New Mexico
In search of Oppenheimer's New Mexico
On the highway between Abiquiú and Ghost Ranch is Bode’s General Store – a roadside waystation beloved for its tamales and green chili burgers. It is not so different than it was 80 years ago, when O’Keeffe and Oppenheimer were among its clientele. And during the filming of Oppenheimer, Ybbaro said, it was a standby for cast and crew, too.
Oppenheimer’s invisible legacy
Oppenheimer and colleagues took more than inspiration from these landscapes. Families with land downwind from White Sands or any of the hundreds of uranium mining sites in the region – a community known today as “downwinders” – know the Manhattan Project cost untold lives in New Mexico. In the forthcoming documentary First We Bombed New Mexico, filmmaker Lois Lipman shares dozens of accounts that together paint the picture of “massive cancers and deaths” that swept across the state in the decades after the Trinity test.
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People can still experience the landscapes central to this part of the story, too – if they dare. Places like Hoot Owl Canyon, once called “Hot Canyon” by the government because of its red-hot gamma radiation levels from the Trinity test’s nuclear fallout carried by the wind, are open to the public, Lipman said. There are no recent studies indicating whether the area is still radioactive. But radioactivity in nuclear fallout has a shelf life of 24,000 years – or as some downwinders put it, 7,000 generations.
Like the scenic Pajarito Plateau and Ghost Ranch, Hot Canyon, with its red-rock bridges and pinnacles, is forever linked with Oppenheimer – albeit controversially. Indeed, 18 months after the Manhattan Project started, Oppenheimer is said to have stared out over the desert he loved, and confessed, “I am responsible for ruining a beautiful place.”
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New Mexico
CSU-Pueblo crushes New Mexico Highlands | KRDO
The CSU-Pueblo football team exploded for a 67-28 win over New Mexico Highlands.
The Thunderwolves reached the 66 point mark for the second straight week.
CSU-Pueblo improves to 5-1 this season.
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New Mexico
Eastern New Mexico volleyball falls to 0-4 in conference play after loss to Angelo State
PORTALES, N.M. (KFDA) – The Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds volleyball team was not able to get their first conference win, falling to No. 14-ranked Angelo State on Saturday in Portales on Homecoming.
The Greyhounds got some life after winning the first set (25-23), which is the first set they’ve won in their last three games.
That momentum wouldn’t hold, as the Rambelles took the last three sets (22-25, 15-25, 13-25) to end the day.
Evelyn Torres from Angelo State finished with 15 kills and 20 digs in the match.
The senior from Hereford high school, Darcy Dodd, was the only Greyhound with 10 or more kills and tied for fourth for the most digs on the team.
ENMU will be on the road in Oklahoma for their next match against Cameron on Wednesday.
Following this loss, they now sit at 3-11 on the year and are 16th in the Lone Star Conference.
Copyright 2024 KFDA. All rights reserved.
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.
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