New Mexico
Black Pumas return to New Mexico
Eric Burton, a 2008 graduate of Alamogordo High School, returns to New Mexico this week when his Grammy-nominated band, the Black Pumas, play a concert in Santa Fe Thursday, June 13.
Defining the genre of the group, essentially a duo with Austin native Adrian Quesada, is the hardest thing about Black Pumas. Are they neo-soul? Are they Latin Funk? Are they psychedelic pop folk? Are they roots music?
Regardless how you label them, the easiest thing about Black Pumas is listening to Burton’s voice. It has a smooth roughness, kind of like an extra-fine 320-grit sandpaper.
Burton is the primary singer/songwriter and Quesada is the primary guitarist and producer, but both do a lot of things, and the group occasionally collaborates with other musicians.
Talking about Black Pumas’ most recent album, “Chronicles of a Diamond,” Burton had this to say: “With this album I felt very free in my vocal performance, which has a lot to do with Adrian hearing something in my voice and helping me to explore that.”
More: Alamogordo Tiger Band hosts its first ever March-A-Thon
Burton’s voice brings to mind such iconic soul artists as Otis Redding and Al Green, but it is clearly his own, and something he often credits to his musical and theatrical family members.
The duo creates much of its own original music, but also revisits older classics, such as Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” and going back even further, Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman.” Their take on “Fast Car” is largely true to the original, but their haunting version of “Wichita Lineman” makes you wonder if it’s even the same song.
Their original lyrics can also be a throwback. The song “Angel,” from their current album, was written by Burton and Quesada together. It features an example of turning lines backward, a la Stevie Wonder. The lyric is “May the stars lovely keep you … in this dream.”
Doors open for the concert at the outdoor venue Hipico Santa Fe at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13. The opening act, Abraham Alexander starts at 7 p.m., with the Black Pumas scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. For more information, visit lensic360.org.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld a child abuse conviction on Monday of a Las Cruces man who was found guilty of killing a two-year-old girl in 2018.
In 2023, a jury found Lalo Castrillo guilty of abusing two-year-old Faviola Rodriguez to death. Rodriguez was left in Castrillo’s care by the toddler’s mother, Saundra Gonzales, who had left for work. An autopsy revealed that Rodriguez sustained blunt-force trauma to her head and body.
According to the state Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday, it unanimously rejected arguments made by Castrillo that there was not enough evidence for the jury to find that he caused the death of Rodriguez.
Castrillo had requested that the district court grant him a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, a photo the child’s mother posted on social media after the trial, which showed the child with a bruise on her head.
At a hearing on the request, the justices noted that the photo in question was taken six months before the child’s death
“Because the photo was taken months before both Victim’s death and the two earlier injuries Defendant claims caused her death, we conclude that the evidence was not material and therefore that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant’s motion for a new trial,” the Court wrote.
As a result, the state Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Castrillo for intentional child abuse resulting in the death of Rodriguez and denied the request for a new trial.
During the 2023 trial, a doctor with the office of the medical investigator testified that a combination of blunt injuries to the head caused Rodriguez’s death.
“Here, the State presented medical evidence such that a reasonable juror could find that the acute blunt force injuries Victim suffered were inflicted while she was in Defendant’s exclusive care and that the injuries were not accidental,” the Court stated in the decision written by Justice Briana H. Zamora. “Two witnesses testified that on the day she was injured, Victim had no visible bruises or other signs of injury before she was left alone with Defendant.”
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Damon Bankston, RB
Height: 5’ 10 ⅜”
Weight: 196 lbs
Class: Fifth-year Senior
School: New Mexico
Hands: 9 ½”
Arm Length: 30 ⅞”
Wingspan: 72 ⅝”
40-Yard Dash: 4.44 seconds
Bench Press: 21 reps
Vertical: 33”
Broad Jump: 10’ 3”
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.32 seconds
3-Cone: 6.89 seconds
STATS
Damon Bankston was an unranked running back recruit from Katy Paetow in Katy, Texas, who enrolled at Weber State, an FCS school in Ogden, Utah.
Bankston would stay at Weber State from 2021 to 2024 before transferring to New Mexico for his final season of college football in 2025.
As a redshirt senior, Bankston would rack up 635 rushing yards, 397 receiving yards, and 8 scrimmage touchdowns, as well as another 434 kick return yards and two touchdowns on just 12 returns.
Strengths
- Explosive athlete with elite acceleration
- Soft, natural hands as a pass-catcher out of the backfield
- Solid vision when operating in zone run schemes
- Usually a patient runner before accelerating through gaps
- Plays very quick as a runner with a bit of a choppy style
- Eliminates tackle angles with acceleration
- Can make defenders miss in space with a solid juke move
- Kick return specialist with two return touchdowns in 2025
- Willing as a pass protector in the backfield
Weaknesses
- Likely won’t be able to survive through contact often against NFL-caliber defenders
- Questionable ability to run between the tackles at the next level
- Not necessarily a weakness but only one year of FBS film, not sure how he’ll adapt to NFL game speed
- Questionable size to succeed in pass protection
- Ball security was an issue for him in 2025, including two fumbles in one game against Colorado State
- Play strength is a concern with contact balance, ball security, pass protection, and the ability to be an all-around back
Summary
Bankston will at best be a change-of-pace back in the NFL who never handles a significant workload.
Carving out a role as a return specialist should be the goal for Bankston to make the roster in 2026, which will also be a tall task for him to solidify with Deonte Banks back for the Giants in 2026.
Bankston, who at this point is probably more of a practice squad candidate, can definitely provide some juice on special teams as a kickoff returner. In college he averaged 36.2 yards per return and had two returns for touchdown, showing some explosiveness.
The step up in competition from the FCS to FBS for Bankston caused him to be less consistent with creating yards after contact and making defenders miss.
It’s fair to estimate that with another step up in competition, Bankston could once again see a decrease in that ability to create.
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New Mexico is not adding population the way some Sun Belt states are. The state’s overall population dipped slightly between 2020 and 2024, though the picture is more complicated than a simple out-migration story. International immigration adds a meaningful slice of inbound traffic, and three population centers along the I-25 corridor capture most of the people moving in. Career growth in defense, semiconductors, and the federal scientific complex matters, but for retirees in particular, affordability and the high-altitude climate carry more weight. The three cities below catch most of the inbound traffic.
Inbound moves to New Mexico concentrate in the major population centers along I-25. Career growth in unique technological and scientific sectors draws newcomers along with affordability factors compared with other US regions, often the major draw for retirees. Neighboring Texas, Colorado, and Arizona supply the majority of new arrivals. Consumer Affairs data shows about 21.3 percent of inbound movers are retirees while 30 percent cite job opportunities. The state’s natural scenic backdrop and access to outdoor recreation also factor in.
Rio Rancho
Rio Rancho sits in Sandoval County immediately northwest of Albuquerque, with a population near 112,500 and an 8.1 percent growth rate between 2020 and 2024 (the strongest in New Mexico by raw numbers). Arizona supplies a meaningful share of the new arrivals. Unemployment runs close to the national average around 4.5 percent. Intel Corporation is the principal local employer, with the company’s Fab 11X semiconductor facility based in town and a $3.5 billion expansion underway.
The town’s growth runs on proximity to Albuquerque and Santa Fe combined with direct access to the high desert. Mainstays like Turtle Mountain Brewing Company anchor a working local business scene. The Willow Creek Trail and the wider Jemez Mountain Trail handle outdoor recreation 30 minutes north.
Santa Fe
Santa Fe probably needs no introduction. The state capital and its surrounding areas have drawn artistic communities for more than a century, with the more recent decades adding celebrity buyers and Hollywood film and television production through the New Mexico Film Office. Santa Fe also holds the title of the oldest state capital in the United States, established by Spanish colonists in 1610.
The town runs a population around 90,550 with the second-highest housing costs in the state after Los Alamos. The national median home listing price is around $394,000, while Santa Fe’s median runs roughly $764,000. Santa Fe County reports list Los Angeles, Dallas, and Seattle among the primary sources of new residents, which paints a clearer picture of who Santa Fe typically attracts. The city’s population climbed by about 10,000 between 2020 and 2024, with another 1,000 added through 2025.
Las Cruces
Las Cruces runs a population near 117,000 with an annual growth rate of about 1.83 percent. The city remains largely underappreciated by those looking to relocate, but a steady stream of individuals and families do make the move, largely for federal and military employment opportunities at the White Sands Test Facility and the White Sands Missile Range to the east. The local economy has also seen sporadic increases in construction and healthcare hiring.
Affordability is the headline pull. Las Cruces sits 8 to 11 percent below the national cost-of-living average. According to apartments.com, housing runs 16.6 percent less expensive than the national average. The region also pulls more than 300 sunny days per year, and direct access to hiking in the Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks National Monument is one of the more underrated outdoor draws in the Southwest. New Mexico State University adds the cultural and athletic anchor at the centre of the city.
The High-Desert Corridor
The bigger pattern: newcomers to the Land of Enchantment gravitate to the populous corridor running south to north between Los Lunas, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe, with some pushing farther north to Taos or Angel Fire. The primary draw is not the countryside but the employment opportunities, security, and amenities a major city can offer. Unless a specific job is the driver, most people are attracted to New Mexico for natural beauty, climate, lower cost of living, and cultural mainstays. In-state relocators tend to seek better career opportunities or specific access to a particular town and its offerings.
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