The Biggest Stories of 2023

It has been an eventful year as The Independent concludes its first year under new ownership restoring regular newspaper service to the East Mountains and Torrance County. 

So with the end of the year at hand, it is customary to take a look back on the previous 12 months to remember the good, bad and memorable of the year. Here, then, is a countdown of what we believe are the 2023’s biggest stories.

10. Bronc Rider Killed in Rodeo Accident

The popular Estancia Valley Ranch Rodeo in Moriarty was marred by a fatal accident that claimed the life of veteran bronc buster Jackson Taylor in July. Taylor, of Lockney, Texas, also was a repeat participant of the “Ultimate Cowboy Showdown,” a Survivor-like cowboy competition. Taylor was thrown from a horse during one of his rides and broke his neck. It was the first fatality in the four years that the Estancia Valley rodeo was held, as well as the first fatality in the Working Ranch circuit that started in 1995.

9. Former Torrance County Clerk Settles with State Ethics Commission

Yvonne Otero, former Torrance County clerk, was fined $1,000 in December after acknowledging allegations by the state Ethics Commission of deleting absentee ballots cast electronically; failing to correctly process ballots she did not delete; attempting to pre-certify ballot tabulators so she could go on vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada; engaging in intimate encounters in her office during work hours; making open references to illicit drug use; and subjecting subordinate employees to danger and threats for both amusement and coercion, including discharging a Taser beside the head of an employee. A lawsuit with Torrance County remains pending.

8. SunZia Pattern Energy Wind Energy Project Underway 

The long-awaited SunZia Pattern Energy Group wind-energy project that has been in the works for 16 years finally broke ground in September near Corona. The $8 billion project will include numerous windmills, as well as two, 550-mile transmission lines that will carve through the heart of New Mexico and into Arizona with a terminus near Phoenix. The project is expected to create 2,000 jobs and about $20.5 billion on total economic benefit. The undertaking is billed as the largest wind-energy project in the Western Hemisphere. The project has already hit a snag in Arizona with work halted over a 50-mile stretch on non-federal that the Tohono O’odham Nation has claimed the area is culturally sensitive.

7. Oñate Site Shooting Suspect from Sandia Park

Ryan Martinez, who is accused of attempted murder in the shooting of Jacob Johns of Spokane, Washington, in September, hails from Sandia Park. Martinez is alleged to have attended a demonstration near Española at the site where local officials had planned to re-install a statue honoring Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate. During the demonstration decrying the move, Martinez arrived and an argument ensued then escalated. A single gunshot hit Johns and Martinez was allegedly caught on video with a gun and fleeing the scene. He was arrested shortly thereafter without incident and remains incarcerated awaiting a May trial date. 

6. Large-Scale Broadband Project Coming to NM 337/NM 14 Corridor

Plateau Communications in June landed a grant of almost $50 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for an extensive broadband project stretching north from Mountainair along NM 337, through Tijeras and along NM 14 to southern Santa Fe. The project will deliver an underground fiber-optic network for so-called middle-mile internet services. Resources to fund the final leg to end-use consumers are still being sought. As it is a federal project, many hoops remain before construction can actually begin, but the plan is to break ground some time in 2024.

5. Estancia Pot Farmer Popped for Growing 15-Times Allotted Limit

Dineh Benally, owner of Native American Agricultural Development Company, faces multiple allegations in connection with his extensive growing operation just south of Estancia. Attorneys for the Cannabis Control Division recommended that the growing license be revoked and the operation shut down after investigators found the site had more than 40,000 plants and lacked tracking control as well as providing unsafe work conditions. The case went to a hearing examiner in November and a decision is expected at any time. Benally already has been under fire from his native Navajo Nation, where a federal raid found he was illegally growing 250,000 plants in 2020. 

4. CoreCivic Continues Facing Fire, Lawsuits Over Torrance County Detention Facility

The claims against CoreCivic, owner of the Torrance County Detention Facility where federal authorities detain immigrants seeking asylum, are lengthy and drawing attention nationally. Sen. Martin Heinrich in December sought its closure in a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security secretary, who appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee in November, promising to become more familiar with the issues at the facility. Inmates have claimed they live in inhumane conditions, face retaliation for speaking up and are not receiving due process in analysis of their situations. The company has been the subject of numerous lawsuits filed during 2023, but CoreCivic officials have repeatedly asserted that the allegations are misrepresented and inaccurate.

3. Estancia Pot Producer Investigated for Human Trafficking

State and federal authorities raided Estancia-area marijuana farm Grown Farm in August. The state attorney general’s office confirmed the potential of illicit activities at Grown Farm, saying the AG was investigating “allegations of potential wage theft and human or labor trafficking,” later adding, “our special agents along with state and federal law enforcement agencies are currently evaluating evidence recently recovered from the facility to determine if there have been any violation of the law.” The investigation remains ongoing and no resolution has yet been announced, but the farm also was the subject of a Cannabis Control Division inspection that revealed numerous violations of growing procedures.

2. Edgewood Commission Passes Anti-Abortion Measure that Remains Off the Books

Following the path laid out by other eastern New Mexico governmental entities, the Edgewood Commission passed a law making it illegal to receive abortion materials through the mail under the federal Comstock Act. The move was challenged by a local citizen’s group, which gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. The first attempt to put together a special election on the matter failed due to time constraints and the Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver refused to allow it to be included on November’s general election ballot. The issue is making its way through the state court system.

1. Ribs Owners Killed in  Freak Accident

East Mountain brothers Chad and Brad Gunter, part of the ownership group of popular Sandia Crest restaurant Ribs and also owners of a Moriarty-area blacksmith forge and school, were killed in November when a runaway semi-truck plowed through their shop. Pillars of the East Mountains, the Gunters were revered for their community involvement, their blacksmithing acumen and, of course, their fabulous food. Ribs was noted not just as an eatery, but as a place that fostered a familial spirit among its workers, as well as the folks that ate there. Their loss has cast a pall over the community and leaves a lasting impact. 

Honorable mentions: Tijeras iconic bar and live music venue Molly’s passed into history in September after owner Diane DeLallo died and the heirs decided to close it, ending a 70-year run. When Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health order in order to seize guns in September, Torrance County Commissioner Samuel Schropp – who Grisham appointed to the post earlier in the year, changed his party affiliation to Independent, as did his wife, Ann Schropp, who resigned as the vice chairperson for the county’s Democrat Party. Noted Albuquerque contractor Scott Henry of Stillbrooke Homes made a major move in Moriarty in May, taking over a moribund housing community with plans to build it out and add more affordable homes in the area.