New Mexico
Curry to renegotiate events center contract
Curry County will renegotiate its contract with the company managing the Curry County Events Center. But it won’t attempt to terminate the agreement as commissioners discussed last month.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Seth Martin said he’s still not happy the Oak View Group 360 exceeded its budget for the last fiscal year.
“If it were up to me, I would escort y’all off the property and have Curry County take over,” Martin said. He said commissioners and administrators were “led to believe” the management group was under budget until a final report was delivered on Sept. 24.
Officials said OVG 360 exceeded its budget by about $180,000. The Events Center operated at a loss of $858,000 for the year, though most of that was expected.
Martin asked County Attorney Dan Macke to look into whether OVG 360 breached its contract with the county by exceeding its budget.
“But the important thing,” said Commissioner Robert Thornton, “is we instructed (county) management to re-negotiate our contract with OVG 360.
“If we were to just end the contract we would have to give them 30 days notice, they would have 30 days to correct the problem and then we’d have to give them 90 days notice of termination. And their contract ends Jan. 1,” Thornton said.
One thing commissioners, county administrators and OVG representatives seemed to agree on: the Events Center is more an equestrian center than a concert venue.
“The Events Center was built as an equestrian deal,” Thornton said after the meeting.
Rebecca Bolton and Kevin Ortiz, administrators from OVG 360, appeared before commissioners with plans the company has to rectify the problematic financial issues. And Bolton said the company’s equestrian and rodeo events professional will be brought in to work with events center General Manager K. C. Messick.
Ortiz told commissioners, “K. C. is severely understaffed.”
Martin reiterated he was interested in cutting losses.
“I’m not trying to make this facility make money. It won’t. I would like to see us work together,” Martin said of OVG 360 and the county government.
“We are partners and stewards,” said Bolton.
Some commissioners expressed support for Messick.
“I believe K.C. was blamed for things he didn’t do,” Commissioner Dusty Leatherwood said.
“K.C. works his tail off there. And I don’t dislike OVG 360,” Commissioner Brad Bender said.
“K.C. cares about this place,” Thornton said.
“I think we can do better. I think K.C. can do better,” Leatherwood added.
Much of the Commission’s other business at Tuesday’s specially called meeting dealt with more routine matters:
n In a proclamation, commissioners declared Thursday as “Blue Day” in Curry County celebrating Zia Elementary School being named as a “National Blue Ribbon School.”
As a “Blue Day,” area residents are encouraged to wear blue that day.
• Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution of support for the General Obligation Bond 3 on the Nov. 5 ballot, which contains $2 million for Clovis Community College if voters approve the measure.
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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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — An ‘imposter nurse’ in Las Cruces is facing 34 charges after nearly causing the death of a patient and illegally giving medications to patients under 18 years old.
A Doña Ana County grand jury indicted Margarita Gonzalez. She is accused of assuming the identities of nurses in Texas to get hired at four nursing facilities in Las Cruces:
- Village at Northrise
- Las Cruces Wellness and Rehabilitation
- Peak Behavioral Health
- Matrix Home Care
The New Mexico Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau investigated and discovered instances where Gonzalez illegally gave injections and dispensed prescriptions, including narcotics to eight inpatient residents under 18 years old.
An investigation also found Gonzalez was also about to allegedly give “an incorrect insulin dose” to a patient that they claim could’ve killed the patient if another nurse hadn’t caught the error.
Several facilities fired Gonzalez over patient safety concerns and an observed lack of knowledge.
“Impersonating a healthcare provider is a reckless and selfish crime that subjects those most vulnerable to risk of serious injury or death,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “I will not tolerate those who risk the safety of patients or cause danger and unnecessary confusion within the healthcare system. These charges should keep anyone attempting to pose as a healthcare provider on notice: we will find you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law to protect New Mexicans.”
Gonzalez’s charges include identity theft, nursing without a license, abuse of a resident, distribution of controlled substances to a minor and fraud totaling over $25,000.
If convicted on all counts, Gonzalez could face up to 100 years in prison.
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