Tom McDonald

Ruidoso and Las Vegas are two very different communities, but when it comes to environmental disasters, they’re topping the charts these days.

Ruidoso just experienced a horrific flash flood that swept away two young children and a middle-aged man. My heart goes out to the families of these lost loved ones, and to a community that hadn’t fully recovered from its last catastrophe, last year’s South Fork and Salt wildfires, which claimed two other lives, burned over 25,000 acres and forced the evacuation of the entire village.

Likewise, Las Vegas fell victim to the largest wildfire in state history in 2022, the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon wildfire in 2022, which burned 341,471 acres and destroyed 900 structures. Then, in June 2024, torrential rains caused the Gallinas River to overflow its banks, contaminate the city’s reservoirs and flood the low-lying areas of the city along the river.

It is a cruel reality that wildfires leave burn scars, and burn scars don’t retain water. Both Ruidoso and Las Vegas have fallen victim to this one-two punch of fire and water, leaving both communities to pick up the pieces and try to return to some semblance of normalcy — as if normalcy will ever again be possible.

Ruidoso is a mountain resort community that, coupled with its next-door neighbors, Ruidoso Downs and the Mescalero Apache Reservation, offers horseracing, skiing, camping and much more, attracting deep-pocketed Texans and Mexicans to the area year-round. Needless to say, the fires and floods have damaged more than the environment; the local economy has been hit hard, and it will take millions of dollars in state and federal assistance to stage a comeback.

Las Vegas, on the other hand, has seen its local economy going downhill for years now. Water has been a central concern for decades, with a limited water supply — mainly, the Gallinas River, a small but important tributary to the Pecos River —limiting the city’s overall growth. Now, three years after the Hermit’s Peak fire, people are leaving and businesses are closing.

But this community “where the Great Plains meets the Mighty Rockies” still has plenty of life left in it. Three colleges — New Mexico Highlands University, Luna Community College and the international school, the United World College of the American West — keep this historically rich community young enough for a comeback of its own.

As for the continuing fire-and-water threats these two towns face, there’s only so much we can do. We can’t do much about the weather. Here in New Mexico, it’s going to get hotter and drier as the earth continues to warm, and extreme weather events are going to hit more often, with vulnerable communities like Ruidoso and Las Vegas taking the brunt of it all.

As advanced as we’ve become technologically, humanity is still a long way from an ability to “control” the weather (although it is within the realm of possibility), so we’d best get our homes and communities ready for extreme weather. Better to look beyond a 100-year flood plain and face the reality that the next 100 years will not be like the last 100 years.

It doesn’t help to have a vindictive climate-change denier in the White House, but that’s the hand we’re dealt, so we’d better figure out some work-arounds. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is right to be thinking outside the federal box, but it will take a lot more than progressive state policies to mitigate a brighter future.

It will take a village like Ruidoso, and a city like Vegas, to rise from the ashes and the muck to become vibrant communities once again — and show the rest of us how it’s done.

Tom McDonald is editor and publisher of the Guadalupe County Communicator in Santa Rosa and the New Mexico Community News Exchange (CNEx). He can be reached at tmcdonald.usa@gmail.com.

Mayor Lynn Crawford

The waters have receded, but the memory of Tuesday’s devastating flash flood will remain etched in the hearts of everyone who calls Ruidoso home or calls it their favorite place to visit. In a matter of hours, the Rio Ruidoso rose to a record-breaking 20 feet – five feet higher than the previous record – transforming our peaceful mountain community into a scene of heartbreaking destruction.

We mourn the three precious lives lost in this tragedy. These individuals were swept downstream by floodwaters that showed no mercy, and our hearts are broken for their families. We pray for strength and comfort for those who are grieving, and we hold them close in our thoughts during this unimaginably difficult time.

The heartbreak is almost unbearable. After working tirelessly for an entire year – putting mitigation plans in place, rebuilding our beloved racetrack, and preparing our businesses for what we hoped would be a fantastic summer season – we watched as nature’s fury undid so much of our progress in mere hours. The Ruidoso Downs Race Track, which had just reopened in May after last year’s flood damage, was once again left in ruins.

The scope of this disaster is staggering. Preliminary assessments indicate hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed, while emergency crews conducted about 65 swift-water rescues during the event. The scenes were harrowing – people trapped in trees, in rushing waters, and in flooding homes as our first responders worked heroically to save lives.

But this is where the true character of Ruidoso shines through. This community has faced adversity before, and each time, we have demonstrated an unbreakable spirit that defines who we are. We are a resilient people, forged by the mountains that surround us and strengthened by the bonds we share with one another.

The Village of Ruidoso is committed to doing whatever it takes to rebuild and come back even stronger than before. Our infrastructure will be repaired – from the broken water lines to the damaged streets and bridges. We will work with residents to clean up their properties and remove debris that the floodwaters deposited. Every effort will be made to restore what was lost and to build back better.

We are not just talking about rebuilding structures; we are talking about rebuilding hope. We are talking about honoring the memory of those we lost by creating a community that is more prepared, more resilient, and more united than ever before. The flood mitigation systems we installed after last year’s disaster helped in some ways, but we know we must do more. We will learn from this tragedy and implement even stronger protections for our future.

The response from our community has been nothing short of inspiring. Neighbors helping neighbors, businesses opening their doors to provide food and basic necessities, and volunteers stepping up to assist with anything that is needed – this is the Ruidoso spirit at its finest. We have seen acts of kindness and courage that remind us why we love this place and why we will not let this disaster define us.

To every resident, business owner, and visitor who has been affected by this flood, please know that we are here for you. We are working for you, and we are working for this entire community. The road ahead will not be easy, but we will travel it together.

Yes, we have been knocked down. The floodwaters struck hard and fast, leaving devastation in their wake. But we will get back up. We will rebuild. We will restore. And we will emerge from this tragedy stronger, more united, and more determined than ever to protect and preserve the community we all love.

This is our promise to you, to our neighbors, and to the memory of those we lost. Ruidoso has weathered many storms – literal and figurative – and we will weather this one too. Our spirit cannot be broken, our resolve cannot be shaken, and our commitment to one another cannot be washed away.

We will rise again, because that is what Ruidoso does. That is who we are.

Paul J. Gessing

If you haven’t heard already, over the 4th of July weekend President Trump signed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) into law. Setting aside the merits and demerits of the legislation you have to hand it to President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson for achieving the President’s goal of signing the bill by July 4.

Considering the complexity of the bill and the narrow majorities held by Republicans (with implacable opposition from Democrats), there was not much wiggle room for compromise or lost Republican votes. Needless to say, New Mexico’s hyper-“progressive” delegation universally opposed the bill, but so did Trump’s erstwhile ally Elon Musk and libertarian leading Kentuckians Senator Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie (both Republicans).

Paul and Massie voted in opposition to the plan due to insufficient spending reduction and the potential of the plan to increase the federal debt.

New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham and the entire Congressional delegation also unsurprisingly opposed the BBB. They didn’t oppose it for reasons of fiscal restraint. Rather, they opposed the bill because it cuts taxes and eliminates subsidies for so-called “green” energy and Medicaid.

Lujan Grisham called the bill “an abomination.” Rep. Vasquez said “It’s gonna devastate New Mexico’s health care system.” Other reports claim that the reductions to Medicaid spending growth could shutter half a dozen hospitals in the state.

In reality, the BBB doesn’t actually cut Medicaid. According to health care expert Michael Cannon, it slows federal Medicaid spending growth from an annual rate of 4.5 percent to 2.7 percent. It does this by eliminating some widely recognized gimmicks like provider taxes that both Joe Biden and the Obama Administration opposed. The new law also imposes enhanced work (including education and job training) requirements for Medicaid and SNAP (food stamp) recipients.

Whatever the impact of these plans, the fact is that Medicaid is long-overdue for reform. If New Mexico policymakers truly wish to keep these benefits flowing, they have every tool available to keep them in place.

Not only does New Mexico have a mind-blowing $61billion in various “savings” accounts. Just last year the Legislature created a new $2 billion “Medicaid Trust Fund” for the express purpose of shielding New Mexico’s Medicaid program from prospective cuts.

The Rio Grande Foundation opposed this legislation (SB 88). That’s because we believe New Mexico’s massive “savings” should be returned to the taxpayers to diversify the State’s struggling non-oil-and-gas private sector economy.

But, if the Legislature and Gov. want to restore federal spending cuts, they can certainly afford to do it. Federal welfare programs like Medicaid are found nowhere in the US Constitution. More importantly, as designed, Medicaid’s incentive structure is all wrong. It incentivizes states to game the system to bring in more federal money and disincentivizes recipients from seeking gainful employment and higher pay (lest they lose their benefits). New Mexico’s heavy dependency on Medicaid is also a major factor in New Mexico’s health care provider shortage.

Even the overall health impacts of Medicaid are inconclusive at best. A June 25, 2025, headline from the liberal online news Source New Mexico stated, “New Mexico health outcomes fail to improve despite massive spending increases.” That is based on recent data from the Legislative Finance Committee. Those increases were largely thanks to Medicaid and they highlight the program’s questionable impact on patient outcomes.

Whatever the future holds for Medicaid and health care spending in New Mexico more broadly, the State has the resources to either continue existing programs or even improve upon the current situation. It’s time to stop whining and use our own considerable resources for the benefit of New Mexicans.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility