Have You Heard the Latest?
We start 2005 by looking back and catching up on some of our big stories of 2004.
By David A. Fryxell
Terror in Tiny Town
The mostly abandoned copper-smelter town of Playas, near Lordsburg, finally completed its transition from Phelps Dodge Corp. to New Mexico Tech, which will operate the town as an anti-terror training facility ("Twilight Zone Town," Jan. 2004). New Mexico Tech in Socorro has a $20 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security to train first responders from across the US. Appropriately, instead of a ribbon-cutting the facility was opened with a ribbon detonation; in early December, Sen. Pete Domenici, Rep. Steve Pearce and a representative of Sen. Jeff Bingaman simultaneously pushed buttons triggering a small blast.
The inaugural group of 37 trainees, after spending a few days in class in Socorro, put their lessons to work Dec. 2 by coordinating the response to a mock terrorist bombing in Playas. The simulation included two US Customs helicopters, SWAT teams and a bomb squad equipped with a remote-controlled robot. Local residents--among only a handful that remain in a town that once was home to almost 500 people--played "victims" as federal agents armed with M-4 automatic assault rifles came to the rescue.
The first batch of trainees hailed from California, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona and Florida. Trainees will stay in motels in Lordsburg or Deming during their drills in Playas, officials said.
Within the next three years, the Playas site is expected to create up to 200 jobs in the region, which had been hard-hit by the closing of the smelter in 1999.
Don't Fence Me In
Rancher Kit Laney, whose battle with the US Forest Service attracted the support of "Wise Use" anti-environmentalist groups ("Range War," May 2004), pleaded guilty to assaulting or resisting a federal officer and obstruction of a court order. He was sentenced to five months in federal custody, with credit for one month spent in jail awaiting trial.
He'd originally been charged with eight counts, including assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from an encounter with authorities who were impounding livestock Laney grazed on federal land without a permit. In handing down the sentence, Senior US District Judge John Edwards Conway told Laney, "It's through your own stupidity. As far as I know, I'm the first federal judge whose orders you've followed. . . . You had this idea that the government couldn't tell you what to do. Well, they can."
Meanwhile, as Laney headed off to prison, his allies at such groups as the Paragon Foundation have apparently moved on; the Web page for Laney's legal defense fund is no longer online at its former address.
Country crooner Michael Martin Murphey, who headlined a Truth or Consequences benefit concert for Laney ("MMMBopping," June 2004), got another gig at the Paragon-backed Freedom 21 Conference in Reno in July. Murphey, a former Forest Service spokesman and recipient of the "Golden Smokey" (as in Smokey Bear) award, joined conference speakers including Alabama "Ten Commandments" Judge Roy Moore and Helen Chenoweth-Hage, the former Idaho congresswoman whom the Boise Idaho Statesman called a "poster child for the militia." According to a report on the conference by eco-logic Powerhouse, Murphey's "unique selection of songs featured the plight of ranchers and other resource users in their struggle against the tightening noose of federal regulations."
I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday. . .
Attorney General Patricia Madrid has vowed to make the sky-high interest rates on so-called "payday loans" an issue during the upcoming legislative session ("When the Shark Bites," June 2004). New Mexico, she noted, is one of only nine states with no limit on what can be charged for such small loans.
This won't be the first time the issue has been raised, however: Proposals to cap the rates charged for payday, car-title and other such loans have failed to pass the legislature multiple times over the past six years. But Madrid said the coming 60-day legislative session will be the last long session before she leaves office in 2006, "and we're just going to try this again."
She told a news conference: "I believe that there is a need in our poor state for short-term loans to be made. But I want to insure that these loans are reasonable and provide some protection for those vulnerable consumers who need them."
Busy Signals
The building left vacant when Stream International shuttered its Silver City facility (while simultaneously increasing its employment in Mumbai, India) remains on the market ("Dialing for Dollars," July 2004). The Silver City-Grant County Economic Development Corp. (SIGRED), which was instrumental in bringing Stream to the area, continues to seek a new tenant for the one-time Wal-Mart structure. SIGRED has developed a PowerPoint presentation for prospective employers, covering the local work force, weather, cultural offerings, the Gila wilderness area, demographics, ethnic diversity and transportation infrastructure.
This fall, both the Grant County Commission and the Silver City Town Council declined to approve requests from SIGRED for funding for further economic development activities.
Nonetheless, SIGRED President Linda Kay Jones was honored in October by the New Mexico Industrial Development Executives Association as the state's top economic developer. According to Jim Covell, executive director of the association, Jones was honored for new initiatives as well as efforts to replace the jobs lost from Stream. "From a local economic development standpoint, no one has done more for their community than Linda Kay," Covell said.
Meanwhile, Silver City is hardly alone in having an orphaned former Wal-Mart building. (Wal-Mart abandoned the building that became the Stream facility when the retailer moved to a larger "Super Center" nearby.) A Wall Street Journal report recently noted that big retailers have left hundreds of empty stores littering the suburban and rural landscape. When Wal-Mart moves out of a building, the newspaper added, the retail giant sometimes creates roadblocks to keep potential competitors from moving in. About 60 percent of orphaned Wal-Mart buildings, according to the report, must be sectioned up for new tenants; others are ultimately demolished, such as a Wal-Mart in Clinton, Miss., that stood empty for four years before being knocked down.
Trapping Tourists
The last quarter of the year brought both good news and bad news for tourism in southwest New Mexico ("How the West Was Sold," August 2004). In early November, a report released by the state tourism department showed that summer tourism in Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties was at only 97 percent of the level for June through August 2002 and down about 10 percent from 2003. Although drive traffic along I-10 remained strong, the visitor center in Lordsburg showed declines compared to 2003 and 2002. Visitors to the Gila Cliff Dwellings also declined compared to the previous 12 months ending Oct. 31, from 43,391 to 41,696. The same report showed tourism activity in the Socorro and Truth or Consequences areas down 3.9 percent from the previous summer--blamed in part on low lake-water levels. Tourism in Las Cruces, according to the report, was down 15.9 percent for the summer.
In early December, however, the Grant County lodgers' tax advisory committee reported that the county's tourism--at least as measured by proceeds from overnight motel stays--was up over 2003. The summer months showed an 18.9 percent jump. The figures cover only lodgings outside the limits of Silver City and Hurley.
Much the same story, though, can be read from the numbers of visitors at the Silver City visitor center. For the year to date through October, visitors stopping into the center totaled 24,220--up from 21,719 for the same span in 2003.
More Than a Ghost of a Chance
When last we reported on the Shakespeare ghost town, near Lordsburg, it seemed that a deal for New Mexico State Parks to take over the tourist attraction was all but done ("How the West Was Sold," August 2004). As we'd reported in our original feature on Shakespeare ("Shakespeare in Love," June 2003), the couple that run Shakespeare, Janaloo Hill and husband Manny Hough, have been looking for the right government agency to insure the town's long-term future. Hill's parents bought Shakespeare in 1935, after its final mining bust, and she grew up there. She now owns the ghost town, which she leases to the nonprofit Friends of Shakespeare for $1 a year. The town was put on the National Register of Historic Places in the early 1970s and attracts several thousand people a year, but Hill and Hough are able to open Shakespeare for tours only a few days each month.
According to David Abbey, director of the Legislative Finance Committee, the members of the committee visited Shakespeare in July and were given a tour. "The historical and economic importance of Shakespeare to the City of Lordsburg and Hidalgo County is recognized and committee members have expressed support for this effort," Abbey wrote in response to an inquiry about the status of the acquisition.
But Abbey cautioned, "As you might be aware, State Parks has an ambitious agenda to expand and develop a number of parks throughout the state." Exactly when and whether Shakespeare Ghost Town might fit into that agenda--for which the legislature appropriated $3.5 million for fiscal 2005--isn't clear.
"It's all up in the air," says Janaloo Hill. "Evidently the legislature has to pass a resolution authorizing the state to acquire the property if all the details can be properly settled."
She confirms that a state parks acquisition of the ghost town would be a desirable long-term fate for Shakespeare, assuming such a deal can "make sure it's safe." With a new legislative session beginning later this month, the time may be now to turn Shakespeare into a state-owned attraction that could be open daily and attract many thousands more visitors. Hill suggests writing to your state legislators to urge action.
Getting What You Pay For
The final report on campaign contributions in the Second District Congressional race ("The Best Congressman Money Can Buy," October 2004) showed a continuation of the trends examined in our story. GOP incumbent Steve Pearce dramatically out-fundraised and outspent his Democratic challenger, Gary King, with $1,882,941 in donations vs. $1,033,999 for King, and $1,707,256 in spending for Pearce compared to $1,027,641 for the challenger. Pearce won the November election by a similarly wide margin, getting 61 percent of the vote (compared to getting almost 65 percent of the total funds raised between the two campaigns).
According to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, Pearce's top donors, combining donations from political action committees and from individuals employed by an organization, were:
Marbob Energy--$20,500
National Association of Home Builders-$15,000
United Parcel Service--$14,000
Wal-Mart Stores--$12,500
National Rifle Association--$11,900
Independent Petroleum Association of America--$11,000
National Mining Association--$10,500
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association--$10,500
Associated Builders & Contractors $10,250
King's top donors were:
Communications Workers of America--$10,000
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers--$10,000
Ironworkers Union--$10,000
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union--$10,000
Sheet Metal Workers Union--$10,000
United Food & Commercial Workers Union--$10,000
American Federation of Teachers--$10,000
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees--$10,000
Overall, Pearce received $159,500 from so-called "Leadership PACs" and $120,912 from the oil and gas industry. King's biggest contributor groups were retirees ($80,100) and lawyers and law firms ($58,325).
Pearce's combined contributions from oil and gas interests ranked him 13th among all 2004 candidates for federal office (a list led by President George W. Bush, with $2,366,245). He ranked sixth among House of Representatives candidates, and garnered more contributions from the oil and gas industry than any House candidate outside of Texas.
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.
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january 2005