South Central New Mexico

“The Silence of Cricket Coogler” and Corruption at the Highest Levels

July 1, 2023 Lisa Comments 0 Comment

The murder of Ovida “Cricket” Coogler in Las Cruces in 1949 rocked New Mexico’s political machine and sent reverberations throughout the country. Coogler was an 18-year-old waitress whose body was found in a field south of Las Cruces by some rabbit hunters. She had been raped and run over repeatedly by a car. As the press, particularly Walt Finley, working for the El Paso Herald Post, started digging into the murder, corruption from the local sheriff “Happy” Apodaca all the…

The Destruction of Wizard’s Roost

July 1, 2023 Lisa Comments 0 Comment

Some properties on the National Register of Historic Places are listed as “address restricted.” Many of these properties are archeological finds and their restricted status is meant to protect them from vandals who might scavenge valuable artifacts. Unfortunately, in the case of Wizard’s Roost, a prehistoric solstice observatory located in Lincoln County, such secrecy did not protect the site. Sometime in the late 1980s, a person or persons unknown scattered the stones that signaled stellar alignments used thousands of years…

The Reach of One Person Can Impact So Many

June 22, 2023 Lisa Comments 0 Comment

“I need to help that little girl up,” said Sean Marusich, after she careened into him on the beginner slope at Ski Apache. As his Ski Apache Adaptive Sports (SAAS) coach gently reminded him that it was her fault, that she was skiing out of control and that she needed a lesson, Sean answered: “But everyone falls sometime, don’t they?” It is difficult logic to argue with, made all the more significant since, nearly 12 years ago, doctors removed the…