Artesia’s tennis program is off to a strong start under first-year coach Melissa Warren, who is finally getting her chance to lead the Bulldogs after years of waiting for the timing to be right.
Warren, who has long wanted to coach at Artesia, stepped into the role this season and has quickly seen results. The Bulldogs opened the year undefeated through their first three district matches and continued that momentum Thursday with a convincing boys and girls sweep of Goddard at the Mack Chase Sports Complex.
“Our season is going good so far,” Warren said. “We are 8-1 overall and 2-0 in district, and today was a really good day.”
Warren said the early success has been fueled by players buying in and applying what they have worked on in practice.
“All of them have stood out because they’re doing what we’ve talked about,” Warren said. “They’re competing and continuing to get better.”
One performance that caught her eye came in singles play, where Kirklyn Miller battled through a tough opening set before rallying to win in three sets.
“She lost the first set and then came back,” Warren said. “She’s fighting, and that’s fun to watch.”
Warren said the coaching transition has brought challenges beyond the court, noting she has leaned on assistant coaches Phillip Jowers and Tim Trentham as she learns the ins and outs of the program.
Artesia tennis player Joshua Vazquez hits the ball against Goddard.
On the boys’ side, the Bulldogs continued to show depth in both singles and doubles. Cutter Summers and Damian Lopez picked up wins in singles play, while Paul Miller, Ediel Miranda and Jackson Hollinger also contributed victories. Hollinger has put together a strong stretch of singles matches to open the season.
In doubles action, Summers and Lopez earned a hard-fought win, while the teams of Martinez and Miller and Miranda and Adan Alva also posted victories.
The girls earned multiple singles wins as well, including victories from Miller, Breckyn Miller, Adrienne Harvey, Abigail Jowers, Renee Irvin and Sadie Morris. In doubles, the teams of Kirklyn and Breckyn Miller and Harvey and Jowers both earned wins, as did Irvin and Morris.
Artesia will return to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Chase Sports Complex as the Bulldogs continue district play.
Art creations under six inches are on display through April 30 at the Artesia Public Library as part of the month-long Tiny Art Show.
April 20-25 is National Library Week, sponsored by the American Library Association, it highlights the role libraries, librarians and library workers play in the community.
The Artesia Public Library is preparing for its summer reading program June 1-July 17.
More information is coming next week to artesianews.com and in the April 23 newspaper.
The New Mexico Supreme Court now faces a simple question: will our elections be decided by voters or by technicalities created by the government itself?
The case of Representative Rebecca Dow should not be a close call.
Rep. Dow has represented House District 38 for nearly a decade. This cycle, she earned more than enough support to be on the ballot, collecting over twice the required number of signatures. Not one has been proven invalid.
Yet she was removed anyway.
Not for fraud. Not for misconduct. But because of how petitions generated by the state’s own online system were printed.
That should alarm every voter in New Mexico.
The Secretary of State created this new online petition system. It verifies voters automatically. It is controlled entirely by the state. And Rep. Dow used it exactly as directed, working with election officials, even being walked step by step through the process by the Secretary of State’s own staff on filing day.
The County Clerk reviewed her filings and approved her candidacy.
Only after the fact did a court step in and disqualify her, based on a formatting issue tied to that same system.
If that stands, then no candidate in New Mexico can safely rely on the rules as they are given. It means the state can create the process, guide candidates through it, approve their filings, and then disqualify them anyway.
That is not the rule of law. That is a trap.
It gets worse.
The law does not clearly require candidates to print these petitions at all. The state never adopted formal rules for this new system. And even now, there are multiple reasonable interpretations of what the law requires.
For decades, courts have been clear: when election laws are ambiguous, the benefit goes to voters, not to disqualification. The right to vote, and to choose a candidate, comes first.
Yet here, the voters of District 38 are being erased over a technical dispute no one can even clearly define.
And the process itself should concern the Court. The hearing was held outside the deadline required by law. Evidence was limited. The candidate was denied a full opportunity to present her case. These are not small procedural issues; they go to the heart of whether this decision can be trusted.
The consequences are enormous.
This decision does not just remove one candidate. It disenfranchises an entire district. It alters the balance of power in the Legislature. And it sends a message that elections in New Mexico can be decided not by voters, but by confusion, bureaucracy, and after the fact rulemaking.
That is exactly the kind of case the New Mexico Supreme Court exists to correct.
The Court should take this case. It should reverse this decision. And it should make clear, once and for all, that in New Mexico, voters decide elections.
Anything less risks telling the people of this state that their voice comes second to a paperwork technicality.
New Mexico Rep. Gail Armstrong represents the state’s 49th House District, covering parts of Catron, Sierra, Socorro and Valencia counties.
A Ruidoso man is facing three felonies after allegedly attacking three men, biting two of them.
Ruidoso Police Officer L. Valenzuela arrested Jose Hernandez, 33, of Ruidoso, on two counts of aggravated battery and one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, all third-degree felonies, on March 28.
Valenzuela wrote in a statement of probable cause that he was sent to 26008 U.S. Highway 70 for a report of a fight at 3:12 a.m. and when he got there, Jose Zuviria told him that Hernandez, also referred to as Jose Cruz Hernandez, allegedly attacked him. The pair had been drinking outside, Zuviria went to bed, realized he left his phone outside with Hernandez and confronted him.
“The Defendant became aggressive and struck Victim Zuviria in the face,” Valenzuela wrote.
Once on the ground, Hernandez allegedly sat on his chest and hit him multiple times in the face, he wrote.
Zuviria had “significant” swelling to his face, his left eye was swollen shut, he had “multiple facial contusions” and was bleeding from his nose and mouth. An ambulance took him to the Lincoln County Medical Center, he wrote.
As Valenzuela continued to investigate, he learned Hernandez allegedly attacked two more men. He allegedly hit Andres Martinez-Cruz in the face after the man told Hernandez he didn’t want problems on his property and told him to leave, Valenzuela wrote.
During the fight, Hernandez allegedly bit him on the forearm, breaking the skin. Orlando Martinez tried to help Martinez-Cruz in restraining Hernandez, he wrote.
“As the victims attempted to disengage and walk away, the Defendant followed them and produced a retractable utility knife,” he wrote. “The Defendant stabbed Victim Orlando Martinez in the back; however, the knife did not fully penetrate.”
Hernandez then jumped on Martinez’s back and “bit his head causing a break in the skin and removal of hair, and at some point slashed his back, breaking the skin and causing bleeding,” he wrote.
When Valenzuela arrested Hernandez, he saw that there was “a large amount of long hair that belonged to Victim Martinez-Cruz in and outside his mouth.”
Magistrate Judge Katie Lund arraigned him two days later, March 30, and ordered that Hernandez have no contact with the three men he allegedly attacked and released him on an unsecured $5,000 appearance bond. He is to be supervised by pre-trial services.
A preliminary hearing is set for April 30. No prior criminal history appears in New Mexico state courts.
It was Nicodemus that first heard from our Savior the words, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And, so that the nail would be hammered in fully, Jesus said to him, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:1-8). Jesus unsettled this teacher of the law. I am sure that he was outwardly righteous, but Jesus put him on the spot, leaving Nicodemus shaken and confused. When people hear the term “born again” they often are left confused. Are you confused about being born-again?
You must be born again! Why? Because we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). You need to be raised from your state of spiritual death to spiritual life. Being born again is how a dead sinner is made into a living saint. It is the act of conversion that changes you from being a child of the devil to a child of God. It is called the new birth – you were dead and now you have been made alive. Everyone must be born again.
How are you born again? It is important that you know because your life depends on it. John said, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…”. (1 John 5:1a). On your part being born again is an act of faith. Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Christ means the “Anointed One” Other words that help us to understand is the word Messiah (again it means God’s Anointed) and the word Savior. Have you put your trust in Jesus as your Savior – your Messiah? There are doctrines about Jesus that you must believe for Jesus to be your Savior. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the second Person in the triune Godhead. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again the third day from the dead. Also, Jesus taught us that salvation is by faith in Him. The new birth, being born again, is a supernatural act of God. John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Being born again is not something that you inherit from your parents, or because of the passion of our flesh, or through a religious ritual. It is truly an act of God. It is supernatural. When we are born again God becomes our Father. You cannot create or conceive yourself. It is God that has to give life to the dead.
What is the evidence that we have been born again? From First John we have several evidences of being born again. One is the evidence of righteousness in our lives. “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” (1 John 2:29). I will not comment on this, but I will let you meditate on each of these. This is how we examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Another evidence is victory over sin. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9; 5:4). If you are born again, then you will love God and His children. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (1 John 4:7). Although there are more evidences of the new birth, let me share just one more. Those that are born again trust in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of sins and salvation. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” (1 John 5:1).
In closing I want to repeat that being born again is the act of God. In the Model Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father Who art in heaven…” God is our Father through the new birth – through being born again. Being born again is a miracle. God alone has the power to give you a new life. Only God can give you faith to trust in Jesus Christ His Son alone. In the natural birth you would not be alive without your father. Being born again is the work of God. If you have not been born again, then the wrath of God remains on you even now. Repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ our Lord. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36). Have you been born again?
If you have any questions, we invite you to visit with us this Sunday. Worship at 10:50 A.M. We are located at 711 West Washington Ave. Check our sermon videos on Youtube @ricksmith2541. Send comments and prayer requests to prayerlinecmbc@gmail.com.
When former Bulldog basketball coach Michael Mondragon stood in front of his players and their families at the boys’ basketball banquet, he was not just saying goodbye to a season.
He was saying goodbye to a chapter of his life without knowing it.
Tears flowed as Mondragon addressed his 10 seniors from the 2025 class — the last group he would ever coach on a basketball floor — his voice breaking as the weight of the moment settled in. These were not just players. They were young men he had poured into, believed in, and grown alongside for years.
Next year, Mondragon will begin a new journey as principal of Roselawn Elementary School, trading locker rooms and late-night film sessions for classrooms and morning announcements. But the goodbye, the one that hurt the most, came with the realization that this team — this family — was finished.
Mondragon said losing a state championship still stings. It always will. But it is not the loss that lingers. It is everything that came before it.
He will miss the grind — players showing up early before practice to get extra shots, staying late after everyone else had gone home, the quiet talks in his office, and long summer trips that blurred the line between basketball and life. Most of all, he will miss the look in their eyes — the belief that maybe, just maybe, they could become the next LeBron James.
Mondragon never had the heart to tell them they couldn’t.
Artesia coach Michael Mondragon talks to the official during the Highland championship game at the Pit.
Instead, he told them to believe. To work. To stay present. To trust the process, with enough grit and heart, anything was possible.
Mondragon has always believed in the power of a dream. He has lived it.
That belief carried him to All-State honors in football and basketball and into a coaching life that was modeled for him by his father, aunts and family — a life he always knew he wanted. Coaching was never just a job. It was who he was. And now, he feels called to coach on a bigger stage.
A basketball, he said, was no longer enough.
Now, Mondragon wants to coach teachers and nearly 150 students at Roselawn Elementary School, shaping lives the same way he has shaped programs for the past 16 years.
“It was just time,” Mondragon said. “After much prayer and consideration, I want to spend time with my family and watch them grow up. I want to help develop the future Bulldogs at the lower levels.”
JT Keith | Artesia Daily Press, Artesia basketball coach Michael Mondragon with Clay Kincaid at the boys basketball banquet.
Mondragon led with his heart in basketball, and the results followed. Over time, he became the school’s all-time wins leader with a 209-124 record, including a 58-21 mark in district play. He won seven consecutive District 4A-4 championships, reached nine quarterfinals and semifinals in 12 seasons, appeared in three state championship games, and captured the 2025 title. This year’s team set a school record with 25 wins.
Still, Mondragon said the numbers were never the point.
Long after the final buzzer fades, he believes what remains matters far more than any trophy.
Mondragon wants to build a culture of family. As he heads to Roselawn, he wants to help develop boys and girls who will one day become good husbands, wives, and productive members of society.
“It’s way more than basketball,” he said. “I love them (team).”
What lingered after the season ended was not the loss itself, but the realization that his time with this group was over.
“They’re like my sons,” Mondragon said. “I’ve been so close to them.”
One of his favorite memories came just weeks before the state tournament, when he invited the team to his home for a steak dinner. Players mixed with his children, assistant coaches and their families — a simple night, but one that captured how intertwined their lives had become.
Mondragon said moments like that were supposed to be emotional. If they weren’t, he said, then he wasn’t doing it right.
Artesia boys basketball award winners.
“I’m proud of the way they finished,” he said. “I’m proud of how they represented our school, our town, our program, and themselves.”
For a coach who measured success by relationships rather than championships, that pride meant everything.
“Mike (Mondragon) took the program in a really good direction,” Artesia athletic director Jeremy Maupin said. “He advocated for kids, and we will miss what he brought to the program.”
After the loss to Highland, Mondragon walked into the media center at The Pit in Albuquerque and paused before speaking.
“First of all, God’s good,” he said. “It has been a hell of a journey.”
Artesia Police Chief Kirk Roberts said the community recently saw uptick in graffiti, which rose from two and five incidents in January and February to 36 in March.
Roberts said during Tuesday’s city council meeting that he expects other crime to rise as perpetrators graduate from graffiti to higher offenses such as burglary.
“I hope they hear me because we’re coming for them,” he said of the perpetrators. “We’re not gonna have that here.”
Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair reported only 54 days remain on the 26th Street project contract.
“I know it feels like we have been out there for four years,” he said. “We have not. We’ve been out there for 14 months. However, it’s worth it in the end because we got everything done at once. We don’t have to keep revisiting that roadway.”
Other business
The also council approved the annexation of the HF Sinclair Navajo Refinery property, accepting it into city limits.
The city was also approved to the purchase the nearly finished Artesia Recreation Center from the
Artesia Recreation Center Foundation for $2 million.
City Administrator Hayley Klein announced the City expects to “take ownership at the end of April” and for both soft and grand openings to take place in July.
Fire Chief Kevin Hope sought council approval to accept a $20,000 grant from the New Mexico State Aviation Division for maintenance and equipment, an annual grant received by the department. Acceptance of the grant includes a $2,200 match from the City.
The council finished the public portion of the meeting by nominating and voting Councilor Raul Rodriguez as the Mayor Pro Tem for a two-year term.
JT Keith | Artesia Daily Press Before the game, there was a dedication of the Gary Sims Bleacher in the outfield against Goddard.The team before the game against Goddard on Tuesday night.Artesia pitcher Katrin Marquez before the Goddard game.Artesia outfielders before the game while the National Anthem is being played.An Artesia outfielder dives for the ball during second inning action against Goddard.Jenna Whitmire pops up during game action against Goddard on Tuesday night.Artesia Danyela Munoz slides into second with a double against Goddard on Tuesday night.Artesia infielder Jade Hammond throws out a Goddard hitter during a game at the Chase on Tuesday night.Artesia first baseman Leslie Molina misses a throw as a Goddard batter is safe at first base.Artesia hitter Danyela Munoz is safe at first while beating out an infield hit.Artesia freshman A’dyn Levario overruns second base and is tagged out by a Goddard player.Artesia gets a home run from Katrina Marquez as she slaps a high-five from coach Sandra Pulido.Katrina Marquez hit her second home run of the game against Goddard on Tuesday night.The Lady ‘Dogs celebrate the home run by Katirn Marquez.Danyela Munoz stretches a single into a double against Goddard.
There is a beautiful legend about a king who decided to honor his greatest subject. When the day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard. Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the winner.
The first person presented was a wealthy philanthropist. The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the honor because of his humanitarian efforts. He had given much of his wealth to the poor.
The second person was a celebrated physician. The king was told that this doctor was highly deserving of the honor because he had rendered faithful and dedicated service to the sick for many years.
The third person was a distinguished judge. The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his wisdom, his fairness, and his brilliant decisions.
The fourth person presented was an elderly woman. Everyone was quite surprised to see her there, because her manner was quite humble, as was her dress. She hardly looked the part of someone who would be honored as the greatest subject in the kingdom. What chance could she possibly have, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much?
Even so, there was something about her the look of love in her face, the understanding in her eyes, her quiet confidence.
The king was intrigued, to say the least, and somewhat puzzled by her presence. He asked who she was. The answer came: “You see the philanthropist, the doctor, and the judge? Well, she was their teacher!”
That woman had no wealth, no fortune, and no title, but she had unselfishly given her life to produce great people. There is nothing more powerful or more Christ-like than sacrificial love.
The king could not see the value in the humble lady. He missed the significance of the teacher.
Often, we miss the value of those around us. I think it would surprise us to know how often we miss the presence of Christ just as Cleopas and his brother missed the significance of the stranger on the road to Emmaus as recorded in Luke 24:13-35.
It is likewise easy for us to miss the significance of the resurrection.
Karl Barth, one of the twentieth century’s most famous theologians, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lived and lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on the streetcar and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other.
“Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired.
“Yes,” said the tourist.
“Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?” asked Barth.
“Yes,” he said, “I’d love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?”
Barth replied, “Well as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning.”
The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, “I met Karl Barth’s barber today.”
How amusing! That tourist was in the presence of the very person he most wanted to meet, but even with the most obvious clue, he never realized that the man with whom he was talking was the great man himself.
It reminds us of that scene on the road to Emmaus, when later that first Easter day, two of the disciples walk for a while with the resurrected Jesus, and they, too, had no idea with whom they were conversing.
Do you want to walk with Jesus? Take the advice of Albert Camus:
Holloman welcomes WWII fighters P-40 Warhawk and P-47 Thunderbolt
Rosie the Riveter represented thousands of women working to build the machines that won World War II.
And they’ll be represented by two such aircraft during the Legacy of Liberty Airshow this weekend at Holloman Air Force Base.
The Curtiss P-40N “Warhawk” and a Republic P-47G “Thunderbolt” were both built by “Rosies” during the war and will both feature at the air show.
“Both these planes flying at the Legacy of Liberty Air Show were manufactured by Rosies,” Brian Finnegan explained.
He is director of educational programs and museum development for the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.
“Women attending this weekend’s air show can be proud of the service of those who served our country by building these planes,” Finnegan said. “These two aircraft made a tremendous difference in the outcome of the war.”
Planes of Fame Air Museum is unique in that it is a “flying museum,” where almost forty of the museum’s 150 aircraft have been restored to flight.
The museum’s P-40N “Warhawk” was built at the Curtess-Wright plant in Buffalo, New York, in 1943, Finnegan said. There were 13,738 Warhawks assembled at the plant between 1941 and 1945.
The P-47G “Thunderbolt” was also built by Curtiss under a contract from the Republic Aviation Corporation in Farmingdale, New York. Approximately 15,600 P-47 planes were manufactured during the same time period. (The “P” in the plane’s name stands for “Pursuit” which was a term used to describe Army Air Force fighter airplanes during the war. The letter “F” for “Fighter” was used in later years, such as the F-16 today.)
“This P-40 was flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war,” Finnegan said. “In 1945, it has the distinction of downing a Japanese balloon bomb over Vancouver Island. The plane has also been used in several Hollywood films including the 2001 film “Pearl Harbor”.
The P-47 Thunderbolt was considered the toughest fighter aircraft of World War II. It weighs 9,000 pounds with a 2,000-horsepower radial engine. The exact plane being flown in the Holloman air show was used as a training aircraft in the western U.S during the war.
“This is a beast of an airplane,” Finnegan said. “This plane was able to climb to 42,000 feet which was a tremendous advantage for a fighter plane.” The P-47 was equipped with eight fifty-caliber machine guns and was used in primarily in the European theater.
When the fighter planes are not booked at air shows throughout the country, the P-40 Warhawk and P-47 Thunderbolt are on display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum.
