New Mexico
Blue 2 Fire Daily Update – June 2, 2024 — Ruidoso-NM.gov | Municipal Website of the Village of Ruidoso, NM
Acres: 7,457
Start Date: May 16, 2024
Location: 8 miles North of Ruidoso, White Mountain Wilderness Area
Cause: Lightning
Personnel: 786
Fuels: Timber/Grass/Brush
Containment: 54%
Resources: 17 crews | 33 engines | 8 helicopters | 6 bulldozers | 10 Water Tenders
Highlights: Storms will continue in the surrounding areas, causing outflow winds up to 35 mph on the ridge tops to affect the fire area throughout the day. Firefighters are prepared for the weather to test the fire perimeter’s containment and remaining open line. Successful work on the ground has allowed the progression of increased containment.
Operations: Yesterday, Solider Mountain was fully contained, and firefighters will remain in the area to ensure that the fireline holds. Ground crews focused on mop-up efforts, using water and hand tools to be able to work on the uncontained line. Structure protection is ongoing, and pumps are continually tested to ensure that they are fully operational if needed. Heavy equipment is working on the completion of the contingency line towards Buck Mountain. The night shift will continue to patrol around communities and monitor for any new sources of heat. Today, ground crews will stay vigilant in anticipation of forecasted winds where hotspots or spotting could test the fire perimeter. Engines will be near Bonito Lake mopping up and providing structure protection to values at risk. Crews are removing slash from fire lines and heavy equipment is being used to the west of Angus and the Enchanted Forest communities to ensure that the lines hold.
Weather: Due to the thunderstorm formation in the surrounding areas, the fire area will experience winds that will test the fire perimeter with stronger winds coming from different directions than have been experienced during previous days. As the storms exit to the east, they will give way to dry and hot weather for the next several days.
Smoke: As warm and dry conditions are experienced there is potential for more smoke. However, barring any significant fire growth, only periods of light smoke should be seen around Bonito and Capitan. View an interactive smoke map at fire.airnow.gov/
Closures: The Lincoln National Forest has issued an emergency area closure for the Blue 2 Fire. The closure order (No.03-08-24-0001) and map are available on Inciweb and the Lincoln National Forest website.
Evacuations: Evacuation levels remain unchanged and weather will determine the status of evacuations as managers assess current conditions. For an interactive evacuation map go to tinyurl.com/Blue2Evacs
Safety: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the area, which includes uncrewed aircraft systems or drones. Find the TFR at tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/
New Mexico
Two men arrested for deadly shooting outside Frontier Restaurant
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Police arrested two young men on murder charges after a deadly shooting outside the Frontier Restaurant near the University of New Mexico.
Police said 19-year-old Junior Lewis and 20-year-old Evan Rogers are in custody and both face murder charges.
Police said both men are set to face a judge Saturday.
Investigators said they found both suspects inside Rogers’ dorm room at UNM.
The shooting happened in the early morning hours Thursday just south of Central between Cornell and Stanford.
Police said the man who was shot died at the scene.
New Mexico
Find out how New Mexico hospitals rank for patient safety
Leapfrog released its 2026 spring hospital safety grades.
Grades are assigned based on overall performance, including patient safety.
The Leapfrog Group’s goal is to publicly report patient safety and quality information for the benefit of consumers, purchasers, and referring physicians as they make decisions about where to seek care and where to direct patients,” the company stated on its website.
Here’s how your local hospitals performed.
MountainView Regional Medical Center – A
Leapfrog gave MountainView an “A.”
“Being the only hospital in Doña Ana County to earn an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group speaks to the high standards our team sets – and meets – every day,” said MountainView CEO Patrick Shannon. “This achievement reflects the dedication of our physicians, nurses, and employees to deliver the safest care possible for our community.”
“An ‘A’ Grade is a strong sign that MountainView is deeply committed to protecting patients from harm,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff and volunteers for the role each played in earning this distinction.”
The hospital performed better than average in several areas including low infection rates, addressing safety problems, and ICU care. The hospital received below average performances ratings in surgical site infections post colon surgery, communication about medicine and discharge, communication with doctors and nurses and nursing and bedside care for patients.
Memorial Medical Center – B
Memorial Medical Center received a “B” grade from Leapfrog.
The hospital performed well in effective leadership, reduction and prevention of infections and addressing safety problems.
The hospital received below average ratings for kidney injury after surgery, serious breathing problems, harmful events, communication about medicine and discharge, and communication with doctors and nurses.
Not rated by Leapfrog were Three Crosses Regional Hospital.
Nearby top rated hospitals
Leapfrog gave an A to William Beaumont Army Medical Center and Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso. Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso received a B.
How did other New Mexico hospitals perform?
A recipients were:
- CHRISTUS Southern New Mexico in Alamogordo
B recipients were:
- Lovelace Women’s Hospital in Albuquerque
C recipients were:
- Carlsbad Medical Center in Carlsbad
- CHRISTUS St. Vincent in Santa FE
- Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell
- Lovelace Medical Center-Downtown in Albuquerque
- Lovelace Regional Hospital in Roswell
- Lovelace Westside Hospital in Albuquerque
- University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque
D recipients were:
- San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington
- UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center in Rio Rancho
Explore the full survey results at https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/.
Jessica Onsurez is editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News. Reach her by email at jonsurez@usatodayco.com.
New Mexico
The most popular baby names in New Mexico for 2025
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The Social Security Office released the most popular baby names for 2025 on Thursday. And here in New Mexico, we saw some familiar names top the charts once again.
Coming in at No. 1 for girls is Mia, and as for the boys, Noah ranks No. 1. That’s no change from 2024 when Mia and Noah also led the pack, both coming in at No 1. For 2025, there were a total of 66 babies named Mia and 115 babies named Noah, while in 2024, there were 81 Mias and 105 Noahs.
What do the names mean? Online sources list a few different interpretations for Mia, but one common association is with the Italian word “mia,” which means “mine.” As for Noah, the name is most commonly associated with the prominent bible figure. It’s thought to mean “rest,” or “comfort.”
Here’s a look at some of the other top baby names in New Mexico for 2025.
- Girls:
- Olivia (65 total)
- Sophia (65 total)
- Sofia (60 total)
- Camila (59 total)
- Eliana (57 total)
- Isabella (56 total)
- Amelia (53 total)
- Aria (45 total)
- Aurora (45 total)
- Boys:
- Liam (109 total)
- Mateo (99 total)
- Elijah (76 total)
- Santiago (70 total)
- Sebastian (69 total)
- Ezra (67 total)
- Elias (66 total)
- Ezekiel (66 total)
- Levi (69 total)
Nationally, Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, and have been for the past seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. As for the fastest-rising names, Klarity jumped nearly 1,400 spots on the girls’ list, and Kasai jumped 1,108 for boy names.
Other names rising in popularity for boys include Atlas, Adriel, Emiliano, Arthur, and Archer. On the girls’ list, Ailany, Sienna, Amara, and Georgia are becoming more popular.
You can find the full list by state online.
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