunter gets assistant manager spot MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
State fire officials were in Roswell Tuesday as part of a tour of southeast New Mexico aimed at raising awareness for the high risk of wildfires in the state. Dan Ware, spokesman for the New Mexico State Forestry Division, said that due to the high numbers of fires in the state, “Somehow the message isn’t getting out” that people must take extra steps and be extremely mindful of the severe dry conditions the state is experiencing. “Right now it doesn’t
really matter how many precautions you take,” said Ware, referring to people who think they are being fire prevention minded when undertaking daily tasks that could unexpectedly lead to a wildfire. “We have a mentality that it’s not going to happen to me,” he said. “But the problem is that it’s so dry right now that it is going to happen with them. ... It’s just so dry.” Ware cited daily activities such as using chainsaws or welding. He also said tossing lit cigarettes out the car See FIRE, Page A8
MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
Roswell’s city manager announced Tuesday that the city’s former director of human resources was selected to serve as the new assistant city manager. Stacye Hunter was hired nearly a month after the city posted an ad for the position left vacant after the former assistant city manager, Larry Fry, was promoted to city manager. City Hall received 27 applications
for the assistant position. Hunter worked as the director of human resources for the majority of her about 25-year career with the city. “Her experience brings a lot of benefits to the city as she moves into this new assignment,” Fry said. “(She) has assumed increasingly greater responsibilities for the many functions throughout the city and has interacted with all the departments and functions, which makes her a natural successor for her
Stayce Hunter
new role.” Fry said that he made his decision to hire See HUNTER, Page A8
Levee blast eases threat to Cairo, Ill Americans 45 and older new voting-age majority WYATT, Mo. (AP) — The dramatic, late-night demolition of a huge earthen levee sent chocolate-colored floodwaters pouring onto thousands of acres of Missouri far mland Tuesday, easing the threat to a tiny Illinois town being menaced by the Mississippi River. But the blast near Cairo, Ill., did nothing to ease the risk of more trouble downstream, where the mighty river is expected to rise to its highest levels since the 1920s in some parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. “We’re making a lot of unfortunate history here in Mississippi in April and May,” said Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the Mis-
AP Photo
Part of the 130,000 acres of farmland flooded by an intentional break in the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County, Mo., Tuesday.
sissippi Emergency Management Agency. “We had the historic tornados, and now this could be a historic event.” The Ar my Corps of
Engineers was considering making similar use of other “floodways” — enormous basins surrounded See LEVEE, Page A8
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, Americans 45 and older make up a majority of the voting-age population, giving older Americans wider influence in elections as the U.S. stands divided over curtailing Medicare and other benefits for seniors. Along with the information about the growing influence of older adults, preliminary census estimates also show a decline in the number of married couples with children, slight growth in household size and a rapid rise in the number of Mexicans. The findings, based on the latest publicly available government data, offer a preview of trends that will be detailed in the next
round of 2010 census results being released this month that focus on age, household relationships and racial subgroups. As a whole, the numbers point to a rapidly graying nation driven largely by the nation’s 78 million baby boomers, who are now between the ages of 46 and 65 and looking ahead to retirement. “The center of American politics gets older,” said E. Mark Braden, a for mer chief counsel to the Republican National Committee who now advises elected officials and state legislatures. “Given the current fiscal concerns, it’s going to be a test case whether See VOTERS, Page A3