Ruidoso Rotary Club

Over four decades ago, Josefina Valencia saw a need for a facility to help children in her neighborhood of Juarez, Mexico. What began as a mission simply to feed and clothe those in her own area blossomed into what would become Bethel Orphanage.

The facility began by offering services for just a handful of children, but now serves more than 50. Anna Mishealle Franklin said many of those who live at the facility have been the victims of abuse, neglect, and other different situations. Some aren’t accustomed to receiving three meals a day.

Valencia’s daughter Sandra Flatow later joined the effort and her granddaughter Anna Franklin now serves as director of the facility. More than 30 years ago, the Rotary Club of Ruidoso found out about Valencia’s efforts and decided to help.

Since then, the club has donated heaters, paid the orphanage’s monthly gas bill, sent supplies, and offered other forms of support. Franklin recently spoke to Ruidoso Rotarians about the orphanage and how their efforts have made a difference for children who faced so many hardships.

“My grandmother always said, ‘It begins with your neighbor,’” Franklin said of Valencia’s mission. “For me, it’s about touching these kids, breaking the cycle.

“When police bring these kids (to the orphanage), they have nothing, just the clothes on their backs,” Franklin said at the Rotary meeting. “I want them to feel like this is their home, not just an orphanage or foster home they’re just passing through. They’re safe, they know they’re loved, and have a future. We get to speak life into these kids.”

The orphanage feeds, clothes, and offers children a safe place to stay. Staff try to instill a sense of character, self-respect, and the importance of making a difference in the community as they get older – with a major emphasis on education.

The goal is to pave a path for a new future, with older students even attending college. Some of those even return to work at Bethel and help other children who may have been in the same situation they were in.

Franklin said the Ruidoso Rotary Club was a major part of Bethel’s success, helping with operations and support for so many years and really making a difference.

“I have a special place in my heart for you guys,” she said. “I know when we need (help), you have provided for us. You may not know or even meet the kids, but I really do believe one day when we’re all in heaven, you’re going to have some kids come up to you and say thank you.”

As Franklin and other staff members left the meeting, Rotarians donated bags of new clothing and other needs. Rotarians also donated another $1,000 in cash. The club is now trying to organize a trip to visit the orphanage and seek out other ways to help.

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press
achedden@currentargus.com

A new pipeline will help dispose of byproduct fluid from a series of oil and gas wells extracting fossil fuels within Carlsbad’s city limits.

Select Water Solutions received approval for a permit to construct the pipeline via a 5-2 vote by Carlsbad city councilors at their Tuesday, Feb. 24, meeting.

The line will transport oilfield wastewater known as “produced water” from a drilling and storage site owned by Midland, Texas-based Permian Resources to a Select Water treatment facility on Hidalgo Road.

The 15-mile underground pipeline will begin at Permian Resources’ production facility on the western edge of the city limits and run mostly through unincorporated Eddy County, including a 3.5-mile stretch across an area called the Well Protection Zone where the city of Carlsbad pumps groundwater from a series of wells.

Oil and gas operations within the Well Protection Zone are subject to stiffer regulations, increasing requirements for the thickness and depth of pipelines intended to avoid impacts to the water table.

The produced water that will be transported through the new pipeline is fluid brought to the surface along with oil and natural gas from the same shale deposits that produce fossil fuels. The fluid, typically high in brine and toxic chemicals and unfit for human consumption, is either pumped back underground or treated and used in subsequent drilling operations.

An analysis by Carlsbad city staff provided to councilors ahead of the vote to approve the pipeline plan showed it complied with all local, state and federal regulations.

“My recommendation is for approval,” said Clayton Bradley, an attorney hired by the city to analyze the proposal.

Ward 4 City Councilor Mark Walterscheid said he worried about the pipeline’s potential impacts to local water supplies should there be a spill along the line. Walterscheid voted against the proposal along with Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Anaya-Flores. Ward 3 Councilor Mary Garwood did not attend the meeting and did not cast a vote.

“I am defiantly against anything that crosses our wellheads,” Walterscheid said. “I think that is so wrong because of the impacts it could have to our water. The produced water isn’t great stuff or else they would have cleaned it up. That just scares me to death.”

Bradley explained that should a spill occur, the operator of the line would notify the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission, which would work to clean up the spill and remediate the land.

He said the commission would be notified within 24 hours of the spill. There is not a current requirement for city officials to be notified, Bradley said.

“They work with the OCD on a plan for reclamation. We are working on trying to put a process in place for the city of Carlsbad to be notified as well,” Bradley said. “There is not an obligation to report to the city of Carlsbad. The obligation is to notify the state authority.”

Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez said the state commission already approved Permian’s drilling project, including associated pipelines the mayor said were critical to the operation.

“They’ve already checked all the boxes,” Lopez said.

The drilling site, consisting of 10 oil wells and a tank battery for temporary storage, was approved by the council at a June 10, 2025 meeting, despite heavy opposition from residents of nearby Happy Valley, a rural Eddy County community of about 600 residents just outside the city limits off State Road 524.

Area resident Woods Houghton, a retired New Mexico State University professor, voiced concern during the June meeting that construction at the site could impact multiple water diversions in the area that he said prevent about 700 residents from “getting flooded out.”

“They talk about what happens when it goes right, but not when it goes wrong,” Houghton said.

Other business

Councilors approved a beer and wine liquor license for seafood restaurant Mei’s Foodie Hub on South Canal Street.

Milton’s Brewing was approved for a permit to host a food truck on city-owned property near the brewery on Mermod Street through the rest of the year.

Carlsbad MainStreet was approved to host three food trucks in the downtown area on Fridays through 2026. The trucks will be stationed at North Canyon and Mermod streets.

Councilors approved a proposal for city staff to apply for $57,750 in state funds through the Local Government Road Fund for rehabilitation efforts on Caesar Road. The total cost was estimated at about $77,000 and will entail laying new asphalt and replacing a speed bump.

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press
achedden@currentargus.com

Christopher Wayne Hays was working at an oilfield location in Malaga when he suddenly collapsed.

Hays, 42, was dead minutes later and a lawsuit filed Feb. 13 alleged his death was caused by a drink containing an herbal supplement known as kratom.

The suit listed as defendants the store where Hays allegedly bought the drink, Express Smoke & Vape on 102 E. Green St. in Carlsbad, and the product’s distributor MIT 45, a Draper, Utah–based company specializing in kratom products.

Kratom is an herbal extract from an evergreen tree that grows in Southeast Asia, according to a June 2024 article by the Mayo Clinic. It is often marketed as being capable of boosting energy, improving one’s mood and relieving pain, the article read.

Yet, the Mayo Clinic reported that kratom has not been proven safe or effective, noting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued several warnings of potential dangers associated with the substance such as high blood pressure, confusion and seizures.

Hays allegedly bought the product “Super K Kratom” on Aug. 9, 2025, and died the next day after collapsing at work, read the suit filed by Hays’ wife Sarah Badgett-Hays in First District Court in Santa Fe.

The product did not include adequate warning as to any danger of consuming the product, read the suit. The store no longer sells kratom products.

Court records show that the complaint was filed Feb. 13, and a summons was issued Feb. 19 for the defendants to respond to the lawsuit. A trial date was not yet set.

The suit demands that Express Smoke & Vape and MIT 45 pay punitive damages, damages associated with Hays’ loss of income, and legal expenses to be determined by a jury.

First Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid in Santa Fe was presiding over the case.

On the day of his death, Hays, who was a full-time resident of Taylor County, Texas, was in the Malaga area of southern Eddy County working at the Nabors X48 drilling rig as a supervisor for ConocoPhillips, read the lawsuit.

He alternated working two weeks in New Mexico and spending time with his family in Abilene, Texas, the suit read.

On Aug. 9, 2025, Hays bought the “Super K Kratom” drink at Express Smoke & Vape intending to use it to remain alert, similar to an energy drink, during a late shift on the rig, the suit read. He died the next morning while still on the job.

Just three months later, on Nov. 7, 2025, the New Mexico Department of Justice published a warning alerting the public to potential dangers of consuming kratom-based beverages, noting the state had no regulations in place to govern such products. The state justice department said seven states had banned kratom and 16 others restricted its purchase to those 18 and older.

“The information about kratom’s impact, particularly on young people, is extremely concerning,” read a statement from New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres. “Consumers should understand that these products can have highly addictive effects similar to opioid narcotics.”

‘Suddenly ill’

Hays was unaware of any federal or state warnings when he purchased the drink, read the lawsuit, and at about 7 a.m. on Aug. 10, after allegedly drinking Super K Kratom, he “suddenly fell ill.”

The suit described Hays vomiting and experiencing seizure-like activity, according to coworkers. Emergency medical personnel were called but were unable to revive him.

An autopsy conducted by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator showed Hays died from the “toxic effect of mitragynine,” the active ingredient in kratom. Hays suffered from swelling in the brain and fluid buildup in the lungs, injuries consistent with a drug overdose, read the autopsy report.

A toxicology analysis showed an elevated level of mitragynine, read the autopsy report, along with trace amounts of prescription medications Xanax and Adderall. The report specified the latter two substances were unlikely to have caused Hays’ death in the amounts present, concluding it was an accidental overdose of kratom that killed him.

He left behind four children, the suit read, for whom he was the “primary financial provider.”

“His tragic death leaves his wife without a spouse and provider and his four children without a father,” the suit read.

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