POSTAL PATRON U.S. POSTAGE PAID MAILED FROM RUIDOSO, NM 88345 PERMIT NO. 9 PRESORT STANDARD
50 cents
For more photos and the latest stories updated daily, visit
www.ruidosofreepress.com
This Friday and Saturday, see pg. A8
What’s
happening June 11-16
Cool Pines Classic, USSSA Slow Pitch Tournament Men’s D & E, Women’s B/C/D (Equalizer) & E at Eagle Creek Sports Complex, Ski Run Rd. www.usssa.com. Free to cheer!
June 12
Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at IMG
Live Stand-Up Comedy Series at Inn of the Mountain Gods. 7 p.m. 575-464-7028, Innofthemountaingods.com. Only $5 admission, must be 21 or older to attend.
June 14-16
1973-1980 RHS Class Reunion
1973-1980 Ruidoso High School Class Reunion. www.Ruidosoreunion.org.
June 14-15
Mercado del Artisan Outdoor Fair
Live music & wonderful fine art; including, gourd art, pottery, mosaics, jewelry, metal art, photography, and much, much, more… at River Rendezvous, 524 Sudderth Dr., 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. 575-258-3409. Free.
Relay For Life
Fund raiser for American Cancer Society; starts at 6 p.m. Friday and ends 7 a.m. Saturday. All American Park, Ruidoso Downs.
June 15
Father’s Day Contest Pow Wow
A host of dancers, gourd dancers, singers and more from tribes across the nation. Inn of the Mountain Gods. 575-464-2180.
Walmart Children’s Miracle Network Charity Golf Tournament
At the Links. Because every child deserved to live better. Deadline for entry is June 10th. Lunch included/Scramble Format. Prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd. The Links Golf Course, 12 p.m. 575:937-6249, www.cmnwi.org.
A Taste of the Spencer
An evening of gourmet food samplings, generous pours of wine and the auction of fine items from far and wide. Spencer Theater, 6 p.m. 575-3364800, www.spencertheater. com. $50.
June 15-16
High Rolls Cherry Festival Cherries, cherries, cherries – food, arts & crafts, products plus the traditional Walk in the Woods. East of the U.S. Tunnel Hwy 82, 575-682-6044, www. highrollsfestivals.com. Sat. 9 - 5 and Sun. 9 - 4. Free.
‘Car Daze’ benefit
Sacramento Mountain Village invites you to tour Ron MacWhorter’s 100-plus car collection. 108 Jack Little Dr., Ruidoso. 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. 575257-7872. $7 donation.
TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013 • W W W . R U I D O S O F R E E P R E S S . C O M • V OL . 5 , N O. 2 3
A property of
Temporary moratorium for new county subdivisions approved By Sue Hutchison Reporter suehutch@valornet.com With only three of the five county commissioners present at last Friday’s special commission meeting, Ordinance 2013-03 was adopted establishing a temporary moratorium on all new subdivision development in the county. Realtors and developers came to last month’s commission meeting to express their concerns that land owner’s rights might be violated along with significant economic impact to the county should a moratorium be enacted. No one from the public came to last Friday’s meeting to voice concerns. Preston Stone, commissioner, mentioned the town of
average water use to be approximately 100 to Magdalena and its current state of emergency 140 gallons a day per person. due to lack of water. “They are hauling water With three exceptions listed in the temto the entire town,” explained Stone and he porary moratorium ordinance, penalties are mentioned that Magdalena officials had been declared to be a fine of up to $300 and/or trying for years to get state approval to drill a imprisonment of not more than 90 days or new town well to no avail. “We’re not trying both. Exceptions include already approved to jeopardize development but we are under a subdivisions, county projects which could be disaster situation and it’s not going to get any undertaken to mitigate emergency situations better anytime soon,” said Stone. Jackie Powell, commission chair, said she agreed and add- and those properties which claim exemption See MORATORIUM, pg. A3 ed that a recent meeting with Representative Steve Pearce and Ruidoso village Ruidoso is at Level III Fire Restrictions officials didn’t give an encouraging The village has moved to Level III which includes prognosis for water issues either. requiring all chainsaw users to have a permit prior Stone mentioned a national to use, among other restrictions. Permits are free statistics study which showed the at the fire station, 541 Sudderth. Permits allow fire personnel to be aware of village activity. For a complete list of restrictions, visit RuidosoFreePress.com or call 575 257-3473.
KRUI, KTUM sweep up local awards at state convention By Sandi Aguilar
MTD Media attended the New Mexico Broadcasters Association 2013 Convention and Awards Gala in Albuquerque Saturday. MTD radio stations received more awards than all radio stations in the Lincoln County marketplace with four awards for outstanding broadcasting. “I am especially proud of the Breaking News award,” said Assistant General Manager Will Rooney. “We were the first on the scene (for the Little Bear Fire) with a live interview on the first round of evacuations. It was very live radio and very intense.” Rooney was at the base of Ski Run Road interviewing Undersheriff Shepperd. The award was for breaking news on KRUI 1490 AM, but the news casting entailed more than the one interview with continuous coverage. “Sometimes we had to go out and get the news until the regular PIO was assigned. After Joel Arnwine (Command PIO), we got information in and news casting was easier.” Todd Fuqua, Ruidoso Free Press sports editor, received an award for Sports Show or Interview for his pre-game talk with See AWARDS, pg. A3
VOR weekly water report
Tanks: 79 percent full Grindstone Lake: 52.9 feet or 15 percent full pool Alto Plant production: 6 million gallons Grindstone Plant production: 1.9 million gallons Cherokee Well production: 1.2 million gallons Hollywood Well production: 3.8 million gallons High School Well: .003 million gallons Grindstone System: 15 percent of total production Cherokee System: 9 percent of total production Alto System: 76 percent of total production
Photos courtesy of Sandi Aguilar
Above, Will Rooney, assistant general manager at MTD Media, took home two NM Broadcasters Association awards. At right, radio personality Curtis McKinney (with girlfriend Chessa McGee) also received two awards; and at left, Todd Fuqua, Ruidoso Free Press sports editor, received an award but was unable to attend the ceremony.
No time to celebrate: Bonito Volunteer Fire Department By Sue Hutchison Reporter suehutch@valornet.com Last year at this time, members of the BVFD were scrambling. Not only were they involved in fighting what became the all-time most damaging fire in New Mexico’s history, but several of them were concerned about their own homes. The Little Bear Fire destroyed more than 250 structures, more than 44,000 acres and utilized more than 2,000 firefighters nationwide. It’s estimated, according to national figures that $250 million would be a conservative figure, in the costs associated with repairing Lincoln County from the fire’s devastation.
Last Tuesday, however, the fire team met for their monthly meeting as usual. Just a word or two was mentioned about what they were doing last year; how they were sitting at the station listening to reports of a wildfire in the high country, and the action they all faced in subsequent days. Chief Carl Bartley mentioned the recent Red Cross humanitarian award, showed the team the plaque and photo while his wife and fellow firefighter Lisa distributed the 2013 Red Cross Real Heroes folder. The team was recently honored at the statewide fifth annual awards breakfast in Albuquerque, Tuesday, May 21 for their extraordinary work during the Little Bear Fire. Paul Garber, a part of the team for more
than 10 years, remembers well the events of last June. Owner of Mountain Tree Service, Garber had fallen from a tree a few weeks prior to the Little Bear Fire, and sustained significant back injuries, making it nearly impossible for him to participate in firefighting. He was listening to the reports on his radio a year ago; frustrated that he couldn’t help his team during such a severe fire. He and his wife, Brenda were also coordinating their own evacuation in addition to assisting in the evacuation of Bonita Park Nazarene Camp and Conference Center. Garber lost everything in the fire. His home and tools of his trade were reduced to ash as the See BONITO FD, pg. A3
From pagers to smart tablets, local healthcare since Y2K By Eugene Heathman Editor eugene@ruidosofreepress.com Part three of a three-part series While pagers were still in use, personal GPS units, Skype, touch screens and electronic nurse and physician visits were technologically beyond the grasp of the average consumer and borderline science fiction. Such as was the overall picture of health care in Lincoln County. For a rural New Mexico community with an overall population of less than 20,000 people, the quality of preventative and major medical health care has developed by leaps and bounds. Rural health care is typically referred
to in terms of doctors, checkups and emergency rooms but in Lincoln County, what were once considered non-traditional methods of wellness and rehabilitation are mainstream fundamental practices in the overall scheme of health care.
Preventative wellness
Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce member of the year and owners of the Ruidoso Athletic Club Joe and Avril Coakley provide the community with the fundamentals of overall wellness, exercise and nutritional guidance as an integral part of preventative health care for all ages and levels of health. During a Lincoln County Health and Wellness ON CANY R E P UP
REAL ESTATE TEAM SDC, REALTORS®
(575) 258-5008
(575) 257-5111 ext. 117 307 Mechem Dr, Ruidoso, NM
Coalition meeting, Avril Coakley proclaimed the importance of preventive programs that can help people avoid health issues and injuries and provide facilities and personal trainers for advanced rehabilitation when needed. Specialty health care professionals providing a variety of options have invested in Lincoln County. The New Mexico Center for Clinical & Behavioral Sleep Medicine celebrated their grand opening a new sleep study center at 101 Fifth Street in 2010. The sleep study center is a division of Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo. Ruidoso Physical Therapy and Therapy Associates have See HEALTHCARE, pg. A7
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