, after receiving the 2009/2010 Dan Wilford Award for Compassion and Community Service Tuesday at AGH.  Rhonda Addington, a materials management receiving and distribution clerk at AGH, nominated Collins for the award. “I nominated Jayd because I feel he has made every effort to give 100 percent to his ‘labor of love’ which is his work with our patients. Jayd has shown to be a naturally caring person who has lived and breathed the core values of Artesia General Hospital with fervor, compassion and professionalism,” said Addington. According to a press release from AGH “He has become the ‘go to tech’ in CT, surgery, interventional radiology and is now immersed in learning MRI.” Collins is also a member of the Artesia Elks Lodge and devotes his spare time to helping children through the club’s community-based philanthrophy.

By EMIL WHITIS
Daily Press Staff Writer
What some may consider the most important pet social of the year, the third annual Who Let the Dogs Out event, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Dandy-Time Boarding Kennel. This year, the even is being held in honor of Artesia Police Department’s late canine police officer “Bronco,” and it is rumored that any pet who is any pet will be in attendance.
Veterinarians, dog trainers, law enforcement K-9 units and other pet experts will be in attendance to answer questions on pet health and training. According to Linda Moreno, owner of Dandy-Time Boarding Kennel and co-organizer for the event, Who Let the Dogs Out was first organized to afford local pet owners the opportunity to speak with animal experts from various fields concerning pet-based issues and to bridge the gap between the public and animal experts.
“It’s an opportunity for all pets and pet lovers to mingle, learn and just have fun,” said Moreno.
Moreno said she is extremely excited for this year’s activities and expects to see anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people (dependent on the weather) in attendance along with their pets.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun mixed in with education and learning about your pet,” said Moreno.
Ten organizations ranging from the Artesia Animal Clinic to the El Paso Border Patrol K-9 Units will set up informational booths to answer whatever questions come their way. Local radio station KZ93 will also be in attendance offering free hot dogs and soft drinks.
Registration will begin promptly at 10 a.m.
At 10:30 a.m., the first event will commence, as the El Paso Border Patrol demonstrates how their K-9 units find people and drugs. Moreno said she will play the “bad guy” role during the demonstration by hiding in the trunk of a car while the trained dogs search for her.
“I’m really pleased the Border Patrol committed to participate,” said Moreno. “It’s a pretty big step that shows how this thing has grown.”
At 11 a.m., Maddy Melka will demonstrate the herding prowess of her Border Collies in a goat herding show.
An agility course event for both large and small dogs will commence at 11:45 a.m. Moreno said the event is not competitive and no prior experience is necessary.
At 12:30 p.m., the “Mel Belly Contest” will begin. The contest is sponsored by Dee and Candi Toth in honor of their late rescue K-9, Mel Belly. As opposed to most dog shows and contests, the “Mel Belly Contest” will evaluate contestants on the sway of the back and the droop of the belly, said Moreno.
“The most important characteristic of a Mel Belly champion is the jiggle factor of the contestant’s belly,” she said.
A prettiest pup contest for both large and small pups will be held at 1:15 p.m.
Another Border Patrol hide and seek demonstration will be held at 1:45 a.m. followed by another showing by Maddy Melka’s Collies. This time the event will include Delta Group Certified Border Collies.
Canine Behaviorist and featured guest speaker, Judi Halliburton, will give a presentation on communication between canine owners and their canines. The workshop will focus on voice intonation and body language.
“I’m surprised someone of … (Halliburton’s) … stature would be so excited to participate … I could listen to her talk about dogs all day … she’s like an encyclopedia,” said Moreno.
A question and answer session will be held immediately following the presentation for those who have questions pertaining to specific dog/owner situations.
Moreno said the event has grown each year since its inception two years ago and she hopes the trend continues indefinitely. She said the inspiration for Who Let the Dogs Out came from a perceived disconnect between her business and the community.
“My business was doing well but I didn’t feel a connection with the community,” said Moreno.
After explaining the problem to her sister, Wilma Arroyos of Las Cruces, they immediately began organizing the first Who Let the Dogs Out, she said. Two weeks later the idea was a reality. At the end of the first event people began asking “are you going to do it again?” she said.
“It just expanded from there,” said Moreno.
This year’s event has been advertised in Hobbs, Carlsbad, Roswell and Ruidoso.
For more information contact Linda Moreno at 746-4009.

Artesia Country Club Golf Pro Joe Smith presents a Titleist Scotty Cameron California putter to Gary Davis. The putter, which was donated by Smith, was raffled off by the Artesia High School golf boosters as a fundraiser. The raffle raised more than $1,000 for the AHS golf team.AC

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• Obama leaves WH without press, breaking protocol

Program gives NM market-goers a dose of prevention

4 incendiary devices found in eastern Texas mail

Bulldogs win in Farmington

Experts say doctors overtreating

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — So these won’t be remembered as the Vonn-couver Olympics after all. It’s looking like they will belong to the entire U.S. delegation instead.

The Americans reached 34 medals with a silver and a bronze in short-track speedskating Friday night, and two more were clinched with the men’s hockey team and men’s team pursuit in speedskating advancing to a gold-medal match in which they can get no worse than silver.

That makes 36 medals, topping the U.S. record of 34 set at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and matching the record for the most by any country at any Winter Olympics, set by Germany in Salt Lake City.

“It’s a great time to be an American,” said Katherine Reutter, who got a silver in the 1,000 meters at the short track. “One of the many things I was yelling was ‘I love the USA!'”

Unless something wild happens over the final two days, the U.S. will win the overall medals race for only the second time, and the first since 1932 in Lake Placid.

And, look who’s leading the gold race: Canada, with 10. Maybe the hosts’ “Own the Podium” campaign will pay off after all.

Speaking of the U.S. and Canada, get ready for a raucous rematch on the ice. One week after the Americans ran roughshod over the Canadians in their game, on their ice, the nations will meet again for gold on Sunday.

The U.S. advanced easily, riding six first-period goals to a 6-1 victory over Finland. The Canadians beat Slovakia 3-2, but it was pretty tense at the end. Canada blew a 3-0 lead in the third period and had the entire nation on edge for the final 4:53 after Slovakia got within a goal.

The speedskaters locked up a top prize by knocking off Sven Kramer and the Dutch in a semifinal race.

At the short track, Apolo Anton Ohno — who became the most-decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history earlier in these games — picked up his eighth career medal by getting bronze in the 5,000-meter relay. He had a chance for another but was disqualified from the 500 meters final.

Lindsey Vonn was supposed to win all sorts of Alpine medals. Although she is going home with a gold and a bronze, she also had three DNFs for failing to finish her other events, including the slalom on Friday.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — With minutes to go until his exclusive negotiating window was to expire, Michael Jordan struck a deal to buy controlling interest of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Owner Bob Johnson announced in a statement that he’s agreed to sell the Bobcats to Jordan, who been a part-owner of since 2006. Jordan has been running the team’s basketball operations.

The purchase price and details of Jordan’s ownership group — called MJ Basketball Holdings LLC — weren’t immediately available.

The league’s owners must still approve the purchase.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBA fined Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The head of the new Meadowlands Stadium thinks Arizona’s decision not to bid on the 2014 Super Bowl doesn’t necessarily make the future home of the Giants and Jets the favorite to land the NFL title game.

Mark Lamping said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Friday night that The New Meadowlands Stadium Companies is concentrating solely on presenting a solid bid to the league by the April 1 deadline.

The Jets and Giants will start play in their new 82,500-seat, $1.6 billion stadium this season.

Miami and Tampa also plan to present bids for the game. League owners will award the game at their annual meeting in May.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kurt Busch turned a lap of 188.719 mph to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s NASCAR race. Jeff Gordon was second with a lap at 188.646. Ryan Newman qualified third and was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Kyle Busch held the previous track record of 185.995 mph. In all, 18 drivers bettered that speed.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Mark Wilson and Camilo Villegas were tied for the lead at 11-under 131 halfway through the Phoenix Open.

Wilson birdied the last four holes for a 5-under 66, while Villegas bogeyed No. 18 when he missed a 14-foot putt for par. The 28-year-old Colombian settled for a 69 after tying the tournament first-round record with a 9-under 62 on Thursday.

Eleven players were within two shots of the lead at TPC Scottsdale, where a crowd estimated at 101,709 attended the second round Friday under thinly overcast conditions.

Anthony Kim (65), Ryan Moore (66) and Rickie Fowler (67) were 10 under.

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — David Ferrer defeated Fernando Gonzalez 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-4 to set up a Mexican Open final against fellow Spaniard and best friend Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ferrero won his semifinal over Juan Monaco of Argentina, taking the first set 7-5 and advancing when Monaco retired with a rib injury.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic advanced to his first semifinal of the season, beating seventh-seeded James Blake 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in the Delray Beach International.

Karlovic, the only seed remaining in the tournament, will play defending champion Mardy Fish in the semifinals.

The 73rd-ranked Fish beat fourth-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-3.

Unseeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland also advanced.<M

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Defending champion Novak Djokovic edged unseeded Marcos Baghdatis 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final of the Dubai Championships.

Djokovic will play Mikhail Youzhny, who defeated Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 7-6 (4) to reach the Dubai final for the second time in four years.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Elena Dementieva cruised past Magdalena Rybarikova 6-0, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Malaysian Open.

The match was delayed for 3 hours by rain at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort. Dementieva will play sixth-seeded Sybille Bammer, who rallied to defeat Chang Kai Chen 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 after a rain delay.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — So these won’t be remembered as the Vonn-couver Olympics after all. It’s looking like they will belong to the entire U.S. delegation instead.

The Americans reached 34 medals with a silver and a bronze in short-track speedskating Friday night, and two more were clinched with the men’s hockey team and men’s team pursuit in speedskating advancing to a gold-medal match in which they can get no worse than silver.

That makes 36 medals, topping the U.S. record of 34 set at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and matching the record for the most by any country at any Winter Olympics, set by Germany in Salt Lake City.

“It’s a great time to be an American,” said Katherine Reutter, who got a silver in the 1,000 meters at the short track. “One of the many things I was yelling was ‘I love the USA!'”

Unless something wild happens over the final two days, the U.S. will win the overall medals race for only the second time, and the first since 1932 in Lake Placid.

And, look who’s leading the gold race: Canada, with 10. Maybe the hosts’ “Own the Podium” campaign will pay off after all.

Speaking of the U.S. and Canada, get ready for a raucous rematch on the ice. One week after the Americans ran roughshod over the Canadians in their game, on their ice, the nations will meet again for gold on Sunday.

The U.S. advanced easily, riding six first-period goals to a 6-1 victory over Finland. The Canadians beat Slovakia 3-2, but it was pretty tense at the end. Canada blew a 3-0 lead in the third period and had the entire nation on edge for the final 4:53 after Slovakia got within a goal.

The speedskaters locked up a top prize by knocking off Sven Kramer and the Dutch in a semifinal race.

At the short track, Apolo Anton Ohno — who became the most-decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history earlier in these games — picked up his eighth career medal by getting bronze in the 5,000-meter relay. He had a chance for another but was disqualified from the 500 meters final.

Lindsey Vonn was supposed to win all sorts of Alpine medals. Although she is going home with a gold and a bronze, she also had three DNFs for failing to finish her other events, including the slalom on Friday.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — With minutes to go until his exclusive negotiating window was to expire, Michael Jordan struck a deal to buy controlling interest of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Owner Bob Johnson announced in a statement that he’s agreed to sell the Bobcats to Jordan, who been a part-owner of since 2006. Jordan has been running the team’s basketball operations.

The purchase price and details of Jordan’s ownership group — called MJ Basketball Holdings LLC — weren’t immediately available.

The league’s owners must still approve the purchase.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBA fined Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The head of the new Meadowlands Stadium thinks Arizona’s decision not to bid on the 2014 Super Bowl doesn’t necessarily make the future home of the Giants and Jets the favorite to land the NFL title game.

Mark Lamping said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Friday night that The New Meadowlands Stadium Companies is concentrating solely on presenting a solid bid to the league by the April 1 deadline.

The Jets and Giants will start play in their new 82,500-seat, $1.6 billion stadium this season.

Miami and Tampa also plan to present bids for the game. League owners will award the game at their annual meeting in May.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kurt Busch turned a lap of 188.719 mph to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s NASCAR race. Jeff Gordon was second with a lap at 188.646. Ryan Newman qualified third and was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Kyle Busch held the previous track record of 185.995 mph. In all, 18 drivers bettered that speed.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Mark Wilson and Camilo Villegas were tied for the lead at 11-under 131 halfway through the Phoenix Open.

Wilson birdied the last four holes for a 5-under 66, while Villegas bogeyed No. 18 when he missed a 14-foot putt for par. The 28-year-old Colombian settled for a 69 after tying the tournament first-round record with a 9-under 62 on Thursday.

Eleven players were within two shots of the lead at TPC Scottsdale, where a crowd estimated at 101,709 attended the second round Friday under thinly overcast conditions.

Anthony Kim (65), Ryan Moore (66) and Rickie Fowler (67) were 10 under.

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — David Ferrer defeated Fernando Gonzalez 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-4 to set up a Mexican Open final against fellow Spaniard and best friend Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ferrero won his semifinal over Juan Monaco of Argentina, taking the first set 7-5 and advancing when Monaco retired with a rib injury.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic advanced to his first semifinal of the season, beating seventh-seeded James Blake 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in the Delray Beach International.

Karlovic, the only seed remaining in the tournament, will play defending champion Mardy Fish in the semifinals.

The 73rd-ranked Fish beat fourth-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-3.

Unseeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland also advanced.<M

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Defending champion Novak Djokovic edged unseeded Marcos Baghdatis 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final of the Dubai Championships.

Djokovic will play Mikhail Youzhny, who defeated Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 7-6 (4) to reach the Dubai final for the second time in four years.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Elena Dementieva cruised past Magdalena Rybarikova 6-0, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Malaysian Open.

The match was delayed for 3 hours by rain at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort. Dementieva will play sixth-seeded Sybille Bammer, who rallied to defeat Chang Kai Chen 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 after a rain delay.