Hatch Valley Observer: July 25, 2019

Hatch Valley Observer Hatch, New Mexico

Thursday, July 25, 2019

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Has closing of checkpoints increased crime?

Future of chile festival imperiled by lack of sponsors

EdiciĂłn en espaĂąol en el interior Photo by Blake Gumprecht

Page 2 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Community calendar Thursday, July 25: 4-H camp, Hatch Public Library, 522 E. Hall St., Hatch, 3 p.m.

Friday, July 26: Party, Hatch pool, 1 Chile Capital Lane, sponsored by the Hatch Public Library, 4 to 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 27: Summer kids program, Fort Selden Historic Site, Radium Springs, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 2: Football camp for kids entering kindergarten through grade 8, Hatch Valley High School, 170 E. Herrera Road, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 3: Football camp for youth entering grades 6 through 12, Hatch Valley High School, 8:15 a.m.

Monday, Aug. 5: Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart will hold a public input meeting on proposals to legalize marijuana in the state, Hatch Community Center, 837 Highway 187, Hatch, 1:30 p.m.

Hot Popper 4-H Club, Rio Grande Elementary, 940 E. Herrera Road, Hatch, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 6: Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart will hold a public input meeting on proposals to legalize marijuana in the state, Radium Springs Community Center, 12060 Lindbeck Road, Radium Springs.

Friday, Aug. 9: K-5 Plus school ends, Hatch Valley schools.

Hatch Valley High School Class of 1969, 50th reunion, Rio Grande Vineyard and Winery, 5321 Highway 28, south of Mesilla, 4 to 9 p.m. For information, contact Dorothy Garcia, (575) 520-1786; Patsy Gomez, (575) 642-3342; or John Hill, jmhill4@yahoo.com

Hatch Valley Observer Blake Gumprecht Editor and Publisher Proofreader: Walt Rubel Translation assistance: Sara Ramos Volume 1, Number 2 Published every Thursday PO Box 912 • 210 West Hall Street, Suite B Hatch, NM 87937-0912 Voice: (575) 267-4230 Email: editor@hatchvalleyobserver.com Web: hatchvalleyobserver.com Mail subscriptions $40 in Doña Ana County $45 elsewhere in New Mexico $50 in other states Cover photo: Closed Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 25, 16 miles south of Hatch. Photo by Blake Gumprecht.

Tony Gomez, front, and Mike Morris of Diamond Construction, Las Cruces, work on a project to build new sidewalks on Adams Street. Crews are constructing sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and extending the roadway as necessary for two blocks on the east side of Adams. The state Department of Transportation provided $84,056 for the work, which should be completed by the end of August. Photo by Blake Gumprecht.

News briefs Sheriff schedules public meetings on cannabis Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart will hold seven meetings across the county in July and August to seek public input on proposals to legalize marijuana in the state, including one in Hatch and one in Radium Springs.

Stewart was appointed earlier this month by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to a 20-person Cannabis Legalization Working Group. That group will make recommendations on proposals for the legalization of marijuana.

Stewart will hold meetings at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 at the Hatch Community Center, 837 Highway 187, Hatch, and at 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 6 at the Radium Springs Community Center, 12060 Lindbeck Road, Radium Springs.

Candidates must file for election on Aug. 27 People interested in running for election in Doña Ana County in November must file to become a candidate on Aug 27.

The Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office has scheduled candidate filing day for Aug 27, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., at the clerk’s office in the Doña Ana County Government

Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces. This is the only day candidates wishing to have their name on the election ballot in November can file.

In Hatch, two seats on the Board of Trustees and the municipal judge position will be up for election in November. The two trustee seats up for election are currently held by Dennis Torres and Robert Martinez.

Shirley Rice is the judge.

New Mexico chile “taste-off” planned In the wake of the chile “war” that recently broke out between New Mexico and Colorado, the New Mexico Chile Association has announced plans to hold a chile “taste-off” on Sept. 21 in Socorro.

“The Great New Mexico Chile Taste-off” is open to all New Mexico chile growers whose chile is available for public purchase.

“Everyone knows New Mexico produces the best chile in the world,” Glen Duggins, a member of the board of directors of the association, said. “If you’re a grower, now’s the time to put your chile where your mouth is and see whose is the best of the best.”

Chile growers can register online at www.nmchileassociation.com/nmchiletasteoff

Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 3

Closing of checkpoints creates concerns May increase trafficking of drugs, humans

By Blake Gumprecht At 2:55 a.m. on June 11 in Hatch, Doña Ana County sheriff’s deputies stopped a brown Chevy Trailblazer with Texas plates for speeding. There were seven people inside.

The SUV was driven by Nikolai Colunga, 26, of El Paso. He was traveling with his girlfriend, Brenda Jimenez, and five other passengers.

Only one of the passengers had identification, a Honduran birth certificate.

Colunga and Jimenez told deputies conflicting stories about where they were going and who owned the vehicle, arousing suspicion that something was not right.

Deputies asked Colunga if they could search the SUV. He agreed, so deputies called in the nearest law enforcement with a K-9 unit, the U.S. Border Patrol.

Border Patrol agents questioned the five passengers and said all of them admitted they were in the country illegally. They said Colunga was transporting them to Albuquerque, where they were supposed to work for a cleaning service.

Agents searched the vehicle and found a plastic bag wedged between the center console and passenger seat that contained a substance that proved to be heroin. They found a pistol under the driver’s seat that had been reported stolen in San Antonio, Texas. They found 100 rounds of ammunition.

All seven people were transported to the Border Patrol station in Las Cruces.

Later in a holding cell, Border Patrol agents found Colunga in possession of two more bags containing narcotics. One contained heroin, the other methamphetamines.

According to court documents, Colunga admitted he had been hired to transport the five undocumented immigrants to Albuquerque, along with the narcotics.

He said he was paid $1,000 for the job.

The man was later charged in U.S.

A sign warning motorists that they must stop for a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 185 south of Hatch. It is currently closed. Photo by Blake Gumprecht.

District Court with possession of heroin and methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to transport “illegal aliens.”

Hatch Police Chief James “Trey” Gimler, whose officers participated in the incident, said that the car, the drugs, and the undocumented immigrants would likely have never made it to Hatch if two Border Patrol checkpoints in northern Doña Ana County were not closed.

“It was definitely a product of the checkpoint being down,” he said. “If the checkpoint was open, they would have gotten arrested.”

Or they may not have attempted the trip.

The Border Patrol closed six interior checkpoints in the El Paso district on March 23 to shift agents to the border to help process the flood of largely Central American migrants seeking asylum there. They have been closed ever since.

Two of the closed checkpoints are in northern Doña Ana County. One is on Interstate 25, 16 miles south of Hatch.

The other is on two-lane Highway 185, 10 miles south of Hatch.

Gimler believes that because the

checkpoints are closed, criminals can travel north — shuttling drugs, human beings, or perhaps even more dangerous materials — with little risk of being caught.

“It gives me concern that we don’t know who these people are and what they are bringing in,” he said. “It could be a terrorist or a murderer.

Who knows?”

The Border Patrol won’t say when the checkpoints will reopen. Border Patrol officials also declined repeated requests for interviews about the checkpoints.

Officials in neighboring Otero County in April declared a state of emergency in response to the closing of a checkpoint there and demanded that New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham use National Guard troops to reopen the checkpoints.

Otero County has a single checkpoint on U.S. 70 between Las Cruces and Alamogordo.

In May, Otero County Sheriff David Black told reporters that the closed checkpoints are a “green light” for drug cartels seeking to transport narcotics.

The Border Patrol operates 171 interi-

Cover story

or checkpoints on highways within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Patrol agents ask motorists if they are U.S. citizens and drug-sniffing dogs nose around vehicles for the scent of narcotics.

Between October and June, Border Patrol agents seized 20,751 pounds of marijuana, 5,995 pounds of methamphetamines, 1,443 pounds of cocaine, and 276 pounds of heroin at the checkpoints.

Officials in Doña Ana County haven’t suggested that it should follow Otero County’s lead in declaring a state of emergency because of the closed checkpoints (there are three in Doña Ana County). The different responses may be because Otero County is predominantly Republican while Doña Ana County is largely Democratic.

Still, law enforcement here are concerned about the impact of the closed checkpoints.

Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart shares Gimler’s fears. She says that drug traffickers may feel “emboldened” by the closing of the checkpoints.

“If I were so inclined and wanted to get into that business,” Stewart said, “maybe I’ll give it a try, maybe I can move some product.”

Stewart said the sheriff’s office and New Mexico State Police have altered their strategies for trying to catch drug traffickers because of the closing of the Border Patrol checkpoints, increasing traffic stops at times of the day when smugglers are most likely to be active.

But the sheriff’s office is more constrained in its ability to search for narcotics than the Border Patrol. DASO does not have a K-9 unit with drug-sniffing dogs and it can’t search a vehicle without permission or probable cause to believe that the automobile may be hiding drugs.

There is no statistical evidence yet that drug arrests and seizures of narcotics have increased in the county since the checkpoints were closed, but Stewart acknowledged “it’s so early we couldn’t possibly draw conclusions.”

Both Stewart and Gimler suspect that if the movement of drugs through the county has increased, most large-scale shipments are probably destined for Continued on page 14

Page 4 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Legislators boast of capital outlays for area

By Blake Gumprecht Two state legislators came to Hatch last week to tell residents about state allocations that will benefit the area, provide them information on other bills enacted in the most recent legislative session, and ostensibly to seek public input, but there wasn’t much of that.

The meeting was organized by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn and Rep. Nathan Small, both from Las Cruces, along with Rep. Rudy Martinez, of Bayard. All are Democrats. Martinez couldn’t attend because of a last-minute conflict.

They were joined by Manny Sanchez, the Doña Ana County commissioner who represents much of the northern part of the county, County Manager Fernando Macias, and other government officials, who provided details about some of the projects discussed.

The focus of the meeting was discussion of 11 projects and programs that received capital outlay funding in the most recent legislative session. All but two of the allocations were for projects in the area. The others were for agricultural programs that could help area farmers.

New Mexico is unique among states in that it allows lawmakers to divide among themselves a portion of each year’s capital improvement budget. Each lawmaker decides how to allocate a pot of money and they don’t have to disclose how they do that.

The state had more money to allocate to such projects this year than in the past because of an increase in tax revenues from the state’s booming oil industry.

The governor approved more than $900 million in funding for capital outlay projects statewide.

“It was a very successful session,” Small told the audience at the Hatch Community Center. “This was the most resources that the state legislature has been able to bring back to Doña Ana County …. maybe in the history of the capital outlay process.”

The largest of the allocations was $1.45 million for a Spring Canyon flood control dam, a $11.7 million project that

has been planned since 2004 to address persistent flooding in Hatch.

Spring Canyon is directly south of Hatch and drains a large area of the Las Uvas Mountains. Flooding originating in Spring Canyon caused significant damage in Hatch in 1988, 1992, and 2006.

The dam site is just south of the village of Hatch, where the Colorado Drain and Rodey Lateral meet. It is a joint project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the county. The federal government is providing 65 percent of the cost.

State and local governments are required to provide $4 million for the project. They’ve provided $2 million so far.

“We’re making a lot of progress,” John Gwynne, director of the Doña Ana County Flood Commission, told the meeting.

“We still have a ways to go.”

The second most valuable capital outlay provided for the area was also for flood control. The state is providing $630,000 to the village of Hatch so that it can remove the Canal Road bridge on Placitas Arroyo.

The bridge obstructs the free flow of water during times of heavy runoff and has contributed to flooding. It will be replaced by a concrete low-water crossing.

The project is expected to be completed by the 2020 monsoon season.

“That was our top priority,” Slim Whitlock, a member of the Hatch Board of Trustees, said.

The third most valuable allocation was for a less essential project, but one that could provide economic benefits.

The state is providing $350,000 to Hatch to construct two signs on Interstate 25 to promote the village.

That project was conceived by Steinborn, who hopes the signs will inspire motorists to exit the interstate, visit Hatch, and spend money there.

The fourth most valuable capital outlay for the area is also for flood control.

The state will provide $200,000 so that the Elephant Butte Irrigation District can pipe a portion of the Rodey Lateral underground.

Approximately 2,000 feet of the latContinued on page 11

The staff of Jim’s Supermarket welcomes the Hatch Valley Observer and wishes it many years of success.

’S M I J SUPERMARKET 150 West Hall Street, Hatch, (575) 267-5591 Open Monday to Saturday, 8-7 p.m., Sunday, 9-3 p.m.

Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 5

Chile fest at risk due to lack of sponsors

By Blake Gumprecht In June, organizers of the Hatch Chile Festival decided to cancel this year’s chile fest because of a lack of sponsors.

Then they changed their minds.

But Tina Cabrales, president of the chile festival committee, says the future of the chile festival, the single most popular tourist event in southern New Mexico, is imperiled because it has been unable to attract a single benefactor.

“We still don’t have any sponsors — none, zero,” she said.

Cabrales said that festival organizers reversed their decision about cancelling the festival because planning for this year’s event is too far along and organizers have already made commitments that they can’t reverse.

“Right now, we’re just trying to make do,” she said.

“If we don’t start getting sponsors, we’re going to have to cancel for next year. We really need sponsors to keep it going.”

The Hatch Chile Festival has been held every Labor Day weekend since 1972. This year’s event is scheduled for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

The event celebrates New Mexico’s most famous agricultural export. Hatch has become so synonymous with the chiles it produces, and their unique taste, that they are marketed worldwide with the Hatch name.

In 2018, the chile festival had 21 sponsors, according to its website. Cabrales said sponsors typically provide $1,500 to $10,000 each.

Sponsorships provide a small percentage of the festival’s overall budget — most income is from admissions, vendor fees, and the like — but sponsor contributions are critical to making the chile festival possible because they help pay upfront costs incurred before the first vis-

Chiles in this year’s crop. Photo by Blake Gumprecht. itor arrives.

Cabrales said, for example, that the festival must pay a $5,000 down payment for festival t-shirts, plus additional deposits for mugs, caps, and other souvenirs.

“We don’t have that,” she said. “Nothing has been ordered yet.”

Cabrales said the festival must also pay $4,000 for insurance by August 1, or else the chile festival parade may have to be cancelled because the New Mexico Department of Transportation requires proof of insurance before the parade can happen.

“I have to get it now,” she said. “It takes 30 days.”

The chile festival must pay deposits to entertainers who are scheduled to perform. It doesn’t have any money to do that this year.

“Thank God we do business with some of them every year, so some are okay with it,” Cabrales said. “Some aren’t.”

The festival’s website needs to be upgraded, but its website provider wants $2,500 before it will do any work. Consequently, the website hasn’t been updated since last year’s festival. It doesn’t even list the dates for this year’s event.

“We don’t have any money to fix it,” she said.

Cabrales said the chile festival currently has about $2,000 in the bank.

The chile festival committee has sent letters seeking sponsorships to about 100 companies, organizations, and individuals. It hasn’t received a single response, she said.

The committee follows letters with phone calls, but those have likewise failed to generate any money.

The event’s biggest sponsor in 2018 has so far declined to contribute this year. Cabrales wouldn’t identify the sponsor, but said it has suffered “family issues” that make it less likely to becomes a sponsor this year.

She said the festival has experienced difficulties attracting sponsors in the past, but “it hasn’t been this bad.”

Cabrales believes the festival’s difficulties are partly a result of misconceptions about its financial resources.

Because the event typically attracts tens of thousands of people, she said, locals think the festival is flush with cash.

“They think we’re making tons of money,” she said, “but we’re not. We live paycheck to paycheck.”

She said it’s also become more difficult to attract sponsors because of donor fatigue. Potential donors are asked so often to contribute money for various causes that they stop giving.

Cabrillo and other festival organizers are deeply concerned that if sponsors don’t come forward soon that the 48th Hatch Chile Festival could be the last.

“We’re scared,” she said.

Village unveils capital improvement wish list The village of Hatch earlier this month presented a wish list of capital improvement projects.

The list was just a draft, but includes a wide range of projects that the village will consider when seeking appropriations from the New Mexico Legislature in 2020. The Board of Trustees will likely act on a resolution to approve a final list at its August meeting.

The list includes 11 projects for which funding may be sought next year. Though most such projects are funded over multiple years, the amount of funding that could be requested in the next fiscal year for those projects totals $6.9 million.

The Placitas Arroyo flood control project is the most expensive item on the list.

That project is already underway and projected to cost $4.1 million. It has received $550,000 in funding so far. The village may seek an additional $1.5 million for that work in the next fiscal year.

The other projects for which the village may seek funding in 2020, ranked by the amount of money that may be requested, are:  Utility improvements, $1.5 million: To extend water and sewer service to unserved areas within the village.  Street, drainage, and bridge improvements, $1 million: To improve

streets and bridges, including Spring Canyon bridge, Adams Street, Canal Road, Highway 187, and Main Street.  Airport drainage improvements, $1 million: To plan, design, and construct drainage improvements at the airport.  Housing demolition, $500,000: To demolish abandoned homes destroyed in the 2006 flood.  Ball field improvements, $400,000: To make improvements to the Hatch baseball/softball field complex, including an announcer stand, restroom, artificial turf or turf improvements, and playground equipment.  Downtown park improvements,

$340,000: To develop a park on the former school grounds on School Street.  Commercial kitchen, $300,000: To construct a commercial kitchen for use by the Hatch Chile Festival.  Spring Canyon Dam Project, $250,000: To make improvements to Spring Canyon Dam.  Swimming pool improvements, $100,000: To make improvements to the Hatch swimming pool, including landscaping and a pool cover.  Library improvements, $30,000: To make improvements to the Hatch Public library, including shelving, painting, and flooring.

Page 6 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Opinion

Farmworkers merit our thanks regardless On a recent morning, while driving on Highway 154 near Rincon, I noticed workers out in a field picking something.

I wasn’t sure what initially.

I stopped, got my camera out, and walked toward the field. They were picking chiles. I took a few photos and posted two of them on the newspaper’s Facebook page.

Blake Gumprecht

Roadrunner What happened next surprised me.

My post was shared again and again. It’s now been seen more than 284,000 times.

I guess that shows the power of Hatch chiles and the love people have for them.

But there was a more disturbing side story to what happened, as is so often the case on social media.

At one point, a woman asked, “Are the workers pictured legal America citizens or are immigrant laborers still being used?”

She was criticized by a few people and many people came to the defense of the farmworkers.

“No one wants this job,” said one person. “Be grateful for the illegals.”

“You need to work one day in their shoes on those fields,” wrote another.

“Without them, you would starve.”

“Hope they don’t get raided by ICE,” said a third.

One person criticized me for posting the photos. “Hey,” he wrote, “please stop giving dates and places for ICE to go harass our hard-working chili pickers.”

But I doubt Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs my help to find farmworkers in the Hatch Valley. They are everywhere.

There are no faces visible in my pho-

tographs. Why do people presume the workers picking the chiles were undocumented?

Why, in general, do people think because a farmworker has brown skin that they must be here illegally?

Some may be. Many are not. Everybody around here has brown skin. I don’t think most of them are undocumented.

I was happy, however, that many people thanked the workers and recognized the difficulty of their labor.

“If people really want to appreciate the taste of freshly roasted chile,” wrote one person, “they should spend a hot day picking it themselves.”

While delivering the paper’s first issue last week, I again encountered a cluster of farmworkers in a field near Salem.

They were picking onions. I’m preparing a story about the onion harvest and needed photos to accompany the story.

It was my first time seeing workers pick onions, this area’s less glamorous crop. I grew up in the suburbs and have lived largely in cities, though I’ve seen my share of agricultural work.

I was surprised to learn that most onions grown around here are picked by hand. I learned that the varieties of onions produced here are too fragile to be harvested by machine.

It’s difficult work. The workers were on their knees, pulling onions from the ground, then trimming them. They moved a few feet every few minutes, still on their knees.

What must that be like, doing such work eight or twelve hours a day in the blazing New Mexico sun? What sort of physical toll must that take on the body, doing such work, day after day?

I’m exhausted from getting this newspaper off the ground, but suddenly I felt like I had no reason to complain.

Thanks to the farmworkers, wherever they’re from and regardless of their immigration status.

Police chief warns public: Be wary of common scams There are many scams that are being used not only in the Hatch area but across the United States. The biggest thing to remember is that the police and IRS are not going to call you on the James Gimler

Police chief Village of Hatch telephone asking you to pay money, and threatening that you will be put in jail if you don’t pay.

Beware of anyone calling saying that you won the Publishers Clearing House and would receive $4 million and a Mercedes Benz, but that you must first pay some amount to receive the money. If anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is and is probably a scam.

If anyone calls you from Mexico stating that they have kidnapped one of your

family members and you need to send money for their release, it is most likely a scam so don’t give any information over the phone about any family that you have here or in Mexico. They may try to get background information to extort money from you.

Several individuals from the community have told the police department that they received calls advising them that their Social Security number was cancelled due to suspicious activity. If anyone contacts you wanting any type of personal information, please do not provide it. If you do not have an open case with Social Security Administration, disregard any calls wanting you to provide Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and full names. Schemes involving Social Security information are among the biggest scams we encounter.

Another scam that has been around Continued on page 7

Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 7

Spending, tax increases threaten state’s future

By Rep. James Townsend House Republican Leader, Artesia This past Independence Day holiday, while many of us celebrated with backyard barbecues and neighborhood fireworks, bureaucrats in Santa Fe were busy updating their accounting codes to prepare for the influx of new tax revenue. It will be a happy time for fans of big government.

I can’t imagine that our country’s founding fathers envisioned the current governing reality in our state.

The Revolutionary generation built our country on the principles of limited government and individual freedom. They enshrined our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the very document that declared our independence as a self-governing nation.

Unfortunately, over the past 243 years, these ideals sometimes have been used to provide cover for objectives that limit individual freedom rather than protect it. Take the tax increases passed by partisans in Santa Fe earlier this year.

New Mexico’s booming oil and gas industry produced a $1.2 billion revenue surplus in fiscal 2019 and it’s on track to generate an additional $1.1 billion in fiscal 2020. These surpluses could grow once the final numbers are tallied.

After years of austerity, legislators should have been mindful to address critical issues while controlling the size of government programs as a hedge against future revenue downturns. Instead, they went on a spending spree.

Democrat legislators increased recurring expenses by 12%. For the first time in New Mexico’s history, general fund expenditures will exceed $7 billion.

Democrats were on such a shopper’s high that they quickly blew through the oil and gas windfall. They then elected to pick the pockets of New Mexico’s overtaxed middle class to the tune of $1 billion over the next four years.

Spending advocates said the increases were necessary to ensure equal outcomes for all New Mexicans.

Proponents of the tax hike say that most New Mexicans won’t be affected unless they buy cars, shop online or do business outside of the state. Well, who do you think does these things? The hard-working women and men who form the backbone of our state’s economy, that’s who.

Marie Antoinette once told starving Parisians to eat cake if they didn’t have bread. Likewise, Democrat legislators seem to think that New Mexico’s middle-class families have unlimited reserves that can be tapped at any time to pay for new government programs. It would

How to contact your elected officials President: Donald Trump, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500, 202-456-1414.

U.S. Senate: Martin Heinrich, 303 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, (202) 224-5521.

Tom Udall, 531 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC, 20510, (202) 2246621.

U.S. House of Representatives: Xochitl Torres Small, 430 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, (202) 225-2365.

Governor: Michelle Lujan Grisham, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Room 400, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 476-2200.

State Senate: District 36, Jeff Steinborn, PO Box 562, Las Cruces, NM 88004, (575) 635-5615, jeff.steinborn@nmlegis.gov District 39: John Arthur Smith, PO Box 998, Deming, NM 88031, (575) 546-4979, john.smith@nmlegis.gov State House: District 36, Nathan Small, 1320 Fourth St., Las Cruces, NM 88005, (575) 496-9540, nathan.small@nmlegis.gov District 39: Rodolpho “Rudy” Martinez: PO Box 164, Bayard, NM 88023, (575) 534-7546, rodolpho.martinez@nmlegis.gov Dona Ana County commission: District 5, Manuel Sanchez, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, NM 88007, (575) 525-5809, msanchez@donaanacounty.org Hatch Mayor: Andy Nuñez, (575) 520-1654, annunez@zianet.com Hatch Board of Trustees:; Casey Crist, (575) 760-5611; Bobby Martinez, (575) 640-6025, chico5369@yahoo.com; Dennis Torres, (575) 915-6612, gdtorre75@gmail. com; Slim Whitlock, (575) 649-6211.

be a downer to acknowledge that many families have no extra wiggle room in their household budgets to accommodate these new taxes.

The reality is that many New Mexicans who will be on the receiving end of these tax hikes are looking to move to states that treat them and their tax dollars with more respect. Many families in the tax base income brackets have already left New Mexico to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

Worse still, the spending and tax increases enacted by the Legislature set up our state for future failure. The oil and gas industry is one of boom and bust cycles. Revenues are high now, but they will inevitably fall, just like they did a few years back.

What happens then? Who will pay for legislators’ largess once that funding stream dries up?

You will. If legislators show little restraint in passing new taxes in times of surplus, can you imagine the tax hikes that are coming once times get tough?

So, as you enjoyed this Fourth of July and celebrated the holiday commemorating our freedom from government overbearance, the new taxes tacked onto your next car purchase or Amazon order were directed to a good cause – ensuring that feckless politicians don’t have to limit their pursuit of happiness when spending your money.

Gimler Continued from page 6 for some time is Microsoft customer care calls. Calls will come in with people stating that they are from Microsoft wanting to fix or update your computer.

They provide you information to make you believe that your computer has been infected with a virus and guide you to provide information from your computer to get access to it. Once you provide the information, they can gain access to everything on your computer — pictures, passwords, email accounts, credit card information — all they need to steal your identity and money. I recommend that you do not provide any information from your computer to anyone unless you have contacted them about a problem.

Social media is a common source of scams. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter are only a few of the social media that have gotten people into trouble. Many accounts on social media may be fake, created to perpetuate scams.

People sometimes share inappropriate pictures, videos and other information

that can wind up in the hands of the wrong people.

Hatch police have had cases where juveniles have received Facebook requests from fictitious accounts asking them to send inappropriate photos and then get extorted for money. The scammers threaten to make the photos public if the victims don’t pay. It is best not to accept invitations on social media from people you don’t know or to send anyone photos or videos you don’t want the public to see. If any of these scams happen to you, or you are threatened, please contact the police.

Lastly do not respond to text messages from people saying that they live in your area, want to have intimate relations with you, and then ask you to go to a web page to have a conversation. These are all scams. Contact the Hatch police if anything like that happens to you.

Please don’t be afraid to contact the police if someone contacts you and says that there is a warrant for your arrest. If there is a warrant for your arrest, law enforcement will not contact you by phone.

All correspondence will be through the mail.

Page 8 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Observador

Cierre de puestos de control crea temor Por Blake Gumprecht

A las 2:55 a.m. del 11 de junio en Hatch, el sheriff del condado de Doña Ana detuvo un Chevy Trailblazer marrón con placas de Texas por exceso de velocidad. Había siete personas en el vehículo.

El SUV fue conducido por Nikolai Colunga, de 26 años, de El Paso. Viajaba con su novia, Brenda Jiménez, y otros cinco pasajeros.

Sólo uno de los pasajeros tenía identificación, un certificado de nacimiento hondureño. Colunga y Jiménez contaron historias contradictorias sobre a dónde iban y quién era el dueño del vehículo, despertando sospechas de que algo no estaba bien.

Los diputados le preguntaron a Colunga si podían registrar el SUV. Estuvo de acuerdo, así que los diputados llamaron a la policía más cercana con una unidad K-9, la Patrulla Fronteriza de los Estados Unidos.

Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza interrogaron a los cinco pasajeros y dijeron que todos ellos admitieron que estaban en el país ilegalmente. Dijeron que Colunga los transportaba a Albuquerque, donde se suponía que trabajaban para un servicio de limpieza.

Los agentes registraron el vehículo y encontraron una bolsa de plástico entre la consola central y el asiento del pasajero que contenía una sustancia que resultó ser heroína. Encontraron una pistola debajo del asiento

Un coche se acerca al puesto de control de la Patrulla Fronteriza en la autopista 185, al sur de Hatch, que está cerrada a pesar de lo que dice el letrero.

Foto por Blake Gumprecht. del conductor que había sido reportada como robada en San Antonio, Texas. Encontraron 100 cartuchos de munición.

Las siete personas fueron transportadas a la estación dela Patrulla Fronteriza en Las Cruces.

Más tarde, en una celda de detención, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza encontraron a Colunga en posesión de dos bolsas más que contenían narcóticos. Una contenía heroína, las otras metanfetaminas.

Según los documentos judiciales, Colunga admitió que había sido contratado para transportar a los cinco

inmigrantes indocumentados a Albuquerque, junto con los narcóticos. Dijo que le pagaron $1,000 por el trabajo.

Más tarde, el hombre fue acusado en el Tribunal de Distrito de los Estados Unidos de posesión de heroína y metanfetamina con la intención de distribuir, y conspiración para transportar “extranjeros ilegales”.

El jefe de la policía de Hatch, James “Trey” Gimler, cuyos oficiales participaron en la investigación en la escena, dijo que el coche, las drogas y los inmigrantes indocumentados probablemente nunca habrían llegado a Hatch si los dos puestos de control fronterizos del condado de Doña Ana no estubiecen cerrados.

“Definitivamente fue un producto de que el puesto de control estubiese cerrado”, dijo. “Si el puesto de control estuviera abierto, los habrían arrestado”.

O puede que no hayan intentado el viaje.

La Patrulla Fronteriza cerró seis puestos de control interiores en el distrito de El Paso el 23 de marzo para trasladar agentes a la frontera para ayudar a procesar la avalancha de migrantes en gran parte Centroaméricanos que buscaban asilo allí. Han estado cerrados desde entonces.

Dos de los puestos de control cerrados están en el norte del condado de Doña Ana. Uno está en la InterContinúa en la página 9

Futuro del festival del chile en Hatch en peligro Por Blake Gumprecht

En junio, los organizadores del Festival del Chile decidieron cancelar el festival del chile de este año debido a la falta de patrocinadores.

Luego cambiaron de opinión.

Pero Tina Cabrales, presidenta del comité del festival, dice que el futuro del festival del chile, es el evento turístico más popular en el sur de Nuevo México, está en peligro porque han sido incapaces de atraer a un solo benefactor.

“Todavía no tenemos patrocinadores, ninguno, cero”, dijo.

Cabrales dijo que los organizadores del festival revirtieron su decisión sobre la cancelación del festival porque la planificación para el evento de este año ya

está muy avanzado y los organizadores ya han asumido compromisos que no pueden revertir.

“Ahora mismo, sólo estamos tratando de hacerlo”, dijo. “Si no empezamos a conseguir patrocinadores, tendremos que cancelar para el próximo año. Realmente necesitamos patrocinadores para mantenerlo en marcha”.

El Festival del Chile se celebra todos los fines de semana del Día del Trabajo desde 1972. El evento de este año está programado para el 31 de agosto y el 1 de septiembre.

En 2018, el festival del chile contuvo 21 patrocinadores, según su página web.

Cabrales dijo que los patrocinadores típicamente proveen $1,500 a $10,000 cada uno.

Los patrocinios proporcionan un pequeño porcentaje del presupuesto total del festival — la mayoría de los ingresos provienen de admisiones, cuotas de proveedores y similares — pero las contribuciones de los patrocinadores son fundamentales para hacer posible el festival de chile porque ayudan a pagar por adelantado los costos incurridos antes de que llegue el primer visitante.

Cabrales dijo, por ejemplo, que el festival debe pagar un pago inicial de $5,000 por las camisetas del festival, además de depósitos adicionales para tazas, gorras y otros recuerdos.

“No tenemos eso”, dijo. “Nada ha sido ordenado todavía”.

Cabrales dijo que el festival también debe pagar $4,000 por el seguro antes

del 1 de agosto, o de lo contrario el desfile del festival de chile puede tener que ser cancelado porque el Departamento de Transporte de Nuevo México requiere prueba de seguro antes de que el desfile pueda ocurrir.

“Tengo que conseguirlo ahora”, dijo.

“Se necesitan 30 días”.

El festival del chile también debe pagar depósitos a los artistas que están programados para actuar. No tienen dinero para hacer eso este año.

“Gracias a Dios hacemos negocios con algunos de ellos cada año, así que algunos están de acuerdo con ello”, dijo Cabrales. “Algunos no lo son”.

El sitio web del festival necesita ser actualizado, pero su proveedor de sitios Continúa en la página 10

Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 9

Trabajadores agrícolas merecen apreciación En una mañana reciente, mientras conducía por la autopista 154 cerca de Rincón, noté trabajadores en un campo recogiendo algo. No estaba seguro de eso inicialmente.

Me detuve, saqué mi cámara y caminé hacia el campo. Estaban recogiendo chiles. Tomé algunas fotos y publiqué dos de ellas en la página de Facebook del periódico.

Lo que pasó después me sorprendió.

Mi publicación fue compartida una y otra vez. Ahora se ha visto más de 284.000 veces. Supongo que eso muestra el poder de los chiles de Hatch y el amor que la gente tiene por ellos.

Pero hubo una historia más inquietante de lo que sucedió, como es tan a menudo el caso en las redes sociales.

En un momento dado, una mujer preguntó: “¿Los trabajadores son ciudadanos legales de Estados Unidos o todavía se están utilizando trabajadores inmigrantes”?

Fue criticada por unas pocas personas y mucha gente acudió a la defensa de los trabajadores agrícolas.

El Chequeo Continúa de la página 8

estatal 25, 16 millas al sur de Hatch. El otro está en la autopista de dos carriles 185, 10 millas al sur de Hatch.

Gimler cree que debido a que los puestos de control están cerrados, los delincuentes pueden viajar hacia el norte — drogas de cierre, seres humanos o quizás materiales aún más peligrosos — con poco riesgo de ser capturados.

“Me preocupa que no sepamos quiénes son estas personas y qué están trayendo”, dijo. “Podría ser un terrorista o un asesino. ¿Quién sabe”?

La Patrulla Fronteriza no dirá cuándo se reabrirán los puestos de control. Los funcionarios de la Patrulla Fronteriza también rechazaron repetidas solicitudes de entrevistas sobre los puestos de control.

Funcionarios del vecino condado de Otero en abril declararon el estado de emergencia en respuesta al cierre de un puesto de control allí y exigieron que la gobernadora de Nuevo México, Michelle

“Nadie quiere este trabajo”, dijo una persona. “Agradece a los ilegales”.

“Tienes que trabajar un día en sus zapatos en esos campos”, escribió otro.

“Sin ellos, te morirías de hambre”.

“Espero que no sean agarrados por el ICE”, dijo un tercero.

Una persona me criticó por publicar

las fotos. “Oye”, escribió, “por favor deja de dar fechas y lugares para que ICE vaya a acosar a nuestros duros recolectores de chile”.

Pero dudo que Inmigración y Control de Aduanas necesiten mi ayuda para encontrar trabajadores agrícolas en el Valle de Hatch. Están por todas partes.

Aquí no hay caras visibles en mis fotografías. ¿Por qué la gente presume que los trabajadores que recogían los chiles

eran indocumentados? ¿Por qué, en general, la gente piensa que porque un trabajador agrícola tiene la piel morena que deben estar aquí ilegalmente?

Algunos pueden ser. Muchos no lo son. Todos por aquí tienen la piel morena. No creo que ellos son indocumentados.

Sin embargo, estaba feliz, de que muchas personas agradecieran a los trabajadores y reconocieran la dificultad de su trabajo.

“Si la gente realmente quiere apreciar el sabor del chile recién tostado”, escribió una persona”, deberían pasar un día caluroso recogiéndolo ellos mismos”.

Mientras entregaba el primer número del periódico la semana pasada, volví a encontrarme con un grupo de trabajadores agrícolas en un campo cerca de Salem. Estaban recogiendo cebollas.

Estoy preparando una historia sobre la cosecha de cebolla y necesito fotos para acompañar la historia.

Era la primera vez que veía a los trabajadores recoger cebollas, esta zona es

menos glamurosa. Crecí en los suburbios y he vivido en gran medida en ciudades, aunque he visto mi parte del trabajo agrícola.

Me sorprendió saber que la mayoría de las cebollas cultivadas por aquí se recogen a mano. Aprendí que las variedades de las cebollas producidas aquí son demasiado frágiles para ser cosechadas por máquina.

Es un trabajo difícil. Los trabajadores estaban de rodillas, tirando de cebollas del suelo, y luego recortando. Se movieron unos metros cada pocos minutos, todavía de rodillas. ¿Cómo debe ser eso, hacer tal trabajo ocho o doce horas al día en el ardiente sol de Nuevo México? ¿Qué tipo de peaje físico debe asumir el cuerpo, haciendo tal trabajo, día tras día?

Estoy agotado de sacar este periódico desde cero, pero de repente sentí que no tenía ninguna razón para quejarme.

Gracias a los trabajadores agrícolas, de donde vengan e independientemente de su estatus migratorio.

Lujan Grisham, utilicen Tropas de guardia para reabrir los puestos de control.

El condado de Otero tiene un único puesto de control en la interestatal 70 entre Las Cruces y Alamogordo.

En mayo, el sheriff del condado de Otero, David Black, dijo a los periodistas que los puestos de control cerrados son una “luz verde” para los cárteles de la droga que buscan transportar narcóticos.

La Patrulla Fronteriza opera 171 puestos de control interiores en carreteras dentro de 100 millas de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México. Los agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza preguntan a los automovilistas si son ciudadanos estadounidenses y los perros que olfatean drogas alrededor de los vehículos para el aroma de narcóticos.

Entre octubre y junio, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza incautaron 20.751 libras de marihuana, 5.995 libras de metanfetaminas, 1.443 libras de cocaína y 276 libras de heroína en los puestos de control.

Funcionarios del condado de Doña Ana no han sugerido que debe seguir el ejemplo del condado de Otero en la

declaración de un estado de emergencia debido a los puntos de control cerrados (hay tres en el condado de Doña Ana).

Las diferentes respuestas pueden deberse a que el condado de Otero es predominantemente republicano, mientras que Doña Ana County es en gran parte demócrata.

Aun así, las fuerzas del orden aquí están preocupadas por el impacto de los puestos de control cerrados.

El Sheriff Kim Stewart del condado de Doña Ana comparte los temores de Gimler. Ella dice que los traficantes pueden sentirse “envalentonados” por el cierre de los puestos de control.

“Si yo estuviera tan inclinado y quisiera entrar en ese negocio”, dijo Stewart, “tal vez lo intentara, tal vez pudiera mover algún producto”.

Stewart dijo que la oficina del sheriff y la policía del estado de Nuevo México han alterado sus estrategias para tratar de atrapar a los narcotraficantes debido al cierre de los puestos de control de la Patrulla Fronteriza, aumentando las paradas de tráfico en momentos del día en que los contrabandistas son más pro-

pensos a ser Activos.

Pero la oficina del sheriff está más limitada en su capacidad de buscar narcóticos que la Patrulla Fronteriza. DASO no tiene una unidad K-9 con perros que olfatean drogas y no puede registrar un vehículo sin permiso o probable causa para creer que el automóvil puede estar ocultando drogas.

Todavía no hay evidencia estadística de que las detenciones de drogas y las incautaciones de narcóticos hayan aumentado en el condado desde que se cerraron los puestos de control, pero Stewart reconoció que “es tan temprano que no podríamos sacar conclusiones”.

Tanto Stewart como Gimler sospechan que si el movimiento de drogas a través del condado ha aumentado, la mayoría de los envíos a gran escala probablemente están destinados a mercados más grandes al norte y al este de Nuevo México, como Chicago o Atlanta, por lo que simplemente pasan por el condado.

Gimler, sin embargo, ha notado una mayor prevalencia de drogas, particular-

Blake Gumprecht

Correcaminos

Continúa en la página 10

Page 10 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

El Chequeo Continúa de la página 9

mente metanfetaminas, en comunidades en la parte norte del condado que cree que es el resultado de la clausura de los puestos de control.

Ese aumento no ha dado lugar a más arrestos de drogas a nivel local, pero Gimler ha notado evidencia de otras maneras. Dijo que el uso de metanfetaminas es mayor en comunidades no incorporadas, como Placitas, porque la presencia policial en esas áreas es leve.

“Aquí hay mucha más metanfetamina de la que solía haber”, dijo Gimler, quien trabajó como oficial para la Administración de Control de Drogas cuando fue empleado por la oficina del sheriff ”.

Puedo decir que hay mucho más que lo están usando. No veo la metanfetamina entrando en Hatch, pero sabes que está aquí cuando ves que toda esta gente

Festival

Continúa de la página 8

web quiere $2,500 antes de que haga cualquier trabajo. En consecuencia, el sitio web no se ha actualizado desde el festival del año pasado. Ni siquiera enumera las fechas para el evento de este año.

“No tenemos dinero para arreglarlo”, dijo.

Cabrales dijo que el festival del chile actualmente tiene alrededor de $2,000 en el banco.

El comité del festival de chile ha enviado cartas en busca de patrocinios a cerca de 100 empresas, organizaciones e individuos. No ha recibido una sola respuesta, dijo.

El comité sigue las cartas con llamadas telefónicas, pero esas tampoco han generado dinero.

El mayor patrocinador del evento en 2018 se ha negado hasta ahora a contribuir este año. Cabrales no identificaría al patrocinador, pero dijo que ha sufrido “problemas familiares” que hacen menos probable que se convierta en patroci-

que estás persiguiendo está colgada en metanfetamina”.

Dice que los usuarios de metanfetaminas que viven en el valle de Hatch son más propensos a conducir a Las Cruces, comprar drogas y traerlos de vuelta a casa porque los puestos de control están cerrados.

Por lo general, se trata de compras a pequeña escala que no inflarían los datos del crimen de manera apreciable, pero tienen un efecto pronunciado en las comunidades locales.

“Sabemos que la gente está recibiendo una metanfetamina más fácil que si los puestos de control de la Patrulla Fronteriza estuvieran abiertos”, dijo. “Es de libre acceso. Pueden bajar, conseguirlo y volver. No tienen que tener miedo de pasar por los puestos de control”.

Gimler dijo que el aumento del uso de metanfetaminas en el área ha estimulado un aumento de los delitos contra la propiedad en las comunidades del norte nador este año.

Dijo que el festival ha experimentado dificultades para atraer patrocinadores en el pasado, pero “no ha sido tan malo”.

Cabrales cree que las dificultades del festival son en parte el resultado de conceptos erróneos sobre los recursos financieros del festival. Debido a que el evento típicamente atrae a decenas de miles de personas, dijo, los lugareños piensan que el festival está lleno de dinero en efectivo.

“Ellos piensan que estamos haciendo toneladas de dinero”, dijo, “pero no lo estamos. Vivimos sueldo a sueldo”.

Dijo que también se ha vuelto más difícil atraer patrocinadores debido a la fatiga de los donantes. A las empresas, organizaciones y agencias gubernamentales se les pide tan a menudo que contribuyan dinero para varias causas que dejan de hacerlo.

“Se cansan de ello”, dijo.

Cabrillo y otros organizadores del festival están profundamente preocupados de que si los patrocinadores no se presentan pronto el Festival del Chile número 48 podría ser el último.

“Estamos asustados”, dijo.

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por parte de los usuarios desesperados por dinero para pagar su hábitos.

“Robos”, dijo. “La gente robando cosas de tu patio delantero”.

Cuando se le preguntó si el aumento del uso de metanfetaminas estaba estimulando un aumento de las detenciones por otros delitos, Gimler dijo: “Creo que cada arresto que tenemos está, de una manera u otra, ligado a la metanfetamina”.

Stewart está preocupado de que el cierre de los puestos de control esté aumentando la trata de personas a través del condado. Aunque la atención de los medios de comunicación se ha centrado en las familias migrantes que buscan asilo en los puertos de entrada, aún continúa el cruce ilegal de la frontera en otras zonas.

Los funcionarios de la Patrulla Fronteriza, de hecho, dicen que los contrabandistas organizados están aprovechando el hecho de que los puertos de entrada están abrumados por los solicitantes de asilo para trasladar a los migrantes indocumentados a través de la frontera en otros lugares donde hay pocos Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza de lo habitual.

Los migrantes que no están acom-

pañados por niños pueden ser menos propensos a solicitar asilo en las travesías oficiales porque la administración Trump cree que puede detenerlos indefinidamente, mientras que las regulaciones del gobierno de Estados Unidos prohíben tener niños mayores de 2 años 0 días.

“Sabemos que el cártel se está aprovechando de todo esto”, dijo Stewart. “Son muy oportunistas. También son una compañía. Esa es la mayor preocupación que tengo es el traslado de los humanos a través de esos puestos de control”.

Gimler dijo que ha recibido indicios de que la Patrulla Fronteriza reabrirá los puestos de control pronto, pero Stewart duda de que eso suceda.

El sheriff cree que los puestos de control permanecerán cerrados hasta después de las elecciones presidenciales de 2020, sugiriendo que los cierres fueron parte de una estrategia política más grande de la administración Trump para hacer de la inmigración un tema fundamental en el elección.

“Creo que hoy es como va a ser para el próximo año y medio”, dijo. “No veo ningún cambio. Creo que este es el estatus por ahora.”

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Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 11

Legislators

Looking back

Continued from page 4

July 28, 1949: Two local teens were killed by a car on Highway 85, four miles south of Hatch, near their homes. Jose Martinez, 16, and Enrique Apodaca, 14, whose families were farmers in the area, were walking in the road when they were struck by a car driven by Sgt. H. W. Carpenter. He said he did not see them until he turned on his high beams and by then it was too late to avoid hitting them.

The newspaper complained about the poor condition of the highway from Hatch to Las Cruces. It said motorists frequently encountered high water and mounds of sand in low spots on the road. Slippery surfaces and poor visibility during rainstorms, it said, had caused several vehicles to overturn on curves. “How many accidents must we have,” the newspaper said, “before commissioners will make some effort to give this part of the county a highway worthy of its name?”

July 26, 1979: An elderly man who lived with his daughter in the area had been missing for four weeks. Luther “Bunk” Ivans, who was in his 70s, disappeared from his daughter’s home. He was seen a day later at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Main Street in Las Cruces. He had recently suffered a stroke.

Fontaine Porter and Joe Morrow were reelected directors of the Hatch Cooperative Gin Co. at its annual dinner. Each lady attending was presented with a fresh carnation.

July 28, 1999: The Hatch Valley School board continued to consider sites on which to build a new high school. The existing school site was considered inadequate and too small. A consultant said the federal government would probably not provide funding if the district attempted to build on that site.

Jimmy and Jo Lytle of Solar Farms, near Salem, said their chile fields were damaged by a small tornado. They had already lost 40 percent of their chile crop to disease. The tornado destroyed 30 acres of chiles. Jimmy Lytle said his losses for the year could be as high as $350,000.

eral between Highway 185 and Highway 154, which passes by the Villa del Sol trailer park, will be piped. Eventually, EBID would like to pipe Rodey Lateral all the way to Placitas Arroyo.

“The canal is about three to four feet higher than the trailer park, so it’s vulnerable,” said Gary Esslinger, treasurer-manager for EBID. Legislators also provided $93,000 to the South Central Regional Transit District to buy a bus so that it can launch a new line from Garfield to Las Cruces, which will also stop in Salem, Hatch, Rincon, and Radium Springs.

SCRTD Executive Director David Armijo was present at the meeting and summarized plans. The bus will make the trip from Garfield to Las Cruces and back four times a day, with the first bus leaving Garfield by 6:30 a.m., he said, so that it can arrive at Doña Ana Community College by 7:30 a.m. and New Mexico State University by 8 a.m. The last bus of the day will return north in late afternoon.

Legislators provided $40,000 to the Hatch Public Library to replace ceiling tiles and lighting. Any leftover money will be used to buy additional shelving, according the Lisa Neal, library director.

Steinborn and Small also discussed two capital outlays for agricultural programs that could benefit area farmers, though not directly. One provides $200,000 to the state Department of Agriculture to improve soils, while the other allocates $75,000 to the agency to market New Mexico farm products.

The legislators then discussed a list of what Small called “cool bills” enacted by the legislature in which each had a stake.

Small, for example, talked about the Energy Transition Act, which he sponsored in the House of Representatives, and will require the state to get 100 percent of its energy from carbon-free sources by 2045.

Steinborn, in turn, talked about his role in enactment of a bill that created a state Office of Outdoor Recreation and another that modified the state’s film incentive to provide additional money for productions that film at least 60 miles away from Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties.

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Page 12 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Historical marker installed in front of Sparky’s

By Blake Gumprecht

For a guy who loves old stuff and history like Teako Nunn, the wooden sign is a “delight.”

The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum has installed a historical marker in front of Nunn’s hugely popular Hatch restaurant, Sparky’s.

One side of the sign promotes the museum. The other side, the one more people will likely see because it faces the direction from which most diners approach the restaurant, tells the history of the two connected buildings where Sparky’s is located.

The sign is a replica of a New Mexico scenic historic marker that was used in 2012 as part of an exhibit at the museum celebrating the state’s centennial. But once the centennial was over, it was taken down and stored in a hallway, where it collected dust.

Craig Massey, the museum’s communications manager, contacted Nunn recently to ask if he would be interested in posting a repurposed sign in front of his restaurant. Nunn has always been drawn to historical markers, so jumped at the chance.

“They’re history,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed them.

I’ve always pulled off (the road). I still do.”

The Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum was attracted to the location no doubt because it would be seen by all the people who eat at Sparky’s, but also because it is lo-

Teako Nunn stands in front of the new historical marker erected in front his restaurant, Sparky’s. cated near the intersection of Franklin and Hall streets, which Nunn calls “the intersection of I-10 and I-25,” since it is located on a heavily used shortcut between the two interstate highways.

The Sparky’s side of the sign is intended to commemorate the buildings, not the restaurant.

Nunn bought the corner section of the buildings 20 years ago and used it to store antiques. In 2007, he and his wife, Josie, bought the north side and opened

Sparky’s. Over time, the restaurant grew from its original 32 seats to occupy both buildings.

The original building was constructed in 1926 to house the Peacock Mercantile, a general store that stocked a little bit of everything, from groceries and clothing to hardware.

“This was the original Walmart,” Nunn said. “Sam Walton rediscovered what America had been doing for years. It’s called a mercantile.”

Over the years, the two buildings have housed a progression of businesses, including an auto parts store, an ice cream shop, a pool hall, and a Mexican restaurant. A second floor was added to serve as a meeting place for the Val Verde Lodge, though it was later removed.

The corner section was a pawn shop when Nunn bought it. He pointed to a hole in the ceiling above one of the booths — a legacy of where a bullet went into the ceiling when the old woman who ran the pawn shop tried to defend herself against a robber.

A good natured, easygoing California native, who moved to the Hatch area more than 30 years ago when he was looking for a place you could “do what you want,” Nunn is clearly pleased about the marker, even though it only mentions Sparky’s in the last sentence.

“People who know me are stunned,” he said. “They think it’s the greatest thing. It kind of makes Sparky’s more legitimate.”

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Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 13 Hatch Valley’s Shaylee Neal, right, jumps high to make a play. A player for the Just Do It team, below, spikes the ball during the championship game.

Co-ed Golden Ball Tournament HVHS

Hatch Valley’s Katie Dunnahoo, above, battles for the ball at the net.

The Hit Squad, right, won the championship.

Photos by Blake Gumprecht

Page 14 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Checkpoints Continued from page 3

larger markets north and east of New Mexico, such as Chicago or Atlanta, so merely pass through the county.

Gimler, though, has noticed an increased prevalence of drugs, particularly methamphetamines, in communities in the northern part of the county that he believes is a result of the checkpoints being closed.

That increase has not resulted in more drug arrests locally, but Gimler has noticed evidence in other ways. He said meth use is greatest in unincorporated communities, such as Placitas, because the law enforcement presence in those areas is slight.

“There’s much more meth here than there used to be,” said Gimler, who worked as an officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration when he was employed by the sheriff’s office. “I can tell that there’s a lot more that are using it. I’m not seeing the meth coming into Hatch, but you know it’s here when you see all these people that you’re chasing are strung out on meth.”

He says methamphetamine users living in the Hatch Valley are more likely to drive to Las Cruces, buy drugs, and bring them back home because the checkpoints are closed.

Those are typically small-scale purchases that wouldn’t inflate crime data appreciably, but have a pronounced effect on local communities nevertheless.

“We know that people are getting a hold of meth easier than if the Border Patrol checkpoints were open,” he said. “It’s free access. They can just go right down, get it, and come back. They don’t have to be afraid to come through the check-

points.”

Gimler said increased meth use in the area has stimulated a rise in property crimes in northern communities by users desperate for money to pay for their habits.

“Burglaries,” he said. “People stealing stuff out of your front yard.”

Asked if rising meth use was stimulating an increase in arrests for other crimes, Gimler said, “I think every arrest we have is, in one way or another, tied to meth.”

Stewart is concerned that the closing of the checkpoints is increasing human trafficking through the county. Although media attention has focused on migrant families seeking asylum at ports of entry, illegal crossing of the border in other areas continues.

Border Patrol officials, in fact, say that organized smugglers are taking advantage of the fact that ports of entry are overwhelmed by asylum seekers to move undocumented migrants across the border in other locations where there are fewer Border Patrol agents than usual.

Migrants who aren’t accompanied by children may be less likely to seek asylum at official crossings because the Trump administration believes it can detain them indefinitely, while U.S. government regulations prohibit holding children longer than 20 days.

“We know the cartel is taking advantage of all this,” Stewart said. “They’re very opportunistic. They’re very much into R&D. They’re a company, too. That’s the biggest concern I have is the moving of humans through those checkpoints.”

Gimler said he has received indication that the Border Patrol will reopen the checkpoints soon, but Stewart doubts that will happen.

The sheriff believes the checkpoints

will remain closed until after the 2020 presidential election, suggesting that the closures were part of a larger Trump administration political strategy to make immigration a pivotal issue in the elec-

tion.

“I think today is how it’s going to be for the next year and a half,” she said. “I don’t see any change. I think this is the status quo for now.”

Hatch Police Department calls Monday, July 15 3:21 p.m.: Battery on household member, 240 Elm St.; suspect arrested.

Tuesday, July 16 3 p.m.: Domestic dispute, 505 Hall St. 5:20 pm.: Traffic stop, speeding, Hall Street.

Wednesday, July 17 3:40 a.m.: Domestic dispute, 260 Jefferson St. 2 p.m.: Traffic stop, Chile Capital Lane.

Thursday, July 18 2:42 p.m.: Medical call, male unconscious, allergic reaction, 153 E. Hill St. 8:05 p.m.: Battery, Pic Quik, 624 N. Franklin St. 9:34 p.m.: Traffic stop, possession of marijuana, Highway 26.

11:02 p.m.: Domestic dispute, 260

Jefferson St. Friday, July 19 12:29 p.m.: Temporary restraining order violation, 555 E. Herrera Road.

5:28 p.m.: Traffic stop, speeding, Highway 26.

8:44 p.m.: Warrant for DNA tests, Ulysses Avenue, Salem.

11:09 p.m.: Traffic stop, headlight out, Canal Road.

11:23 p.m.: Traffic stop, driving while under the influence, no address given.

Saturday, July 20 11 a.m.: Domestic disturbance, Chile Capital Lane.

Sunday, July 21 1:30 a.m.: Fireworks complaint, Milagro.

9:15 p.m.: Domestic disturbance, intoxicated and arguing, 313 Hill St.

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Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019 — Page 15

Free football camps offered The Hatch Valley High School football team will hold a two-day camp in early August for youth from kindergarten to 12th grade, each day for a different age group.

The annual camp has been renamed the Joseph Berridge Memorial Football Camp in honor of a former Hatch Valley football player who was killed in a helicopter crash in Hawaii in April. He graduated from HVHS in 2009. He was an all-state defensive back.

Berridge, who was 28 when he died, moved to Hawaii three weeks before the crash to pursue his dream of giving helicopter tours. He grew up in Garfield.

“I did not know him personally,” Hatch Valley football coach Louis Howell said, “but since I have been in Hatch, I have heard stories about him. It sounds like he was the epitome of a Hatch Valley Victoria Terrazas, a 2019 Hatch Valley High School graduate, signs a letter of intent on Sunday to play softball at Frank Phillips College, a two-year college in Borger, Texas. The daughter of Lee Ann and Jeremiah Terrazas, of Hatch, Victoria helped lead the Bears softball team to its second straight state tournament appearance last spring. She batted .370 with three home runs last season. As a pitcher, she struck out 204 of 717 batters she faced.

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Volleyball

Continued from page 16

“It’s a shock,” Chavez said. “I think we were all kind of blindsided by it. I’m not sure what’s going on. It sure puts us in a difficult situation. We’ve got the season just right around the corner. This is definitely going to impact the kids.”

He said that HVHS Athletic Director Anthony Bastine had tried to reach Carson, but as of Monday afternoon she hadn’t returned his calls. Bastine is stepping down as athletic director to concentrate on his assistant principal duties.

The school is currently considering two candidates to take his place.

Chavez said on Monday that the school district would advertise for a new volleyball coach immediately, “as soon as tomorrow.”

In light of Carson’s resignation, the outcome of the weekend’s adult co-ed Golden Ball tournament seemed decidedly less important.

The annual tournament is a fundraiser for the team, which raises money by charging players and selling food. This year’s tournament was the team’s most successful, Carson said, raising $1,000.

Nine teams, including the HVHS girls, participated. The rest of the teams were adult co-ed teams. About three-quarters

football player. He was undersized, but fearless.”

The first camp will be held on Friday, Aug. 2 beginning at 6:30 p.m. and is for kids entering kindergarten through grade 8. The purpose of the camp is to teach kids football fundamentals.

The second camp will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3 beginning at 8:15 a.m. for kids in grades 6 to 12. It is primarily intended to teach middle school and new high school players Hatch Valley’s basic offensive plays and defensive schemes.

Both camps are non-contact camps.

Participants should wear shorts and cleats, if they own them, but they are not required.

People wanting more information about the camps should contact Howell at lhowell@hatchschools.net or (575) 520-2736. of the players were from Las Cruces, Carson said. There were also players from El Paso, Deming, Truth or Consequences, and throughout the Hatch Valley.

Adult co-ed volleyball has different rules than high school girls volleyball.

The net is higher. The tournament required that at least two girls be on the court for each team at all times.

During play, if the ball is hit more than once by a team before going over the net, at least one of the hits must be by a female.

Teams played three matches in pool play on Saturday morning, then were seeded according to their total points for a double-elimination tournament in the afternoon.

A team called the Hit Squad won the tournament, going undefeated and beating a team called Just Do It in the championship, 2-0. The champions included one player from Hatch, Lisandro Galvan, who graduated from HVHS in 2016.

The HVHS girls lost both their matches in the double-elimination tournament.

They were younger and smaller than the other teams. They were also disadvantaged by the higher nets.

But Carson said they had practiced more than most of the other teams and should have better chemistry, since some have played together for three years.

“I definitely expected them to do better than that,” Carson said.

Page 16 — Hatch Valley Observer, July 25, 2019

Sports

Hatch’s Kenzie Williams, left, and a player for the champion Hit Squad prepare to hit the ball at Saturday’s Golden Ball tournament. Photo by Blake Gumprecht.

Hatch volleyball coach quits after tournament

By Blake Gumprecht What was supposed to be a positive, fundraising event over the weekend for the Hatch Valley High School volleyball team had a shocking and unhappy ending.

The Bears coach, Kelsie Carson, who organized the annual adult co-ed Golden Ball Tournament on Saturday, quit after the event was over. So did her assistant coach, Shelbey Carson, her cousin.

That means Hatch has no volleyball coaches less than a month before the season starts.

It is a stunning development for a team that made it to the semi-finals of the Class 3A state championships last year, returns all but two players from that team, and seemed well-positioned to compete for a state championship this season.

“I got into it for a love of volleyball,” Carson, a 2012 Hatch Valley graduate, said, “but it became so political that it’s not enjoyable for me anymore.”

Asked to explain her decision, she said it came down to three factors: The school administration, the parents, and player commitment. She declined to elaborate.

“It comes from three years as coach,” she said. “I’m 25 years old and I don’t need this s---.”

The Hatch Valley volleyball team is in the midst of summer “open” workouts.

It traveled to Arizona two weekends ago to participate in a three-day camp at the University of Arizona. It competed in the Golden Ball tournament on Saturday.

The team is scheduled to begin formal practices on Aug. 13 and opens its season Aug. 22 at Tularosa.

“I’m floored,” Lisa Neal, whose daughter Shaylee plays on the team, said when told Carson had quit. “I’m not happy, but

what can you do.”

Neal said she knew there were tensions surrounding the team, but she hoped they could be overcome.

“I guess there was drama with the girls and the girls’ parents,” she said. “She dealt with drama all last year and I just think she’s done.”

Shara Montoya, Hatch Valley’s principal, deferred a request for comment to Mike Chavez, Hatch Valley Public Schools’ new superintendent, who took over on July 1.

Continued on page 15