1. law, govt and politics
2. law enforcement
3. fire department

There is Nothing More
Powerful Than The Truth
Winners All
D.C. Post
Resigning
Hot Springs High recognizes
Tiger football and volleyball
teams at sports banquet
Abel Covarrubias selected
for prestigious Zero to
Three Fellowship
TorC Commissioner Ruben
Olivas resigns from office
due to new job in Carlsbad
SPORTS • PAGE 5
PEOPLE • PAGE 14
NEWS • PAGE 14
HERA
RALD
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www.theheraldtorc.com
email: herald@torcherald.com
& herald@riolink.com
VOLUME 86, NUMBER 28 ~ January 21, 2015
50¢
14 PAGES IN 1 SECTION • PLUS 3 INSERTS
Meth, Paraphernalia Found Sheriff Hamilton’s First Report
In Vehicle, Three Arrested
To Sierra County Commission
By Carlos Padilla
HERALD Editor
An early morning citizen
complaint of a suspicious
vehicle led officers with the
Truth or Consequences Police
Department [TCPD] to the arrest
of three individuals Friday, Jan.
16.
Documents obtained by The
Herald and filed in Sierra County
Magistrate Court identify the
three individuals as 23-year-old
Robert Dennis Barrett Jr., of
Truth or Consequences, 27-yearold Tammie Lynn Montgomery
of Truth or Consequences, and
24-year-old Nickolas Ryan Rue
of Ruidoso.
TCPD Sgt. Andrew Laux,
in the affidavits for the arrest
warrants identifying the three
aforementioned
individuals,
states that he and TCPD Officer
Larry Bleimeyer responded to
Lyon Questions
Transfer Station Fees
Robert Barrett Jr.
Tammye Montgomery
complaint regarding a suspicious
vehicle –a white Chevy Blazer–
in the vicinity of north Sierra
Vista Drive and west Ninth
Street just before 2 a.m., Friday.
The citizen approached the
responding officers and stated
that the suspicious vehicle drove
from Sierra Vista Drive to a dirt
road that crosses under Interstate
25. Law enforcement officials
By Tony A. Archuleta
HERALD Reporter
Sierra County Sheriff Glenn
Hamilton gave his first report
to the County Commission
on Tuesday, Jan. 13, in his
new position as the county’s
top-ranking law enforcement
officer.
Hamilton said he attended
in mid-December the NewlyElected Sheriff’s Institute in
Santa Fe, joining 21 fellow
sheriffs statewide taking new
office in 2015.
Out of 33 sheriffs throughout
the state, 17 are Republicans
and 16 are Democrats,
according to Hamilton. “We
are definitely going to see some
bipartisan efforts on behalf
of the New Mexico Sheriff’s
Association,” he said.
Closer to home, Hamilton,
a Republican who formerly
Nickolas Rue
are familiar with this well-used
dirt road that leads to an arroyo
and a culvert large enough for
a vehicle and offers access to
west of I-25 as an area for “high
drug traffic, exchange and drug
use...”
Sgt. Laux engaged his night
vision equipment, and he,
Officer Bleimeyer, and Sierra
See METH on Page 2
‘Class 2 –Hyphen– Class Act’
City Commission Congratulates
TorC Fire Department on Milestone
By Tony A. Archuleta
HERALD Reporter
New Mexico State Fire Marshal
John Standefer and some of his
top assistants showed up at
the City Commission meeting
Tuesday, Jan. 13, to personally
congratulate the Truth or
Consequences Fire Department
and Fire Chief Paul Tooley on
the department’s new ISO Class
2 Rating.
Standefer said the local
volunteer department is hovering
in some very rarified air.
“Nationwide, ISO (Insurance
Services Office) has looked at
over 49,000 fire departments,
of which there are only 60
Class 1’s,” Standefer said.
“There are only 750 Class 2
departments currently in the
United States – and for an allvolunteer department to do that
is phenomenal.”
The ratings jump is great
news for homeowners and
business owners in both Truth or
Consequences and the Village of
Williamsburg who can expect to
see significant savings on their
fire insurance premium rates.
Standefer said the milestone is
BIRTHDAY
DONATION
–
Kodi
Hayhurst
(top
right) celebrated her 13th
birthday Friday, Jan. 16, by
donating stuffed animals
to the Elephant Butte Fire
Department.
Kodi
didn’t
want to receive gifts this
year, instead, she had been
planning since early 2014 to
ask her birthday party guests
to bring stuffed animals for
children affected by fire and
car accidents. Great job,
young lady!
HERALD photo/
CARLOS PADILLA
STATE FIRE MARSHAL John Standefer and some of his top assistants
showed up at Tuesday,’s, Jan. 13, Truth or Consequences City Commission
meeting to congratulate TorC Volunteer Fire Department and Chief Paul
Tooley on the department’s recent Class 2 ISO Rating achievement.
HERALD photo/TONY A. ARCHULETA
the result of steady leadership
under a handful of fire chiefs
over the decades, as well as the
individual efforts of rank-andfile firefighters, from veterans to
newcomers.
“I cannot point to another fire
department with better members
than this particular department,”
said Standefer, a 44-year
firefighting veteran.
“As hard as he’s been to live
with as we were going through
the process, he’s been harder
to live with when he got the
Wednesday
January 21
January 22
2
Frances Luna
By Tony A. Archuleta
HERALD Reporter
Two-year
Sierra
County
Commission
Vice
Chair
Frances Luna on Tuesday, Jan.
13, nominated newly-elected
Sierra County Commissioner
Ken Lyon to serve as chairman.
Commissioner Sherry Fletcher,
a political newcomer, seconded
the motion.
In making her nomination, Luna
–briefly serving as chairwoman
to start out the first meeting of
the year– cited Lyon’s previous
leadership on the commission
in the 1990s, along with the
fact that the 58-year-old retired
educational administrator has
more time to devote to the post.
“I remember covering the
meetings as a reporter when
you served on the commission
before,” Luna, now publisher of
the Sierra County Sentinel, told
Lyon. “I feel you have the time
and the knowledge and history,
and feel like you would do a very
good job at it.”
Fletcher then nominated Luna
to continue serving as vice chair,
which was seconded by Lyon.
“Well, I first want to say thank
you and I accept this, certainly
with pride, and I am humbled,
residence in the 1700-block of
South Broadway regarding a
report of a domestic disturbance,
where Ms. Hazen was reportedly
“going crazy and tearing up the
residence.” Hazen apparently
had punched out a window in the
See ATTACK on Page 10
January 23
Saturday
January 24
Sunday
ay
y
January 25
5
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January 26
January 27
See CHAIR on Page 13
Wednesday
J
January 28
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60/34
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Ken Lyon
������Friday
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Thursday
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Sunrise: 7:11 am/Set: 5:31 pm
complaint filed in Sierra County
Magistrate Court identifies the
Truth or Consequences woman
as 20-year-old Trinity Hazen.
In the criminal complaint,
TCPD Sgt. Erica Baker states
that she and Officer Yoser
Bojorquez responded to a
Sherry Fletcher
Luna Nominates Lyon
For Commission Chair
See CLASS on Page 13
Local Woman Charged
For Violent Attack on Officers
By Carlos Padilla
HERALD Editor
A young woman is facing
criminal charges after she
attacked two officials with the
Truth or Consequences Police
Department [TCPD] on Saturday
afternoon, Jan. 17. A criminal
Sierra County Sheriff Glenn Hamilton
See COUNTY on Page 6
Partly
l C
Cloudy 52/30
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Sunrise: 7:11 am/Set: 5:32 pm
31
Sunny 55/31
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Sunrise: 7:10 am/Set: 5:33 pm
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Sunny
Su
NNE Breeze: 9 mph
Sunrise: 7:10 am/Set: 5:33 pm
Sunny
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NNE Breeze: 8 mph
Sunrise: 7:09 am/Set: 5:34 pm
Sunny
Su
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Sunrise: 7:09 am/Set: 5:35
Sunny
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64/37
SE Breeze: 7 mph
Sunrise: 7:08 am/Set: 5:36 pm
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HERALD
Mostly Sunny The1204
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Sunrise: 7:08 am/Set: 5:37
PO Box 752
TorC, NM 87901