Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 136 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
WEINER ADMITS TO SENDING LEWD PICS NEW YORK (AP) — After days of denials, a choked-up New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed Monday that he tweeted a photo of his bulging underpants to a woman and admitted to “inappropriate” exchanges with six women before and after getting married. He apologized for lying but said he would not resign.
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Wildfire forces evacuations in Arizona
AP Photo
A smoke plume over the east side of the Wallow Fire, in Eager, Ariz, climbs high into the sky Monday afternoon, June 6, as strong winds fanned the Fire.
High risers
SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — Stiff winds whipped up a gigantic blaze in the mountains of eastern Arizona on Monday, forcing the evacuation of a third resort town and casting a smoky haze over states as far away as Iowa. Winds of about 30 mph, with gusts above 60 mph, blew heavy smoke from the fire into Greer, a picturesque town where most of the 200 fulltime residents had already fled. The winds and expected lightning are making matters worse in an area dotted with cabins and campgrounds that have long provided a cool summer getaway from the oppressive heat of the nearby desert.
For The Past 24 Hours
• Taylor gets 6 years in 2009 death • Birthdays prove lucky for Roswell woman • Nightclub group drops appeal • ‘Please release me, let me go’ • Family attacks Marine with hugs, kisses
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Cadets in the Roswell Fire Academy perform rope rescue training exercises at the Louis Jones Training Facility Friday morning.
PARIS (AP) — Regardless of the setting or the surface, Rafael Nadal confounds Roger Federer the way no other man can.
OBITUARIES
CLASSIFIEDS..........B5 COMICS.................B3 FINANCIAL .............B4 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ......A10 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
Roswell Police Chief Alfonso Solis named Cmdr. Brad McFadin, as the new RPD deputy chief, Monday. The city received eight applications, all in house. “I also advertised outside, but I got poor response from outside,” Solis said. The interviews took place last week. The chief invited Tom Whitten, chief of the Carlsbad Police Department, to assist with interviews. Assistant City Administrator Stacye Hunter also participated in the process. The candidates went through tests, some of which were, according to Solis, a bit different. “The idea was to take them outside their element, so we could see how they think on their feet and how they speak,” he said. Solis wanted a deputy chief who can think outside the box, have good negotiation skills and be a problem solver. “In these times of austerity, we need to find solutions without just throwing money at it,” Solis explained. “All (the applicants) had good qualities, but I was really impressed with McFadin. He is one of the hardest working men we’ve got,” Solis said. He referred to McFadin as “a cops’ cop. He’s been in the trenches with the others,” said Solis. “He was named to the post
MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
TODAY’S
HIGH...103˚ LOW ....67˚
See WILDFIRE, Page A6
McFadin
of commander of the Criminal Investigation Division just recently.” McFadin has worked in law enforcement since 1993. He worked for the state prison system at Roswell Correctional Facility before he came to RPD in 1997. He said he received a lot of encouragement along the way. “Detective John Wayne Davis was instrumental (in his career). Tony Sedillo told me that I should be moving toward promotion,” McFadin said. Other people, like Darren Treadwell, Dane Kyser and Jody Scifres have been influential in his career. “I really have to thank them,” said McFadin. In the job less than a day, the new deputy chief said he was excited about the post. He hopes See DEPUTY, Page A6
Coon named as a suspect in RPD ‘found property’ investigation
- PAGE B1
TODAY’S FORECAST
acres of ponderosa pine forest. No serious injuries have been reported. The blaze nearly doubled in size between Saturday and Monday. About 2,700 to 3,000 people are believed to have fled Alpine and Nutrioso late last week and headed to larger towns for shelter, Gov. Jan Brewer said. Roughly 2,500 firefighters, including many from several western states and as far away as New York, are working to contain the wildfires, fire information officer Peter Frenzen said. Brewer signed an emergency declaration Monday that will allow the use of $200,000 in emergency
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
WEB
Maurice “Jake” Ford Francis C. Cunningham Ader A. Elzadie Hasler Marvin H. Moore Sandra Whitten - PAGE A8
“It’s probably and, I’m going to say this, going crazy,” fire infor mation officer Kelly Wood said of the fire. “It’s coming from the southeast and it’s pushing everything to the northeast,” Wood said. “We don’t know exactly how far it’s gone. It’s fair to say it’s going to grow with these winds.” The fire was projected to have grown to nearly 365 square miles, officials said Monday, based on overnight mapping flights. Officials believe an abandoned campfire may have sparked the blaze more than a week ago. So far, the flames have destroyed five buildings and scorched 233,522
RPD names 14-year veteran McFadin as new Deputy Chief
TOP 5
• • • • •
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
- PAGE A3
NADAL WINS 6TH FRENCH OPEN, BEATS FEDERER IN 4
June 7, 2011
AP Photo
Defense Secretary Robert Gates (left) shakes hands with US Army Lt. Col. Alan Streeter after awarding him the Purple Heart Medal in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Monday.
Troops: What does terror chief’s death mean to war
COMBAT OUTPOST ANDAR, Afghanistan (AP) — In encounters with troops in Afghanistan this past week, the question Defense Secre-
tary Robert Gates heard more than any other was this: What does Osama bin See TROOPS, Page A6
A former city police officer facing nine felony charges, including identity theft and possession of a controlled substance, was named a suspect in a Roswell Police Department incident report, Sunday, according to records. Justin Coon, who was arrested following a fraud investigation in April, was listed as the suspect in a “found property report.” The document states police recovered three New Mexico license plates and four driver’s licenses
in a trash bag, located in a dumpster on the 2500 block of Mimosa Drive, according to the report. Officials also took possession of the stub of a paycheck belonging to Coon, according to the report. The incident was document after a resident called police to report seeing multiple driver licenses in a tor n trash bag, according to the report. It does not say whether the pay stub belonging to Coon was in the same bag as the licenses. Police declined to comment or give the status of the incident.
“We’re not just going to ignore it,” said police spokesman Travis Holley. “But other than that, we’re not going to comment on the case or its status.” A message left with Coon’s attor ney, Gary Mitchell, was not immediately returned. Coon, a nearly 5-year veteran of the department at the time of his arrest, is accused of attempting to purchase a pharmaceutical product containing ephedrine with a driver’s license belonging to a person he previously See COON, Page A6
Are wild horses native to US? BLM view challenged RENO, Nev. (AP) — American history textbooks teach generation after generation that the wild horses roaming the Western plains originated as a result of the European explorers and settlers who first ventured
across the ocean and into the frontier. But that theory is being challenged more strongly than ever before at archaeological digs, university labs and federal courtrooms as horse protection advocates
battle the U.S. government over roundups of thousands of mustangs they say have not only a legal right but a native claim to the rangeland. The group In Defense of Animals and others are
pressing a case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that maintains wild horses roamed the West about 1.5 million years ago and didn’t disappear until as recently as 7,600 years ago. More importantly, they
say, a growing stockpile of DNA evidence shows conclusively that today’s horses are genetically linked to those ancient ancestors. See HORSES, Page A6