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Freshman cheerleader sings national anthem

Michael Smith
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Freshman cheerleader sings national anthem

JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com

In front of a packed house at the Bulldog Pit before the Artesia boys basketball game against Valencia, public address announcer Tony Jaramillo asked everyone to stand for the national anthem.

Artesia freshman Kaydi Pacheco stepped to the side of the press table and, microphone in hand, belted out “O say, can you see” in a pitch-perfect voice. She sounded professional and seemed unencumbered by the sellout crowd listening to her.

When Pacheco sang the last note, people applauded her rendition. After she was done singing, she moved to the end of the baseline to do her real job for the evening: cheering as a first-year cheerleader.

“I have been singing since I was 7 years old,” Pacheco said. “I used to take singing lessons, and I have been around music my whole life.”

She sings in the choir, has a soprano vocal range, and likes being both a cheerleader and a singer.

Pacheco said she was nervous the first time she stood in front of the Pit to sing but is no longer anxious.

She started singing the anthem after asking the Artesia choir director if she could do so, and the director said yes. Now, when the Artesia girls or boys basketball team needs her to sing, she always says yes.

Pacheco said she has no plans to quit singing anytime soon and feels that when she sings the anthem, she is supporting her country.

Pacheco said she thanks her cheer coach, Sabrina Roybal, who works well with the choir coach and everyone else involved, for allowing her to sing at games as well as cheer.

“I am really hardworking,” Pacheco said. “I love what I do, and I have worked for everything that I have. I never plan to quit.”

JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X @JTKEITH 1.

Campbell hits milestone: 1,000 career points

Michael Smith
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Campbell hits milestone: 1,000 career points

JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtketih@elritomedia.com

Artesia senior point guard Charlie Campbell IV has rare scoring skills: He can take an opponent off the dribble and lower a shoulder, getting physical while going to the basket, or he can pull up and hit a mid-range jump shot that is almost indefensible.

Campbell did just that in a 64-48 victory against St. Pius X on Jan. 16.

Campbell said that he remembers the moment when he scored his 1,000th career point. The Bulldogs were in a half-court trap with teammate Cael Houghtaling smothering a St. Pius X ball handler. Campbell came from behind, stripped him of the ball and scored on a layup in the first quarter.

“It feels nice,” Campbell said after scoring point number 1,000. “At the end of the day, that is not my personal goal; I want what is best for my team as well as what is best for myself. All I want is a blue trophy.”

Campbell said it was not his goal to score 1,000 points when he first started playing basketball. He said he did not realize he was close to reaching the milestone until his teammate, Braylon Vega, scored his 1,000th two weeks ago. When Vega reached his milestone, Campbell said it got him thinking about how close he was to scoring 1,000 points.

Campbell said having Vega as a teammate helps because Vega can hit an outside shot, taking the attention off Campbell and making it easier for him to score. Campbell said that he and Vega feed off each other.

Artesia basketball coach Michael Mondragon said Campbell began pursuing the milestone in his sophomore year.

Mondragon has coached three 1,000-point scorers in his 11-year coaching career: Nick Sanchez, Vega and Campbell.

“Just proud of him,” Mondragon said. “He did it since he was a sophomore, which is three years ago. That is about 350 points a year. He is so smooth with the ball and does such a good job of finishing at the rim. He loves his teammates and cares about winning. I am really proud of Charlie.”

Charlie’s dad, assistant Bulldogs basketball coach Charlie Campbell III, said that he is also proud of his son.

“It is awesome,” Campbell III said. “It is a little thing, nothing that was set in stone like this was our goal. We want wins and a state championship. The accomplishment is really cool for all the hard work he put in and for him achieving his dream. I am proud of him.”

JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X @JTKEITH 1.

Funding universal childcare will move New Mexico up

Michael Smith
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Funding universal childcare will move New Mexico up

Lt. Gov. Howie Morales

The New Mexico Legislature has a rare opportunity in the 2026 legislative session to help working parents and move New Mexico forward by establishing a strong financial foundation for quality, universal childcare. For too long, our state has been disparaged for being last on national lists for various rankings of well-being. But thanks to the leadership of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and our state legislature, New Mexico today stands as the first state in the nation to create free, universal access to child care. It’s a guarantee that lifts up families, children and our economy. While there is disagreement at this moment about particular funding levels needed to implement the policy, it is merely a hiccup. By standing together now, we will accomplish historic progress.

Over the past seven years, we already have achieved remarkable expansion of child care services across our state with bipartisan support and phased growth. The biggest jump in more children receiving free childcare was in 2022, when the state’s eligibility cap for subsidy was raised to 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Creation of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (NMECECD) also gave us a focal point to concentrate our administrative efforts successfully. When the Governor announced free, universal childcare on November 1st, 2025, approximately 25,000 additional children became eligible.

The actual costs of supporting a family in America today – and in New Mexico – have been going up for quite a while now, with growing inflation overall and the rising costs of groceries, health coverage, housing, and child care. The cost of infant care for working parents is staggering, averaging around $1,127 a month, and pre-school for 3- to 5-year olds around $800 monthly.

New Mexico has the wherewithal to make universal child care a top public policy priority in the 2026 meeting of legislature, and we will. Revenues continue to be strong, and we hold a state rainy day fund of over 35% of the state annual budget, a historic high. If we do it, thousands of working families across the state will be able to pocket the dollars for other purposes, making a profound difference in their household budgets and improving the quality of their lives.

Concerns that low-income families could be pushed out of accessing child care by making it universal are misplaced. New Mexico’s investments in the child care system benefit families across the whole income spectrum, including the lowest income families. The proof is that 41% families who have enrolled since November 1st have incomes below the existing eligibility cap (400% FPL), according to the NMECECD’s recent Child Care Brief.

The number of New Mexico infants and toddlers being served has increased since November. Before universal child care, infants and toddlers made up 29% of the caseload; as of December, under Universal eligibility, they accounted for 38% of new enrollments.

Child care provider capacity in the state is growing. Licensed child care slots have grown nearly 20% since 2019, and continue to increase. New capacity for 4,500 children is currently in the pipeline through a variety of supply-building strategies, including better rates for child care providers, and deployment of the new Child Care Revolving Loan Fund for infrastructure. In the past three months alone, 144 new provider applications have been received by the NMECECD.

Under our administration’s efforts, New Mexico’s critical child care workforce is growing. From 2019 to 2024, the child care workforce grew by 64% (ranking 4th in the U.S.), even as the national child care workforce declined. And increasing quality is a key element of our universal child care policy.

Our administration’s cost projections are realistic and solidly based on historical data. The goal is slow and sustainable growth of child care. We know that not all eligible families will find care immediately, but we’ll get there.

While attending nationwide gatherings of state and education leaders as part of my duties as Lieutenant Governor, I can confirm that New Mexico’s universal child care policy is the envy of every other state. We must continue our bold generational progress for New Mexicans.

While the Trump administration and Congress deepen cuts to federal services and budgets across the board, our state continues to invest, and with bipartisan support. This year’s state budget promises universal child care, free college, better schools and more health care protections. I am proud that New Mexico takes care of its own.

Howie Morales is lieutenant governor of the State of New Mexico.

New Mexico Rep. Jimmy Mason will not seek reelection

Adrian Hedden
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New Mexico Rep. Jimmy Mason will not seek reelection

Alex Ross
El Rito Media
aross@elritomedia.com

State Rep. Jimmy Mason (R-66) of Artesia announced Monday that he will not run for reelection later this year.

Mason, whose district includes parts of Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties, revealed his plans in a post on his Facebook page, but insisted that he will finish out his current term, which ends Dec. 31, 2026.

New Mexico state representatives serve two-year terms. Mason was first elected in 2022 and reelected in 2024.

New Mexico Rep. Jimmy Mason

Mason was unopposed in the Republican primary and prevailed over Andrew Kennedy, a Libertarian, receiving 81% of the vote in the 2022 General Election. In 2024, Manson was reelected both in the Republican primary and general election without opposition.

He owns clothing store Bennie’s Western Wear, with locations in Artesia and Carlsbad.

“Serving the people of District 66 has been an honor. While I have decided not to run again, my responsibility to the people I represent remains unchanged. I will continue to do the work I was elected to do up to and through the final day of my term,” Mason’s statement read.

In the House Mason is currently the top Republican on the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee and is a member of the House Rural Development, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs Committee.

At least one contender, Trinidad Malone of Artesia, is looking to succeed Mason.

Malone, who confirmed to El Rito Media on Wednesday that he is a Republican, began posting about his candidacy on Jan 18. A military veteran and business owner, Malone wrote in a Jan. 20 Facebook post that he is running for the seat “to gain an inside understanding of how the legislative process works so he can educate and inform others about how government works, what is being pursued, and why civic engagement matters.”

The deadline to file petitions to appear on the ballot in the June 2 Democratic or Republican primary is Feb. 3.

Legislative reporter Alex Ross can be followed on X @alexrosstweets.

Movie filmed in Ruidoso, starring Matthew McConaughey nominated for Academy Award

Michael Smith
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Movie filmed in Ruidoso, starring Matthew McConaughey nominated for Academy Award

Todd Fuqua

Artesia Daily Press

tfuqua@elritomedia.com

A movie filmed in Ruidoso has been nominated for an Academy Award for visual effects.

The film, entitled The Lost Bus, tells the story of school bus driver Kevin McKay, who had to navigate a bus carrying 22 children and their teachers to safety during the Camp Fire, which devastated much of Paradise, California, in 2018.

Directed by Paul Greengrass, The Lost Bus stars Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey as McKay. Filming was done in and around Ruidoso because the area’s landscape resembled the California region where the Camp Fire occurred, according to an account posted on the Discover Ruidoso tourism website. The local scenes were shot in the spring of 2024, before Ruidoso suffered its own devastation from the Salt and South Fork fire.

“Ruidoso’s soaring pines, winding mountain roads, and even parts of Midtown provided the perfect backdrop for several of the film’s most intense scenes,” read the report on discoverruidoso.com. “Additional filming took place in Santa Fe, Española, Truchas, and Glorieta, where New Mexico’s diverse landscapes helped recreate the desperate escape at the heart of the story.”

“It’s awesome and amazing that Ruidoso has a $200 million feature film that’s been nominated,” said Eddie Ryan, film liaison for the Village of Ruidoso. “All it does is show that this is a viable filming community. If it wins, Ruidoso will have an Oscar-winning film under its belt.”

Nominations for the annual film industry awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were announced Jan. 22. The awards, popularly known as the Oscars, will be presented Sunday, March 15, at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

The ceremony will be televised live on the ABC network and streamed on Hulu starting at 5 p.m. Mountain time.

Besides The Lost Bus, this year’s nominees for Best Achievement in Visual Effects are Avatar: Fire and Ash; F1: The Movie; Jurassic World: Rebirth; and Sinners.

The films were selected for their groundbreaking technical achievements, according to information posted on the Internet Movie Database.

Todd Fuqua is Editor for the Ruidoso News and can be reached at 575-937-0344.

Meals with Wheels

Michael Smith
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Meals with Wheels

Wheeler Cowperthwaite

Yellow curry noodle soup

This yellow curry noodle soup is warming and can be as spicy or as mild as you want. It’s also a great method for using vegetables that will otherwise go bad.

The wind was howling, the weather was miserable and my partner and I were feeling stuffed up and uninspired. Fortunately, she was feeling inspired enough to know she wanted soup.

We were tired of the same old things, especially plain chicken soup. After cracking open a few cookbooks, we alighted on the solution, which, even better, didn’t involve gluten: curry noodle soup.

Despite the terrible weather, I trudged out in the elements to retrieve the few things not already sitting in our hanging fruit basket or in the refrigerator: chicken, cilantro, ginger and coconut milk.

This soup, which can be made with yellow curry, red curry or green curry, is warming. It can be as spicy, or as not spicy, as you want. If you want it spicy, add more peppers, use red curry, or both. If you want it less spicy, go the yellow curry route and leave out any spicy peppers.

If you want to go mostly vegetarian, swap the tofu for chicken and if you want to go completely vegetarian and vegan, swap out the fish sauce for some soy sauce (and consider adding some mushrooms).

Do you really want to blow out your sinuses? Use red curry and add a bunch of chopped hot peppers ­— jalapeño, Serrano or habanero.

The soup is flavorful and with coconut milk and a little citrus, it’s a wonderful flavor profile.

The soup base is chicken stock and coconut milk. It gets its flavor, and most of its salt, from curry paste. You can swap out the noodles for your personal preference, but I found rice stick noodles to be perfect for the dish.

If you’ve never bought and used curry paste, I highly encourage you do. It keeps for a long time and is incredibly versatile. As an example, I also use yellow curry paste to smother potatoes and chicken, bake them, and serve with taziki.

This soup recipe is easy. Brown the chicken, throw all the ingredients together in a Dutch oven, let it simmer for a bit, then add the noodles.

Using up some vegetables in your refrigerator? Let it simmer for a little longer before adding the noodles to let the vegetables soften. The harder the veggies, the longer the simmer, with potatoes and carrots requiring the most time.

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 ½ lbs. chicken breast, cut into ½-inch pieces

Salt to taste

3 tbsp. curry paste (red, yellow or green)

3 tbsp. minced garlic

2 green chiles, diced

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, cut into 1/8-inch slices

1 tbsp. grated ginger

1 can coconut milk (13.5 ounces)

6 cups chicken broth

6 oz. rice noodles

1 tbsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. brown sugar

3 green onions, sliced

½ cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup basil leaves

2 tbsp. lime juice

Optional: 1-2 diced jalapeños or other spicy chiles to increase spice level

Optional: other veggies as available, like eggplant, bell peppers, etc.

Directions

Heat some olive oil in the Dutch oven on medium heat, season the chicken with salt and pepper, add the chicken to the Dutch oven and cook until it begins to brown, 2-4 minutes. Set aside the chicken.

Add the peppers, onions and other vegetables until tender, cook 3-5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and ginger, add a little extra oil, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in the chicken broth and coconut milk and scrape any browned bits from the bottom.

Add in the chicken, bring it all to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes if there are no carrots or extra vegetables. Simmer longer, depending on which vegetables are added, until they soften, 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Once the vegetables have softened, stir in the rice noodles, fish sauce and brown sugar and cook until noodles are tender, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the green onions, cilantro, basil and lime juice. Season to taste as needed.

Serve.

Recipe adapted from damndelicious.net

Tularosa Vineyards celebrates founder’s 89th birthday

Michael Smith
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Tularosa Vineyards celebrates founder’s 89th birthday

Laurel Berry
Carlsbad Current-Argus

Danette Lale believes that it was fate that brought her and David Whickham together. The real estate investor from Issaquah, Washington, was looking for a new venture.

Whickham, retired from the Air Force and from Civil Service, was also looking to retire from wine making. So, Lale bought Whickham’s Tularosa Vineyards and, under his tutelage, has spent the last three years learning the wine business, from vines to competitions.

The pair gathered friends and family at the vineyard tasting room to celebrate Whickham’s 89th birthday on Jan. 16, uncorking a new wine created especially for the occasion, the 01.16 G.O.A.T.

“I really feel like it was divine intervention that got Dave and me together,” said Lale.

Whickham shares his birth date with Lale’s son as well as her granddaughter. And, since Lale had no previous experience with viticulture, Whickham has stuck around to show her how it’s done.

“He’s always on the tractor and he’s a good mentor,” Lale said. “He has a saying that a good wine is made in the vineyard, tending the vines, and that’s what he does. Together, he and I have pruned all three acres of grapevines, just the two of us.”

A large monitor in the tasting room acts as a digital photo frame showing the two at work among those vines, which are Mission grapes, the ancestry of which date back to when the Spanish missionaries arrived in New Mexico to build their churches.

Whickham swirls his birthday wine in his glass as he shares the origin story of his vines.

“A friend of mine in La Luz, Paul Gordon, told me about these grapes that people were growing in their yards. They were even growing wild along the water ditches.” He pointed out the large metal bucket that he used to collect those wild grapes in when he was first starting to make wine. It has a place of honor in the tasting room.

“I knew I wanted to start a vineyard and make enough wine to sell but I wasn’t interested in those Mission grapes at first because they aren’t Cabernet or Sauvignon, you know? But that first batch of wine I made, and it was just a few bottles, was so good I changed my mind.”

The vines were propagated and sent to the University of California, Davis, for DNA analysis, which verified that the original grapes were planted in 1629.

“That’s a hundred years before the Spanish missionaries planted the grapes in California. New Mexico has been growing these grapes all this time.” The Mission grapes are well acclimated to grow at an elevation of around 4000 feet. “They are still growing them in Spain, in the Canary Islands,” Whickham said.

And it all started with a class Whickham took at New Mexico State University, the same course that Lale would eventually take at Whickham’s behest.

Whickham went on to become the state president of the New Mexico Wine Growers Association.

The wine that Tularosa Vineyards makes from these grapes has proven popular.

“Our Black Muscat is our most awarded,” said Lale. “It won a gold medal in 2025 at the Texas Wine competition and silver at the Fingerlakes competition, which includes 750 entrants from 13 countries.”

A happy accident is perhaps the reason why the wine was such a hit.

“The previous year’s Black Muscat was 18 brix, which is a measure of how much sugar is in it. The longer the grapes are on the vine the higher the sugar content. Well, I didn’t have enough help harvesting the grapes and they sat on the vine longer than I planned on so they ended up with 25 brix and it was so good that we started harvesting the grapes later.”

Indeed, the Muscat is on the sweeter side, compared with their Tularosa Vineyards Table Wine, which is also made from the Mission grapes.

“People see the Table Wine on the label and think that it’s a lesser wine, but that’s not what it means. It’s referring to the alcohol content, which can be anywhere from five to 16%. Anything higher than 16 is dessert wine.”

As guests arrived for his birthday party Whickham and Lale offered glasses of his G.O.A.T wine, which is a blend of the Muscat wine and Mission grapes and features a Capricorn goat on the label. They then settled into chairs on the patio to enjoy the entertainment provided by local musician Michael Gutierrez and food from the Tularosa Taco truck.

From the grapes to guests to music, the party had the flavor of Tularosa woven through it and was a suitable nod to the successful passing of the torch from one winemaker to the next.

Artesia thawing out from winter storm

Michael Smith
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Artesia thawing out from winter storm

Mike Smith

Artesia Daily Press

msmith@currentargus.com

The frigid temperatures and snow that blanketed the Artesia area last weekend resulted from two winter storm systems, according to the National Weather Service in Midland, Texas.

Cody Lindsey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS), said arctic air from the north and a moist weather system from the west provided the perfect setup for snow and cold temperatures Jan. 23-25.

A winter storm warning was in effect until 11 a.m. Jan. 25 and an extreme cold warning was posted until late morning on Jan. 26.

“It produced a good winter scenario,” Lindsey said during a telephone interview Monday. “Artesia was the big winner as far as snowfall totals.”

Lindsey said snow amounts around Artesia varied from 5 to 8 inches. Carlsbad reported 4.5 inches of snow from the storm and the community of Queen, located in southwestern Eddy County in the Guadalupe Mountains, had 4 inches of snow.

Lindsey said the storm produced frigid overnight lows from Sunday into Monday in Artesia.

He said a low of 3 degrees below zero was noted early Monday morning at the New Mexico State University Agriculture Science Center south of Artesia.

“That broke the previous record of 7 degrees in 1937,” Lindsey said.

Artesia Public Schools canceled classes Monday and Tuesday due to the weather.

Despite the cold and snow, Brown Drug Store at the corner of Fourth Street and Washington Avenue in Artesia was open for business Saturday and Monday, manager Craig Riley said.

“It’s something we’ve always done,” Riley said, noting that the pharmacy makes a point of staying open in all kinds of weather.

“There’s not a storm we’ve ever closed for,” he said Monday afternoon as customers braved snow-packed and icy streets to patronize the business.

Riley lives north of Artesia and said U.S. 285 was fine on Saturday along with other streets leading to the pharmacy. He said the main highway remained in good shape Monday morning, although some streets in Artesia had remnants of snow and ice from the storm.

Riley said walk-in business was limited Monday by melting snow and a temperature of 18 degrees.

“We’ve had a lot of phone refills,” he said.

Artesia Police Department spokesperson Cmdr. Pete Quinones said there were no major incidents related to the weather but said officers did respond to some crashes and also assisted drivers whose vehicles got stuck in the snow.

The Weather Service was predicting a mid-week warming trend with the high temperature reaching 40 degrees on Wednesday and 51 on Thursday with sunshine both days. Cooler temperatures were expected heading into the weekend with a high of 47 on Friday and 41 on Saturday.

Follow Mike Smith on Instagram @mikesmithartesianm.

Lujan Grisham touts early wins in legislative session

Michael Smith
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Lujan Grisham touts early wins in legislative session

Alex Ross
El Rito Media
aross@elritomedia.com

Bills on crime, healthcare and roads pass Senate

Three of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s priority bills to up road funding, address healthcare shortages and expand mental health moved closer to becoming law.

Less than a week into the 30-day legislative session and with broad bipartisan support, three bills on those subjects passed the New Mexico Senate on Friday, Jan. 23, marking a victory for the governor’s last session in office.

Lujan Grisham, a Democrat whose second term expires on Dec. 31, 2026, is unable to seek reelection this year due to term limits.

In a press release issued Friday, the governor called passage of the bills “an early win” and urged the New Mexico House of Representatives to act on them “without delay.” If the bills pass the House, Lujan Grisham will have until March 11 to sign or veto them. Any legislation not acted upon by that date will be pocket vetoed and not become law.

Senate Bill 1: Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

A bill aimed at providing out-of-state physicians with a more expedited pathway to practice in New Mexico passed the Senate 40 to 0, a day after it had cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition.

SB 1 authorizes New Mexico to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, a legal agreement between 42 states, the District of Columbia and the territory of Guam that provides an expedited path for qualified physicians in one state to get licensed in other states that are also members of the compact.

Neighboring states to New Mexico such as Arizona, Colorado and Texas were already members of the compact.

During the 2025 legislative session, legislation for New Mexico to join was introduced as House Bill 243. It, and a series of other compacts, cleared the House of Representatives unanimously but did not make it to the Senate floor.

Amid a groundswell of political support for the compacts, last year Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth (D-27) of Santa Fe announced the formation of a bipartisan working group to deal with issues related to the compacts.

In all, 11 different compacts on professions ranging from dentists to EMT workers to social workers have been introduced this session in addition to SB 1 and were still under consideration by lawmakers.

Senate Bill 2: Transportation bonding

Efforts to upgrade New Mexico’s roads and highways could soon get a boost in funding, after senators voted 31 to 9 to pass Senate Bill 2.

The bill allows the State Transportation Commission to authorize an additional $1.5 billion in bonding for state road and bridge projects over multiple years, as long as no more than $1.124 billion in road projects are not already bonded out.

The bonding process allows the state to borrow funds against vehicle registration fees and taxes paid to the state for road projects

SB 2 also raises registration fees by 25%, and the weight-distance tax on commercial vehicles by 35%, which is charged based on the weight of a commercial vehicle and the distance it travels each year. The bill also imposes new vehicle surcharge fees on electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles.

The fee for electric vehicles proposed in SB 2 would start at $70 in the calendar year 2027, rise to $80 in 2028 and settle at $90 in 2029. For hybrid plug-in vehicles, the fee would start at $35 in 2027, increase to $40 in 2028 and settle at $45 in 2029.

An analysis of SB 2 estimates that the new taxes and fees would bring in revenue of $69.9 million in fiscal year 2027 and $76.4 million by fiscal year 2030.

Senate Bill 3: Involuntary commitment

Another bill pushed by the governor to reform requirements to determine a person incompetent to stand trial, and provide treatment for such defendants, also passed the Senate with bipartisan support, 37-3.

Sens. Linda Lopez (D-11) of Albuquerque, Harold Pope (D-23) of Albuquerque and Shannon Pinto (D-3) of Tohatchi opposed the bill.

SB 3 amends the state’s criminal competency statute’s definitions of harm to self or harm to others, so that more people with serious mental health issues and who are believed to be dangerous can receive court-mandated treatment.

Current New Mexico law defines “danger to self” as being when “it is more likely than not” that a person will take their life or inflict serious bodily harm to themselves “by violent or self-destructive means.”

SB 3 revises the definition so that a person a court finds is unable to make decisions about their own mental healthcare, potentially resulting in death or physical harm can also be held by a court.

Requirements for a “harm to others” finding was also revised so that recent past behavior can enter into the court’s assessment if it is determined the defendant “has inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on another or has acted in such a way as to create a substantial risk of serious bodily harm to another,” read the bill.

In a press release, the governor’s office stated that the new definitions will allow people to receive assisted outpatient treatment earlier instead of after their conditions have deteriorated, or after multiple hospitalizations and incarcerations.

Legislative reporter Alex Ross can be followed on X at alexrosstweets.com

Man linked to fatal shooting arrested in Artesia

Michael Smith
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Man linked to fatal shooting arrested in Artesia

Adrian Hedden

Artesia Daily Press

achedden@currentargus.com

A man police believed was involved in a fatal shooting in Artesia was arrested at a residence in the city two days after the alleged incident.

A Roswell police officer shot at the man but did not hit him while he attempted to evade law enforcement, and the New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was investigating the incident as an “officer-involved shooting,” according to a state police news release.

Aaron Cane Vasquez, 27, was arrested by the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at a residence in the 1200 block of West Yucca Avenue in Artesia on an active warrant, state police said.

The task force, operated by the Roswell Police Department and Chaves County Sheriff’s Office, occasionally responds to calls in Artesia, which is just south of the county’s southern border with Eddy County.

At the time of his arrest, Vasquez was wanted on a federal probation violation warrant providing for nationwide extradition, read the news release. The U.S. Marshals Service contacted the Chaves County task force to find and arrest Vasquez. The underlying crime and how he violated his probation was initially unclear.

Police said Vasquez was also a person of interest in the Monday, Jan. 20, shooting death of 32-year-old Ivan Ortiz at ABO Apartments in the 700 block of North 10th Street in Artesia.

The death was being investigated as a homicide by Artesia Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, according to Artesia police Commander Pete Quinones.

It was during the investigation into Vasquez’s whereabouts that the Chaves County task force in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service became aware he was at the residence in Artesia, read the state police release.

Police said Vasquez attempted to flee when he was confronted by officers, running back into the house and out a back door, going east on foot through an alley. He appeared to be grabbing at his waistband as he ran, read the release, although no firearm was found.

He was found minutes later hiding under a parked vehicle, read the release which said an officer fired a duty rifle at least once, missing Vasquez. Another officer struck him with a stun gun, and he was arrested.

Vasquez was transported to a nearby hospital and incarcerated at the Eddy County Detention Center.

Police said information gained during the investigation of the police shooting would be turned over to the New Mexico Office of the District Attorney.

“New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau agents are working to independently determine the series of events leading to the shooting, including collecting evidence and conducting interviews,” read the release.

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

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