2010 brought many changes

LAS CRUCES - The year 2010 will be remembered for a changing of the guard, both in Las Cruces and at the state level.

2011 will bring with it a new governor for the first time in eight years, a new city manager for the first time in six years and new chairman of the county commission. Susana Martinez, the longtime district attorney for Do-a Ana County, is the new governor. Robert Garza will replace Terrance Moore as city manager. And, former County Commission Chairman Oscar Vásquez-Butler is forced by term limits to step down.

The year saw the triumph of the Aggies playing in the NCAA Tournament, the tragedy of a triple homicide and the promise of a new industry taking shape at Spaceport America. Here is a look back at the highlights of 2010:

Election

Martinez looked to be a longshot when she first announced her candidacy before a group of supporters at Roberto's Restaurant in Las Cruces, but she upset a field of four Republican challengers to win the primary in June, then knocked off Lt. Gov. Diane Denish in the general election to become the first woman in New Mexico, and the first Hispanic woman in the nation, to be elected governor.

The Republican wave that helped sweep Martinez into office also likely played a role in two state House races. Local physician Terry McMillan defeated incumbent Jeff Steinborn in District 37, and business owner Ricky Little beat incumbent Nathan Cote in District 53, breaking up what had been an all-Democrat

Republican Steve Pearce reclaimed the congressional seat he had given up two years earlier to run for Senate.

Spaceport

The $200-million, state-owned Spaceport America and the space vehicle expected to launch from the facility saw big advancements in the past year. In October, invitees and dignitaries, including billionaire Richard Branson, gathered at the spaceport to mark the dedication of the facility's main runway. The WhiteKnightTwo, which will carry Virgin Galactic's spaceship, landed during the event - its first visit to the spaceport.

Construction progressed on the terminal-hangar facility - an official said it was between 60 percent and 70 percent complete in mid-December - and other spaceport infrastructure.

Spaceport officials said this year they're working to pave a southern route to the spaceport, which many believe is important to Las Crucens.

In early October, Spaceport America anchor tenant Virgin Galactic conducted the first solo glide flight of its suborbital spaceliner, SpaceShipTwo, in Mojave, Calif. The spacecraft landed after being carried aloft by WhiteKnightTwo.

But some controversies arose, too.

Former spaceport director Steve Landeene resigned abruptly in mid-April, after a six-hour emergency meeting of the Spaceport Authority board. He was replaced by Rick Homans, a longtime Santa Fe bureaucrat who'd held the post prior to Landeene.

Questions arose about whether the company building the $32.5 million terminal-hangar, Summit West, was actually based in Albuquerque, as officials had claimed. A handful of residents in Cutter, north of the spaceport, experienced water problems due to heavy groundwater pumping for the project. Some questioned whether enough construction jobs had gone to county residents.

City

When Moore announced he was leaving his post as city manager to take a similar job in Morgantown, W. Va., the city council moved quickly to fill the void. Garza, who had been assistant city manager since 2006 and has almost 25 years with city government, was elevated to the top post without a national search.

Moore has served since Feb. 14, 2005, and is credited with helping the city weather the recession. He leaves the city with a general fund reserve budget of $14 million.

In the ongoing downtown revitalization effort, La Placita, designed and billed as an outdoor pavilion where residents can gather to socialize, was opened in late October. But that good news was tempered by the concerns of some who were upset with plans to chop down trees along the former Las Cruces Downtown Mall.

The mall truly became "former" when construction to reopen the north end of Main Street began in late summer. The work turned that portion of the former outdoor mall into a mess of dirt, rocks and concrete. The project raised concerns among some customers and downtown business owners about restricted access. More of the same is expected in the next two years.

Projects completed in 2010 include the new City Hall, the Las Cruces Regional Aquatics Center and the long-awaited Las Cruces Convention Center, marking the biggest construction boom ever in a single year by city government. The final price tag was $37.7 million for the new City Hall, $13 million for the aquatics center and $26 million for the convention center.

Controversy continued over traffic-enforcement cameras. In October, data from the Las Cruces Police Department showed that $3.37 million had been collected in fines since the cameras went online in March 2009. That is despite an order by the New Mexico Transportation Commission to shut down cameras at the intersections of North Main Street and Solano Drive, and one on southbound Valley Drive, at Avenida de Mesilla, because those are state roadways. Cameras continued running at the intersections of East Lohman Avenue and Telshor Boulevard, Lohman and Walnut Street, and Valley and Avenida de Mesilla.

The police and fire departments both welcomed new chiefs in 2010, with Richard Williams taking the helm of the police department and Travis Brown promoted to fire chief.

WSMR

Most of White Sands Missile Range's 2nd Engineer Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan in April. In July, members of the 573rd Clearance Co., also part of the battalion, returned from a nine-month deployment to Iraq. A week before Thanksgiving, 26 soldiers with the maintenance company, who volunteered to extend their deployment to a full year, also came home.

But not everyone returned. On Oct. 2, Sgt. Brian Pedro, a utilities equipment repairer with the 2nd Engineer Battalion, was killed in Pol-e-Khumri, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Pedro was assigned to the battalion's Forward Support Company, and was on his second combat tour at the time of his death.

Business/agriculture

A new generation of fuel production came to Las Cruces in 2010. An algae plant capable of producing alternative fuel began operations at the West Mesa Industrial Park. The plant began employing New Mexico State University students, and as activities continue and expand, more jobs are expected.

Farmers in the county saw unusually prolonged cool weather this spring, which delayed the chile harvest. Growers of several crops, including onions and cotton, reported an unusually good year financially, as problems with production in other parts of the country and world benefited New Mexico markets. Pecan farmers are receiving the highest price ever for the crop, largely because of a spike in demand from China. Despite significant snowfall last winter, it didn't reach New Mexico reservoirs and the Elephant Butte Irrigation District didn't get the allocation it was hoping for.

I-10 expansion

The orange barrels designating road construction were up throughout 2010 as work continued on an 18-mile portion of Interstate 10, from Las Cruces to the Texas state line. Portions of the highway between Las Cruces and Anthony were limited to one-lane traffic in both directions. The detours frustrated many motorists, but as construction continued the number of serious vehicle crashes appeared to shrink.

By year's end, the bulk of the work was at the northernmost end of the project, near Las Cruces' southern city limits. The $36 million project is expected to be finished in mid-2011.

Mesilla

Nora Barraza was elected mayor of Mesilla in March. Among her challengers was former mayor Michael Cadena, who had served on Mesilla's board of trustees for 13 years.

There was also an administrative change in Mesilla government when Town Clerk and Treasurer Juan Fuentes resigned to become chief financial officer for the city of Truth or Consequences. Fuentes has been replaced by Nicholas Eckert.

Former Marshal Marcel Jojola retired shortly after the start of the town's new fiscal year in July. He was replaced by Jeff Gray, one of the town's top-ranking deputies for several years. Deputy Marshal Joseph Serna resigned after being placed on administrative leave following a drunken-driving arrest.

Charity

Las Cruces remains No. 1 in raising money for the Tough Enough To Wear Pink campaign to combat breast cancer.

This year's campaign culminated with $530,353 being raised in cash and in-kind contributions. Event organizers said that was 10 percent more than the $476,573 raised in 2009.

The 17th annual It's Burger Time Sandra B. McGrath High School All Activities Golf Tournament also saw an increase, with more than $269,000 in cash and contributions raised during the three-day July tournament.

The tournament, which was started by lifelong Las Crucen Kevin McGrath initially to benefit the football programs at Las Cruces, Mayfield and O-ate high schools, has now raised slightly more than $2.2 million. Whether it was coincidence or not, it was the sixth consecutive year that one of the city's high school football teams appeared in the state championship game.

Schools

The first Early College High School in the state opened in July with 120 freshmen. Students will graduate with a high school diploma and a college associate's degree. in four years, it will be home to 500 students.

The school aims to reduce the dropout rate by offering small class sizes and real-world applications in coursework, with the lure of both and high school and college associates diplomas, officials said. In ECHS classrooms, 52 percent of the students are first-generation college students and 78 percent are on the free and reduced lunch program.

Classes are held at Do-a Ana Community College's main campus. A permanent building, paid for by state funds, will open next summer on an eight-acre site at Arrowhead Research Park on New Mexico State University's campus near the football stadium. A groundbreaking for the building was held Sept. 17.

Monte Vista Elementary School opened off Peachtree Hills Road and Jornada Road, with around 600 students in 32 classrooms. On Jornada Road, north of Peachtree Hills Road, stands Mesa Middle School, which serves sixth- and seventh-grade students and opened in October. The 118,000-square-foot building will serve 900 students in 50 classrooms.

Plans for a new high school include a ninth-grade academy where the youngest students will attend most of their classes together to help them transition to high school. Construction of the school is occurring in stages, with the opening set for 2012.

NMSU

In August, hundreds turned out to witness the inauguration of Barbara Couture as the university's 25th - and first woman - president in 122 years. Mayor Ken Miyagishima, an NMSU alumnus, proclaimed Aug. 17, 2010, as President Barbara Couture Day and regents Chairman Ike Pino presented Couture with the presidential medallion during the inauguration.

Artistic students may find new inspiration while painting, drawing, singing or dancing in NMSU's new Center for the Arts when it opens in 2012.

"If it were just an average building it would be unsatisfactory. It has to inspire the people who are going to go in there being creative," said Malcolm Holzman, of New York-based Holzman Moss Bottino Architecture, which helped design the structure with ASA Architects of Las Cruces.

The center will centralize art programs. The project broke ground in July. The 49,000-square-foot hall will hold a 500-seat performing arts theater with loft for teaching stage craft, multi-disciplinary classrooms, rehearsal spaces, offices, galleries, laboratories and support spaces. Phase one, a 49,000-square-foot dance and theater performance hall, received $19 million in state funds and $12.5 million in private donations.

Crime

Just four days into the new year in 2010, Adam Espinoza, a 20-year-old college student from San Antonio, pulled into the Anthony rest stop and was murdered. His body was found in the trunk of his burned vehicle.

Three teens, Irvin Rodolfo Ramirez, Jorge M. Murillo and Javier Orozco, have been charged in the slaying. They allegedly selected Espinoza at random and killed him when he refused to turn over his belongings. Trial in the case could come in mid-May.

In April, Gilles and Helga Delisle and their friend and business partner Peter Weith were all founded murdered in the Delisle's Mesilla Hills home. No suspects have been named and there is a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Other suspected murders in 2010 include 43-year-old "Deni" Zikmanis, of Fort Benton, Mont., who police believe was shot by her brother Richard Scott Zikmanis, 41, in a late-night argument; Benjamin Baeza, 44, who was allegedly fatally shot in the leg over a drug debt; and Kermit Earl Feazelle, Jr., 46, a disabled man likely beaten to death in November.

The body of Robin Colts, 46, was found at the bottom of a shallow cave outside Organ, N.M., and the case remains under investigation. Ricardo Duarte, 58, was killed when he was hit while riding his bicycle. Three women face criminal charges in his death.

Police shootings

Deadly force was used by local law enforcement in three incidents this past year.

Antonio Medrano, 25, was shot five times in January after arming himself with a bat and a butcher knife and advancing on officers Isaiah Baker and Manuel Frias. Nick Cody Dominguez, 17, was shot and killed in March by Do-a Ana sheriff's deputy Johnny Barrientos after grappling with the deputy for his gun and then running to his cruiser. Lance "Lizard Man" Hummell, 23, was fatally shot by Officer Horacio Rivera after coming after the policeman with a 4-foot-long samurai sword.

In April, the city settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of 38-year-old Michael Molina, who had been killed by officers in 2006 after allegedly lunging at them with a knife. The city paid $100,000 and agreed to new procedures designed to provide better oversight of police. In November, the mother of Javier Jose Soto filed suit against Hatch police and the Do-a Ana County Sheriff's Department in regard to her son's 2008 death. Soto had allegedly threatened officers with a rock.

All officers were cleared of any wrongdoing.

DWI

A total of 11 people were killed, and nearly 200 people injured, in alcohol-related crashes in Do-a Ana County this past year, according to the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Ruben Espinoza Jr., 29, of Alamogordo was driving with a .12 blood-alcohol content when he was involved in a crash that killed Robert J. Walters Jr. and Manuel "Manny" Campos Jr., the city's risk manager, whose 10-year-old son was riding in the back seat. It was later determined that Walters, 30, had made the sudden lane change that caused the fatal chain reaction.

Anthony Atencio, 43, of Las Cruces, was killed Jan. 21 in a three-vehicle crash in Anthony, N.M., involving Tommy Hernandez, 41, of Las Cruces. Officers found open containers in Hernandez's truck and a portion of a case of beer. Hernandez was sentenced to a year in prison. Jacob Perez, 21, died March 1 in a crash with Vicente Trejo, 23, who was allegedly drunk at the time. Robert De Herrera, 16, of Las Cruces lost his life in a single-vehicle rollover. He was one of five teens in the car, all allegedly had been drinking.

Juan Michael Benavidez Sr., 22, was charged with the homicide of his infant son after 13-month-old Juan Benavidez Jr., who wasn't buckled into his car seat, died from massive head injuries after being partially ejected from a car window July 26. Benavidez Sr. was believed to have been drinking. Randy Lee Alexander, 51, was killed while walking across Union Avenue. Nicholas James Tomlin, 26, a convicted drunken driver who failed sobriety tests, was charged in his death.

Child abuse

Jessica Barron, 27, is scheduled to begin a four-day trial Feb. 15 on charges she burned her disabled son and beat her young daughter to death. When 5-year-old Angel Lorraine Jimenez was finally taken to Providence Hospital in El Paso on June 20, she was unconscious, heavily bruised, dotted with more than a dozen puncture wounds and had suffered bleeding inside her brain, according to court documents. At least one rib was broken, authorities said, and her chest was scratched. There was a human bite mark on her ankle and signs that she had been raped. She was removed from life support June 24.

Two-month-old Jade Goenaga died Nov. 8 after three days on life support in El Paso. Baby Jade is the second youngest of 13 Do-a Ana County children who have died as a result of alleged child abuse in the past nine years. Her mother, now-18-year-old Diana "Ate" Atena Goenaga, a native of Santa Marta, Colombia, and a graduate of O-ate High School, is the youngest to face charges of child abuse resulting in death.

Erica Sigala, 26, a mother of four, was arrested July 15 after allegedly shaking, slapping and hitting her 1-year-old boy with a belt, according to court documents. The baby was hospitalized July 5. Sigala's trial is scheduled for March 8. Zach Baker, 20, was sentenced Oct. 21 to nine yeas in prison for giving a fatal combination of drugs to his one-time girlfriend.

Mexico

Unease grew among some bordeland residents as rampant drug-related violence continued in Juárez, high-profile killings took place in Palomas and a respected rancher was shot and killed, possibly by a drug trafficker, as he worked on his property in southeast Arizona.

The rancher's killing sparked outrage in the adjacent Bootheel region of New Mexico, prompting federal officials to pump new dollars and shift manpower to boost border security in that area. The National Guard was again activated and deployed to the border to help border agents. The incident also led to a renewed effort to build Border Patrol substations in Hidalgo County.

County

Do-a Ana County commissioners OK'd a budget that assumes deficit spending, possible because the county is expected to have a relatively high level of reserve dollars at the end of the current year. An initial budget proposal entailed dramatically cutting spending on non-county programs such as 4-H and other nonprofits, prompting an outcry.

County finance staff have said deficit spending can't continue and will mean tough choices in coming years.

The county settled its portion of a large lawsuit about the level of care for the mentally ill at the county detention center. It agreed to a number of improvements, which officials said raised the cost of jail operations and put pressure on the county budget.

As part of the way to fix budget problems, commissioners also voted to impose a fee for dumping trash at eight collection stations in the county, angering some residents.

County officials and state lawmakers hailed the passage of the Colonias Infrastructure Act during last year's legislative session. It will provide a dedicated revenue source for colonias improvements in the county.

Anthony

Residents of Anthony, N.M., voted in January to incorporate their community. On April 13, Ramon Gonzalez, a retired teacher, was elected as the first-ever mayor. Trustees who won were James Scott, Diana Murillo, Juan M. Acevedo, and Betty Gonzalez. Peggy Sue Scott, wife of James Scott, was elected to the municipal judgeship. And July 1 marked the formal start to the city's existence.

Hatch Mayor Judd Nordyke was elected to a third - and possibly final - term in office.

Controversy continued in Sunland Park, with the news in early September that the city was in financial straits and the ousting soon after of the city manager, Jaime Aguilera. The city council voted in October to hire replacement Andrew Moralez, who held an appointed post at the Border Authority.

Wilderness

A bill that would have created thousands of acres of wilderness in Do-a Ana County died as time expired in the 111th Congress. Backers of the legislation said they were disappointed, but won't give up an attempt to reintroduce the legislation, though it's likely to face larger hurdles this year.