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Ruidoso Celebrates Music and Arts with Festivals, Concerts, and Creative Events

Victoria Padilla
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With live concerts, art festivals, gallery exhibits, and cultural activities, Ruidoso’s artistic and musical communities provide a place for creativity and entertainment. This happens within this beautiful mountain community.

This statement demonstrates that Ruidoso’s cultural offerings help define the community as more than just a pretty place to stay. In addition, they also support local artists and foster a thriving arts community that attracts tourists.

There are many upcoming events for all who enjoy music, such as the Brewdoso Craft Beer & Wine Festival featuring live performances. Further, there is the Ruidoso Art & Wine Festival with over 100 artists. The Alto Artists’ Tour enables attendees to visit working studios and the homes of local artists.

Additionally, the variety of concerts offered in Ruidoso includes tribute bands (such as 4 Lads from Liverpool). It also includes local groups (such as the Ruidoso Sound Collective).

Events benefit communities by enhancing community life through tourism and by giving musicians/artists an opportunity to showcase their talent. Meanwhile, families have free summer movie series. In contrast, adults are able to explore fine art, live performances, and local wines, contributing to Ruidoso’s cultural economy.

The headline states that Ruidoso’s music and art scene is not only entertainment but also part of the foundation of its cultural identity. It integrates the charm of the mountains with a creative vibe.

Ruidoso continues to flourish as an artistic center of New Mexico. Events occur year-round, including festivals, concerts, and art tours. This gives visitors to Ruidoso an experience and combines both creative and mountain hospitality.

Light Art Space Showcases Contemporary Creativity in Silver City

Victoria Padilla
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The Light Art Space, located within the Silver City government campus, hosts exhibitions, workshops, and cultural programming focused on contemporary art. If you are interested in innovative galleries, Light Art Space Silver C is a must-visit destination in the region. In Silver City, Light Art Space serves as a hub for artistic innovation and community participation. In fact, Light Art Space Silver C exemplifies the integration of contemporary art and local engagement.

This headline is important because Light Art Space plays a significant role in the community as a cultural anchor. It supports local artists and gives residents and visitors access to a wide variety of art styles and experiences. Additionally, many initiatives revolve around the Silver City Light Art Space, enhancing the local cultural scene. Without a doubt, Light Art Space Silver C contributes greatly to these community-centered initiatives.

Silver City Clay Fest, held from June 15 to 21, is an ongoing series of festivals. In these festivals, artists, educators, and community members come together to celebrate ceramic art. Previous exhibitions have featured photography, mixed media, and installations addressing regional issues. Furthermore, they engage with broader art conversations, often in collaboration with Light Art Space Silver City. Moreover, Light Art Space Silver C remains at the forefront of innovative arts programming.

Light Art Space provides opportunities for artists to exhibit their work and offers skill-building workshops. It also provides a collaborative space for the public to engage with artists and their work. All of these efforts contribute to Silver City’s cultural environment. Furthermore, they stimulate tourism by featuring events at Light Art Space in Silver City.

As the article shows, Light Art Space is not only a gallery but also a progressive venue. It promotes artistic creativity and community involvement as vital parts of Silver City’s cultural identity. With its impact, Light Art Space Silver City continues to uplift local artists.

To sum up, Light Art Space is helping strengthen Silver City as a cultural destination by supporting a variety of artistic expressions and events, such as the Clay Festival. This effort ensures that contemporary art remains accessible, meaningful, and relevant within its community, particularly through Light Art Space Silver City programs. In summary, Light Art Space Silver C stands out as a leader in the region’s cultural landscape.

Thirsty Deserts, Salty Solution — New Mexico Launches $13M Mapping, Testing, and Treating Brackish Water Contracts

Juan Oliveros
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Thirsty Deserts, Salty Solution — New Mexico Launches $13M Mapping, Testing, and Treating Brackish Water Contracts

Rivers run thinner each year in the deserts of New Mexico, and wells sink deeper into dry ground. State officials are now looking to a lifeline buried far beneath the parched land: brackish water.

On Monday, New Mexico officials announced the awarding of $13 million in new contracts. The initiative aims to map, test, and treat brackish water — naturally salty water trapped deep beneath the earth. It is part of an ambitious program to prepare for a future shaped by worsening water scarcity.

The program reflects an increasing urgency inside New Mexico, where climate change, prolonged drought, and long years of groundwater overuse are reshaping the very question of how communities will survive in the years ahead.

Brackish water: NM’s most important resources

New Mexico’s scientists and water planners estimate that available freshwater supplies could decrease by as much as one-fourth in the coming years. To prepare for the worsening water crisis, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has placed the development of brackish water at the center of the state’s comprehensive 50-year water action plan.

Officials believe the underground water could become one of New Mexico’s most important resources, but the state has yet to tap into it. According to the state Environment Department, over 1 trillion gallons of brackish water may lie beneath the state.

“By advancing brackish water desalination, resource mapping, and real-world demonstration projects, we are building the technical foundation needed to unlock new water sources statewide,” Environment Secretary James Kenney said in a statement. “These investments move New Mexico closer to a future where every community has access to reliable, drought-resilient water supplies.”

The contracts announced on Monday represent the final portion of a $40 million fund approved by the Legislature in 2025. The lawmakers have added more allocations from the last two legislative sessions; they have now directed more than $75 million toward the Strategic Water Supply program.

Applications in manufacturing, dust suppression, and cement production are part of the funding support experiments that would use the salty water without expensive treatment. Other projects focus on desalination technologies, which could make the water suitable for farming or human consumption.

Two companies from Albuquerque received the largest awards. The state awarded $9.1 million to WSP to drill test wells, analyze, and map the extent of brackish water reserves across New Mexico. Officials say these activities will help determine which areas are most suitable for future extraction and desalination.

New water infrastructure

Another company, Indewater, got $3.7 million. The company will develop a mobile desalination unit for rural and tribal communities. New Mexico will eventually own the portable treatment plant, which is intended to help officials rapidly evaluate desalination’s potential as a drinking‑water supply in communities where groundwater is becoming increasingly salty. A smaller grant of over $270,000 went to Massachusetts-based Harmony, which will install a filtration system at Menefee Farms in Lake Arthur, providing drinkable water for livestock.

Officials frame the projects as not mere experiments. They are New Mexico’s attempts to build an entirely new water infrastructure before the worsening water crisis becomes catastrophic.

“These contracts give us the data, tools, and experience needed to make long-term, science-based decisions about New Mexico’s water future,” State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson said in a statement. “Understanding where and how we can responsibly develop brackish water resources is essential to easing pressure on our freshwater systems.”

What hangs in the balance will have its ramifications beyond New Mexico. Across the American Southwest, states are experiencing shrinking reservoirs, decreasing snowpack, and heightened competition over the Colorado River. Water managers are increasingly looking at desalination and alternative water supplies as critical tools amid a changing climate.

Difficult questions

But the promise of brackish water also comes with hard questions. Desalination remains energy-intensive and costly. Environmental advocates warn that large-scale extraction could create new ecological hazards if poorly managed. Rural communities and tribal communities, many of whom are already struggling with aging infrastructure and unsafe drinking water, could experience disparities in access to technology.

Despite that, New Mexico officials argue that the alternative is no longer sustainable, and the wait for freshwater systems to collapse further. The future of water in a state where drought is a permanent condition may now depend on learning how to drink what was once thought undrinkable.

Supreme Court Overruled a Murder Conviction

Ruben Reyes
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Supreme Court Overruled a Murder Conviction

The New Mexico Supreme Court annulled a murder conviction for a Valencia County man named Brandon Villalobos in a killing that occurred when he was a teenager

Villalobos’ second-degree and tampering with evidence convictions was nullified by the state Supreme Court.

The Justices unanimously concluded Villalobos was denied a right to a speedy trial, citing the nearly six years he spent in custody waiting for trial charges in his friend’s death.

The Time it Took to Arrive at this Verdict

Villalobos was only 15 years old when someone beat his friend, Alex Madrid, to death in 2014. Someone left Madrid’s body in an empty lot in Meadow Lake.

“Under the disturbing facts of this case, we hold that Defendant Brandon Villalobos – who has an intellectual disability and was fifteen years of age at the time of the underlying incident, his arrest, and the start of his extended pretrial incarceration – was deprived of his speedy trial rights,” the Court wrote in an opinion Justice Michael E. Vigil wrote.

It is really disturbing that a 15 years old is capable of the incident. However, the trial took six years for the conviction to happen.

Justice said it took three years to figure out Villalobos’ capacity to stand trial. They also pointed out his attorney’s punctuality and prosecution not “diligently monitoring” the case progress.

Justice explained that prosecutors have the responsibility to ensure that they carry out justice by moving the case forward in accordance with the Constitution.

“It is the responsibility of prosecutors, who represent the State of New Mexico, to ensure that justice is carried out by moving a case forward to trial in accordance with the Constitution,” justices explained.

The Justice also added that the State failed to meet the responsibility they carry, resulting in allowing a teenage defendant with intellectual disability to spend jail time for years.

“It is fair to say that the State failed to meet that responsibility here and, in doing so, allowed a teenage defendant with an intellectual disability to languish in jail for some three years and three months while his competency proceedings inched along at a glacial place.” Justice added.

What Really Happened?

The state Supreme Court sent the base back to the 13th Judicial District Court. They ordered the district court to set aside Villalobos’ conviction and dismiss the indictment that charged him with first-degree murder and tampering.

In December 2019, Villalobos attended the trial for the first time, but the judge declared a mistrial. On February 2022, a jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but convicted him of second-degree murder and tampering.

And in 2021, a judge sentenced Villalobos to 18 years in prison but credited him for seven-and-a-half years of time served, according to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office.

Villalobos’ attorneys appealed the conviction.

The state Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in 2024, leading to the state high court’s decision on Monday.

Summer Fun At Isotopes v. Comets on Sunday

Olivia Woodard
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Summer Fun At Isotopes v. Comets on Sunday

Sunny weather and summer vibes brought the energy to the Albuquerque Isotopes game at Rio Grande Credit Union Field on Sunday. 

Albuquerque’s Isotopes took on the Oklahoma City Comets, and while the team didn’t quite beat the heat, the crowd certainly brought the enthusiasm. 

With an attendance count of 8,783, fans showed their support. The crowd roared for 3 home runs (made by players Adael Amador,  Chuckie Robinson, and Blaine Crim), and families and kids cheered for mid-inning fun, like the ENMU Simba Cam and the Circle K Hotdog Toss. 

Fans cheered and laughed during the heavily anticipated Chile Race, when Red Chile knocked Salsa out of the lead (and to the ground), crossing the finish line in first place. Red’s win brought the total points tally to 5 for Red, 4 for Green, 3 for Taco, and Salsa still in the lead with 11 wins. 

With a final score of 8-20, the Albuquerque Isotopes may not have taken it home, but they certainly gave fans a good time. 

Don’t miss the Isotopes 2026 Season: buy tickets for upcoming games at https://www.milb.com/albuquerque/tickets and go support the local team!

Olivia Woodard is a journalist for Brant One News. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram at @brantonenews

Families Can Get $120 Per Child This Summer — But Many Still Don’t Know SUN Bucks Exists

Juan Oliveros
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Families Can Get $120 Per Child This Summer — But Many Still Don’t Know SUN Bucks Exists

Thousands of families are once again confronting a familiar problem as summer vacation starts and school cafeterias remain closed across the state. These families ask: how to ensure food access outside the academic calendar. To help address the shortfall, New Mexico is expanding its involvement in the federal SUN Bucks program.

SUN Buck is a summer grocery benefit, giving eligible families with $120 per child to buy food while school is out. State officials say the program — also known nationally as Summer EBT — supports more than 270,000 students statewide this year. The initiative is funneling millions of dollars into households coping with rising grocery prices and inflation.

“Summer should be a time when children can rest and grow, not a season of hunger,” the state’s Health Care Authority said in announcing the program.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote on her social media post: “Know a family who could use a little help this summer?

Most families, however, need not apply. Children who already qualify for the free or discounted student meal program are enrolled automatically. Automatic enrollment will also cover those who receive benefits through programs such as SNAP or TANF. Foster youth, homeless children, migrant students, and some Medicaid recipients may also qualify with no additional paperwork.

The state has also opened an online application portal for the 2025–2026 cycle for families who do not qualify for automatic enrolment to the program.

The subsidies come at a moment when food insecurity is having an ongoing impact on working households across New Mexico, especially in rural communities. Officials say most parents are still unaware that the benefit exists.

SUN Bucks specifically replaces the school meals children lose during summer break, unlike conventional welfare programs. The state released the money via electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. Recipients can use the cards to purchase groceries at authorized retailers.

State officials are encouraging schools, churches, nonprofits, and community organizations to help the information dissemination campaign before summer deepens. They also reminded families that unused benefits expire after 122 days.

The official SUN Bucks information page is available through the New Mexico Health Care Authority website. Families can submit their applications through YES New Mexico.

They Gathered in Candlelight for Juniper Blessing. In Santa Fe, Grief Became a Call to Remember.

Juan Oliveros
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They Gathered in Candlelight for Juniper Blessing. In Santa Fe, Grief Became a Call to Remember.

Hundreds of mourners stood shoulder to shoulder, rubbing elbows in the fading light at the historic Santa Fe Plaza, clutching lit candles, flowers, and scribbled notes for Juniper Blessing, a teenager whose life had barely begun.

They came to remember the death of Juniper Blessing — a 19-year-old New Mexican described by friends as brilliant, gentle, and impossibly kind. Juniper’s killing last week in Seattle has stunned a community, left searching for meaning amid loss.

“A grief no family should ever have to carry,” Michael Angelo D’Arrigo, president of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance, told the crowd during a vigil on Monday evening.

The plaza is usually alive with tourists and music. But it fell quiet as mourners formed circles around flickering candles and blankets layered with flowers, including stems of Juniper’s favorite bloom. They carefully placed the letters beside each other, addressed to Juniper.

Recently, Blessing had moved to Seattle to study atmospheric science at the University of Washington. They also pursued minors in philosophy and music. Before leaving New Mexico, they spent four years studying at the New Mexico School for the Arts. Friends recalled them as an artist and scholar whose empathy seemed to touch nearly everyone they met.

“When you say someone was the kindest person you’ve ever known, people often say that after someone dies,” one friend, in a trembling voice, told the crowd. “But with Juniper, it’s something you truly mean.”

Police said Blessing was found dead last week inside the university’s laundry room. Investigators allege the killer stabbed them dozens of times. Since the incident, the killing has reverberated far beyond New Mexico. It has heightened anxiety in LGBTQ+ communities and students already facing fears about violence and intolerance.

“We gather as people of many faiths, many identities, many backgrounds and many understandings of the sacred,” D’Arrigo said. “Yet we are united in the simple truth that every human life possesses inherent dignity.”

For most people, the vigil is less about answers. It is more about holding one another through shock. Kevin Bowen, executive director of the alliance, urged mourners to allow grief to blossom into defiance stronger than despair. “We have to take trauma that comes from these emotions and realize that trauma, that grief, really comes from love,” Bowen said.

Some cried openly. Others sat in silence on the brick pathways of the plaza. Parents embraced their children. Friends stood shoulder to shoulder. A musician softly played a song nearby as dusk slowly settled over the city.

The crowd expressed anguish threaded with defiance. “Tonight we refuse to allow fear or cruelty to have the final word,” D’Arrigo said. “We stand here together to proclaim that Juniper’s life mattered.”

Authorities have detained a suspect, 31-year-old Chris Leyhee, who police say volunteered himself in. A judge set the bail at $10 million. Investigators said they have yet to establish a motive. And, at this stage, police rule out that the killing was a hate crime. Prosecutors plan to file formal charges before Leyhee’s court appearance on Tuesday.

But in Santa Fe, legal proceedings felt so remote amid the emotional reality unfolding beneath candlelight. “The key is we can’t forget,” Bowen told the crowd. Indeed, for one night in Santa Fe, a city Juniper Blessing once called home, to forget seemed impossible.

State Pays Law School Tuition to Bring Lawyers Where Rural New Mexico Needs Them Most

Juan Oliveros
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State Pays Law School Tuition to Bring Lawyers Where Rural New Mexico Needs Them Most

A mother living in rural New Mexico seeking child support can find herself facing a custody battle. But she has to face a life-changing choice: engage with the legal system alone or give up altogether.

There are counties where no lawyer is available to take her case. No legal assistance office nearby. No affordable attorney within driving distance. So she enters family court without a lawyer, carrying legal papers she barely understands, standing across from a system built in a language that is alien to her.

The consequences could be disastrous. C. Shannon Bacon of the New Mexico Supreme Court said mothers risk losing their homes, missing child support, or needing guardianship with no one to guide them.

For many residents in New Mexico, especially in isolated and historically underserved communities, geography is tied to access to justice. Justice Bacon said nearly 9 in 10 litigants in family court across the state represent themselves — a figure that mirrors attorney shortages and deep rural poverty. “These are folks who don’t have those skills, having to go in and represent themselves,” Bacon said.

Now, state leaders are initiating an intervention. They will be sending lawyers directly into underserved communities where they are needed most. Through the Community Governance Attorney Program, the University of New Mexico School of Law trains students and financially supports them to practice in some of the state’s most underserved regions. These areas include acequias, land grant-merced communities, and colonias. Many of these communities trace their histories back many centuries and remain culturally distinct, however, economically vulnerable.

The program, established in 2019, is under the New Mexico Higher Education Department. It offers tuition assistance, fees, and financial allowances for up to two third‑year law students annually. Graduates in return pledge to practice law in rural New Mexico communities, where legal representation is often scarce or absent.

The state also pays half of each attorney’s salary during their first two years of service. This incentive officials hope will encourage young lawyers to remain in New Mexico rather than leave for the metropolis.

“By supporting the state’s future attorneys in public service, we are building much-needed legal capacity in communities while keeping skilled workers in New Mexico,” said Stephanie M. Rodriguez. “This program is critical for strengthening access to legal counsel to underserved communities across New Mexico.”

The legal needs go far beyond family court. Many rural communities across the state face disputes involving land use, water rights, governance, and administrative law. These issues are interwoven with New Mexico’s complex history of Indigenous, Hispanic, and frontier settlement. Residents of Colonias and land grant communities often struggle to get lawyers who are experts with the unique structures that govern communal lands and traditional water systems.

State officials have recognized that the nation’s legal aid shortfall extends beyond criminal defense and urban legal aid clinics. The crisis is also unfolding quietly in rural courtrooms where ordinary Americans must argue high-stakes cases without lawyers. After all, justice is not simply blind in much of rural New Mexico. It is often far away.

Here is What You Need to Know Why “Sidewalk Ban” Faces Backlash

Ruben Reyes
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Here is What You Need to Know Why “Sidewalk Ban” Faces Backlash

“Sidewalk ban” ordinance has raised its concerns over people facing homelessness after its effectivity last week.

A local group says this ordinance in Albuquerque mainly targets people facing homelessness and could increase police patrols in city-designated safety zones.

City Council passed the enhanced service and safety zones ordinance last week. Dare to Struggle group said the bill disproportionately targets people facing homelessness.

“APD wrongfully harasses us, and the city displaces us, throws away our stuff, harasses us, gives us citations that are unlawful, unjust, and we get displaced and have to start over and over and over again,” said Gabriel Salas.

Salas said the ordinance is not only the issue. According to the group, the city and police have treated people facing homelessness for a very long time.

Mayor Tim Keller says the ordinance still needs action and will designate certain safety zones. The Police, Albuquerque Community Safety or city sanitation workers would patrol these areas more.

The ordinance would also make it illegal to sit, sleep, or lie on public sidewalks, roads, bike paths, or alleys if someone is blocking them.

These ordinance could put others who seeks refuge on the road on pedestal. Authorities should seek solution on these problem to provide a better care for them.

Soaring Housing Costs Push Santa Fe Police Into Rio Rancho

Juan Oliveros
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Soaring Housing Costs Push Santa Fe Police Into Rio Rancho

Santa Fe has positioned itself as a city of art, culture, and adobe charm — an environment fostering intentional living and cultural richness. But for many of the police officers sworn to protect the city, living there is no longer within reach due to skyrocketing housing costs.

So every morning before dawn, a quiet migration starts as squads of police officers leave subdivisions in Rio Rancho. They head north on Interstate 25 toward Santa Fe, commuting about 50 miles to patrol neighborhoods they themselves find the area financially out of reach.

One of them is Santa Fe police Officer Patrick Pinson.

Pinson and his wife started looking for a home in Santa Fe in 2017. The couple hoped to stay close to the city where he worked and where their family life was beginning to take root. Instead, they found out what many teachers, firefighters, and city employees already knew: the housing market had soared beyond the reach of middle-class workers.

Homes in Santa Fe were selling for $250 to $300 per square foot, Pinson said. The price is more than double the cost in Rio Rancho at the time. “The biggest houses we could afford were pretty much the same thing we were living in before,” he said. Pinson described cramped homes of roughly 900 to 1,000 square feet that no longer fit a growing family. So they left.

Today, Pinson is part of a pattern reshaping Northern New Mexico’s law enforcement landscape: officers live far from the communities they police.

Data from the Santa Fe Police Department show that only 39 of its 159 officers live within city limits. Another 22 live in Santa Fe County. But 49 police officers — the largest share — live in Sandoval County, home to Rio Rancho, the state’s fastest-growing city.

The trend goes beyond city police. At the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, nearly 3 in 10 of sworn deputies also live in Rio Rancho. The decision to live outside Santa Fe comes down to math.

Rio Rancho offers spacious housing in modern developments and lower crime rates. And the prices are still within reach on a public servant’s salary. On some streets, police vehicles from several jurisdictions line driveways each night. “Just within about 100 yards of my house, there are three state police officers, myself, and there’s some Santa Fe County,” Pinson said. “There’s a really high concentration of law enforcement in Rio Rancho due to the affordability.”

The city has adopted that identity.

Paul Wymer, who took office as the new mayor, says the influx of officers is not a peculiarity of regional economics. He frames it as an advantage for his city. Police cruisers parked in neighborhoods, he said, creating a sense of security and reinforcing Rio Rancho’s reputation as one of the safest communities in the state. Crime rate in Rio Rancho has dropped by 16 percent over the past two years. “I think it’s the safest community in the state,” Wymer said. “I’ve heard that directly from police officers.”

But the migration raises deeper issues for Santa Fe. Civic leaders across the country have argued that officers living within the communities they serve helps strengthen public trust, deepen relationships with residents, and create a stronger sense of accountability. Officers who coach Little League, patronize local businesses, and engage with residents beyond official duties can become part of a city’s social fabric, not simply its enforcement arm.

That extended commutes undermine their ability to remain connected locally.

Michael Garcia says the city is not only losing tax revenue when workers move elsewhere. “I want folks being engaged with our police and fire daily,” Garcia said. He described a vision in which first responders are visible not only during crises but also daily in schools, volunteer programs, and youth sports.

But solving the problem may prove more difficult in a city where cost accessibility has become a defining political issue.

Garcia says the city is exploring incentives to encourage officers to live locally. These incentives range from housing stipends to revised assistance programs for down payments. Also, city leaders are reluctant to sanction employees already priced out of the local economy..

Many officers appear resigned to the commute for now. Every weekday, streams of headlights move along I-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, a stretch of road notorious for crashes and congestion. Pinson said he has learned to live by the routine: cruise control set at 75 miles per hour, taking time to relax off-duty while inching through traffic toward home.

However, the drive can take up to two hours when road incidents close lanes. “It’s kind of frustrating,” he admitted. Still, he says the hassle is worth it.

Pinson’s family has the space they needed in Rio Rancho. The community offers the sense of security they wanted. Returning to Santa Fe, he said, is no longer realistic. “We haven’t really considered it,” Pinson said. “We’re very content where we’re at.”

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