A look at the Lady ‘Dogs soccer team against Alamogordo on Thursday
Artesia girls’ soccer on five-game win streak
JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com
Coming into the 2025-2026 soccer season, the Artesia girls’ soccer team had lost seven players through graduation and one player who had decided not to play.
This has not slowed The Lady’ Dogs, as they have improved to 7-2 after scoring two goals in the first half to defeat Alamogordo 2-1 at Robert Chase Field on Tuesday.
“We were having trouble finishing the entire game,” said Artesia coach Tim Trentham. “Those two early goals, and after that, we could not find the back of the net.”
Alamogordo’s Zoe Spataro score a goal with 21 minutes left to play in the match, giving her team a chance to at least tie it as the game wound down.
Trentham said those 2-0 games are scary because once you let one in, it is suddenly 2-1, and Alamogordo was a goal away from tying the game up. He said the Tigers had some looks and made some adjustments in the second half.
Alamogordo coach Hailey Drefs, who is in her first season as coach, said the team’s motto this season is, “Touch the Line.” The goal is to leave everything out on the pitch. She said her squad is starting to believe it can play with good teams.
The Lady Tigers played six first-year students and four eighth graders, along with three sophomores, during the game.
“We came out real slow in the first half,” said Alamogordo coach Hailey Drefs. “I think that is what got to us. Suppose we had come out as fast as we did in the second half and played like that, it would have been a much closer game. I am super proud of the girls because when we played them in our opener, we lost to them 10-0.”
Drefs said that being able to move from a 10-0 score to a 2-1 loss is a testament to the team’s progress, and she is super proud of it.
Coming into the season, Trentham was concerned about how his players would respond to the increased playing time. Last year, the players were playing limited minutes, and this year their playing time has increased.
For Trentham, there was no need to worry. Artesia is ahead of the 2024-2025 team with a record of 7-2, and last year, during its first nine games, it had a record of 6-2- 1.
“We are just continuing,” Trentham said. “We had expected to have a little bit of a slump, but after what we did over at the Silver Tournament, we kind of got some confidence, and what we did at the Roswell Tournament, only losing two games to Hobbs (3-0) and 5A Mayfield (4-1), that really helped.”
Trentham said the team must continue to grow and push. Also, some players may need to adjust and find roles that fit them better.
Artesia will face Clovis at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Robert Chase Field. The Lady “Dogs have defeated the Wildcats twice this season, with a 2-1 victory on Aug. 23, and a 3-2 victory on Aug. 28. Both games were played in Clovis.
Gov. Lujan Grisham calls special session on Trump tax bill impacts
Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called lawmakers into a special session slated for Oct. 1 as officials tangle with a series of federal spending cuts leaders worried could impede several funding sources for the state’s operations.
The announcement, issued Thursday, Sept. 4 said the cuts, mostly outlined in a tax bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 and known by supporters as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” noted that the bill and other announced reductions in federal spending could “compound the challenges facing New Mexico communities.”
During the session, lawmakers will consider a package of legislative measures to support funding for the State’s Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund, including stabilization grants to healthcare providers that rely on federal funding, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
Lawmakers could also discuss measures to reduce health insurance premiums in support of New Mexicans potentially losing Medicaid coverage as the tax bill entailed several cuts and increased qualifications for the program that assists low-income people and the disabled with access to health care coverage.
The legislature could also consider new investments in food assistance for children, funding for public broadcasting and resources to aid the state’s Health Care Authority to prepare for changes in Medicaid enrollment requirements.
“New Mexicans should not be forced to shoulder these heavy burdens without help from their elected officials,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “After discussions with legislative leaders, we’ve resolved to do everything possible to protect essential services and minimize the damage from President Trump’s disastrous bill.”
In a statement from the White House on the tax bill’s passing, the bill was characterized as a “sweeping” piece of legislation investing in America’s future and its defense.
“President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — now the law of the land — is a sweeping legislative triumph that combines the largest tax cuts in history with landmark investments in America’s future and defense,” read the July 7 statement.
“From No Tax on Social Security for millions of seniors to permanent relief for small businesses and historic funding for national security, this bill unleashes economic prosperity and empowers every American while strengthening our nation’s defenses and boldly looking to the future.”
But it also meant cuts to federal Medicaid and SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, benefits which could lead to “multi-billion-dollar losses” to New Mexican households, its health care system and rural communities, read the release from Lujan Grisham’s office.
“New Mexico cannot stand by while Washington’s reckless budget cuts inflict generational harm on families and communities across the state,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-25).
“A special session is essential to protect our rural healthcare providers, safeguard Medicaid coverage, and ensure that New Mexicans don’t bear the burden of federal failures.”
State Speaker of the House Javier Martinez (D-11) said he and other state lawmakers were working to find solutions to what he called the “radical right’s” agenda to “take food off your table and kick your family off your health care plan.”
“We have been hard at work evaluating how this federal budget will impact New Mexico and how we can best fight back. Now, we’re ready to roll up our sleeves to protect access to the services you and your families need most,” he said.
Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
Kirkwood’s prayer leads to a home in Artesia
JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com
Paul Kirkwood is grateful for a lot of things in his life. One of the biggest things is moving to Artesia 31 years ago.
The movie “Facing the Giants” is about a football coach who has faith and is doing his best but cannot put a winning season together and is almost fired.
That movie could have been modeled after Kirkwood’s career as the head basketball coach at Ruidoso in 1994.
Kirkwood, who had graduated from Ruidoso, said he was excited to return home for the coaching job.
When he took over the Warriors program, it had won only three games in three years. Kirkwood said the Ruidoso role was not a good fit — and that his family had not found a church.
Lone season
Kirkwood was 6-17 in his lone season as coach. After the season, Kirkwood told his wife, Brenda Kirkwood, that maybe Ruidoso was not for them.
“We prayed for three days,” Kirkwood said. “My wife is such a praying lady, and after that third day, that is when Bubba (Jennings) called.”
Jennings told Kirkwood he needed an assistant coach and asked him to visit Artesia.
Kirkwood, 64, accepted the position as an assistant coach and helped lead the Bulldogs to two state championships in 1995 and 1997.
“Coach Kirkwood was an outstanding assistant,” Jennings said. “I hired him for several reasons, the first being that he is a Christian. He knows the game well, and I wanted a coach who truly understood our philosophy and knew the commitment it would take to work in our program.”
After Jennings left to become the head coach at Coronado High School in Texas, Kirkwood was promoted to head coach in 1999 and coached until 2004.
Kirkwood coached the Bulldogs to a record of 82-68, with his best season being the 2001-2002 season, when the ’Dogs went 20-5.
When Kirkwood resigned as basketball coach, he said he loved Artesia too much to leave and coach somewhere else. So he stayed and became an assistant basketball coach.
Coach Paul Kirkwood is with Coach Jennings, Coach Steve Huttanus and coach Dennis Garcia.
Impacts Mondragon’s life
He returned to the basketball bench to help his former point guard and current Bulldogs coach Michael Mondragon in 2017.
“Coach Kirkwood has been instrumental in developing me not only as a player and coach, but as a man,” Mondragon said. “Coach K always put in character, hard work, discipline, and most importantly, faith as the foundation of success. He is a huge part of who I am today, and I thank him for everything he’s done for me and my family throughout my life and career.”
Kirkwood was named the New Mexico High School Coaches Association Assistant Basketball Coach of the Year in 2023 before retiring in the same year.
“God is good,” Kirkwood said. “God brought us here; we’ve got to raise our children here. Artesia is a godly town, and they raise their children godly. If anybody ever needs any help, Artesia will help.”
JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X@JTKEITH1.
Here’s your guide to Red Dirt Black Gold
Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com
Three days of live music, food, craft vendors and homemade beer await partygoers from southeast New Mexico during the Red Dirt Black Gold Festival in downtown Artesia.
Now in its 10th year, the annual festival is sponsored by Artesia MainStreet as a celebration of the region’s oil and gas industry.
Ticket prices start at $10 for attendees 21 years of age and over. General admission is free for those 20 and under. VIP tickets for individuals and couples are also available.
Tickets can be purchased online at the festival website.
Gates are open from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. each night. Music performances start at 6 p.m.
Here’s a quick look at the Red Dirt Black Gold (RDBG) Festival.
Where is it?
Vendors will set up in the Heritage Plaza downtown. Bands will perform on stage on Texas Street, across from City Hall.
Who is performing?
Sept. 11 is New Mexico Heritage Night featuring El Origen Norteno and Los Consentidos Del Norte CD Juarez.
Sept. 12 is Indie Folk Night featuring Mammoth Cult, John Hibbard and the Haybirds, and Mirarge – Visions of Fleetwood Mac.
Sept. 13 is Red Dirt Black Gold Night, featuring Clayton Runer, Hooks and the Huckleberries, Kenny Feidler, and Cody Canada and the Departed.
Where to eat?
Food vendors will be lined up on West Texas Street from the Artesia Post Office to Western Bancshares of New Mexico at the corner of West Texas Avenue and Roselawn Avenue. They include:
Changos Birria Tacos, Rebel Daughters BBQ, Red’s Concessions, The Sno Cone Place, My Daddy’s BBQ, Ensemble Treats, Weiner Wagon, Taco Loco, Small Town Grill, Wild West Soda, Patio Pizza, Get Smashed Burgers, Little Bits, Peachy Keen, ET Concessions, King Crab and House of Grub.
What else is there to do?
Craft vendors will open at 5 p.m. on all three nights.
A cornhole tournament is set for Friday and Saturday. A pickleball tournament is set for Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 at Jaycee Park at 1710 South 26th Street.
More information can be found at https://www.reddirtblackgold.com/
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 extension-2361.
Ivans’ state title came down to final throw
JT Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com
The 2025 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico Class 4A-5A State Track & Field Championships, on May 17, came down to two rivals and one throw.
Artesia’s Brooklynne Ivans was trailing Pojoaque Valley’s Mikayla Calabaza, who had just thrown a 35’3” in the shot put to take the lead in the finals.
Ivans said that she had faced Calabaza earlier in the track season and had lost to her in the meet at Los Alamos.
“Yes, I was pretty nervous going into my last throw,” Ivans said. “She (Calabaza) beat me when we faced earlier in the year.”
Ivans said she knew what she had to throw to beat Calabaza. But a couple of weeks before the state final, she had gotten into the habit of scratching (going over the toe board), which means her throw would not count.
“When I was up for my last throw,” Ivans said, “I was thinking that I needed to work on my technique and make my throw better than it was before.”
Ivans said that when she was getting ready to throw, she would watch videos of herself and critique her throws. She also remembered that her coach, Andy Lopez, had told her to breathe before throwing. Ivans said that the advice helped her.
“As I was getting ready to throw,” Ivans said, “I concentrated on staying low and being quick.”
Ivans said that when she let the throw go, she thought she could do better and did not feel like she had beaten Calabaza.
Ivans, a junior, won the shot-put state title with a throw of 36’6.25”.
“I was excited when I won,” Ivans said. “I felt like all the hard work I put in paid off. Winning just felt unreal.”
One of Ivans goals going into her senior year is to throw 40 feet, and she would like to win state in her senior year.
Ivans said that she would also like to come back to Artesia High School to teach and coach.
JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X@JTKEITH1.
Jack Byers is Bulldog of the Week
Artesia wide receiver Jack Byers is Bulldog of the Week.
Artesia’s Jack Byers is Bulldog of the Week, and is with Seek 1st Director Ben Cox.
Byers has helped the Bulldogs stay undefeated by beating Hobbs 51-41 at the Bulldog on Friday. Byers said winning the award is special and that it is a team effort. His personal goals is a team win and he would like to score a touchdown each game.
Artesia’s Jacky Tovar is Lady ‘Dog of the Week
Artesia senior volleyball player Jacky Tovar is the Lady ‘Dogs Athlete of the Week. She is pictured with Ty Houghtaling of Seek 1st. Tovar has helped Artesia to an undefeated season as the Lady Dogs defeated Roswell at the Coyote Den on August 2, Tuesday Night.
Tovar said she is proud of herself for continuing to play and being a team player. Tovar’s advice to others is to never give up or quit.
Artesia senior Jacky Tovar is with Seek 1st Ty Houghtaling and is the second female winner on the season.
NM health department issues COVID-19 health order
El Rito Media News Services
On Saturday, the New Mexico Department of Health issued a new health order regarding access to COVID-19 vaccines.
According to a news release, the order follows “some pharmacies announcing they cannot administer the vaccine in New Mexico unless recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an advisory group to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has yet to convene and act on the matter.”
The order directs the state health department to work with New Mexico’s Board of Pharmacy “to remove potential barriers and ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines at pharmacies across the state.”
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the updated COVID-19 vaccine formulations, but with new restrictions. As noted in the new health order, people over the age of 65 are eligible, under the new FDA rules, for the vaccine, with younger people requiring an underlying medical issue for eligibility. According to the news release, the state anticipates the updated COVID-19 vaccine to begin arriving in New Mexico in the next few weeks.
“It’s important for New Mexicans to know the New Mexico Department of Health is committed to keeping residents safe as we enter the 2025 – 2026 respiratory virus season,” Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie said in a statement. “This order will remove obstacles to vaccination access.”
The news release noted that pharmacies won’t have any issues administering the influenza vaccine because the ACIP recommended that vaccine for persons aged six months and older.
SENMC students offered honors scholarships
Staff reports
Carmela Thea Bicol and Sammy Lopez, students at Southeast New Mexico College (SENMC) are two of the 220 Phi Theta Kappa members named 2025 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars and will receive $1,000 scholarships.
The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program helps new Phi Theta Kappa members defray educational expenses while enrolled in associate degree programs. Scholars are encouraged to assume leadership roles by participating in Society programs and are selected based on scholastic achievement, community service, and leadership potential. More than 600 applications were received.
“As the advisor for the Alpha Rho Xi Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, it is an honor to celebrate the achievements of students like Sammy and Carmela,” said PTK Advisor, Dr. Raven Anderson. “I am extremely proud of their accomplishment in receiving the prestigious Leaders of Promise Scholarship, which recognizes their dedication, leadership, and academic excellence.
Anderson said Sammy demonstrated his commitment by serving as an officer for the Alpha Rho Xi Chapter and supporting his peers as a tutor in the science department.
Carmela is excelling academically, recently entering the Nursing program, and consistently shows her willingness to assist others, Anderson said.
“Both students play vital roles in advancing our chapter’s College Project and Honors in Action Project, reflecting the spirit of collaboration and service that PTK represents,” Anderson said. “Their hard work and determination set them apart, and they are outstanding representatives of Southeast New Mexico College. I look forward to seeing the many ways they will continue to achieve and lead.”
A total of $220,000 will be awarded this year through the Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation provides $200,000 in funding for the scholarships, with $25,000 set aside for members who are veterans or active members of the United States military. The remaining amount is supported by donations to the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation, which provides multiple Global Leaders of Promise Scholarships earmarked for international students.
“The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation has a long history of providing financial assistance to outstanding students at community colleges,” said Jane Hale Paulsen, president of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. “We are proud to partner with Phi Theta Kappa to make it possible for more deserving students to achieve their educational goals and support tomorrow’s leaders of the global community.”
The funds provided by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation both aid college completion and give students the opportunity to engage in Society programs and develop leadership skills to become future leaders in their communities.
“As a proud member of Alpha Rho Xi Chapter of PTK, I would like to show my appreciation for winning the Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship,” said Carmela Thea Bicol. “I am beyond grateful for being awarded with this scholarship. I will be taking this opportunity to help me through nursing school and become a great nurse. Thank you to PTK!”
“This competitive scholarship has really demonstrated that hard work and dedication really does pay off. Thank you, Coca-Cola and sponsors, for seeing beauty in my struggles as a non-traditional college student and overall making my transition from SENMC to a four-year university even easier,” said Sammy Lopez
Amanda Karpinski Gorman, interim executive director of the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation said students in Phi Theta Kappa were “four times more likely” to complete their degrees than other students.
“The Leaders of Promise Scholarships recognize students for what they have achieved already and assure that financial need isn’t an obstacle to achieving their academic goals,” Gorman said.
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the first honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 4.4 million members and nearly 1,250 chapters in 11 countries, with approximately 220,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.