Latest news with #MescaleroApache
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘We have a lot to be thankful for': Ruidoso rebuilds after fire and flood devastation
Life is beginning to return to the scorched hills, dotted with charred tree trunks, in the charming mountain village of Ruidoso. Colorful butterflies lilt among snapdragons, heavy machinery clears the foundations of torched homes and carves out larger banks along Rio Ruidoso, and a hum of energy resonates from the community's main drag. A year after twin fires and repeated floods ravaged the historic village, Ruidoso has made significant strides toward rebuilding what was lost and repairing what survived. It's a journey that will continue for some time to come. "Even though to the locals here it seems like it's been very slow, a lot of progress maybe hasn't been made in their area … when you look back at the total body of work, it's been remarkable," Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said. "A year later, we've made a lot of progress, but still have a long way to go." That community spirit was on display as locals gathered at Wingfield Park to recognize first responders and celebrate their community's resilience on Tuesday, June 17. Crawford recalled the day flames began stretching into Ruidoso: it was a Monday, June 17, and it started like any other day. The South Fork and Salt fires, which began on the nearby Mescalero Apache reservation, torched roughly 25,000 acres and destroyed around 1,300 structures, leaving behind a bald landscape that made the water from the torrential downpours that followed rush into the city without impediment. The blazes also caused two deaths — 60-year-old Patrick Pearson was found dead near the Swiss Chalet Hotel and a second unidentified victim was found in a burned car on Ranier Road. And though the fires were eventually extinguished, the land they ravaged only sets the stage for more flooding as the Southwest prepares for monsoon season, another issue Crawford and village leaders must contend with, along with rebuilding their town. But none of that appears to overwhelm Crawford or, by all accounts, the roughly 7,600 people he represents. "A lot of it is rebuilding and maintaining," he said. "That's one thing about Ruidoso … we're very optimistic people. We always have a good plan, and they say that plan works until you get hit, but we got knocked down and through the subsequent nine floods, we got up every time." "When we have so much support from the surrounding communities, the people that support our (tourism) industry, it really helps us get out of bed in the morning and make sure we're ready to go to work for the people that come to see us." Ruidoso Fire Chief Cade Hall was just a firefighter when the blazes broke out around Ruidoso last year. The Ruidoso Fire Department includes about 27 firefighters, with only seven or eight on duty each day. On June 16, 2024, Hall was off when he got a call from the Smokey Bear Hot Shot crew saying, "We lost it." Hall did not even know there was a fire in the area, but he immediately looked outside and could see the dark plume of smoke rising over the horizon. The whole fire department was then called into action. "I hit all-call and brought in every firefighter in Ruidoso to try to help mitigate the problem," he recalled. "We were fighting fire, fighting fire — there was 100-foot, 150-foot flame lengths, we had a house torch here and then you turn around and it's wrapping around you — and the next thing you know, the rain came and we went from fighting fire to having people floating down the creeks, houses and all that stuff." Ruidoso's firefighters immediately pivoted to rescue efforts as state and federal agencies continued fighting the fires, getting swift water crews into action. Ruidoso native Leland DeFord was there when the fires and flooding began, opting not to evacuate from his home. A former El Paso firefighter and forensic photographer, DeFord began documenting the destruction but changed course after only a few days. "It just got so depressing, the damage," he remembered, "so then I started photographing the relief effort." Immediately after the fire and flooding ended much of the work for Hall and the rest of the village has been on make sure the kind of devastation seen last year is never seen again. Flood mitigation efforts such as expanding culverts, installing barriers around riverbanks and thinning areas to create defensible space around homes and other structures continue to be a large part of the recovery effort. Despite mudslides still being a concern for Hall, he applauded the resilience of the people in Ruidoso, who, he said, were anxious to reclaim their hometown. "This place is second to none," he said. "They came back with a vengeance. They wanted their place to be back." "Minus some trees, and some houses in areas that we can't build back due to flooding, it's just resiliency," Hall added. "These guys are resilient." For Heather Kinney, who is opening her shop, Feather and Stone Emporium, on Sudderth Drive in Ruidoso next year, evidence of the village's slow but steady recovery is everywhere — from the constant hum of traffic to, most notably, the local farmers' market. "We had more people attend the farmer's market, as vendors and patrons, than we ever did before," she said as she moved along the stones and jewelry at her shop. "So, people are ready to get back to normal for sure." While a new normal might be in the offing for the people of Ruidoso, as Crawford noted, the expansive rebuild in the village leaves room for a new vision to take root. Something he's calling "Ruidoso 2.0." "We have plans and we're working with access to the community to let them know that they can have their input," Crawford said. "But the village, we're a bunch of planners here, so we have a very robust comprehensive plan, a master plan, strategic plans and then, indeed, tactical plans for every aspect of the community, so we have buy-in from all parts of the community." The first step to reimagining Ruidoso is housing. Crawford said "well over" 100 families are still not in their permanent homes, taking up residence in nearby towns like Capitan or Tularosa, and many will never be able to return or rebuild as their former properties are now in extended flood zones. "We need to continue to invest in affordable and, primarily, workforce housing," Crawford said. "People that are working, they need nice, safe, secure homes that are hardened, and by that I mean that we make sure the lots are thinned, that maybe the roofs are made out of metal or some other material that has a lot of fire resistance, making sure that we have different aspects that have been pointed out during our thinning process by the local forestry (department)." By the end of the month, the village will finish construction on a housing development that will include 10 modular homes and village leaders recently broke ground on a 72-unit apartment complex. Additionally, Crawford said he is working with federal agencies on a buy-back program for residents who cannot rebuild as a way to avoid piling financial devastation on top of already-traumatized residents. The site of the iconic Swiss Chalet Motel, which was destroyed, may also be a future site for new housing in the village, Crawford said. While housing remains at the top of the community's list, Crawford also has an eye toward securing the village's economic future by protecting water resources and bringing businesses back to town. The fires caused half a billion dollars in damage. "Our water resources and assets are in full tact, we check those constantly, but it's rebuilding our economy, it's doing the rebuilding of homes, structures in the community where most the people who work in our shops live, that the majority of the homes that we lost," he said. The people of Ruidoso appear committed to bringing their village back to its former glory. "A year later," Crawford mused, "we have a lot to be thankful for." Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@ " This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Ruidoso rebuilds homes, hopes after year of disaster and disruption
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
INDIGENOUS A&E: Apache rocker, mood rooms, films in Texas, Cherokee call for art
Sandra Hale SchulmanSpecial to ICT The latest: Rock star movie producer is big in Japan, group shows off moods, Native films at SXSW, open bidding for art. Stevie Salas, Mescalero Apache, has been active in film production for several years. He produced the award-winning 'Rumble: Indians Who Rocked the World' and more recently 'Boil Alert.' But his career started as a rock guitarist for big names like George Clinton, Justin Timberlake, Buddy Miles, T.I., Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart. He's written books, been a TV host, a music director, and record producer. He sold over two million solo albums worldwide and has been cited as one of the top 50 guitarists of all time. Now he's getting back to his stage roots as part of the group Inaba Salas, fronted by Japanese singer Koshi Inaba. The duo had to cancel their last tour in 2020 due to the pandemic, but they regrouped for a new album, 'Atomic Chihuahua,' and tour titled 'Never Goodbye Only Hello.' The tour title means they are grateful to all the people they have met through their long years of musical activities, and they've been met with astounding success – a number one record and cover of Rolling Stone Japan – actually two covers, one in black, one in white. Salas said, 'Over the years I've been in Rolling Stone here and there. For things like listed as a Producer for the Was (Not Was) What up Dog record when Rolling Stone listed it as one of the top 50 albums of the decade. Once I was actually edited out of a great photo of me with Bernard Fowler, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood and that one bummed me out. But I was in and out of the mag during my career with no real significance until 2020 when our 2nd Inaba Salas record was coming out and was #1 on the Billboard chart I finally made the cover. Now to my surprise 5 years later today Inaba Salas is #1 again and I just saw this cover posted on Instagram. Ok all you people out there, I'm living proof… It's never too late, you are never too old and you can never be too ugly!' An evolving space in Phoenix since 2020, the mood room gallery at Park Central, has a stellar group show, 'Vah'Ki,' through the end of March. 'Vah'Ki' (ancient house or pit house) is an O'odham word that refers to specific ancestral villages that once flourished throughout the area's valley. The Vah'Ki was a place of gathering for ceremony, trade, games, politics and more. The mood room is a gallery concept that seeks to address the needs of 21st century artistic practice. More than just a white cube for art, the mood room was founded in 2020 to connect the events and services while expanding support that cultural creatives need to grow their personal visions into transformative art experiences. The mood room is part of Artlink's ART+FORM project. Read about the project here. Artlink is accepting proposals for exhibits as well as educational programming, artist talks, community happenings, musical events, spoken word and poetry nights, fashion shows, dance performances, open mics and more. The annual music and film extravaganza SXSW in Austin screens some intriguing Native films this year. 'Tiger' by director Loren Waters; 'The Buguiling' by ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby; 'XR Project Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History' by Kayla Briet; and 'Reimagining Native' by Paige Bee. Bee's film is a coming-of-age documentary told from the perspective of Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggling to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great-grandfather's escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present and future. 'My feature film 'Remaining Native' is going to premiere at SXSW alongside some other incredible Indigenous films,' Bee told ICT. 'We are planning on being in solidarity with each other at the festival and connect with local Austin Indigenous communities as a way to combat the ever-present erasure of Native peoples in Texas and our efforts to break down the film industry barriers that exist in Indigenous cinema.' The Cherokee Nation recently reauthorized the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act and allocated $1 million for the procurement of Cherokee artwork through 2026. Opportunities are now available, including a public bid for general 2D and 3D work, as well as a request for proposals for a Cherokee Freedmen monument on Capitol Square. The historic legislation, passed in 2022, was the largest art investment in the tribe's history, providing $3 million to support the Cherokee art community. To date, it has purchased 521 pieces of art from 170 Cherokee artists. Both opportunities can be found online at The request for proposals for the Cherokee Freedmen monument, No.153246, closes at 5 p.m. on April 4, 2025. The general art bid, No. 153240, is due by 5 p.m. on May 16. You can also contact Amy Eubanks at with questions or to submit a digital bid. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Jamie Raskin demands details on U.S. citizens caught up in ICE enforcement
The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Trump administration to do some explaining about U.S. citizens who were caught up in recent immigration enforcement actions. Following up on a report by NBC News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee ranking member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a subcommittee ranking member, asked for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20 involving U.S. citizens. The request was made in a letter signed by Raskin, D-Md., and Jayapal, D-Wash., whose subcommittee oversees immigration. It was sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Caleb Vitello, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director. A copy of the letter was first provided to NBC News. 'If you're not out looking for criminals based on crimes committed, but undocumented immigrants based on their looks, you're going to sweep up a lot of innocent people, including innocent citizens,' Raskin said in a statement to NBC News. 'We've already seen cases of racial and ethnic profiling leading to the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens. That's why I'm demanding answers about some of these profoundly troubling stories we've heard about citizens being targeted, detained and questioned.' The lawmakers noted that per a 2015 ICE policy regarding investigation of U.S. citizens, 'ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen.' And ICE officers and agents and attorneys have to handle the interactions with the 'utmost care and highest priority,' the letter stated. 'This principle is essential to prevent the escalating government assault on immigrants from becoming a steamroller that crushes the rights of American citizens,' the lawmakers' letter said. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Tuesday. The recent cases have led to complaints that some people are being racially profiled, targeted by ICE because of their race or skin color. Late last month, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said Navajo citizens who live off-reservation had complained of being questioned about their identity by ICE officers. Nygren spoke about the complaints in a radio address. A business owner in New Jersey where ICE conducted a raid said one of his employees who is a veteran and from Puerto Rico was made to show officers his identification. NBC News attempts to reach the veteran were unsuccessful. Employees who answered phone calls to the owner's business Tuesday said he's declining media interviews. Although it was not mentioned in the letter, the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico announced one of its members was approached by an ICE agent who spoke in Spanish. The Mescalero Apache member speaks English and told the ICE agent that. The ICE agent then asked for his passport, the tribe said in its announcement. ICE did not respond to questions from NBC News last week about detaining the Navajo citizens and the veteran. The lawmakers' letter also cited a January Telemundo Puerto Rico report that a toddler, his mother and grandmother in Milwaukee were detained and sent to a detention center. ICE has since said the report was false. The letter asks ICE and DHS to provide by 5 p.m. on Feb. 18 the total number of U.S. citizens detained; the name and age of detained U.S. citizens; where and for how long they were detained; whether any had a criminal record and what the crimes were, if any; and the name of each agency involved in the enforcement action. The lawmakers also ask whether ICE's policy regarding encounters with U.S. citizens is still in effect, and if not, what policies or procedures it has in place. They also ask if there have been any updates to policies and procedures since last month's incidents. Concerns over ICE confrontations with U.S. citizens have led to congressional inquiries in previous administrations. A report issued by the Government Accountability Office during the Biden administration found that from Oct. 1, 2015, to March 2020, ICE arrested 674 potential U.S. citizens, detained 121 and removed 70. The report noted that ICE at the time had conflicting policies on questioning U.S. citizens and did not track its encounters with U.S. citizens well. This article was originally published on
NBC News
04-02-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Rep. Jamie Raskin demands details on U.S. citizens caught up in ICE enforcement
The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Trump administration to do some explaining about U.S. citizens who were caught up in recent immigration enforcement actions. Following up on a report by NBC News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee ranking member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a subcommittee ranking member, asked for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20 involving U.S. citizens. The request was made in a letter signed by Raskin, D-Md., and Jayapal, D-Wash., whose subcommittee oversees immigration. It was sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Caleb Vitello, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director. A copy of the letter was first provided to NBC News. 'If you're not out looking for criminals based on crimes committed, but undocumented immigrants based on their looks, you're going to sweep up a lot of innocent people, including innocent citizens,' Raskin said in a statement to NBC News. 'We've already seen cases of racial and ethnic profiling leading to the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens. That's why I'm demanding answers about some of these profoundly troubling stories we've heard about citizens being targeted, detained and questioned.' The lawmakers noted that per a 2015 ICE policy regarding investigation of U.S. citizens, 'ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen.' And ICE officers and agents and attorneys have to handle the interactions with the 'utmost care and highest priority,' the letter stated. 'This principle is essential to prevent the escalating government assault on immigrants from becoming a steamroller that crushes the rights of American citizens,' the lawmakers' letter said. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Tuesday. The recent cases have led to complaints that some people are being racially profiled, targeted by ICE because of their race or skin color. Late last month, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said Navajo citizens who live off-reservation had complained of being questioned about their identity by ICE officers. Nygren spoke about the complaints in a radio address. A business owner in New Jersey where ICE conducted a raid said one of his employees who is a veteran and from Puerto Rico was made to show officers his identification. NBC News attempts to reach the veteran were unsuccessful. Employees who answered phone calls to the owner's business Tuesday said he's declining media interviews. Although it was not mentioned in the letter, the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico announced one of its members was approached by an ICE agent who spoke in Spanish. The Mescalero Apache member speaks English and told the ICE agent that. The ICE agent then asked for his passport, the tribe said in its announcement. ICE did not respond to questions from NBC News last week about detaining the Navajo citizens and the veteran. The lawmakers' letter also cited a January Telemundo Puerto Rico report that a toddler, his mother and grandmother in Milwaukee were detained and sent to a detention center. ICE has since said the report was false. The letter asks ICE and DHS to provide by 5 p.m. on Feb. 18 the total number of U.S. citizens detained; the name and age of detained U.S. citizens; where and for how long they were detained; whether any had a criminal record and what the crimes were, if any; and the name of each agency involved in the enforcement action. The lawmakers also ask whether ICE's policy regarding encounters with U.S. citizens is still in effect, and if not, what policies or procedures it has in place. They also ask if there have been any updates to policies and procedures since last month's incidents. Concerns over ICE confrontations with U.S. citizens have led to congressional inquiries in previous administrations. A report issued by the Government Accountability Office during the Biden administration found that from Oct. 1, 2015, to March 2020, ICE arrested 674 potential U.S. citizens, detained 121 and removed 70. The report noted that ICE at the time had conflicting policies on questioning U.S. citizens and did not track its encounters with U.S. citizens well.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congresswoman wants assurance ICE will recognize tribal IDs
Jan. 29—New Mexico's congressional delegation is pressuring the White House after reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents questioning tribal members, as well as a recent comment by President Donald Trump that you can tell some immigrants "could be trouble" by looking at them. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., sent a letter along with the rest of New Mexico's congressional delegation and four other Democrats, urging Trump to direct ICE agents to "stop harassing Native Americans and violating tribal sovereignty." "Nobody is safe," Leger Fernández said. "The idea that Trump was only going to go after criminals who are undocumented is clearly ludicrous, if you are stopping Native Americans who have no criminal history, who are the quintessential Americans, but are being stopped, likely by what they look like. So, nobody is safe from ICE under these kinds of conditions." ICE has ramped up enforcement actions under the new Trump administration, fulfilling a Trump campaign promise to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants. Mescalero Apache officials confirmed that an ICE agent asked a Mescalero Apache woman for her passport last week in a Ruidoso grocery store. President Buu Nygren delivered a radio address to the Navajo Nation last week about reports his office received that Navajos have had "negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants in the Southwest." He recommended Navajos carry state-issued picture IDs like a driver's license or their Certificate of Indian Blood. Leger Fernández's office has received seven reports of ICE agents questioning tribal members in and near Santo Domingo Pueblo and the Navajo Nation, she said. In some of those incidents, ICE agents were not familiar with tribal IDs, according to Leger Fernández. The letter from members of Congress also asks Trump to direct ICE to accept tribal IDs as proof of citizenship. Tribal members "have clearly been in the United States and been in the Americas way before this was even a country," Leger Fernández said. "So, acceptance of a tribal ID should be the easiest ID to accept for proof of citizenship. ... The idea that we all need to carry our passports, that we all need to spend hundreds of dollars to prove our citizenship so we don't get stopped and harassed by ICE is not the country that I think most Americans want to live in." ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
