New Mexico

Two NM towns make Travel + Leisure’s ‘most charming’ in the Southwest

2 Comments / New Mexico, News / By

According to Travel + Leisure Magazine, two New Mexico towns have made its top ten list of the most charming small towns in the Southwest. 

Taos, New Mexico, ranked number four on the magazine’s list.

Taos Earthship Biotecture An Earthship is a type of passive solar house that is made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires, pioneered by architect Michael Reynolds. Leon Bublitz via Unsplash.

The magazine wrote, “Abutted by the scenic Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos is a high desert town with vistas to write home about, a deep Indigenous history, and a thriving community in Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s been inhabited for more than 1,000 years.”

According to UNESCO, “To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.”

Multi-level adobe dwelling, Taos Pueblo, Taos New Mexico, United States. John Mackenzie Burke via Wikimedia Commons.

Travel + Leisure continued, “After you’ve visited the pueblo, consider viewing the landscape via hot air balloon or by taking a dip in the nearby Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs. In town, try Manzanita Market or La Cueva Cafe for a delicious meal. If you’re up for a nice walk, trek Rio Grande Gorge West Rim Trail.”

Taos, New Mexico. Isa Macouzet via Unsplash.

Silver City, New Mexico, ranked number fifth on Travel + Leisure’s list for its beautiful scenery and delicious food. 

Overlooking downtown Silver City, New Mexico from Boston Hill. Matthew Kowal via Wikimedia Commons.

“At 6,000 feet and just south of Gila National Forest, the Southwestern town of Silver City is a solid base camp for all kinds of adventures. Walk the historic downtown and pop into galleries — this is an active arts community — and restaurants like Adobe Springs Cafe or Jalisco Cafe,” it wrote.

Scenic view of the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) campus in Silver City via Wikimedia Commons.

“Get out your hiking shoes and trek in nearby City of Rocks State Park or the slightly further Catwalk Recreation Area, known for its awesome canyon views.”

The complete list from Travel + Leisure is as follows:

  1. Idyllwild, California
  2. Joshua Tree, California
  3. Ojai, California
  4. Taos, New Mexico
  5. Silver City, New Mexico
  6. Virginia City, Nevada
  7. Moab, Utah
  8. Springdale, Utah
  9. Telluride, Colorado
  10. Crested Butte, Colorado

Woman who birthed, killed newborn in hospital bathroom charged with murder

12 Comments / New Mexico, News / By

19-year-old Alexee Trevizo went to the Artesia General Hospital in Artesia, New Mexico on January 27, where she was complaining of back pain. 

According to KOB 4, “She reportedly denied being pregnant before doctors did lab work and found she was pregnant. For an extended period of time, Trevizo allegedly locked herself in the restroom.” 

After Trevizo came back, a housekeeper found blood splattered across the bathroom and the dead child in the trash can.

“Trevizo reportedly told doctors her baby wasn’t breathing when he came out of the womb. She allegedly claimed she didn’t know what to do with the baby because he wasn’t crying.” 

Investigators found that the child was, indeed, born alive and died shortly after birth. They suspected the baby died because he was trapped inside the bag without air. 

“An OMI autopsy ruled March 28 the baby’s death was a homicide. Police charged and arrested Trevizo with first-degree murder Wednesday,” the KOB 4 report continued. 

Lapel camera of police questioning Alexee Trevizo via KOB 4: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/video-shows-moments-after-newborn-found-in-hospital-trash/

The Artesia Police Department wrote, “Our officers and crime scene investigator, along with the hospital staff, experienced a heartbreaking situation on that January morning and have been coping with what they encountered. One of the worst calls any first responder or public service person has to respond to, is the severe injury or death of a child.  We are expected to be “tough” in those types of incidents because of our job titles, but in all actuality, we are quite the opposite after we have time to process what happened.”

“Our routine calls of service or emergency responses are usually carried out easily with commitment and dedication to our city, but a call like this can be a breaking point for some or all of those involved. It’s important that we provide the very best resources, counseling, and stress management tools to help our staff cope with this traumatic event, so that they may continue their dedicated service.”

NM city’s housing market surges with one of highest price gains in nation

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a New Mexico metro area has ranked in the top 10 for home price gains in the first quarter of the year. 

The Santa Fe metro area saw a large 11.7 percent jump in single-family home values, with the median sales price year-over-year at $608,700.

Santa Fe was only beaten by Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown, North Carolina, at 12 percent; Appleton, Wisconsin, at 12.4 percent; Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Alice, Wisconsin, at 13.7 percent; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at 14.7 percent; Elmira, New York at 14.7 percent; Burlington, North Carolina at 14.7 percent, Warner Robins, Georgia at 16.2 percent; Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin at 16.5 percent; and the highest jump in homes prices at 18.9 percent in Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, Virginia, and Tennessee. 

NAR states, “Compared to a year ago, the national median single-family existing-home price decreased 0.2% to $371,200. In the previous quarter, the year-over-year national median price increased 4.0%.”

“Generally speaking, home prices are lower in expensive markets and higher in affordable markets, implying greater mortgage rate sensitivity for high-priced homes,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Yun noted that western cities, like San Francisco, San Jose, and Reno saw home prices drop by at least 10 percent from a year ago whereas prices rose by at least 10 percent from the previous year in cities like Milwaukee, Dayton, and Oklahoma City.

“First-time buyers found a small measure of relief when looking to purchase a typical home during the first quarter with the quarterly declines in prices and mortgage rates. For a typical starter home valued at $315,500 with a 10% down payment loan, the monthly mortgage payment fell to $1,825, down 5.4% from the previous quarter ($1,930) but an increase of almost $450, or 32.5%, from one year ago ($1,377). First-time buyers typically spent 37% of their family income on mortgage payments, down from 39.5% in the previous quarter. A mortgage is considered unaffordable if the monthly payment (principal and interest) amounts to more than 25% of the family’s income,” the group continued. 

However, in contrast to before Joe Biden’s White House reign, inflation was low, and therefore, interest rates were low. When President Trump left Washington, interest rates were hovering around 2.73 percent. Currently, U.S. interest rates under Biden are at a massive 6.35 percent, which could be discouraging buyers from purchasing or attracting them to more affordable areas. 

Gov. Lujan Grisham again under fire from Dems — this time about alcohol

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is once again under fire by leftists. Previously, they were angered over her veto of an electric vehicle tax credit in the omnibus tax package passed during the 2023 Legislative Session.

This time, however, they are angered that she vetoed an increased tax on alcohol that would have increased the alcohol tax rate by a massive 20 percent, with proceeds going to “harms reduction” programs. 

She is now under fire from her own party over the tax hike veto.

State Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino (D-Albuquerque) attacked the governor’s veto as “a serious misstep,” according to a report from New Mexico InDepth. 

“We’ll have to try again,” he added, “but it sure would have helped if the Governor’s staff had reached out to explain what was behind her decision,” he added.

“Neal Bowen, who since 2019 has directed the Behavioral Health Services Division, which oversees much of the state’s treatment and prevention services, called the outcome a ‘missed opportunity.’ Even that ‘trivial alcohol tax hike,’ Bowen wrote in an email to New Mexico In Depth, would have put the state in ‘a position to support an expansion of screening, treatment, and recovery services specific to alcohol,’” the outlet reported.

“I would expect an increase in alcohol excise tax would be welcome in light of the harm to the communities and cost to the state due to alcohol,” state Sen. Sedillo Lopez (D-Bernalillo) told The Santa Fe New Mexican.

In response to criticism of the veto, InDepth reported that the governor’s spokesperson Maddy Hayden claims Lujan Grisham “‘believes unequivocally’ that New Mexico needs to devote more resources to addressing alcohol misuse, according to Hayden. The governor felt the Legislature’s tax package represented ‘a potentially untenable hit to the general fund’ and vetoed the reallocation of alcohol tax revenues ‘out of fiscal responsibility,’ Hayden said, declining to clarify why the governor didn’t then retain the alcohol tax hike, which would have generated $10 million annually.” 

Shocking video report shows cartel smugglers ravaging NM’s southern border

37 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

A new video report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has revealed shocking images from the United States border with Mexico in the El Paso sector, encompassing New Mexico.

On New Mexico’s border with Mexico, the report by the group’s senior national security fellow Todd Bensman shows images of square holes cut out of the mesh border barrier constructed under President George W. Bush, which the cartel is utilizing to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.

Just in a one-mile stretch examined by CIS, it found at least seven holes still gaping open and utilized by the cartel. It also caught on video armed cartel members smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States. 

Other scenes from the report show Bensman joining Hidalgo County Sherriff’s deputies to catch criminal aliens with laser night vision technology. 

“In New Mexico, the Democratic governor (Michelle Lujan Grisham) won’t allow State Police to join the dwindling ranks of Border Patrol agents in opposing this runner traffick, quite unlike neighboring Republican Governor Greg Abbott with his multi-billion-dollar ‘Operation Lone Star.’ That leaves some willing sheriffs’ offices to protect their own communities. One of them is Hidalgo County Sherriff William Chadborn of Lordscburg in Southwest New Mexico,” Bensman explains.  

“It’s pretty much a constant flow. There’s always something coming through… Hidalgo County,” the Sheriff said. 

Watch the full report from CIS: 

The dire scenes from the border are only expected to worsen, as Biden’s ineffective border policies and the lapse of Title 42 are creating a perfect storm for an even worse crisis.

Lujan Grisham kicks can down the road on border crisis

55 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, ahead of Title 42’s expiration, which helped quell the border catastrophe, Democrat New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is kicking the can down the road to Congress instead of helping in New Mexico to alleviate the crisis, as Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is doing. Abbott declared a state of emergency and deployed the Tactical Border Force to help with the crisis.

Instead of helping alleviate the human suffering from the border crisis, Lujan Grisham wrote on Twitter, “I want New Mexicans, especially those on our southern border, to know we are in close communication with cities and counties to make sure they are supported as Title 42 ends tonight.”

She continued, “I’ve emphasized to the federal government the importance of coordinating a comprehensive humanitarian response, and I urge Congress to embrace a longer-term solution by passing immigration reform legislation immediately.”

A plan the U.S. House voted on Thursday evening to fix the humanitarian border catastrophe received no Democrat support at all, including from any of New Mexico’s three Democrat Reps. Gabe Vasquez (who represents the state’s border district), Teresa Leger Fernandez, or Melanie Stansbury. 

State Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) urged Lujan Grisham to deploy the state’s National Guard to the border after she yanked them from the post shortly following her installment as governor in 2019. 

“Send the National Guard to the Southern Border to help stop the catastrophe, as you should have years ago. That is precisely how you can help alleviate the horror the Biden regime has inflicted upon our country by neglecting the border and creating a humanitarian crisis,” he wrote. 

New Mexico has over 53 miles of border that are unsecured by barriers or any kind of security apparatus, making the state extremely vulnerable to an invasion pushed by Joe Biden’s policies that have resulted in a massive surge in illegal immigration.

Scathing ABQ Journal editorial NUKES Dems’ sniveling over Holtec’s green light

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A recent editorial from the Albuquerque Journal’s editorial board ripped opponents of Holtec International’s safe temporary spent fuel storage facility a new one. 

This week, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted a license to Holtec International for the multi-billion-dollar interim storage facility in Eddy and Lea Counties.

Democrat politicians whined and bellyached about the move, erroneously claiming the safe fuel storage facility would make New Mexico a “dumping ground” of spent “nuclear waste,” among other melodramatic rhetoric. 

The Democrats in New Mexico’s congressional delegation and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raúl Torrez complained about it.

The board wrote that these whining Democrats didn’t “offer any alternatives for the storage of spent commercial nuclear fuel.” 

It wrote that despite Democrats referencing S.B. 53 passed during the 2023 Legislative Session despite bipartisan opposition, Holtec will challenge the law trying to stymie the company’s operations, and it “will likely win.”

It continued, “Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a separate statement Tuesday no regulatory commission “should be using interim standards to approve indefinite storage” until there is a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel. Fair point. But Heinrich, the rest of the state’s delegation, the governor and the AG conveniently do not mention the U.S. lacks a permanent storage site because their fellow Democrat, the late Sen. Harry Reid, blocked the truly permanent storage site in Yucca Mountain after Congress quite literally sank $15 billion of taxpayer money into what is now the most expensive, empty parking garage in America. So there is nowhere to transfer more than 70,000 metric tons of used reactor fuel from commercial power plants at 73 sites across 39 states — even though U.S. law requires one. How about enforcing that law?” 

The board concluded with the following: 

Heinrich ended his statement: “New Mexicans didn’t sign up for this.”

Except many have. Give Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway or Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb a call. They’ll fill you in on the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance that southeastern New Mexico leaders formed in 2006 and the thousand acres of remote cattle grazing land ELEA bought expressly for Holtec between Carlsbad and Hobbs. And then there are the nuclear experts who work in our three national labs and at WIPP and Urenco.

It’s time for state leaders to put their politics aside, recognize the science and the scary fact we have spent nuclear waste sitting on water tables across the country, and support the bridge carbon-neutral nuclear power offers. And it’s time for our delegation in D.C. to move beyond cheap partisan sound bites and actually do something about safely storing nuclear waste.

Now that the Holtec International project is a go, there is nothing the seething Democrats can do about the facility that will provide safe interim storage while bringing billions of dollars in investment to New Mexico. 

Vasquez refuses to vote for immigration fix, lobs strange accusations at GOP

19 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, far-left U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico’s Second Congressional District said he would vote against a commonsense bill to help alleviate Joe Biden’s border catastrophe by extending Title 42’s sunset date and implement other measures to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States. 

In a video message, Vasquez said, “Republicans are trying to further break a system that’s already broken,” referencing the immigration bill proposed by the GOP to cure the crisis.

“That’s why I’m voting against H.R. 2, an extreme anti-immigrant bill that falls woefully short of who we are as Americans and what we are capable of,” he continued. 

He also charged Republicans with “extinguishing the flame of the Statute of Liberty,” whatever that means, and said the bill “further sows the seeds of division.” 

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s Delanie Bomar wrote on Twitter following Vasquez’s announcement that he will not help stave off the crisis of illegal immigration, “The crisis at the border is unfolding in Vasquez’s own backyard. El Paso is 40 miles from his district. New Mexicans deserve better than this.” 

U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said during his remarks on the House floor regarding H.R. 2, “And what does this bill [do]? It secures America’s border again and ends catch-and-release. It says, ‘Let’s get back to rule of law.’ We are actually a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. We can do both, but this President has abandoned the rule of law to the point where more than five million people have come across illegally.”

“And what has it also done? It’s brought drugs into our country. The cartels are running our southern border. Today, we’re going to lose 300 young people to fentanyl deaths because [Joe] Biden opened our southern border. Yesterday, 300 young people died. Tomorrow, another 300 young people in America will die because the President opened the southern border, and he doesn’t care about it. He issued a veto threat on the bill that will fix it.” 

Left-wing NM paper says Biden ‘frittered away’ chance to fix border crisis

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The Santa Fe New Mexican’s editorial board hit Biden on his failure to secure the southern border and work to fix the immigration issue causing millions of illegal immigrants to flood the U.S. southern border with Mexico.

Title 42 expires at Midnight Thursday, leaving the country without an effective way to quickly and efficiently expel criminal aliens from the country. Biden promised to veto a GOP plan being passed Thursday by the U.S. House that would extend Title 42. Now, as the crisis ramps up, even his far-left supporters are offering criticisms of his border actions. 

The board, while promoting asylum, bemoaned, “Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says after Thursday, people who attempt to cross into the country between points of entry likely will be unable to claim asylum.”

They wrote, “While the pandemic and foreign unrest rightly claimed much of the president’s attention during his first term, the leader of the world’s foremost democracy has to walk, chew gum and otherwise function on many fronts.”

“It’s a mess,” the editorial board wrote. “The situation at the border is long overdue for attention. Neglect gives Biden’s opponents a club with which to attack — a political weapon they employed often and effectively over the past 10 years (Remember Trump?). Biden frittered away a chance to handle immigration effectively; he now faces the unhappy prospect of a new immigration problem that may last weeks, months, years.”

“Until reform passes, the president — this one or any other — will be left to apply Band-Aids on bleeding wounds that require stitching. Biden is supposed to be the adult president, governing from a place of experience and knowledge. He’ll need all of that to defuse the coming crisis,” they wrote.

Under President Trump, over 450 miles of border wall were constructed, while his strong policies to sure up security made illegal immigration dip significantly. However, under the Biden regime, around six million illegals have flooded into the country, with over 11,000 ravaging the border daily.

To counter this, instead of making meaningful reforms, Biden is now authorizing a policy to let criminal aliens flood into the United States without proper vetting or a way to track them.

MLG appears in cringe-inducing Biden social media ad, claiming he ‘delivers’

5 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In a new social media ad from Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, far-left New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham joined other lawmakers to prop up the 80-year-old Democrat politician.

The governor claimed “Biden delivers” in the video. 

Others featured include Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH), Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Mayor Kate Gallego (D-Phoenix, AZ), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), Mayor Mike Duggan (D-Detroit, MI), Mayor Andre Dickens (D-Atlanta, GA), Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway (D-Madison, WI), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA).

Biden was hailed in the video by the Democrat politicians as “driven,” “transformational,” “a steady hand,” and someone who “rocks.” 

The cringe-inducing social media ad is the latest attempt by the Biden campaign to promote its agenda after a lackluster — some might describe it as horrible — term in office, with sky-high inflation, a wide-open border, the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan, ant-gun laws rammed through Congress, among other disasters that have amounted to weakening of the Oval Office.

Lujan Grisham was considered for Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020 but lost that opportunity to far-left Democrat California Sen. Kamala Harris. She was also offered the post of Interior secretary but turned it down, instead aiming for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services chief, which was denied her in favor of California’s then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, another far-left Democrat.

Biden visited New Mexico in 2022 to promote the governor’s reelection campaign and later appointed her to the Council of Governors. It is unclear if she is vying once again for a cabinet post if Biden wins in 2024, but there have been rumblings that the governor may have her eye on Sen. Martin Heinrich’s U.S. Senate seat if he decides to run for the governorship in 2026. 

Biden with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham during 2022 campaign stop in Albuquerque.
In a crippling blow to MLG, Biden picks Hispanic California AG for HHS post in fictitious cabinet
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