New Mexico

'They were doing God's work': Families remember N.M. first responders killed in helicopter crash

Published

2 years ago

July 20, 2024

'They were doing God's work': Families remember N.M. first responders killed in helicopter crash

By Gregory Hasman
Albuquerque Journal

TIJERAS, N.M. — Honor guards from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and Bernalillo County Fire Rescue stood watch at the East Mountain Memorial Wall on Tuesday evening to honor four men who died in a 2022 helicopter crash in northern New Mexico.

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As they stood, dozens of people walked up to the wall. Some kissed their fingers, then placed them over the name of a loved one on the wall, while others kneeled in front of the name.

“We can never forget those guys for what they did for us,” said Tim Sheahan, who came to remember the first responders.

On July 16, 2022, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Larry Koren, 55; Lt. Fred Beers, 51; Deputy Michael Levison, 30; and Bernalillo County Fire Rescue Specialist Matthew King, 44, were returning to Albuquerque after conducting firefighting operations near Chapelle, south of Las Vegas, when BCSO’s Metro 2 helicopter crashed.

Andrew Levison, brother of Michael Levison, told the Journal that, earlier in the day, he went to the crash site. As he walked to a memorial consisting of an American flag and pieces of the helicopter honoring the men, Andrew said he thought about their sacrifices.

“I’m proud of them for what they were doing that day,” Andrew said. “They were doing God’s work, in my opinion.”

While some time has passed since the incident, the memories remain fresh for many family members and friends.

“For the longest time, I thought it was just a bad dream,” said Noëlle Ashoo, Michael Levison’s partner. “Even after the first year, I thought this was a messed-up drama.”

‘A true brother’

While some people walked to the memorial, others intermingled with other relatives or members of the sheriff’s office and fire rescue.

Retired BCSO Sgt. Nathan Lerner was talking to some of King’s family when he said Beers was the “perfect mensch,” which is Yiddish for a person with integrity and honor.

Beers was not only a smart man, he said, but “he would never have anything bad to say about anybody.”

“He was a true brother,” Lerner said.

Sheahan said he remembered Beers and Koren as being “very dedicated at their jobs and dedicated to the people of Bernalillo County .”

King was known for his passion for his job, his desire to serve others, and his sense of humor.

“He would make you laugh until you couldn’t stand it,” his father, James King, said.

James said he had a tough time talking about his son’s death, but two years later, he is able to “talk about Matt a lot.”

“Every day is tough, and I imagine it’s going to be tough for quite a while,” James said.

‘We have more questions’

Tuesday’s remembrance took place just weeks after the National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the crash investigation. In it, federal investigators said engine failure due to poor maintenance caused the crash.

Andrew said the report made his parents “angry, disappointed and frustrated” because the incident could have been prevented.

“Why did this happen?” Andrew asked. “Why did we lose our family member?

“This didn’t get our family closure to any degree. We have more questions.”

Ashoo said she hasn’t brought herself to read the report. “It won’t bring him back,” she said, “so it changes nothing for me.”

While the report may not change things or bring closure, Andrew said the next step is “to prevent this from happening to anybody else.”

—

(c)2024 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at www.abqjournal.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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New Mexico

New Mexico vs. Tulsa Prediction Odds, Key Player to Watch for NIT Semifinal

Published

3 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico vs. Tulsa Prediction Odds, Key Player to Watch for NIT Semifinal

It’s not just the NCAA Tournament that’s down to the final four teams, but the NIT also has just four teams remaining in its bracket. The semifinals are set to begin on Thursday night, with the first of two games being a showdown between New Mexico from the Mountain West and Tulsa from the American.

Let’s dive into the odds and my best bet for Thursday night’s matchup, with a berth in the NIT final on the line.

New Mexico vs. Tulsa Odds, Spread, and Total

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Spread

New Mexico -3.5 (-118)
Tulsa +3.5 (-104)

Moneyline

New Mexico -178
Tulsa +146

Total

OVER 161.5 (-110)
UNDER 161.5 (-110)

New Mexico vs. Tulsa How to Watch

Date: Thursday, April 2
Game Time: 7:00 pm ET
Venue: Hinkle Fieldhouse
How to Watch (TV): ESPN
New Mexico Record: 26-10
Tulsa Record: 29-7

New Mexico vs. Tulsa Betting Trends

Tulsa is 1-5 ATS in its last six games
The OVER is 8-3 in Tulsa’s last 11 games
Tulsa is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games as an underdog
New Mexico is 5-0-1 ATS in its last six games
The OVER is 13-7 in New Mexico’s last 20 games

New Mexico vs. Tulsa Key Player to Watch

David Green, F – Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

If Tulsa wants to pull off the upset and win this game, they need David Green to step up in a big way. He’s the team’s leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points per game, but he scored just five points in the NIT quarterfinal. Let’s see if he can bounce back with a strong performance tonight.

New Mexico vs. Tulsa Prediction and Pick

Tulsa has already beaten one Mountain West team in the NIT, taking down UNLV by a score of 77-66, and I think they can at least cover as underdogs against New Mexico.

The Golden Hurricanes are one of the best shooting teams in college basketball, ranking 25th in effective field goal percentage. Well above New Mexico, which comes in at 70th in that metric. Tulsa is also a solid team defensively, ranking 106th in defensive efficiency.

The Mountain West continues to be an overrated conference. Their regular season and tournament champion lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Colorado State and Wyoming both lost in the first round of the NIT, and UNLV fell in the second round to Tulsa.

I’m going to continue to follow my strategy of fading the Mountain West in postseason tournaments.

Pick: Tulsa +3.5 (-104) via FanDuel

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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You can check out all of Iain’s bets here!

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New Mexico

Santa Fe National Forest, other Northern New Mexico land, announce fire restrictions

Published

15 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Santa Fe National Forest, other Northern New Mexico land, announce fire restrictions

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New Mexico

New Mexico State women’s basketball’s 3 best March Madness moments

Published

1 day ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico State women’s basketball’s 3 best March Madness moments

New Mexico State’s women’s basketball team has entered a new era with the hiring of Adeniyi Amadou as its new coach. He’ll try to take the Aggies back to the NCAA Tournament, where they appeared multiple times in the 1980s and 2010s.

NM State has six NCAA Tournaments, four conference tournament championships (all won as part of the Western Athletic Conference) and eight regular-season conference championships to its name in women’s basketball. The Aggies have reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament once in 1988, although that was when teams could receive first-round byes if they were a high enough seed (they were a No. 6 seed then and lost to Washington in their first NCAA Tournament game).

Let’s look back on some of those seasons. Here are the three best March Madness moments in NM State’s women’s basketball history:

First conference tournament win (2015)

NM State began its WAC dynasty in 2015.

The Aggies won their first-ever conference tournament in women’s basketball in the 2015 WAC Tournament. NM State was the regular-season conference champion and earned the No. 1 seed and a bye to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament as a result. The Aggies went 2-0 to secure a conference tournament championship.

Bolstered by 22 points from Sasha Weber and 16 rebounds from Brianna Freeman, NM State pulled out a 79-75 overtime win in the semifinals over Seattle. Another 20 points from Weber helped the Aggies win the WAC Tournament championship game 70-52 over UT-Pan American (which has since merged with UT-Brownsville to form UTRGV) and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. Freeman was named the WAC Tournament MVP.

Three in a row (2017)

The Aggies would then make it three consecutive WAC Tournament championships two years later.

NM State entered the 2017 WAC Tournament with a perfect 14-0 conference record, and it kept that unbeaten run going. The Aggies defeated UMKC (now referred to as Kansas City) 71-63 in the semifinals thanks to four players scoring in double figures, including Moriah Mack’s 21 points in 40 minutes of action. NM State then took down Seattle 63-48 in the championship game off the back of a double-double from Tamera William at 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Mack won the WAC Tournament MVP that year. She scored 18 points against the Redhawks in the championship game. It was the third and final WAC Tournament championship for then-coach Mark Trakh before he joined USC.

Resilience in overtime (2019)

Another regular-season conference championship wasn’t enough in 2018, as the Aggies lost to Seattle in the semifinals. But NM State got back on its perch in the WAC in the following year.

Guided by second-year coach Brooke Atkinson, the Aggies needed two overtime victories to win the 2019 WAC Tournament after defeating Chicago State in the quarterfinals (the WAC Tournament went from seven to eight teams starting in 2018, with no byes to the semifinals). The first one came in a 91-80 win over UMKC after NM State allowed just five points in overtime. The Aggies were forced into double overtime during the championship game against UTRGV, which ended with a 76-73 win.

Gia Pack scored 86 points across the WAC Tournament, including 36 against UMKC, to win the tournament’s MVP. Brooke Salas scored a team-high 29 points in the championship game.

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