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City investigates complaints about police department

Michael Smith
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City investigates complaints about police department

Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com

Amid two lawsuits and a series of complaints by former officers and employees alleging a “hostile work environment” at the Carlsbad Police Department, city officials plan to hire an attorney from outside the city’s administration to lead an investigation.

Mayor Rick Lopez said on June 27 the city would be working with the New Mexico Municipal League to find counsel for the investigation. City attorney Denise Madrid Boyea is handling the pending lawsuits, Lopez said.

Complaints have centered around allegations against Carlsbad Police Chief Jessie Rodriguez, a longtime officer in Carlsbad who was promoted to the top spot in December 2024, replacing former Chief Shane Skinner after a vote by the Carlsbad City Council.

Lopez said Rodriguez will remain chief throughout the investigation. The mayor said he was confident Rodriguez will ultimately retain his position.

“He’ll stay in position until the investigation tells me otherwise,” Lopez sad. “I do not have enough evidence to remove him.”

While Lopez would not comment on the specific allegations, the mayor said the investigation was largely tied to a pair of lawsuits filed recently against the city and the police department.

The first, filed March 26 by former police dispatcher Gina Styring, alleged a series of “sex scandals” at the department involving Skinner and others and a situation where Styring was asked by Rodriguez to take a polygraph test when she denied having sex with an officer, Omar Lopez.

Styring’s attorney, Curtis Waldo of Waldo Gubernick Law Advocates in Houston, described the alleged scandals as making “Caligula-era imperial Rome look like Saved by the Bell.”

Saved by the Bell was a family-friendly TV sitcom that was popular during the 1990s.

Throughout the complaint, Waldo described a “boys will be boys” atmosphere in which officers, including Skinner, had sexual affairs with co-workers and received only “slaps on the wrist” when caught.

Waldo said Styring was wrongfully terminated after she brought up the issue at a meeting of the department. The attorney said Styring is entitled to monetary damages to be assessed at trial for lost wages and mental anguish.

“We want to clamp down on the sexism that is rampant at the department,” Waldo said in an interview with the Current-Argus.

About two months later, on May 29, another suit was filed by a group of former officers including Eunice Police Chief Danny Garrett, who formerly served as a Hobbs police officer and was at one point a “probationary employee” of the Carlsbad department, Lopez said, although he was unsure exactly when.

Other officers joining the suit were former Captain Andy Carver; Drug Task Force Chief Devon Stinson; 16-year officer John Sneathen; 14-year officer Matt Langlitz; and former-Officer Richard Cage, all of whom resigned due to a “hostile work environment,” according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs in that case asked for a judge to rule the Carlsbad Police Department unfit to protect the public, arguing that the 70-officer department had a staffing deficit of as many as 36 vacant positions as of May 27. Others were allegedly planning to leave the department for similar reasons, read the complaint.

The Eddy County Sheriff’s Office should be tasked with policing Carlsbad city limits until police staffing numbers can be restored, the lawsuit suggested.

Tom Martin, a Carlsbad lawyer representing the Carlsbad Police Union declined to comment on the case or the city’s investigation.

Lopez said the inquiry will rely on interviews with “anyone who has a complaint” about the police department.

“Everything isn’t just he said, she said. There are details that need to be figured out,” Lopez said. “If it truly is the case that people quit because of a hostile work environment, that’s a serious issue.”

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Happy 4th of July

Michael Smith
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Happy 4th of July

Photos and story by Marshall Mecham
Artesia Daily Press
marshallmecham21@gmail.com

Artesia holds first-ever drone show for the Fourth of July

Fourth of July weekend in Artesia this year featured the city’s first-ever drone show to ring in the nation’s independence, along with a series of patriotic events.

The festivities started with the annual Star-Spangled 5K dash on Friday, July 4, at 7 a.m.

The race was hosted by Executive director of Artesia Arts Council Jessica Addington, and Victor Adonis emerged as the winner.

The 5K was followed by the MainStreet USA Parade at 9 a.m., displaying a variety of decorated vehicles, including an Eddy County Fire & Rescue truck, three trucks representing First Methodist Church, two vehicles representing the Moose Lodge and multiple vehicles decorated with U.S. flags.

Other festivities displayed throughout the weekend were pickleball, volleyball, cornhole and disc golf tournaments.

It all culminated in the City’s first-ever Custom Drone Show. The show was on Saturday, July 5, at Jaycee Park shortly after 9 p.m., and lasted 13 minutes.

It featured the HF Sinclair Corporation, Southeast New Mexico College and the New Mexico flag.

The show also displayed images of both green and red chilies. The year 1905 was made visible, which represents the year Artesia was founded.

The Artesia Bulldogs logo was displayed with the light-up drones, along with the number 32 to signify the state number of championships the high school football team has won.

Disc golf aids in sobriety for Artesia grad 

Michael Smith
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Disc golf aids in sobriety for Artesia grad 

JT Keith 

Artesia Daily Press 

jtkeith@elritomedia.com 

On July 5, the inaugural Let Freedom Fly Disc Golf Tournament was played at Jaycee Park. The tournament was the first held at the park.  

Disc golf is similar to golf, except it is played with a disc instead of a golf ball.  

There was $2,000 in prize money for both the Pro Division and the Amateur Division. 

Gabe Turner, an all-state tailback football player and a 2000 Artesia High School graduate, finished in second place in the Mixed Amateur 40 Division, winning $85. This was Turner’s first tournament in three years.  

For Turner, 44, working out and disc golf have been a life-changing experience since getting his second driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) offense in his Mustang at 10 p.m. October 30, 2022, while going to Allsup’s to buy cigarettes.  

“I did not lie to the cops,” Turner said. “It was time for me to take my licking.” 

Turner said he ended up in the Eddy County treatment court program for a year. He would have to submit to alcohol testing twice a week for a year and switch shifts with a coworker as well as use vacation time to go through treatment. 

Girlfriend’s prays answered 

Turner said his girlfriend, Tiffany Ellis, prayed for him to quit drinking. 

Turner said he had quit drinking once before after getting his first DUI in 2014 and thought he had his drinking under control. 

He was drinking enough to get himself in trouble. It was not an everyday thing for Turner, but when he was drinking, he didn’t know when to stop.  

Turner said that if he bought a 12-pack of beer, he would drink it in one night. 

“If it was there, I was going to drink it,” Turner said, “especially after I got six beers in me.” 

Turner said that he realized that after being sober for six months, and his head was cleared from the alcohol, that he had done some dumb stuff and could have killed himself or someone else. 

Discovering disc golf 

Turner started playing disc golf during a vacation trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, when he visited his cousin, Kevin Holmes. Turner began to throw with Holmes and threw over 300 feet standing on his first toss. When he left, his cousin gave him a bag of discs to get him started in 2020. 

Turner has worked as a plant operator for Kinetik Holdings for a year.  

“Again, the DUI was the biggest blessing for me,” Turner said. “I give credit to God, my girlfriend and the Eddy County treatment court program for saving my life. It was an answered prayer from my girlfriend.” 

JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X @JTKEITH1.

Why is this dark money group fighting healthcare reform?

Michael Smith
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Why is this dark money group fighting healthcare reform?


Fred Nathan Jr.,

Recently the New Mexico Ethics Commission sued a secretive, dark money group calling itself New Mexico Safety Over Profits (NMSOP) for violating state laws that require the disclosure of the source of funds used to influence legislation.

The lawsuit alleges that NMSOP spent tens of thousands of dollars on advertisements opposing medical malpractice reforms designed to center the needs of patients and bring down malpractice premiums for doctors, which are about twice as high in New Mexico as in our surrounding states.

Earlier this year, an investigative journalist at Searchlight New Mexico unearthed unethical and misleading behavior by NMSOP and revealed deep ties between NMSOP and the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, whose members feel threatened by the proposed reforms.

As the Ethics Commission put it: “New Mexicans have a right to know who is funding lobbying campaigns.” NMSOP is adamant about keeping its funding sources secret, telling Searchlight: “We certainly will not be disclosing our donors.”

To try to distract from their legal troubles, this dark money group is now attacking Think New Mexico because we drafted and worked to pass legislation (Senate Bill 176) reforming the state’s medical malpractice law.

Feliz Rael, a board member of NMSOP – and, she neglected to mention, the President-elect of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association – recently authored an opinion piece in the Santa Fe New Mexican accusing Think New Mexico of working on behalf of corporations because we received grants from two local independent foundations, Anchorum and Con Alma.

These foundations, which received seed money from the sale of health care companies, fund a diverse array of nonprofits across the state that are working to improve health equity and access to care. Think New Mexico is proud to be among their many grantees. We are also proud to have a strict policy protecting the independence of our research and our policy recommendations from input by any of our funders.

Think New Mexico has always been completely transparent about the sources of our financial support. We publish an annual report that lists all of our donors in alphabetical order. You can find all of our annual reports on our website. (In 2024, 60% of our funding came from more than 1,200 individual supporters.)

Over the past 26 years, Think New Mexico has successfully taken on powerful interests to advance reforms that benefit New Mexicans. We fought the hospital association to win passage of a law creating a health care price transparency website; we battled the title insurance industry to bring down closing costs for homebuyers; we overcame the powerful predatory lending industry to reduce the maximum interest rate on small loans from 175% to 36%.

Now we are working to address the health care worker shortage that is making it so hard for New Mexicans to find a doctor or get in to see their doctor if they have one.

The trial lawyers who make their money from malpractice litigation are lashing out because the tide is turning. New Mexicans are hearing from their doctors that the medical malpractice environment is driving them out of the state or into early retirement. Think New Mexico’s medical malpractice reform bill picked up 24 bipartisan cosponsors. Governor Lujan Grisham called for medical malpractice reform in her State of the State address and her post-session news conference.

You can join the growing movement by visiting www.thinknewmexico.org, where you can download our full report, read about our proposed reforms, and contact your elected officials about them. (While you’re there, you can also read the Ethics Commission lawsuit and the Searchlight articles about NMSOP.)

Fred Nathan Jr. is executive director of Think New Mexico.

Living day-to-day with a “busload of faith”

Michael Smith
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Living day-to-day with a “busload of faith”

Trip Jennings

A friend who wrote searing, sometimes grisly Facebook posts as he dug out from Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic destruction around Asheville, N.C. last autumn took to the social media platform this weekend.

He wrote of the updates from Texas on the flooding that, as of this writing, has robbed the world of more than 100 lives, including 28 children. The dire news flung him back to the months of soul-crushing work after Helene decimated his community of Black Mountain, a few miles from Asheville. In the early days of the clean-up, he worried he might stumble onto the bodies of people swept away by the furious waters, he told me via text in October. He knew people who’d encountered corpses. The human carnage weighed heavily on him. Cleaning up after Helene was not merely taxing physically but also an existential crisis.

And here he was months later processing the terrible news out of Texas that grew more terrible with each update.

The Guadalupe River area has figured significantly in my friend’s life. As a teenager he frequented one of the camps in the path of last week’s rising waters. It was at Mo-Ranch that he met his future wife when he was 15 and she was 13. A year later, they were both at Mo-Ranch when an overflowing Guadalupe River killed 10 people. Vigilance and quick thinking saved Mo-Ranch from the worst of the flooding last week. There was property damage, but no deaths. Other camps weren’t so lucky.

Watching another place he loved destroyed by a natural disaster hit close to home, he wrote on Facebook.

I cannot pretend to know what my friend is feeling, or what he is working through emotionally or mentally. Pain is such an individual, subjective experience. But I can relate.

As a young journalist reporting on murders, drive-by shootings, and natural disasters, I witnessed the jarring disorientation that accompanies the loss of life. A person is alive one second, gone the next. How do you make sense of that?

But it wasn’t until the 9/11 terror attacks erased more than 3,000 lives in a single morning that I lost the sense of invincibility about myself I thought I had purged. Day after day for months, I wrote about or edited stories about people lost in the attacks from Connecticut towns and cities. Nine weeks into the marathon of trauma, a person living 10 miles from us died of anthrax, one of five Americans killed in the unrelated bioterrorism attacks.

The randomness of all the carnage — that your fate was sealed by boarding a plane or by going to work in a high-rise or by opening a letter from your mailbox — punctured any illusion I had that I was invincible, or that a life calibrated to reduce risk was enough to keep chaos at bay. It also exposed an uncomfortable truth: our day-to-day lives are suffused with faith — faith in the universe, god or gods, science, human institutions, routine, or just plain dumb luck — that we will live to see tomorrow.

As the great street poet Lou Reed sings, “you need a busload of faith to get by.”

Most of humanity probably comes to this realization much earlier than I, especially those who come from communities where resources are not clustered to reduce risk from the elements, microbes and other humans bent on our demise.

The recognition that we all are fragile, finite creatures and we don’t know when our time is up is deeply disorienting.

This is reason enough to remember to live lives in which we are sacred with one another. As Bono sings in U2’s One, “We get to carry each other, carry each other.”

May it be so one day.

Trip Jennings has covered politics and state government for the Albuquerque Journal, The New Mexico Independent and the Santa Fe New Mexican. In 2012, he co-founded New Mexico In Depth, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media outlet that produces investigative, data-rich stories with an eye on solutions that can be a catalyst for change.

Racetrack damaged by historic flooding

Michael Smith
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Racetrack damaged by historic flooding

Todd Fuqua and Dave Tomlin
Alamogordo News

RUIDOSO DOWNS – What was joy in May during the re-opening of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack has turned to sorrow and uncertainty in the wake of Tuesday’s even more devastating flood.

A downpour on burn scars from last year’s South Fork and Salt fires on Tuesday resulted in floodwaters along the Ruidoso River that crested at an historic height of 20 feet, five feet higher than last year’s flood which track owner Johnny Trotter had called “the blowout” and necessitated the track’s season transfer to the Downs at Albuquerque.

Tuesday’s flood did major damage to track and overwhelmed improvements made to the track’s culvert and ditch system which had weathered previous storms this year. The track’s surface underwater, undoing months of hard work and recovery in minutes.

There was also extensive flooding to the track’s backside. Videos from social media showed barns inundated with rushing waters with horses still in the stalls or loose in the flood.

Trotter and track general manager Rick Baugh were unable to comment on whether the track would be able to reopen for the remainder of the season, or if the track would have to relocate its meet schedule to another venue.

The track was preparing to host the Rainbow Futurity and Rainbow Derby, each with a $1 million purse.

A statement made by the track on its Facebook page Wednesday said damage assessment was ongoing.

“Safety is our top priority and what we will focus on today as we work toward a plan,” the statement read. “We will continue to post on social media and our website as details (be)come available.”

A return from the waters

This week’s flooding was particularly devastating in light of how much money, time and effort were put into the track’s recovery after last summer.

“It was horrible,” Baugh said of the decision to move the 2024 meet to Albuquerque. “It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I knew it would be devastating to all the businesses. Some of them didn’t realize the value of the track to their businesses until we were gone.”

Baugh estimates that every racing season brings $160 million into the regional economy, as horse owners, trainers, bettors and fans buy lodging and meals and patronize the local souvenir, clothing and jewelry shops that line Sudderth Drive in Midtown.

Tough as it was to decide to move the rest of the season to Albuquerque, the decision to come back and rebuild for 2025 didn’t even have to be made. It was a foregone conclusion, and Baugh embarked on an exhausting inter-city work schedule, overseeing race operations in Albuquerque from Thursdays through the weekends, then scooting back to the Downs during the week to try to keep repairs moving.

That forced him into collaboration with numerous federal and state agencies. FEMA had most of the available recovery grant money. State homeland security officials were coordinating a lot of the actual work, much of which was performed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, overseen and authorized on site by state highway supervisors because the grant funds flowed through the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Presiding over all of this was the Army Corps of Engineers because the Rio Ruidoso, a public waterway, ran right through the infield. The Corps has absolute jurisdiction over any work that affects the volume and direction of the river’s flow, including repairs to the culverts at both ends of the track.

Baugh said recovery workers expanded the river channel and gouged 150,000 cubic yards of earth out of the infield to create a holding basin for further extreme flooding.

This story uses material written by Dave Tomlin for an earlier story. Todd Fuqua is Assistant Editor for the Alamogordo News and can be reached at tfuqua@elritomedia.com.

Three perish in Ruidoso flooding

Michael Smith
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Three perish in Ruidoso flooding

Sarah Rubinstein and Todd Fuqua
Carlsbad Current-Argus

Flooding from rains along the burn scars of last year’s South Fork and Salt fires caused major damage and destruction along the Ruidoso River Tuesday, leading to at least three deaths.

The deluge also washed away homes, trapped people in structures, and flooded Ruidoso Downs Racetrack.

The Village of Ruidoso confirmed three deaths Wednesday morning: a man and two children, ages 7 and 4, according to a press release from Kerry Gladden, spokesperson for the Village of Ruidoso.

All three individuals were caught in the rushing floodwaters and carried downstream during the catastrophic flooding event that saw the Rio Ruidoso rise to a record-breaking 20 feet – five feet higher than the previous record. Ruidoso Police Chief Steve Minner said all three were reported missing from the Riverside RV Park on Sudderth Dr.

“Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their loved ones in this terrible tragedy,” said Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford. “The entire Village of Ruidoso extends our deepest sympathy and compassion to these grieving families during this unimaginably difficult time. We are united in our sorrow and our commitment to supporting one another as we face this devastating loss together.”

The flash flooding occurred Tuesday around 3 p.m., when heavy monsoonal rains – about three inches in a 90-minute period – fell on burn scar areas from last year’s South Fork and Salt fires, creating dangerous conditions that led to rapid water rise throughout the village. Emergency crews conducted 65 swift-water rescues in the Upper Canyon, Mid Sudderth and Gavilan Canyon areas during the event.

In a press conference Wednesday, Crawford reported there are currently 12 road closures throughout the village, with safety inspections being conducted on all affected roads and bridges. There are also further assessments on how many homes and businesses were damaged, but Crawford warned they are expecting further flooding in the future, and they are not encouraging visitors to come to the village at this time.

He also said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency for Ruidoso, and the process to request federal disaster assistance is already underway.

Lujan Grisham confirmed in a later press release that she has signed an emergency declaration request for the flooding through the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)

The Village of Ruidoso is working closely with the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies as the investigation continues, Crawford said.

Eric Cueller, emergency management Coordinator for the village, said there were between 35 and 55 homes damaged by the flooding, but emphasized that these were preliminary numbers.

The Ruidoso Community Center at 501 Sudderth Drive was opened as a temporary shelter for displaced residents. Approximately 20 people were at the community center Tuesday night, who were then moved to a hotel.

Counseling services are available through the New Mexico Crisis and Access Line at 1-855-662-7474. Those seeking missing individuals can call hot-line numbers at 575-637-0398 or 928-276-8184. A regular call center for non-emergency information is also available at 575-258-6901.

Updates will be provided as information becomes available. For the latest emergency information, visit www.ruidoso-nm.gov/emergency-information or follow the Village’s official social media channels.

Locals, leaders respond to floods

Across social media, Ruidoso residents and concerned people shared their own impacts from the flash flooding in Ruidoso.

A viral video of a house being washed away taken by Ruidoso resident Kaitlyn Carpenter was shared on national outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Resident Erica Sherwood posted a video on Instagram of flood water rushing past her house.

“Our cabin in #ruidoso escaping the flooding once again. Praise the lord,” she wrote.

Twitter user Natassia Paloma Thompson shared photos of her and her young son playing in Ruidoso.

“When my son was little, we’d spend hours getting lost along the creeks in Ruidoso. They were some of the best, most peaceful times I spent with him, and thankfully, God always took care of us. Praying for a beautiful place that is so special to so many,” she wrote.

New Mexico politicians were also outspoken over the flooding.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) posted a photo of a letter he sent to the president, urging him to sign Lujan Grisham’s request for relief funds.

“The scale of the disaster in Ruidoso demands an immediate and robust response. We’re calling on @POTUS to approve the Governor’s Major Disaster Declaration, and provide full support to respond and recover,” Heinrich wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Rep. Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) also posted the letter on X, stating: “What we are seeing in Ruidoso speaks for itself. This is a major disaster. Lives, businesses, and homes have been upended. @POTUS your administration must send federal support immediately.”

According to reporting by The Washington Post, more people are dying from flash flooding in the U.S. Last year, 145 people were killed in floods, well above the average of 85 deaths per year.

At the same time, businesses in Ruidoso and Alamogordo are accepting supplies for those impacted by the flash flooding in Ruidoso. The Village of Ruidoso Facebook page recommended that those interested can donate cleaning goods and supplies to the Humane Society Resale shop in Ruidoso, located at 25962 US HWY 70.

Alamogordo nonprofit Thrive in Southern New Mexico organized a donation drive for Thursday and Friday. Those interested can drop off items at 1601 East 10th Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The nonprofit is collecting the following:

• Water

• Gatorade

• Protein bars

• Fruit bars

• Applesauce pouches

• Hand sanitizer

• Wipes

• Diapers

• Baby formula

• Protein shakes

• Toilet paper

• Pet food

Grilled Greek chicken

Michael Smith
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Grilled Greek chicken

Wheeler Cowperthwaite
Meals with Wheels

Grilling is the perfect way to spend the summer, so try this recipe for grilled Greek chicken

Since summer is here, it means it’s too hot to cook inside. For me, that means grilling becomes my primary means of preparing food.

To that end, I’m always looking for new marinades — something different to add to the rotation.

I have a few go-to marinades for meat and vegetables, usually involving soy sauce, fish sauce and lemon juice, but I’ve found a new addition, bursting with lemon flavor: Greek chicken.

It can be done with bone-in or boneless chicken, the only difference being in how long it takes to cook. Bone-in takes a significantly longer time than boneless, but then again, few things in life are better than a properly seasoned and grilled chicken skin, except for maybe a perfectly baked turkey skin.

The recipe only has a few ingredients and hopefully, a few of them are already starting to come up in your herb garden or maybe this is a needed reminder to go ahead and plant them this year, including thyme, oregano and rosemary.

This is a recipe that requires a little overnight, or morning, planning. The chicken needs long enough to soak in all of the lemon, garlic and herb marinade flavors.

The marinade idea is simple: an acid (lemon juice), an oil (olive) and some aromatics (garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano). The chicken marinates in a container or a bag for 8-plus hours, and then is ready to be grilled. One addition to consider is cutting up a lemon and adding it to the marinade bag. An extra flourish is grilling the lemon with the chicken and putting it on the serving plate, along with sprigs of fresh herbs.

Suggested sides included roasted potatoes (or lemon roasted potatoes), tomatoes with feta cheese and garlic bread.

Ingredients

½ cup olive oil

1 1/2 cup lemon juice

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbs fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbs fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbs fresh oregano, chopped

4 lb of chicken (bone in) or 3 lb, boneless

1 lemon, sliced into eighths

1 tsp salt

Directions

Mix the marinade ingredients in bowl, including the olive oil, lemon juice, cut lemon, garlic, salt, rosemary, thyme and oregano.

Add the chicken to the bowl and cover, or put the chicken pieces and the marinade in a Ziploc-type plastic bag. Try to make sure each piece of chicken is covered. Put the container of chicken and marinade in the refrigerator and let it sit for 8 hours to overnight.

Cook the chicken on the grill until done.

Boneless breasts will take the least amount of time (consider cutting them in half, lengthwise), boneless thighs will take longer.

Bone-in chicken will take about 15 minutes per side. It should be ready when punctured with a fork or knife, the juices run clear.

New Mexico trout love caddisflies

Michael Smith
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New Mexico trout love caddisflies

Information and photo provided by Dustin Berg and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

All species of trout appreciate a good meal of caddisflies. Across New Mexico we see large caddis hatches that cause fish to heavily feed during the warmer months.

Keep an eye out for bigger bugs fluttering in the air, and if you can catch one with your hands that is the best way to get a good look at what coloration of fly you will need to match the hatch. Caddisflies normally range in color from light brown to dark brown but can also have a hint of yellowish/green/gray.

Caddisflies start out as eggs that hatch into aquatic larvae and then into terrestrial adults. Once they go terrestrial, they are on a mission to mate and will congregate on the water’s edge in the grasses or bushes. When they land on the water’s surface to lay their eggs or crash-land into the water by way of flying mishap, that’s when opportunistic trout can be found feeding on the water’s surface.

When fishing your caddis fly, the first thing to do is try to find rising fish. If you see fish feeding on the water’s surface, they are going to be your best bet for getting a strike. Try to float your fly naturally through the lane that the fish are feeding in. Casting at an angle up stream will give your fly a longer float. If you cast your fly downstream the waters current and your fully extended fly line will cause the fly to drag in the water. A fly dragging in the water is unnatural and will severely limit the number of fish that decide to bite your fly.

Big fish can be feeding right alongside the water’s edge. You don’t necessarily have to fish in the middle of the stream or river. Sometimes the best place to fish is within inches or feet of the stream or rivers edge. Try floating your fly along the bank of the stream or river through bank undercuts, overhanging grass, and small eddies. Be ready when a fish you had no idea was there darts out from beneath its cover to snatch up your fly.

Tip: Dry fly flotant makes a big difference when trying to keep your fly floating on the water’s surface for extended periods of time. I just learned about a new flotant called High N Dry that worked excellent with my caddis flies on my recent trip.

This article was originally published by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish in 2023.

A time for every season, and reason

Michael Smith
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A time for every season, and reason

David Grousnick

In Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan arises out of a discussion between Jesus and a Pharisee. A religious lawyer asks a question on the nature of the law.

The stage is set by Luke with these words: “A lawyer stood up to put him to the test.”

Well, it’s not the first time and probably won’t be the last time that a lawyer phrased a trick question. It was the kind of question in which any kind of an answer would pose still further problems. It was a test question: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life.”

Now right away we know that this man was a Pharisee, because the Pharisees believed in eternal life and the Sadducees did not. Jesus could tell that this man was an astute student of the law, so he asked him: “What is written?” In other words, use your own mind to discern the essence of the law.

Jesus, like a good discussion leader, throws the question right back in his lap.

The lawyer had a good answer. He said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This was a direct quote from Deuteronomy 6. It was part of the Shema, a confession regularly made in Jewish worship.

Jesus says: “Excellent. You are correct.”

The question had been asked and the answer given. You would think that the man would be pleased and go home. But a lawyer’s responsibility is to define the limits of liability. “Trying to justify himself, he asked ‘Who is my neighbor.’”

Instead of further defining the question, Jesus tells a story. A way of indirect teaching. A certain rich man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho…

So, who is my neighbor?

Consider:

A person fell into a pit and couldn’t get out.

A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down there.”

An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”

A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into a pit.”

A mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit.

A news reporter wanted an exclusive story on his pit.

A fundamentalist said, “You deserve your pit.”

An IRS man asked if he was paying taxes on the pit.

A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit.”

A charismatic said, “Just confess that you’re not in a pit.”

An optimist said, “Things could be worse.”

A pessimist said, “Things will get worse.”

A politician said, “It’s a conspiracy!” Sheesh!!

Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit!

So, it seems to me that my neighbor is anyone in need! Simple, right?

Have you heard the story about the elderly woman who lived in a small town in Texas who had car trouble on the way to the store one morning? Her car stalled at a stop sign. She tried everything to get her car started again, but no luck.

A man in a pick-up truck came up behind her and with obvious agitation, started honking his horn incessantly. She doubled her efforts to get her car going. No luck!

The man in the pick-up truck continued to honk his horn.

I love what the woman did. Very calmly she got out of her car, walked back to the pick-up and motioned for the man to lower his window and then politely she said: “I’ll make a deal with you. If you will start my car for me, I’ll be happy to honk your horn for you!”

That is what you call “Rising to the occasion!” and that is precisely what Jesus does here in Luke 10. And my friends in Christ, this is exactly what is happening right now in the Texas Hill country, in North Carolina and many other places where people need help.

Pay no attention to those who only want to play the woulda’, shoulda’, coulda’, mighta’, oughta’ Monday morning quarterback games and the back seat driving.

Pray for help and strength for the living and comfort and endurance for those who mourn!

Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time for every season, and reason, under heaven!

Have a great weekend!

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