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Paw Prowlers follow proud tradition- “Catch me if you can”

JT Keith
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Paw Prowlers follow proud tradition- “Catch me if you can”

Earlier this football season, one student dressed up like an old lady to deliver sweets and goodies to an Artesia football player’s house the night before the game. There are 41 Paw Prowlers, including 14 seniors. The Prowlers’ sole job is to support the football players with sweets, goodies, Gatorade, and encourage them without getting caught.

The Paw Prowlers are a club at Artesia High School composed of 41 energetic members. The club started in the mid-1980s with a group of ladies who would “prowl” the varsity football team. They would leave snacks, drinks, and encouraging notes in each player’s locker or at their house the night before the game.

At the end of the season, the Prowlers reveal themselves to their player.

Lilly Klingshirn said at the start of the season, the Prowlers will pick two to three football players and support them for the entire season. At home games on Tuesday each week, Mrs. Kandice Barley will give the girls a gift to give to the football players.

“We don’t tell them (players) who we are,” Klingshirn said. “It is a secret, and throughout the season, the football players try to figure out who their Paw Prowler is. I love putting gifts together each week. I think it is a lot of fun giving gifts to people you care about, on why she is a Paw Prowler. At the end of the season, we tell the player who was their Paw Prowlers.”

Basketball as well

The Prowlers will also be active during basketball season. Barley, who teaches English II and English II Pre-Ap, is a Paw Prowler sponsor. Barley was a Prowler 25 years ago as a student at Artesia. The Prowlers will make hats this year and made shirts last year. Each year, the Prowlers try to do something fun.

“Being a Paw Prowler was something I really loved when I was in high school,” Barely said. “High school can be really stressful for a lot of my kiddos, especially for the ones who are in a lot of different activities. This is just something fun and carefree; there is no pressure, and they get to make connections with the kids. The boys really get into it; my football player hid on the roof and doused me with fire. I had to run from one of the wide receivers. It is just fun. This year, the players try to catch them and play a cat-and-mouse game. Sometimes the players’ moms help the Prowlers by letting them know when the player is home and when they are not. It is just a way to have fun in a good, clean way.”

Provided | Preslee Walker
The Paw Prowlers hold the “A” up as the Bulldog football players come through before the game.

Demrie Morrison, a junior, said she likes the club because it allows her to make connections, and she loves gift-giving. One of her players’ favorite snacks is Hot Cheetos. “It is nice to give some love to the players,” Morrison said. “It is a nice way to say we support you and we love you, no matter who you are.”

Paw Prowler Kandance Tran, a sophomore, said she uses Pinterest to get ideas and will talk to her players’ friends for ideas and things they like from Walmart.

“It is really nice to give somebody something for just a little moment,” Tran said. “It is nice to see football players getting recognized as football players and giving them different things before game day.”

Brooklyn Fuentes, a softball player, said that as an athlete, she knows what other athletes like. This year, she gives her player a lot of energy drinks.

“Some kids like whatever they want,” Fuentes said. “I ask their moms what they want.”

The A

Other things the Paw Prowlers do are hold the A before the game. The “A” is a long-standing tradition that dates back to the 1960s. Initially, the “A” was made from chicken wire and stuffed with grocery bags by junior varsity cheerleaders during the summer. When football season comes, the cheer squad would paint the “A” orange. The “A” is now a metal cutout constructed in the Ag shop at Artesia High School.

  Barley said that she has the girls on a rotation. Seven girls hold up the “A” – two on the bottom, and two girls sit on their shoulders of the bottom girls and hold the “A” for the players to hit before breaking the paper and beginning the Bulldog dog pile.

Klingshirn is the president of the Prowlers, and Kirklyn Miller, a volleyball player, is in charge of the “A” team. Her duties are to ensure it is there and that there are enough girls to hold the “A,” and to encourage the team before the breakaway.

Football Banquet

“I like writing the guys a letter at the end of the season,” Klingshirn said. “We write them a letter telling them we are your Prowlers at the football banquet.”

Barley said that when the team finds out who their Prowler is, they give the girls a gift. She also said the team has had boys on the Prowlers in previous seasons. Girls from basketball, softball, volleyball, FFA, art, yearbook, band, and choir are Prowlers.

“The girls do not have to have a special skill to be a Prowler,” Barley said, “you just have to be willing to encourage other people. I am really thankful to the football booster who paid to attend the football banquet as a kind of thank-you. That is really special that they are willing to do that for us.”

$15.6 million housing plan approved by county

Michael Smith
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$15.6 million housing plan approved by county

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press

A plan approved unanimously by the Eddy County Commission Monday, Nov. 10, would set aside $15.6 million of county money to partner with municipalities on housing projects approved by commissioners.

The vote came during a special meeting in Carlsbad, originally called to certify the 2025 election results. The certification vote was also 5-0.

Eddy County Manager Mike Gallagher explained the fund could be used to support any project related to housing, including construction of roads, sewer or water lines, or other infrastructure.

“The outcome of this would allow the county to partner with each municipality to bring about more housing throughout the county,” he said.

Gallagher said the municipalities would apply to the county for funding, and county commissioners would evaluate the applications closely before voting to approve or deny the funds.

“It’s not a guarantee. This is not a blank check,” he said. “Each project would require an agreement and the board’s approval.”

District 1 Commissioner Ernie Carlson said the projects must be “shovel ready” to gain his approval.

“Nothing in the planning stages; it needs to be shovel-ready,” Carlson said.

Before approving the plan, commissioners removed a provision that established a maximum portion of the money for each of Eddy County’s four municipalities based on their population.

The limits would have meant Carlsbad, the county seat with a population of about 32,000 according to the 2020 U.S. Census, would be offered $10.7 million in total for the projects while Artesia with a population of about 13,000 would receive $4.3 million.

Loving, with a population of about 1,500, would have been limited to applying for portions of $464,000 while Hope, which has 113 residents, would have had $38,000 made available.

Restricting each municipality to a certain dollar amount was a problem for District 4 Commissioner Bo Bowen, who contended that such a provision could limit what projects could be approved and what level of funding the county could provide within the $15.6 million allocated. He said removing the restrictions would allow more flexibility in evaluating projects.

“It would open us up and allow us to address the true needs of the communities rather than just slapping a dollar amount on it,” he said.

Carlson responded that assigning the maximums would assure that all municipalities in the county get a share of the funds. He voted to remove the funding limitations but urged that the county closely consider the total spent and ensure no community is left out.

“I would hate to see the full $15.6 million spent in Carlsbad,” he said. “I would hate to see someone like Loving totally lose out. Everybody needs some of it. As we look at each project, we need to ensure that we look at the little communities, too.”

But it could work the other way, Bowen said, allowing Loving to access more than the 3% of the funds available to the village through the original plan.

“This proposal could do more for places like Loving,” Bowen said.

Local election results certified

In voting to certify the 2025 election results, commissioners made official the results of elections for mayor, city council, school board and other races throughout Eddy County.

In Carlsbad, Ward 1 City Councilor Eddie Rodriguez was reelected over challenger Ivan Ramirez. Ramirez was arrested the day after the election and charged with sexual assault and two counts of child abuse, after the mother of his children came forward and accused Ramirez of sexually assaulting her in June 2024 while their children were present.

In other Carlsbad council elections, Ward 4 incumbent Mark Walterscheid defeated challenger Norbert Rempe while Ward 2 and Ward 3 councilors Jeff Forrest and Karla Niemeier, respectively, ran unopposed for second terms.

In races for the Carlsbad Municipal School Board, incumbents Clancey McMillan (District 1)and Tiffany Shirley (District 3) were reelected. Jesus Fierro ran unopposed for the District 5 seat.

In Artesia Public Schools races, Jeffery Conklin defeated Dennis Garcia for the District 1 board seat while Kristy Crockett and Benjamin Harvey were elected to represent Districts 2 and 4, respectively.

Voters also approved a mill levy to provide between $4 million and $7 million annually for ongoing operations at Artesia General Hospital while Karen Waldrip was reelected to her seat on the Artesia Special Hospital District Board.

Voter turnout ‘pathetic’

Eddy County Clerk Cara Cooke reported to commissioners that 5,156 ballots were cast, about 14% of the 35,955 eligible voters in the county for this year’s nonpartisan, local races.

She said that while many voters living outside city limits were not able to vote in the municipal elections, seats in other jurisdictions such as the Carlsbad Soil and Water Conservation District were up for election, meaning everyone in the county could have voted.

“Everyone was eligible to vote,” Cooke said. “We just really try and let them know that is all local and so it’s really important that they get out and vote.”

She reported the turnout for the 2023 election, when Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez was elected and several other city council seats were up for grabs, had similarly low turnout – about 18%.

“It’s consistent if nothing else, but it’s still pathetic,” Bowen said.

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

Fire, food and live music liven up Artesia during Balloons and Tunes

Michael Smith
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Fire, food and live music liven up Artesia during Balloons and Tunes

Photos by Mike Smith, Artesia Daily Press

The 42nd edition of Balloons and Tunes in Artesia on Nov. 7-9 offered many items for locals and visitors.

Scores of people gathered on the night of Nov. 8 for food, a fire concert performed by some of the balloonists to the music of the Artesia High School band along with dancing by the Artesia High Cheerleaders and local baton twirlers.

A concert by Albuquerque based group Hooks and the Huckleberries wrapped up the Saturday night events.

A crowd gathered in downtown Artesia on Nov. 8, 2025, was in awe of fire from the burner of a hot air balloon.

The Artesia High School band was synchronized with the burners from hot air balloons during a concert in downtown Artesia.

Hooks and the Huckleberries took to the stage on the night of Nov. 8, 2025, in downtown Artesia.

The Artesia High cheerleaders and local baton twirlers danced to a fire concert and music from the Arteisa High School band.

Artesia cheerleader Dianna Bishop paused during the fire concert in downtown Artesia.

Steve Pearce can bring his best self to BLM appointment

Michael Smith
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Steve Pearce can bring his best self to BLM appointment

Sherry Robinson
All She Wrote

During the Vietnam War former congressman Steve Pearce flew C-130 transport planes when the enemy was trying hard to shoot them down. As the president’s newly appointed director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Pearce may feel like he’s still in the cockpit.

He’s got a great deal of relevant experience for the job – “at least he’s not a Fox News host,” grouses one BLM retiree I know – but the environmental community is already warming its legal engines.

The BLM oversees about half of all federal land in New Mexico and some 245 million acres of public lands nationally.

Pearce steps back into the spotlight just as the Trump administration has begun to repeal the BLM’s Public Lands Rule and Navajo activists protested the BLM’s possible revocation of the 10-mile buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

Let’s begin with relevant experience.

He served seven terms in Congress representing the Second District. Pearce has consistently pushed to open more land to oil exploration, but he’s also said the nation should promote all kinds of energy including renewable.

In 2008, during his primary campaign for Senate against moderate Heather Wilson, he admitted, “I’m pretty conservative… but I’m not limited.” As the Great Recession deepened, he supported the spaceport then spearheaded by Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat. He won the primary but lost the race to Tom Udall.

In 2011 he was unanimously elected to chair the House Western Caucus, and he served twice on the House Committee on Natural Resources. After the Western Caucus in 2017 asked President-elect Trump to appoint more westerners to key positions, Pearce wrote that too many Obama appointees ignored local input. Their regulations, he said, “disenfranchised and harmed westerners.”

Pearce has always been a staunch conservative, and he’s been loyal to President Trump, but in 2017 Pearce and the Freedom Caucus, which he helped found in 2015, torpedoed the Republicans’ replacement bill for Obamacare. And he’s opposed Trump’s border wall. In 2018 he said: “The wall isn’t the magic answer. … You’re going to spend billions of dollars and find that it didn’t really secure the border.”

Environmentalists note that he has no use for climate science, wolf reintroduction, or wilderness study areas, but he’s all for selling public lands.

Topping their list of offenses is his longstanding campaign against the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

In a 2014 op ed, Pearce said he had worked with local officials, ranchers and conservationists on a solution to protect the Organ Mountains. He introduced a bill that had the blessings of soil and water conservation districts, law enforcement, chambers of commerce, and Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican. The monument would have been 60,000 acres.

But that year President Obama approved a 500,000-acre monument, “the largest land grab nationwide of his presidency” Pearce wrote. “This is not how representative government works.”

Or maybe it is. Pearce doesn’t accept that blue, blue Las Cruces, the state’s second largest city, likes its big monument and has risen to its defense with every mention of downsizing. And yet, there’s a lot of room between 60,000 and 500,000 acres. Clearly, neither side tried too hard to compromise.

Pearce also angered Democrats and environmentalists for being the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to vote repeatedly against the Land and Water Conservation Fund. He explained in 2018, when he ran unsuccessfully for governor, that he supported the original intent of the bill, which called for at least 60 percent of funding to support recreation and conservation, but over time, a majority of funding went to land acquisition.

However, a spokesperson for the House Committee on Natural Resources said funding that year was evenly divided between recreational planning, acquiring land and water, and developing outdoor recreational facilities. The Albuquerque Journal editorialized that Pearce had a long record of working to undermine the fund.

At 78, Pearce is capping a long, eventful career. He has a better sense than most people of what western lands can deliver. As a New Mexican he must have some appreciation for Chaco Canyon and, we hope, respect for the people who consider it a sacred place.

Democrats and environmentalists are expecting the worst. Pearce has at times attacked anyone with different views, but in a 2018 interview he talked about angry political rhetoric. “It’s time for us to take a look in the mirror and throttle down,” he said.

Let’s hope this is the Steve Pearce who steps up to lead the agency and manage the land for everyone.

Sherry Robinson is a longtime New Mexico reporter and editor. She has worked in Grants, Gallup, the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico Business Weekly and Albuquerque Tribune. She is the author of four books. Her columns won first place in 2024 from New Mexico Press Women.

Sherry Robinson’s columns reflect her personal opinions and views, not necessarily those of this newspaper.

The best seat in the house at the Bulldog Bowl, a view from the stands

JT Keith
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There are no bad seats to view a football game in the world-famous Bulldog Bowl. But when my editor told me I needed to take photos of the game, keep statistics, and update the website during the game, I wasn’t sure how to do so.

Watching the game from the press box is out of the question because it would be hard to get photos from that vantage point.

Sports writer’s dilemma

The answer was to go to the field, but when you’re there, the game is constantly changing in terms of field position, and the views change as well. Also, there is a problem juggling a laptop and a camera at the same time, keeping track of yardage and who did what, while not getting run over by the action on the field.

Doing all of those things is like trying to change a baby’s diaper, answer and talk on the phone, and write an email all at the same time. Impossible.

In the press box, everything can be done in a hectic manner except taking pictures of the action.

After being frustrated by the Hobbs football game by not being able to do all that was required, Artesia Daily Press sports editor JT Keith had to figure out a way to stay fluid while reporting the game.

The answer came in the third home game against Lovington. While going through the game at the main entrance, there was a banister from the visiting team’s side of the field, which would later be known as the handicap seating section.

JT Keith | Artesia Daily Press
Fans in the best seats in the Bulldog Bowl, Melissa Jimenez and Omar Pando.

Answer to the problem

In the handicap section, there were no seats; two people were sitting there on the far side of the seating section. On the other side of the section was another family with their kids and grandkids.

I was invited to sit with the families, who educated me about the history of Bulldog football. I found out that handicap seating was added to the football stadium during renovations in the mid-90s.

This location was perfect; I was able to put my camera seat down and see the field completely while taking pictures. I was also able to balance my laptop on my knees with my bookbag and type updates to the website during the game.

The best part of sitting there and keeping track of the game was meeting Omar Pando and Melissa Jimenez, who have been coming to the Bulldog Bowl since the 1980s.

“I have been coming to the Bulldog Bowl since I was a student here,” Pando said. “I have watched 20 state championship games here.”

Meeting new friends

Jimenez said she liked coming to the games because it gets her out of the house and lets her watch the Bulldogs play. She noted her cousins, Deion and Diego Wesson, played football for the Bulldogs. Diego would score a touchdown in the state championship game against Piedra Vista, which the team won 27-14 in 2022.

Pando has had family play for the Bulldogs as well, including Eddie Pando, Jordan Pando, and now junior running back Cristian Pando.

Jimenez said their favorite championship game was watching the Bulldogs beat Roswell 35-21 in the Bulldog Bowl on November 25, 2023.

Jimenez said she sits in the handicap seats because of her legs; she wears braces on her calves. Without the handicap seating, she would not be able to climb down the steps at the Bulldog Bowl to watch the football games. She said she is grateful for the seating accommodations.

Date night

“She does not have to struggle to go up and down the stairs,” Pando said. “It gets us a good top view of the game. This is a good view of the game for us.”

Pando and Jimenez use game night to bond; both will eat their dinner during the game. Pando will go to the concession stand and bring back two bags of popcorn, nachos with jalapeno and cheese, while having two Cokes.

Pando will dance and name each song the Bulldogs announcer plays between plays. He will FaceTime a friend and talk trash while the Bulldogs are beating Lovington.

For Pando and Jimenez, Friday night is game time, but it is a good time at the Bulldog Bowl. For the Artesia Daily Press sports editor, this was a way to meet new friends, get an excellent view for taking pictures, keep stats, and write the story, with the laptop on his knee on top of his bookbag to post to the website.

Artesia welcomes new names to Baish Park Veteran’s Wall

Michael Smith
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Artesia welcomes new names to Baish Park Veteran’s Wall

Photos by Mike Smith, Artesia Daily Press

Veterans and the community gathered Tuesday morning for a Veteran’s Day ceremony near City Hall at Baish Veteran’s Park.

Boy Scout Troop 228 provided a color guard for the ceremony, and 14 names were added to the wall of veterans who have served northern Eddy County during times of military conflict.

“I love our little town,” said Artesia minister Scott Pettus of Tuesday’s ceremony.

He was the master of ceremonies.

A color guard prays during the benediction at Baish Veteran’s Park in Arteisa.

A color guard from Boy Scout 228 lines up for a Veteran’s Day ceremony in Artesia.

United States Marine Corps veteran and First Church Artesia pastor Scott Pettus leads prayer during a Veteran’s Day ceremony.

Veterans Linda Bach (right) and Gary West visit before the Veteran’s Day ceremony in Artesia.

American flags lined the grounds at Artesia’s City Hall on Tuesday morning.

Pearce tapped to lead Bureau of Land Management

Michael Smith
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Pearce tapped to lead Bureau of Land Management

Patrick Lohmann
Source New Mexico

President Donald Trump has nominated Steve Pearce, a Republican former member of Congress from New Mexico, to lead the federal Bureau of Land Management, the White House announced Wednesday.

Pearce would be in charge of an agency that oversees 245 million acres of public lands, including for recreation, cattle grazing and extraction of oil and natural gas.

His nomination drew swift criticism from environmental groups in New Mexico and across the country. They urged Congress to reject Trump’s nomination.

“Pearce’s entire political career has been dedicated to blocking Americans’ access to public lands while giving the oil and gas industry free rein to drill and frack anywhere they wanted,” said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Pearce, who founded an oilfield services company before getting into politics, represented New Mexico’s Second Congressional District in the southern part of the state between 2003 and 2009, then again from 2011 to 2019. He was most recently chair of the state Republican Party until late last year.

Trump’s Wednesday nomination to the United States Senate neither explained why Pearce would be fit to lead the agency nor provided details about when the Senate could meet to confirm him. The nomination occurs amid an ongoing federal government shutdown, when neither chamber of Congress is meeting.

According to the Center for Western Priorities, Pearce amassed a “lengthy anti-public lands record” while in Congress, including co-sponsoring bills undermining the Antiquities Act and opening national forests to industry.

If the Senate confirms him, Pearce would take over at an agency that is seeking to boost domestic oil and gas production and roll back the “Public Land Rule,” which sought to ensure conservation of public lands received due consideration along with mining, timber, grazing, recreation or other uses.

The BLM controls about 13.5 million acres of federal land in New Mexico.

“It’s appalling that Trump would nominate a political has-been who so despises the natural world to oversee millions of acres of our public lands and waters,” said Brian Nowicki, Southwest deputy director of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.

While environmental groups were unified in condemning Pearce’s nomination, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover said in a statement that Pearce’s “experience makes him thoroughly qualified to lead the BLM and tackle the issues federal lands ranchers are facing.”

Artesia girls’ volleyball grabs the No. 4 seed in the State tournament

JT Keith
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Artesia girls’ volleyball grabs the No. 4 seed in the State tournament

For the Artesia girls’ volleyball team, there is no drama about whether they will make it into the 2025 Rudy’s Real Texas Bar-B-Q 4A state volleyball tournament. The girls held a seeding party at Ocotillo Performing Arts Center in which pajamas, popcorn, were the uniform of the day, The Lady ‘Dogs cheered when their name and seed were called.

The Lady Dogs are in as the No. 4 seed. With that, they get a bye and wait to face the winner of the Belen-Albuquerque Academy game at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

Lady ‘Dogs head coach Alan Williams said the seeding does not matter as there have been years when his teams have been ranked high and have not been successful with a higher seed. Last year, they came in at the lower seed (No.10) and end up playing their best volleyball of the season.

“I knew we would be somewhere between three and five,” Williams said. “That is about where we expected. It is nice not to have to play in the morning, but we have had success when we have had to play in the morning, and it does not bother me one way or the other.”

Last year, the Lady ‘Dogs had to wait and keep their fingers crossed to see if they would make it into the tournament. Artesia ended up as the No. 10 seed, then made a run to the championship match before falling to St. Pius X. The Lady ‘Dogs know they will need another run to bring back their second state title under head coach Alan Williams since 2021.

That run would be challenging, as No. 1-seeded St. Pius X and No. 5 Albuquerque Academy are on their side of the bracket.

JT Keith | Artesia Daily Press
Artesia’s Avery Frederick and Kailee Padilla attempt to block a shot against Portales earlier in the season.

It may be a challenge, but Williams has confidence in his team after the Lady ‘Dogs beat Academy earlier this season in four games on Oct. 3.

Artesia (18-5) faced the Chargers(17-6) in the second round of last year’s tournament.

“There are always surprises in this tournament,” Williams said, “you cannot look too far ahead because there is not going to be an easy match.”

Letter to the editor: Trump is not a king

Michael Smith
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Letter to the editor: Trump is not a king

If the irony weren’t so glaring and occlusive, perhaps the “No Kings” protestors would realize that gathering publicly to shout into the void while donning Halloween costumes is the height of asininity. Historically, kings were not known for allowing their subjects to openly insult them or spread inflammatory falsehoods. Yet in a world where many people treat reality as a “choose-your-own-adventure” quest, it’s no surprise that they freely, comfortably, and safely assemble to denounce a democratically elected president as a supposed “king.”

But make no mistake, these protests reveal just how comfortable we’ve become as a society, and how ignorant we can be when we choose to ignore history. Those truly interested in solving problems and building a more harmonious community rarely engage in this kind of foolish behavior, especially when blindly following the lead of paid agitators whose only aim is to sow division and hatred among Americans.

Without question, I support everyone’s right to peacefully assemble and protest. Our nation was founded on those principles, and I will fervently defend them. But Lincoln County is greater than this silliness. We know President Trump is not a king. We know he never will be a king in this country. And we know that once he leaves office, many of these same people will simply find a new boogeyman to condemn as “worse than Trump.”

Our message at the Republican Party of Lincoln County is clear: Jesus is King. Donald Trump is the democratically elected President of the United States. Love your neighbor, but call out absurd behavior, especially when it’s designed to divide communities and pit neighbors against one another.

I pray that, in the near future, people’s voices will still be heard, yet in a far more productive way that fosters real progress and leads to a brighter tomorrow, one devoid of political violence and the literal assassinations of those with whom we disagree.

God bless Lincoln County, and God bless the United States of America.

Shawn Dosch

1st Vice Chair/Political Committee Chair

Republican Party of Lincoln County

New Mexico opens Medicare enrollment

Michael Smith
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New Mexico opens Medicare enrollment

Staff reports

The state is urging New Mexicans to take charge of their healthcare coverage by making informed choices during this year’s Medicare fall open enrollment.

From Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, older adults and people with disabilities can make important changes to their Medicare health and prescription drug plans for the upcoming year.

“Navigating Medicare can feel over-whelming, but no one has to face it alone,” said Emily Kaltenbach, Cabinet Secretary for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department (ALTSD). “Our staff are here to provide clear, personalized guidance so that New Mexicans can make confident decisions about their healthcare coverage.”

ALTSD’s Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) is a trusted support for New Mexicans navigating this often-complex process. The ADRC offers free, unbiased, expert guidance to help individuals compare plans, understand benefits, and select the coverage that best meets their needs.

Beneficiaries are encouraged to review their plans annually since costs and benefits can change from year to year. ADRC counselors can help New Mexicans:

• Compare Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans.

• Review coverage changes for 2026.

• Determine eligibility for programs that help pay Medicare costs.

• Enroll in a new plan if needed.

“Choosing the right plan can make a real difference in both health and finances,” said Kaltenbach. “We encourage everyone with Medicare to make the most of this opportunity and reach out to the ADRC for support.”

To schedule a free session with an ADRC options counselor, contact the Aging and Disability Resource Center at 800-432-2080 or visit aging.nm.gov to schedule a live chat. New Mexicans can also attend one of the over 100 in-person events happening statewide during the open enrollment period. To view the full event calendar, visit our website at aging.nm.gov/news-and-events/upcoming-events/.

— Hidalgo County Herald

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