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SENMC, NM Tech sign transfer agreement

Michael Smith
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SENMC, NM Tech sign transfer agreement

Staff reports

Southeast New Mexico College and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology signed an articulation agreement that expands academic opportunities for students across New Mexico.

The partnership creates a transfer pathway for SENMC graduates to continue their education toward four-year bachelor’s degrees at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.

Located in Socorro and founded in 1889, New Mexico Tech specializes in coursework and degree programs focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, offering bachelor’s degrees along with masters and doctoral programs.

At the signing ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 8 held at the SENMC campus, Title III Transfer Pathway & Outreach Coordinator Saul Navarrete and STEM Program Manager Erick Dominguez welcomed New Mexico Tech representatives, faculty and community members, calling the moment “a celebration of partnership, progress, and pride for our great state of New Mexico.”

“Today, we’re not just signing an agreement; we’re signing a promise,” Navarrete said. “A promise that students from Carlsbad and beyond will have new doors opened to them, new pathways to innovation, and new opportunities to dream big. When New Mexico works together, amazing things happen.”

New Mexico Tech Interim President Dr. Michael Jackson said the agreement meant students from Southeast New Mexico College would be better prepared for coursework at New Mexico Tech, and be able to transfer credits toward their degrees.

“We are excited to collaborate with SENMC to assist with preparing individuals for the STEM workforce by providing defined pathways to both undergraduate and graduate degree programs,” he said.

The agreement ensures that qualified SENMC graduates who have earned applicable associate degrees can transfer their credits directly into New Mexico Tech undergraduate programs, minimizing duplication of coursework.

Students transferring under this agreement will receive full credit for courses completed with a grade of C- or higher, provided they align with New Mexico Tech’s degree requirements.

The partnership also allows for reverse transfer; meaning SENMC students who transfer to New Mexico Tech before completing their associate degree can apply their credits back to SENMC to earn their associate credential.

New Mexico Tech will also offer enrollment counseling, academic advising and opportunities for SENMC transfer students to engage in internships, research and work-study programs.

“This partnership with New Mexico Tech provides a pathway for our students to attend a top-ranked STEM university. I believe our students will feel right at home there and find a world of opportunity,” said Dr. Kevin Beardmore, president at SENMC.

He said the partnership represents a shared vision to strengthen the state’s educational ecosystem.

Jackso said New Mexico Tech’s programs could be useful to students seeking jobs in the Carlsbad area, in fields such as oil and gas and mining.

“Along with some of our well-known degrees such as biology, chemistry, and electrical engineering, students have the opportunity to pursue materials engineering, petroleum engineering, and mineral engineering – all critical areas to advancing New Mexico’s energy portfolio and our state’s demand for a talented and qualified STEM workforce, Jackson said.

Opinion: Is AI a good investment or just the next financial bubble about to pop?

Michael Smith
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Opinion: Is AI a good investment or just the next financial bubble about to pop?

Trip Jennings

At the outset I want to say I’ve spent most of my life celebrating the new-fangled and innovative against the custodians of tradition who poked fun at anything resembling change.

For example, 18 years ago, I quit newspapers to help found New Mexico’s first online newspaper, the New Mexico Independent. A few years after that, I co-founded the state’s first digital nonprofit media outlet, New Mexico In Depth, in the aftermath of the 2008 economic collapse.

I like new things.

So, at the risk of acting like what my children think people my age act like — I am old enough to remember calling people on rotary phones and watching original episodes of The Mod Squad and Room 222 — I am not sold that AI is the next big thing. Sure, it can help with mundane everyday tasks. But I’m not sure it’s a civilizational-defining technology, as many of its boosters repeatedly promise us.

That thought permeated my Monday morning routine as I read a New York Times story on the September vote by the Doňa Ana County Commission to grant a massive tax break to developers of Project Jupiter, a collection of data centers that would cost $165 billion in Doña Ana County. (I have kept up with local reporting on the project, but when one of the globe’s largest media players publishes a story, it is noteworthy.)

I am not a technophobe. And I am certainly not a tech genius. But what I am is a journalist who has lived through a particular set of reportorial experiences that have left an impression on me.

Over the space of a few years in the 2000s, I reported on the economic carnage Enron’s bankruptcy wrought on Connecticut municipal budgets and the economic carnage to New Mexico’s investment portfolio by the near collapse of Wall Street in 2008, fueled by the systematic fraudulent valuation of toxic tranches of mortgage bonds.

Speculative booms powered by promises of a generational opportunity to invest in the future aren’t so terrible when they do what their boosters say they will: benefit the public at large. But when speculative booms go wrong, they can rain down devastation and catastrophe on tens of millions of unsuspecting Americans in the form of lost jobs, decimated retirement accounts and destroyed lives.

In the case of Enron, once the nation’s seventh-largest company and highly valued by Wall Street analysts, fraud ultimately undid the company. Enron’s senior officers copped to or were convicted of federal crimes related to conspiring “in wide-ranging schemes to fraudulently manipulate Enron’s publicly reported financial results,” all in service of keeping the company’s troubled finances a secret. One of the victims of the fraud beyond the tens of thousands of Enron employees who lost their jobs was a quasi-public trash authority in Connecticut. It had invested more than $200 million in state taxpayers’ money in Enron. Post collapse, Connecticut communities were left to figure out how to pay for the increased cost of hauling trash the authority imposed to make up for the loss of the $200 million. I lived and breathed that story for more than a year.

A few years later, I moved across the country to New Mexico to report on Gov. Bill Richardson and the Legislature just in time for the economic collapse of 2008. During the lead up to the economic collapse, the occasional Cassandra predicting catastrophe was drowned out by a chorus of optimists who said the housing bubble driving the American economy wouldn’t burst because, well, it just wouldn’t.

After the housing bubble burst and almost took down the global economy with it, I spent many hours digging into court documents alleging pay-to-play allegations against officials in the Richardson administration. They had invested in opaque financial vehicles that lost much, if not all, of their value with Wall Street’s collapse, costing New Mexico taxpayers. I lived and breathed that story for much of 2009 into 2010.

Reporting on those stories has made me a skeptic whenever I hear someone declare an investment is a generational opportunity. That’s how the developers of Project Jupiter marketed the project to Doña Ana County officials.

I am not accusing anyone of fraud, or bad-faith dealing. I just know how bad things can go when they go sideways.

There are people much more tech savvy than I who see the possibility of AI becoming the next too-big-to-fail industry as AI weaves itself into Americans’ lives. If the AI bubble bursts, there is a chance that U.S. taxpayers might be asked to bail out the industry because it will become so important to 21st century life that a decision will be made that we cannot live without it.

Maybe it won’t turn out that way. Let’s hope.

In other words, I’m not a full-blown AI doomsday-er. But I am a skeptic.

I hope my skepticism is misplaced.

Since 2005, Trip 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.

Know the rules of the slopes before hitting the snow

Michael Smith
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Know the rules of the slopes before hitting the snow

Mike Smith

Artesia Daily Press

msmith@currentargus.com

Before you drive on New Mexico’s streets and highways, you need to learn the rules of the road. And before you start zooming down hills at the state’s ski resorts, you need to know the rules for staying safe on the slopes.

With winter about to settle in and interest in skiing and snowboarding heating up, it’s time for a safety check, said Christy Germscheid, executive director of Ski New Mexico, a trade organization dedicated to promoting winter sports.

“Many people don’t realize there is a responsibility, like driving a vehicle,” she said. “People need to be able to stop. People going downhill have the right of way. You have to be able to stop.”

Other keys to safety, Germscheid said, include making sure you’re visible to others, steering clear of fellow skiers and snowboarders, and taking precautions to prevent skiing and snowboarding equipment from racing out of control.

Staying in control is the No. 1 factor in avoiding collisions and staying safe on the slopes, according to the National Ski Areas Safety Association. The association’s 10-point Responsibility Code is posted on the Ski New Mexico website.

Beyond urging visitors to adhere to the basic rules of safe skiing, resorts have taken measures to promote safety, Germscheid said, including new signage this year warning skiers to stay away from objects with safety pads.

“It is not a safety device. It is a device to warn you,” she said of the padding. “There’s limited protection. It won’t protect you from serious injury.”

Germscheid said staying away from closed trails is another safety precaution. Also important: safe loading and unloading at ski lifts.

“Lift operators provide assistance and make sure you’re in those seats. Be prepared and sit back in the seat,” she said.

Maps and mountain signs are posted to help skiers find trails and lifts and know where trails merge or terrain is closed, Germscheid said.

If a collision or accident does occur, she said, those involved should exchange information and contact a resort employee.

Stating what should be obvious, Germscheid noted that skiers and snowboarders should stay off the slopes if impaired by drugs or alcohol.

And she offered some advice, especially for those who are new to the sport.

“Taking a ski lesson will go a long way toward helping with all of these things,” she said.

 Here are reported New Mexico skiing conditions as of Tuesday, Dec. 9

(Information provided by Ski New Mexico)

Sipapu Ski and Summer Area has a base depth of 14 inches with 4 of 44 trails open.

Ski Apache has a base depth of 4 inches with 1 of 55 trails open.

Ski Santa Fe has a base depth of 18 inches with 26 of 90 trails open.

Taos Ski Valley has a base depth of 18 inches with 13 of 120 trails open.

Note: Snow conditions can change after this report is compiled.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 extension-2361.

2962 ch, 505 words, Infinity in

Opinion: A Newsom nihilist nomination?

Michael Smith
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Opinion: A Newsom nihilist nomination?

Victor Davis Hanson

As California Governor Gavin Newsom gears up to run for president, what in the world will he run on?

Californians know that Newsom will not boast, “I will do for America what I have done to California!”

Why not?

Count the reasons.

California’s astronomical gas prices and taxes remain the highest in the continental U.S.

Ditto the state’s trifecta of the highest electricity rates, the costliest home prices, and the fourth-highest home insurance costs.

California has the largest unfunded liability debt in the nation, approaching $270 billion.

The budget deficit each year usually ranges from $15 to $70 billion.

Such profligate spending and deficits explain why the state also has the highest income taxes and state sales tax rates in the nation.

Just 1% of California households pay 50% of the state income tax. And the fleeced are leaving in droves.

Newsom recently boasted that he extended Medi-Cal health insurance to thousands more illegal aliens.

So, no wonder Newsom next begged for a nearly $3 billion Medi-Cal federal bailout.

Half of the state’s 41 million residents are now on Medi-Cal. Some 50 percent of all births are Medi-Cal-provided — and growing.

California has a lot of other firsts among the 50 states:

The largest population of illegal aliens.

The largest number of homeless people.

The largest number of people fleeing a state.

The largest number (11 million) and percentage (27%) of foreign-born residents.

The largest number of people living in poverty.

The highest food prices in the continental U.S.

The state’s infrastructure is usually rated near the bottom.

California ranks among the five worst states in per capita violent crime.

Here are a few other observations about the current disaster that is Newsom’s California:

One, California is a naturally wealthy state. It is the third largest by area. It ranks seventh in the nation in oil reserves. No nation has more agricultural production or forested land acreage. So it’s hard to bankrupt California, but Newsom has managed.

Two, under prior governors Pat Brown, Ronald Reagan, George Deukmejian, and Pete Wilson, California used to be the best-run state in the country.

California once produced more oil than any other state except Texas.

Its now-moribund timber industry once used to be the third largest in the nation.

And its currently ossified mining and mineral industries were once among the top 10 producers in the country.

Three, no state politician over the last three decades has been more responsible for California’s decline than Newsom: six years as governor, eight years as lieutenant governor, seven years as mayor of San Francisco, and seven years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Four, California chose decline. In the last 30 years, it drove out somewhere between 18 and 20 million affluent and middle-class state residents, the largest state exodus in U.S. history.

Its open border welcomed in an influx of over 10 million illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley’s $11 trillion in market capitalization created the wealthiest and the most left-wing out-of-touch elite in the United States.

The result was a medieval state of a few million elites, a mass of poor people, and a vanishing middle class.

Five, such influxes and exoduses, along with gerrymandering, have ensured a one-party state. There are no Republican statewide officeholders.

Democrats control all branches of government. Only 17% of its congressional delegation is Republican. So the Left proudly owns what California has become.

What, then, will Newsom run on?

Certainly not high-speed rail — 17 years, $15 billion, and not a foot of track laid.

Certainly not a $500-million exploding solar battery plant.

Certainly not illegally issuing 17,000 commercial truck driver’s licenses to non-resident illegal aliens with little or no English competency.

Certainly not the horrific but preventable Pacific Palisades fire.

And certainly not a now-closed $2-billion desert solar plant boondoggle.

Instead, Newsom will continue his he-man threats to President Donald Trump, like, “We’re going to punch this bully in the mouth.”

But will such bluster lower the state’s gas and power prices or reduce its sky-high taxes?

On social media and in podcasts, Newsom will continue his adolescent threats to federal officials like Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem while serving up his adolescent potty-mouth smears (e.g., “son of a b***h,” “god-d**n,” “f**k,” etc.).

But that profanity will not lower crime or house prices.

In other words, in the Democratic primaries, Newsom will try to out-crazy the violence, profanity, and extremism of the now-crazy Democratic socialists.

Newsom will rant nonstop about the evil Trump, but neither offer a word nor do a thing about his own responsibility for the collapse of a once great state.

Newsom will lecture on “affordability” without mentioning that he has created the most unaffordable state in the nation.

Will all this gobbledygook work?

It did in New York.

So, who knows?

(Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness. He is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author of “The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won,” from Basic Books. You can reach him by e-mailing authorvdh@gmail.com.)

With realignment and classification, District 5A landscape to change

Michael Smith
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With realignment and classification, District 5A landscape to change

JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com

For the Artesia Bulldogs football team, the road to a 34th state football championship has become more challenging. The New Mexico Activities Association Board of Directors made changes to realignment and classification for the 2026-28 cycle.

The realignment and classification for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, which were voted on and confirmed Thursday, Dec. 4, by the NMAA Board of Directors, feature some significant alterations, particularly pertaining to football.

Every two years, the state reclassifies high schools for athletics, and next year, five 6A teams will be in District 5A-1: Cibola, Los Lunas, Piedra Vista, Capital and Santa Fe. Alamogordo will replace Lovington in District 5A-2 as the Wildcats move down to 4A.

Realigning the number of football-playing schools in 6A, 5A 4A and 3A was an effort to create equity. The top 16 schools in New Mexico are based on enrollment — a formula based on the average 80-day student counts in 2023-24 and 2024-25 and the 40-day count from this year.

The 2026–2028 NMAA Classification & District Alignment creates capped 16-team classes in football and establishes larger districts (especially in 3A) and maintains enrollment-based divisions for other sports. These placements lock in schools for the two-year block.

According to the New Mexico Vistas 2024-2025 State Report Card, Artesia had 785 students enrolled in grades 10-12. NMAA uses 80- and 40-day counts from the two years before to determine classification. The cutoff for 4A is 235-549 students, and for 5A, 550-999 students. Artesia’s enrollment data from the NMAA’s official Section IV Classification and Alignment document 80-day count (fall) shows 780 students and the 40-day count (spring) 778.

“We are happy to be in 5A,” said Artesia athletic director and football coach Jeremy Maupin. “The North district got more competitive. … We’ll have two similar programs and stay just as competitive. It should be good.”

Below are the teams in the two districts, according to the NMAA Section IV Classification and Alignment document:

5A Football – 16 Schools

District 1

Capital

Cibola

Highland

Los Alamos

Los Lunas

Miyamura

Piedra Vista

Santa Fe

District 2

Alamogordo

Artesia

Chaparral

Deming

Gadsden

Goddard

Mayfield

Roswell

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

Christmas season comes early to downtown Artesia

Michael Smith
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Christmas season comes early to downtown Artesia

Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

Sitting smack in the middle of the festivities surrounding “Light Up Artesia,” singer Tayler Gothard had a unique view of the unofficial start of the holiday season in the city’s downtown business district.

“It was a picturesque display of holiday magic,” Gothard said. “The lights and the whole atmosphere were so inviting and cozy. It was a magnificent evening.”

Gothard was perched on the Derrick Floor, the 37-foot-high sculpture of a drilling rig the city displays to honor the oil and gas industry that contributes so much to the regional and state economy.

The Derrick Floor was the hub of holiday activities on Thursday, Dec. 4, as Artesia MainStreet presented “Light Up Artesia,” a holiday kickoff event featuring the lighting of the downtown Christmas tree, a light parade and a Jingle Bell Jog for running enthusiasts along with food trucks, street vendors and Christmas shopping at local stores.

Gothard, an Artesia native and worship leader at Catalyst Church who’s well-known as a vocalist in the area, was on hand to sing classic Christmas songs and carols as well as contemporary holiday favorites such as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and Faith Hill’s “Where Are You Christmas?” from the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Gothard said being invited to help her hometown celebrate the holidays was a “huge honor” and a “full circle moment.”

“I love singing live music and Christmas songs are really fun and challenging to sing,” she said. “I have loved ‘Light Up Artesia’ for years. As a member of the Artesia community, I know how special that event is, and I was honored to be a part of it. About 10 years ago, I was involved in the (Artesia High School) choir and sang for the event, so being able to sing again, now on my own, was so special.”

Using the Derrick Floor as a stage left little room for instruments and backup singers, so Gothard employed modern technology to enhance her performance.

“I decided to use backing tracks instead of playing the piano, so that all of the songs would have all the beautiful magical sounds that people love in Christmas music,” she said.

The first-ever Jingle Bell Jog attracted runners dressed in holiday attire, including Drew and Kristy Reed, owners of the Lucky Duck Grill in Artesia.

Kristy Reed said the couple’s participation in the run was a way of being involved in the community.

“We’re happy to be here and the people who take the time to organize this,” Drew Reed said.

“My husband, he loves to run,” said Kimberly Reed who finished behind Drew in the one-mile run that circled Artesia’s downtown area, starting and ending at the Derrick Floor.

“I run all the time,” Drew said. “I’m a very competitive person,” he said.

A Wyoming native, Reed said his lifelong goal was to own a restaurant and Artesia presented him with a chance to fulfill that ambition eight years ago.

“The opportunity came up. We filled a need where there’s not a burger joint,” he said.

Located at the Best Western Pecos Inn at 2209 W. Main St., Lucky Duck Grill serves breakfast and lunch, with burgers and chicken sandwiches as the main specialties.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 extension-2361.

The Candle of Joy during the Advent Season

Michael Smith
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The Candle of Joy during the Advent Season

David Grousnick

This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent and we will be lighting the pink candle, the Candle of Joy!

In his book Horns and Halos, Dr. J. Wallace Hamilton tells about one of the weirdest auction sales in history; and it was held in Washington, D.C., in 1926, where 150,000 patented models of old inventions were declared obsolete and placed on the auction block for public auction.

Prospective buyers and on-lookers chuckled as item after item was put up for bid; such as a “bed-bug buster” or an “illuminated cat” that was designed to scare away mice. There was a device to prevent snoring. It consisted of a trumpet that reached from the mouth to the ear; and was designed to awaken the snorer and not the neighbors.

then there was the adjustable pulpit that could be raised or lowered according to the height of the preacher.

Needless to say, this auction of old patent models may have been worth at least 150,000 laughs; but looking deeper, we would discover that these 150,000 old patent models also represent 150,000 broken dreams.

They represented a mountain of disappointments. Not joy!

It may seem inappropriate to talk about broken dreams and disappointments this close to Christmas. After all, this is the season to be jolly.

But it’s not jolly for everybody, is it? For those who have lost loved ones this is the loneliest time of the year. And in a world that glorifies materialism, those who are struggling financially may find it to be most disappointing.

John the Baptist knew about disappointment. In Matthew 2:1-11, John is in prison and he’s looking for a sign that the long-awaited Messiah has really arrived. That’s ironic, don’t you think?

John the Baptist is the one who first proclaimed his coming. But much has happened to John since we last saw him preaching and baptizing people in the wilderness, and now his heart is down cast.

Remember John’s message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

I recently read about steamships. The dream of a self-propelled ship had been a dream of humankind for hundreds of years. Then one day the time came when it was theoretically possible, but it was still practically not possible.

The dream was kept alive for another hundred years or so by inventors and experimenters, some of whom were considered eccentric. Later, people said of them, they were just ahead of their time.

Then the times changed. Along came Robert Fulton. Fulton didn’t invent the steamboat. He just happened to be there when the time was right.

As the author wrote, “The inventor’s eminence may be more a trick of chronology than anything else, due to being active at the very moment when fruition was possible.”

It’s a wonderful statement. It tells you that timing is everything. That is what we learn from the Bible. Look at John in prison.

He sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one, or do we look for another?” It is a critical question for John. John has preached that the time has come. Messiah is about to appear, so repent, get ready, put your lives in order. But now in prison, he is about to lose his head.

So his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one that we have been waiting for, or do we still look for somebody else?”

Joy! Or disappointment?

Advent is an intentional season of “preparedness.” Preparing. Making plans. Charting a way. Scouting and scoping the landscape. Assessing and overcoming obstacles to avoid or override.

Sounds like life as usual. Sounds like something we can get our heads and hands and hearts around. Sounds like something we can get down and get done.

But hold up! Advent is not our journey. We are NOT in charge. Advent is not a journey we make, a journey we prepare for, a road that we navigate.

No, Advent is the journey GOD makes. Advent isn’t a trip we prepare to go on. Advent is the time we prepare for God’s trip to us. Advent is the time we ready ourselves to RECEIVE God. The God who, against all reason and for our redemption, is making a journey TOWARDS us.

Matthew reminds us just how long God had been preparing for this journey. Before the baby Jesus was even born, God had arranged for the ideal advance man, the perfect prophet to be conceived and born and nurtured to adulthood.

Generations before John the Baptist there were other prophets whom God provided with selected slices of insight, like a freeze-framed GPS map. Moses and Isaiah, Malachi and Daniel: all provided peeks at the pathway God was paving.

Come and join together in worship with us as God journeys toward us this Advent season. We worship together at 10:30 and we gather at 11th and Bullock, across the street from Zia Intermediate School.

Come and experience the joy of the season!

Miller, Padilla repeat as All-State players

Michael Smith
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Miller, Padilla repeat as All-State players

JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com

The New Mexico High Coaches Association named Artesia volleyball players Kirklyn Miller and Kailee Padilla to its first-team All-State squad.

Miller and Padilla helped lead the Lady ’Dogs to a 21-7 record overall and a 4-2 second-place finish in District 4-4A. Artesia fell to eventual Class 4A champion St. Pius X in the semifinals.

Both girls made second-team All-State as juniors last season.

Artesia coach Alan Williams said many people told him that it was a mistake to make Miller a setter, but she proved them wrong by leading the state in assists both years. Miller had 854 assists this season, the most in 4A, and 42 aces.

In Miller’s junior season, she set a school record with 970 assists. Over two years in varsity play, she has 1,872 assists.

“Kirklyn is an amazing kid,” Williams said. “She never set before the last month of her sophomore season. To become the top setter in 4A, she spent countless hours in the gym for less than two years. Besides her determination and effort, she also has a high volleyball IQ. She learns quickly and uses that knowledge to give her team an enormous advantage.”

Miller said she is grateful to be named and recognized for her hard work.

“Playing for Coach Williams with my teammates has been the most amazing experience,” Miller said. “I will always look back on the amazing memories. I am so thankful for my family’s support. I would not have been able to do this without them.”

Williams said that Padilla is a fantastic athlete, and just watching her play makes it easy to see. Williams said the most impressive thing about her is the courage she plays with. In her senior year, she had 396 kills, 302 digs and 46 aces, and for her career, 1016 kills and 899 digs.

“She is so brave, and there is no fear in her game,” Williams said. “I have learned that when we are playing big games where everything is on the line, and it is game five, we are in double digits, where one mistake can end a season, if Kailee gets a good set, she is going to smash it. I love that about her. Confidence and courage can do some amazing things. That is Kailee.”

Padilla said that being selected All-State means a lot to her. She plans to attend Western Colorado University in the fall to continue her education and athletic career.

“It means a lot to me,” Padilla said. “It proves that working hard and playing for God will always pay off.”

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

Eddy County repeals business license ordinance

Michael Smith
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Eddy County repeals business license ordinance

Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com

Eddy County will no longer require businesses to obtain a county-issued business license.

Commissioners voted unanimously at their Nov. 18 meeting to repeal the county’s business license ordinance and also repealed a similar ordinance requiring cannabis businesses to register with the county, saying the licenses created duplicative paperwork for business owners.

County Attorney Cas Tabor said all businesses, including those in the cannabis industry, will still be registered and regulated by federal agencies, the state of New Mexico, or municipalities in which they operate. He said the county will continue to support and facilitate those licensing procedures.

But the vote means the approximately 365 businesses outside of municipal boundaries that hold licenses issued by Eddy County – for a $25 application fee – will not need to renew with the county when the 12-month licenses expire.

“This will repeal that (county) business licensing ordinance,” Tabor said. “They still have to meet all state requirements.”

There was little discussion ahead of the vote to repeal the ordinances but the proposal to do so was discussed extensively by commissioners during their Sept. 23 meeting.

County Manager Mike Gallagher said at the September meeting that the business licensing ordinance was established four years ago, on Oct. 5, 2021, to localize business licensing and required fire inspections by Eddy County’s Fire and Rescue Department.

But he said the process could take 30 days or more and duplicated state licensing the county coordinates with business owners. The licenses, Gallagher reported, brought in about $9,100 to the county each year.

Gallagher also noted that neighboring counties such as Lea, Otero and Chaves do not require their own licenses.

Government getting in the way?

District 4 Commissioner Bo Bowen said Eddy County businesses are already required by the state to undergo inspections to ensure compliance with fire codes and other regulations.

He also said the cities of Carlsbad and Artesia have their own business licensing process to account for businesses operating in the appropriate areas based on municipal zoning, such as residential or industrial.

The county does not have any zoning rules, Bowen argued, meaning its business licenses served little purpose. He also said inspections conducted at the state level by the New Mexico Environment Department were adequate without separate oversight by the county.

“We have no zoning in Eddy County, so the thought of business licenses, in my opinion, is just the government getting in the way of business,” Bowen said. “Any time a business is put in, they go through an approval process. That kind of cancels out what Fire and Rescue is doing.”

District 1 Commissioner Ernie Carlson, who was first elected to the board in the November 2018 election and was serving when the business license ordinance was adopted, said it was created to aid Fire and Rescue in keeping track of which businesses were being established and what kinds of materials were kept on site.

He said this was in response to a spike in oil and gas production in 2021, for both upstream operators who drill for fossil fuels and midstream companies that store and transport the products via pipelines and tank batteries.

“They had concerns that there were flammable materials at the time,” he said of Fire and Rescue. “I like the idea that Fire and Rescue can know if there are any contaminants in case they need to respond. The thing I care about is the safety of our Fire and Rescue staff.”

Bambi Kern, director of the Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority, or REDA, said information as to the presence of volatile or dangerous substances is gathered by the Eddy County Office of Emergency Management annually and provided to responders through the dispatch service.

This is independent of the business license ordinance, Kern said.

“That’s for every business out in the county,” she said. “That information is available to our first responders for viewing en route to a call.”

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

Christmas to the glory of God

Michael Smith
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Christmas to the glory of God

Rick Smith

As Christians we should make it our goal to glorify God in everything.  That includes how we celebrate Christmas.  Far too long Christians have surrendered the celebration of Christmas and Resurrection Day (Easter) to secular society.  We are commanded to glorify God in every area of our lives.  “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).  When we leave Jesus out or move Jesus to the background of our celebration of His incarnation and birth, we are dishonoring God the Father that sent Him.  Philippians 2:5-11 can be our guide in glorifying God in Christ during Christmas.

First, we need to humble ourselves like Jesus did when He came into this world.  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:11).  How did Jesus humble Himself when He came?  Jesus emptied Himself of His divine rights and glory.  Anything that you feel that is your right, do as Jesus did and lay that aside and become a servant like Jesus did.  Give your life to bring salvation to those who are dying and going to hell.  Rescue them, snatch them from death and hell and proclaim the gospel to them in word and deed.  “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8).  Make any sacrifice to bring Jesus to those who are perishing.

Also, if God exalted Jesus, then to glorify God at Christmas time means that we must exalt Jesus.  “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” (Philippians 2:9).  God, the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, has “highly” exalted Jesus.  The angel told Mary, and then Joseph, to call the Baby in the manger “Jesus”.  Why did God do this?  Why this Name?  “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21).  If Jesus has saved us, then His Name should be exalted and never used as profanity.  Do everything that you can to exalt – to lift up the Name of Jesus in honor.  Give Jesus the glory that is due His Name.

We should worship and honor Jesus every day of our lives, but during the Christmas season we can do it with a renewed purpose.  “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth…” (Philippians 2:10).   I think that we should renew our worship of our Lord Jesus Christ during the Christmas season.  It is a time that we focus our attention of Christ’s coming into the world to save sinners like you and me.  As we worship of our Savior we will also point the world to Jesus.  Our goal should be that God would save our lost loved ones and friends to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  During this time we should pray more, sing more, read the Bible and meditate on God’s word more, and tell others about Jesus more.  Perhaps along with “Merry Christmas” we should say, “God loved the world so much that He gave His Only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We should glorify God the Father by confessing and proclaiming Jesus Christ the Lord.

“And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11).  If every tongue that confesses Jesus Christ is Lord glorifies God the Father, then shouldn’t you and I confess Jesus before men.  “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32).  How hard is it to let people know that you are a Christian and the Jesus is your Lord and Savior?  When was the last time you told someone that you belong to Jesus?

Under normal circumstances when we celebrate the birth of someone we focus more on their life and the impact he has had on others.  When we speak of Jesus birth, too often He is just the Baby in the manger.  I think that it would glorify Jesus more if we focused on His life, death, burial, and resurrection.  If we want to bring glory to God and our Lord Jesus Christ, then glorify Jesus in all that He is and has done for us.  Let everyone know that they need to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ this Christmas season.  “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

If you have any questions, we invite you to visit with us this Sunday.   Worship at 10:50 A.M.  We are located at 711 West Washington Ave.  Check our sermon videos on Youtube @ricksmith2541.  Send comments and prayer requests to prayerlinecmbc@gmail.com.

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