Joshua Bowling
Source New Mexico

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday morning signed medical malpractice reform and three other bills aimed at boosting health care affordability, prohibiting certain facility fees and supporting hospitals that honor Medicaid into law.

Lujan Grisham joined a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers at the construction site of the forthcoming 15-bed Valencia County hospital in Los Lunas to sign the legislation. The state has pledged $50 million toward the hospital, which is expected to open later this year. Lujan Grisham praised lawmakers for their “herculean” efforts to put a cap on punitive damages that arise from medical malpractice claims and said she believes the legislation is a key step toward remedying New Mexico’s physician shortage.

“This was an incredible herculean lift because you want to protect patients, but we have to change the climate of practice,” she said. “We can’t make New Mexico the No. 1 place to move and raise and grow a family if you are waiting more than a year to see a primary care doctor.”

At the halfway point of the legislative session, Lujan Grisham signed a bill into law to make it easier for out-of-state licensed medical professionals to move to and practice in New Mexico. Several similar pieces of legislation focused on licensed professionals in other fields did not make it to the governor’s desk, though. Lujan Grisham, whose final term as governor ends at the end of the year, told reporters on Friday that if “legislators are interested in doing a little more work in the next nine months, I’m interested.”

House Bill 99, the medical malpractice reform bill, stood among the most closely watched pieces of legislation during the recent 30-day session. Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), who championed the bill, said at Friday’s bill signing that she believes it represents a “balanced approach” and a “reasonable compromise” to limiting the dollar amounts juries can award for malpractice cases while making sure families still have recourse.

Feb 21

Arrest

Joseph Olivas arrested for DWI, traffic lanes, operators and chauffeurs must be licensed.

WANTED

8:43 am – Officer dispatched to S. 13th St. and W. Washington Ave. in reference to a wanted subject.

9:21 am – Officer dispatched to 3300 block of W. Main St. in reference to a wanted subject.

HARASSMENT

10:49 am – Officer dispatched to W. Richardson Ave. in reference to harassment.

SUSPICIOUS

11:34 am – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of W. Mahone Dr. in reference to suspicious activity.

DISTURBANCE

12:10 pm – Officer dispatched to 1400 block of W. Gilchrist Ave. in reference to disorderly disturbance.

SUSPICIOUS

12:19 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to suspicious vehicle.

ACCIDENT

2:42 pm – Officer dispatched to W. Main St. and N. 13th St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

DOMESTIC

6:06 pm – Officer dispatched to 900 block of W. Alvarado Ave. in reference to physical domestic.

ACCIDENT

6:25 pm – Officer dispatched to 1000 block of W. Hermosa Dr. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

HARASSMENT

6:38 pm – Officer dispatched to 1000 block of S. 20th St. in reference to harassment.

WELFARE

7:03 pm – Officer dispatched to 1400 block of W. Ray Ave. in reference to the welfare of a child.

DOMESTIC

8:33 pm – Officer dispatched to 3800 block of W. Missouri Ave. in reference to verbal domestic.

SHOTS FIRED

8:57 pm – Officer dispatched to 500 block of S. 20th St. in reference to shots fired gun shot wound.

WELFARE

10:01 pm – Officer dispatched to 2300 block of W. Bullock Ave. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

Feb 22

Arrest

Victor Alfonso Ballard arrested for battery against household member, criminal damage to property of household member, false imprisonment.

Joshua Aaron Sillas arrested for DWI driving on streets landed for traffic.

Ishmael Jerome Duran arrested for municipal failure to pay.

Ignacio Duron arrested for failure to appear.

ALARM

10:54 am – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of S. 17th St. in reference to a burglary alarm.

DOMESTIC

11:48 am – Officer dispatched to 3600 block of W. Quay Ave. in Reference to domestic.

SUSPICIOUS

1:00 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of Briscoe Ave. in reference to suspicious vehicle.

ACCIDENT

6:57 pm – Officer dispatched to W. Main St. and N. 13th St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

DOMESTIC

9:16 pm – Officer dispatched to 400 block of N. 26th St. in reference to verbal domestic.

WELFARE

9:32 pm – Officer dispatched to 800 block of W. Hank Ave. in reference to the welfare of a child.

Feb. 23

WELFARE

12:50 am – Officer dispatched to 900 block of S. 11th St. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

SUSPICIOUS

2:59 am – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of Heathcliff Ct. in reference to suspicious activity.

5:41 am – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of W. Currier St. in reference to suspicious person.

7:01 am – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of W. Jacobs St. in reference to suspicious person.

7:25 am – Officer dispatched to 300 block of N. 4th St. in reference to suspicious person

10:38 am – Officer dispatched to 900 block of S. 15th. in reference to suspicious person.

ACCIDENT

12:08 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

12:10  pm – Officer dispatched to 1700 block of W. Main St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

GRAFFITI

1:32 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to graffiti.

1:36 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to graffiti.

WELFARE

2:20 pm – Officer dispatched to 800 block of W. Hank Ave. in reference to the welfare of a child.

DISTURBANCE

6:21 pm – Officer dispatched to 800 block of W. Hank Ave. in reference to disturbance.

HARASSMENT

11:08 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to harassment.

11:34 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to harassment.

Feb 24

Arrest

Amy Necole Valenzuela Romero arrested for resisting, evading, obstructing an officer, criminal trespass, aggravated assault upon peace officer other deadly weapon.

DISTURBANCE

9:13 am – Officer dispatched to 1400 block of Champ Clark Ave. in reference to a family disturbance.

9:20 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to disturbance.

HARASSMENT

10:58 am – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of W. Merchant Ave. in reference to harassment.

ACCIDENT

11:14 am – Officer dispatched to N. 10th St. and W. Main St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

ALARM

11:42 am – Officer dispatched to 600 block of W. Main St. in reference to a burglary alarm.

LARCENY

12:19 pm – Officer dispatched to 2000 block of W. Main St. in reference to larceny.

DISTURBANCE

3:37 pm – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of W. Merchant Ave. in reference to neighborly disturbance.

WANTED

3:57 pm – Officer dispatched to N. 10th St and W. Lolita Ave. in reference to a wanted subject.

ACCIDENT

5:15 pm – Officer dispatched to W. Main St. and N. 16th St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

SUSPICIOUS

8:55 pm – Officer dispatched to 500 block of S. 20th St. in reference to a suspicious vehicle.

ARMED

9:08 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to an armed subject.

Feb 25

Arrest

Zedrick Cole arrested for failure to pay penalty assessment.

Gabriel Joe Chavez arrested for battery.

SUSPICIOUS

4:37 am – Officer dispatched to 800 block of N. 5th St. in reference to suspicious trespass.

SHOTS FIRED

6:27 am – Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to shots fired.

WELFARE

7:49 am – Officer dispatched to 800 block of S. Roselawn Ave. in reference to the welfare of a child.

VANDAL

8:26 am – Officer dispatched to 300 block of S. 20th St. in reference to vandal.

WANTED

9:27 am – Officer dispatched to 2600 block of Menefee Ave. in reference to a wanted subject.

SUSPICIOUS

11:04 am – Officer dispatched to S. 1st St. and E. Main St. in reference to a suspicious person.

WELFARE

12:47 pm – Officer dispatched to 1600 block of W. Mahone Dr. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

BATTERY

2:05 pm – Officer dispatched to 1500 block of W. Cannon Ave. in reference to battery.

WANTED

3:02 pm – Officer dispatched to 100 block of N. 15th St. in reference to a wanted subject.

SUSPICIOUS

4:05 pm – Officer dispatched to N. 8th St. and W. Lolita Ave. in reference to a suspicious person.

DISTURBANCE

5:18 pm – Officer dispatched to 300 block of N. York St. in reference to neighbor disturbance.

SUICIDAL

5:38 pm – Officer dispatched to 1900 block of W. Richey Ave. in reference to a suicidal subject.

UNWANTED

6:17 pm – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of N. 1st St. in reference to an unwanted subject.

ALARM

8:07 pm -Officer dispatched to 2300 block of Sierra Vista Rd. in reference to a burglary alarm.

Feb 26

WELFARE

12:50 am – Officer dispatched to 800 block of W. Alvarado Ave. in reference to the welfare of an adult.

SUSPICIOUS

1:02 am – Officer dispatched to N. 5th St. and W. Cleveland Ave. in reference to a suspicious person.

DISTURBANCE

1:35 am -Officer dispatched to 700 block of N. 10th St. in reference to disturbance.

ALARM

4:03 am – Officer dispatched to 200 block of S. 1st St. in reference to a burglary alarm.

ACCIDENT

6:30 am – Officer dispatched to 2200 block of W. Main St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

UNWANTED

6:37 am – officer dispatched to 400 block of W. Cleveland Ave. in reference to an unwanted subject.

SHOTS FIRED

9:26 am – Officer dispatched to 2300 block of Sierra Vista Rd. in reference to shots fired in the area.

GRAFFITI

1:17 pm – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of W. Sears Ave. in reference to graffiti.

ACCIDENT

1:23 pm – Officer dispatched to 600 block of S. 1st St. in reference to a motor vehicle accident.

UNWANTED

4:10 pm – Officer dispatched to 1600 block of N. 1st St. in reference to an unwanted subject.

DISTURBANCE

5:16 pm – Officer dispatched to W. Quay St. S. 4th St. in reference to disorderly disturbance.

DOMESTIC

5:27 pm – Officer dispatched to 200 block of N. 13th Rural Rt. In reference to verbal domestic.

SUICIDAL

5:33 pm – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of W. Sears Ave. in reference to a suicidal subject.

ALARM

6:21 pm – Officer dispatched to 200 block of W. Richardson Ave. in reference to a burglary alarm.

DOMESTIC

7:11 pm – Officer dispatched to 200 block of W. Hermosa DR. in reference to verbal domestic.

SUSPICIOUS

7:31 pm – officer dispatched to 3700 block of Lowell Ave. in reference to suspicious activity.

SHOTS FIRED

10:19 pm – Officer dispatched to 1100 block of W. Chisum Ave. in reference to shots fired.

Feb 27

Arrest

Ronald Troy Bettencourt arrested for municipal failure to appear.

Kendra Lee Cross arrested for battery against a household member.

Antonio Morales Hernandez arrested for contributing to delinquency of minor.

Jonathan Aldo Olguin Garcia arrested for criminal trespass.

ARMED SUBJECT

1:25 am – Officer dispatched to 1800 block of W. Currier St. in reference to an armed subject.

DISTURBANCE

1:50 am – Officer dispatched to 1700 block of Harrison Ct. in reference to disturbance.

SUSPICIOUS

4:26 am – Officer dispatched to 800 block of W. Cleveland Ave. in reference to suspicious person.

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press
achedden@currentargus.com

Local volunteers take to the Pecos River for annual trash pick-up

Nine-year-old Leighton Franks said she’ll “probably” keep volunteering for the rest of her life.

That’s thanks to some early inspiration Franks received along the banks of the Pecos River as one of about 300 volunteers for the annual River Blitz trash pickup.

The event hosted by Keep Carlsbad Beautiful sees volunteers from throughout the community deploy to landmarks and key recreation areas along the Pecos for a morning of picking up trash and removing debris.

This year’s River Blitz was held Saturday, March 7, and was the third year in a row Leighton and her mom Stephanie Franks, a staffer at Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, took to the river.

They were at the Lower Tansill Dam where the waters of the Pecos accumulate on the south end of the Lake Carlsbad Beach area, pulling candy wrappers, bottles and dead fish out of the scenic river.

By about 8 a.m., Leighton found six fish – five dead and one living but tangled in a plastic bag.

“It just helps the community,” said the fourth grader at Monterey Elementary School. “There are so many people that don’t care about throwing garbage in the trash can.

Stephanie Franks said River Blitz helps get her daughter out of the house and teaches her the value of giving back.

“I just want her to understand the importance of helping your community,” Franks said. “It’s everybody’s responsibility to keep things clean. Hopefully it will give her a work ethic.”

That kind of shift in culture is what Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez hoped River Blitz could instill in the entire community.

The city of Carlsbad, through Keep Carlsbad Beautiful, leads the project. Keep Carlsbad Beautiful is a subsidiary of national organization Keep America Beautiful, which partners with local governments to establish local chapters.

For his town’s group, Lopez said, the focus is on combating the increase in trash around the city as Carlsbad’s population swells.

“As we grow, sometimes we grow too fast. We don’t stop to take care of our town,” Lopez said. “If everyone threw away one more piece of trash, it makes a huge difference.”

Keep Carlsbad Beautiful Coordinator Mary Garwood said River Blitz started in the 1990s as a “grassroots” initiative led by local residents. The city took on the event in 2015, and it is now funded through a combination of about $13,000 in state grants and city funds, she said.

About $3,000 of that comes from the New Mexico Clean and Beautiful program, which uses state funds to support local beautification efforts around New Mexico, and the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s $10,000 Que Linda grant program.

“We don’t want to be known as a trashy city,” Garwood said. “We want to show that we care about our town. We spend thousands of dollars to advertise our river, why would we want to trash it?”

Caroline Ibarra, 35, wanted to be part of the solution. She brought her son Mateo, 5, and daughter Bella, 14, to the Carlsbad veterans memorial near Lower Tansill to pick up trash, mostly plastic bags and cans concentrated along the riverbank.

She said the family brings its Doberman, Benny, for walks along the river and hopes to keep it clean for him.

“We hang out here a lot and we just hate seeing the trash,” Ibarra said. “We just want to have a clean place to go with the kids.”

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

Rebecca Hauschild
For the Artesia Daily Press

A $2.9 million housing project supported by the city of Artesia took another step forward at last week’s city council meeting.

Councilors voted to hire Carlsbad-based Constructors Inc., allowing the company to begin work on the first phase of the Legends Subdivision on South 26th Street across from Jaycee Park.

When complete, the first phase will include 72 lots for homes to be built near the intersection of South 26th Street and Hermosa Drive. In total, the city planned for the subdivision to hold 240 lots when fully built out.

Acceptance of the contractor’s bid on the project is contingent on the city’s ability to close on the property for the development, located on undeveloped land on South 26th Street across from Jaycee Park. Closing is expected this week, according to Community Development/Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair.

The city was approved to receive $4 million for the overall project from Eddy County during the county commission’s Dec. 16 meeting as part of a countywide housing initiative that made $15.6 million available for local housing projects in the county’s four municipalities.

Getting power to the development will cost another $460,000, which will necessitate a budget change, according to Landfair. He said the city may seek additional funds from Eddy County for the rest of the work.

“We will go to the county and see if the county will help fill in some of the gap, but I will get direction from the mayor on that,” Landfair said.

Mayor Jon Henry said the city of Artesia could afford to foot the bill to add electricity to the subdivision.

“With $4 million funding and if we have to expend $460,000 for the power, the lots still pencil out to a good price that hopefully this project will work,” Henry said.

The Legends Subdivision will be further buoyed by a $10,000-per-rooftop housing incentive offered by the city of Artesia and funded by a separate county commission vote allocating $500,000 to the program.

The reimbursement is limited to $100,000 per development.

But to retain access to the county funds, the city must have a contract for the work in place within 90 days of the commission’s vote.

“The pressure to move at this speed is because of the timelines put on us from the county to spend the money that was given to us,” Henry said. “So we are trying to stay within those time frames, so we don’t lose the $4 million for this project. We knew it would be tight.”

Other business

During a report by the recreation committee, District 1 Councilor Raul Rodriguez said there are 333 girls on 27 teams signed up for the city’s youth softball league starting March 31. He also reported there are 23 youths participating in the after-school program with nine on the waiting list. Rodriguez said there are more than 250 participants in youth basketball.

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press
achedden@currentargus.com

Tim Keithley published his first newspaper column in 1979.

As a sophomore wide receiver for the Central High School Bulldogs in Springfield, Missouri, his football career abruptly ended not in the end zone but in front of a typewriter.

A third-stringer, Keithley was told by the coach he should try to catch a word or two instead of footballs. His writing career began.

“He said I could still be on the team, but he couldn’t guarantee I’d ever play. He didn’t want to tell me I was no good,” Keithley recalled with a chuckle nearly 47 years later. “He said, ‘Why don’t you be a sportswriter?’ It was the best advice I ever got.”

The first edition of the Keithley’s Korner column was published in 1979 in the student newspaper – and decades later Keithley can’t recall either the coach’s name or the name of the publication that carried his first byline.

But the feeling of seeing his name in print comes back quickly in recollection. It was the start of a long media career.

Still bearing the original title, “Keithley’s Korner” lives to this day and now runs weekly in the Ruidoso News. The column highlights local businesses, organizations and events in the community and most often shines a flattering light on local people.

Along with his newspaper column, of course, local residents know Keithley from his long association with Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and his popular radio shows: “Tim and Layle,” which airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays on Bear Country stations 94.7 FM and 1450 AM; and “KWES Saturday Morning” on 93.5 FM.

“I call him the voice of Lincoln County,” said Ruidoso resident Richard Connor, CEO and Editor and Publisher of El Rito Media.” Now I will add ‘Dash for Cash Keithley’ in honor of the legendary quarter horse.”

“He knows everyone here and beyond,” Connor said. “And everyone likes Tim Keithley.”

Keithley, 60, added yet another layer to his involvement in the community March 2 when he became El Rito Media’s general manager, overseeing sales and marketing for the company’s five local newspapers in Alamogordo, Artesia, Carlsbad and Española.

He’ll be focused on Ruidoso, which he’s called home since 1999, but Keithley also will drive revenue company-wide as El Rito rebuilds community journalism in multiple areas of rural New Mexico.

El Rito Media was formed in 2022 with the purchase of the Rio Grande Sun in Española, expanding to include the Artesia Daily Press in 2023 and acquiring the Carlsbad Current-Argus, Alamogordo News and Ruidoso News from Gannett in 2024.

To Keithley, the opportunity to reconnect each community with its local newspaper is both daunting and challenging. Local news, he says, is critical to an engaged public and should reflect the passions and people of the community.

“I just really have a strong passion for this community and that’s the kind of person that you want to help operate the newspaper,” Keithley said. “All El Rito media wants to do is to provide local news. The Girl Scout selling cookies, the basketball scores. That’s what a local newspaper does – puts local stories and local photos in your newspaper.”

‘It’s in your blood’

Keithley moved to Ruidoso from Kansas City, Missouri, to work at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack in October 1999, extending an association with then-track owner R.D. Hubbard that began a decade earlier when he was hired to work at a track Hubbard owned in Kansas City, The Woodlands.

Keithley took the job almost immediately after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electronic media from Missouri State University. With the Kansas City track falling on hard times brought about by competition from riverboat gambling and other factors, Hubbard offered Keithley the opportunity to relocate amid the mountains of southeast New Mexico.

Tim started in ticket sales at Ruidoso Downs and over the years expanded his role to include advertising sales, hosting TV and radio shows each racing season, and eventually becoming the track’s spokesman and public face in the community.

He left the track temporarily in 2010 for a four-year stint in public service as district director for then-U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. The former congressman is currently President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as director of the federal Bureau of Land Management.

For those who make their living in horse racing, the track is more than just a place to work. Racing is a way of life and for Keithley, the racetrack tapped an innate affinity for the horses, the sport and the business. He was mesmerized by the powerful strides of quarter horses and thoroughbreds as they surged toward the finish line, and by the subculture of horse racing.

“A racetrack is different because it’s a whole world inside of itself,” Keithley said. “It’s in your blood. I was just infatuated with all of it.”

Keithley’s passion for an institution so quintessential to the community fostered his deep connection with Ruidoso and southeast New Mexico.

“It is such a big part of this town,” Keithley said of the track. “This is the Yankee Stadium of quarter horse racing.”

And when tragedy struck in 2024 with the South Fork and Salt fires, a ferocious duo of wildfires that burned about 20,000 acres, killed at least three people and eventually brought about the likely end of racing at Ruidoso Downs, Keithley said, he was inspired by the resolve of track owner Johnny Trotter and general manager Rick Baugh.

The fires led to a devastating series of floods as they burned away vegetation that would normally hold back monsoonal rainwaters, damaging the track and forcing officials to move its races to The Downs in Albuquerque each of the last two seasons. Track officials said in January that the 2026 season was canceled and that the track was closed indefinitely, due to flood damage.

But Keithley said Trotter and Baugh remained key figures in the community, despite their misfortune, and inspired him to continue supporting the needs of Ruidoso.

“They have just been through the ringer. They have tried so hard to keep horse racing vibrant,” Keithley said. “I’m just praying that someday we are going to see that back in Ruidoso. This is what this town is built on, this 80-year-old racetrack.”

It’s that same unrelenting passion for the community that Keithley intends to bring to his role at El Rito Media, both as general manager and the company’s most-enduring columnist.

“I do really enjoy getting people’s stories and telling that story,” he said. “If someone has something they’re passionate about, I like to get that out of them.”

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