Top 2025 Stories in Valencia County

We’ve done another lap around the sun and 2025 has come to a close.

The last 12 months have been full of local happenings, some positive, some negative, and we have reported on a good many of them.

We marked the beginning of major projects, innovative technology coming to Valencia County, heartbreaking disasters and uplifting occasions.

Like other years, not every article we published made the final round up, but these are some of what we thought were the most significant stories of the year.

Los Lunas Boulevard/I-25 Interchange finally begins

A project that was little more than a plan for more than 30 years is finally taking shape and becoming a reality.

In August, local and state officials gathered to celebrate the long-awaited groundbreaking of the Los Lunas Boulevard project — known better as the I-25 interchange.

“It’s a relief,” Los Lunas Mayor Charles Griego said with a chuckle after the ceremony at the intersection of Morris Road and Camelot Boulevard Southwest.

The $169 million project will take four years to complete and will include a new interchange at I-25, about a mile south of the I-25-N.M. 6 interchange; four-lane bridge over the Rio Grande spanning 2,000 feet; intersections at N.M. 314 & N.M. 47; new two-lane road (Los Lunas Boulevard) and multi-use trails and connections.

In November, contractors reported the project was progressing significantly, with officials optimistic about finishing well ahead of the projected April 2029 completion date.

Two devastating bosque fires

Fire season was especially brutal this year, with two massive bosque fires wreaking havoc not just along the river but into residential areas, destroying homes.

The Rio Grande Fire started shortly before 4 p.m. on April 17, west of the Rio Grande and the village of Bosque Farms on Isleta land.

The flames were pushed east by fast-moving winds, jumping the river and moving into the village. As the day wore on and the winds stayed steady, residents living off West Bosque Loop between Lillie and Cottonwood Drive were asked to evacuate.

Fire crews from Bosque Farms, Valencia County, Peralta, Los Lunas, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo County, Santa Fe County, Cibola County, Sandoval County, Cochiti Lake, the N.M. Forestry Division and more descended on the small farming community to try and stop the flames.

After two days, 59 acres were burned and three structures were lost, while two others were damaged and about eight out buildings were a loss as well.

Two months later, on Saturday, June 21, the Cotton 1 fire started southwest of the Los Lunas river bridge and quickly spread into the Carson Park neighborhood.

A dozen homes were destroyed by the blaze, and eventually, Jacob LaHair, 31, of Los Lunas, was charged with one count of negligent arson and one count of criminal damage to property in relation to that blaze.

On Sunday, June 22, a second fire — Cotton 2 — began in the bosque to the northeast of the bridge. The two fires were combined for purposes of management and named the Desert Willow Complex Fire.

The Cotton 2 Fire moved north through the bosque, causing evacuations on the east side of the river in the town of Peralta, and residents west of the Rio Grande were told to be ready to leave if necessary.

All total, the fires displaced more than 1,300 residents and 13 firefighters suffered minor injuries during the multi-day incident.

Tax bill error

An error by the Valencia County assessor sent property tax bills skyrocketing this year.

In November, Valencia County Assessor Celia Dittmaier told the News-Bulletin she entered the incorrect property valuation amount for the village of Los Lunas — setting the residential valuation at more than $2 billion rather than the $200-plus million it should have been.

When tax bills went out on Nov. 4, 2025, property owners were greeted with increases in the hundreds of dollars.

The corrected values were sent to the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department on Nov. 12, and a new tax roll has been created since. Corrected bills were sent out about a week before Christmas with a new due date of Jan. 30, 2026, for the first half. The second half is still due on May 10, 2026.

The Valencia County Commission unanimously approved an independent investigation into the mistake, but no definitive answers have been given.

Cibola County Chief Deputy Assessor Jenna Rodriguez was tasked with the investigation, and in a letter dated Dec. 19, “given the nature of the data entry discrepancies observed,” she recommended the county request technical assistance from the New Mexico Property Tax Division, “as they are best positioned to provide guidance and support to ensure accuracy and consistency.”

Belen firefighter adopts boy in Baby Box

A baby boy had a full circle moment in March 2025 when his adoption was publicly celebrated at the same Belen fire station where he was surrendered in the Safe Haven Baby Box in February 2024.

Mikel Martinez, the master of making “fishy” faces, and his parents, Belen Fire Department Lt. Chris Martinez and his wife, Janae, joined Chris’s coworkers, family and friends at the Belen Fire Station to announce the adoption.

Chris and Janae said Mikel is thriving and described him as “the happiest little boy ever.”

The Baby Box, the fourth in the state at the time, was only installed at the Belen Fire Station on South Fifth Street in October 2023. The box is designed to prevent infant abandonment as it gives parents who feel they can’t care for their newborns a safe place to anonymously surrender the baby.

Mikel was the first baby surrendered in the Baby Box on Feb. 6, 2024.

New Mexico State Fair Queen Taylor Rolan

For the second year in a row, a Valencia County woman was crowned the New Mexico State Fair queen.

Taylor Rolan, 20, of Belen, was overjoyed and proud as she was crowned, bringing home the title that Kaitlyn Maria, of Jarales, won in 2024, and Rolan’s mother, Teri, won in 2001.

Taylor, who graduated from School of Dreams Academy charter school in Los Lunas in 2023 — the same month she earned an associate degree at UNM-Valencia — is currently studying animal science at New Mexico State University, with minors in biology and chemistry.

As her academic life is a priority, Taylor, the daughter of Wes and Teri Rolan, said her rodeo life has been challenging while fulfilling at the same time.

“I had my first pony at 3 or 4 (years old) and I’ve been riding my whole life,” Rolan said. “I’ve grown up around it and have done different disciplines. I grew up showing Western horses, and I also rode some English and some hunter-jumpers for a few years, which was a lot of fun.”

Rolan began rodeoing and barrel racing when she was about 10 years old. In the past four to five years, she has been working with Castillo Performance Horses in Casa Colorada.

Rolan said she looked to her own mother, Teri (Wright) Rolan, for inspiration on her journey to become the New Mexico State Fair queen. Teri, like her daughter, first won the title of Valencia County Fair queen, and then the state title the next year in 2001. Rolan started competing at 7 years old with the Valencia County Sweetheart contest.

“I did it for quite a few years, and took a few gap years before I ran for queen,” she said. “I wanted to do it like (mom) did.”

New Dennis Chavez Elementary breaks ground

In mid-February, students and staff with Belen Consolidated Schools gathered at the Dennis Chavez Elementary campus in Los Chavez to take up golden shovels and break ground on a brand new school.

The DCE campus has been vacant since students and staff were relocated to the H.T. Jaramillo Elementary campus in Belen at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year in anticipation of the rebuild beginning in the spring of 2023.

Getting approval from the New Mexico Public Schools Finance Authority for demolition of all the buildings on the campus except for the gymnasium and plans for a new school was a long, detailed process.

Demolition was completed in September 2024, leaving the DCE campus ready for a rebuild.

According to the time line provided by Jaynes Corp, the contractor for the project, the new school is projected to be finished by August 2026.

Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control District board members appointed

While technically formed by the voters in 2024, the board of supervisors for the Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control District wasn’t officially formed until February 2025.

On Feb. 5, 13th Judicial District Court Judge Cindy Mercer issued an order appointing the first five directors for the newly-formed district.

Wayne Gallegos, David Gardner, Danny Goodson, Michael Montoya and Teresa Smith de Cherif served on the board until the end of 2025.

Goodson and Montoya ran for reelection in November, along with Tyler Otero, Brenda Hume and Charles Schick.

While the positions are six year terms, the initial group of candidates who take office in January 2026 will draw lots at their organizational meeting to determine staggered initial terms.

Two members will serve two-year terms, two will serve four years and one will serve a six-year term.

Navajo War Ceremonial portfolio found at the Belen Public Library

Libraries are arguably treasure troves of undiscovered delight, and the Belen Public Library doubled down on that idea when a collection of Native art was discovered during some spring cleaning.

Belen Public Library Director Kathleen Pickering and others were cleaning out an office in mid-April that had been used by the Friends of the Library when she came across a large portfolio with the title on the cover, “Where The Two Came To Their Father; Navajo War Ceremonial.”

Pickering, a former anthropology professor who spent 10 years studying household economic dynamics on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, immediately knew it was something special.

After finding the 82-year-old pieces of art, the library director took the portfolio to Jo’l Moore, a member of the Friends of the Library, the manager at Books on Becker and president of the Belen Art League, to help figure out what it was and where it came from.

Moore’s research led her to discover a story of Native tradition, ceremony and heritage.

The artwork was created by ethnologist Maud Oakes in 1943, who lived on the Navajo reservation and was given permission to record a “protection” ceremony and was provided original drawings of the sand paintings used in the ceremony.

The sand paintings were originally created by Jeff King, a medicine man who lived in the Pinedale Chapter Area of the Navajo Reservation. King served in the U.S. Army from 1891 to 1911 at Fort Wingate, east of Gallup. When he left the service, he mastered three significant ceremonies, which were never found in books or any written form.

She knew the pieces needed to be returned home.

While Pickering and Moore were more than ready to drive up to Farmington to deliver the portfolio to the Farmington Museum of Navajo Arts & Culture, another opportunity arose.

As word got out that the library was in possession of such a find, Erik Stanfield, an anthropologist with the Navajo Nation’s Historic Preservation Department reached out to Pickering, knowing exactly what she had.

Richard Begay, of the Navajo Nation’s Historic Preservation Department, and Stanfield, an anthropologist with the office, were delighted to take the art home.

Village of Bosque Farms churns through three clerks

Here’s hoping the third time is the charm for the village of Bosque Farms.

This year was one of upheaval for the village, with churn at the top seeing repeated turnover of the clerk/administrator.

It started in July, with the departure of Michael Limon after 13 months on the job.

Limon was actually the second clerk/administrator for the village in the last two years. Vernon Abeita spent nine tumultuous months with the village before resigning mid March 2024.

Citing “instability and infighting” within the administration, Limon took his leave.

Stepping into the vacancy was deputy clerk Shaline Lopez, who, less than two weeks after being named interim clerk/administrator for the village, announced her last day was Sept. 17.

In her Sept. 3 resignation letter, Lopez wrote that while she learned and grew both professionally and personally during her time at the village, “I also witnessed a portion of the community engage in divisive and unnecessarily negative behavior. It is my hope that the village can reconcile these differences and move forward together toward a more constructive and harmonious future.”

In October, Erica Martinez, of Albuquerque, was sworn in as the village’s third clerk/administrator for 2025, the fourth in two years.

Martinez worked for Bernalillo County for more than 20 years, starting as a procurement technician in 2000 then working her way up to financial specialist. She was the executive assistant to the deputy county manager of public safety for four years before becoming the business manager at the Gordon Bernell Charter School, a charter school she helped develop within the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.

During an interview with the News-Bulletin, Martinez said she is aware she’s walking into a municipality mired in conflict and acknowledged there has most likely been a loss of trust in the administration by residents. She is hoping her “outside perspective” will work to her advantage and help move the village forward.

“Being able to look at this on a more community-based level, understanding the perspective of the constituents — because that’s who you serve — and coming from that outside approach, being able to manage according to statute, according to ordinance, according to law and governing in that respect without a personal position on a favored outcome, will be beneficial,” Martinez said. “Taking over this administrative role is going to be a big challenge.”

BFE principal controversy

A Los Lunas Schools principal disappeared from view after a social media controversy in September.

The incident started when Bosque Farms Elementary School Principal Regina Lucero shared a post on her personal Facebook page on Sept. 11, the day after political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah.

Kirk was a polarizing figure in right-wing politics, who had gained the enmity of people in his time as a conservative internet celebrity and leader of Turning Point USA, a group for college-age conservatives.

Lucero, who goes by Regina Lucero-Jones on her personal Facebook page, shared a post by “Occupy Democrats,” a left-wing media outlet.

The post by Occupy Democrats included the message “Live by the sword, die by the sword” above a meme that included a partial quote of Kirk’s with the words, “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year” highlighted in yellow.

Lucero commented, “Well this is what he said. We must be careful what we say.”

At about 4 p.m. Sept. 15, the district issued a statement to the News-Bulletin and other news outlets. The message was also sent in an email to Bosque Farms Elementary families.

The statement, signed by LLS Superintendent Susan Chavez, indicated the district was reviewing complaints received at central office about alleged violations of school board policies and/or the New Mexico Administrative Code. It also noted BFE Assistant Principal (Charlotte) Dosumu would be the lead administrator on the campus.

The statement never referenced Lucero or her Facebook post. Attempts by the News-Bulletin to determine whether the principal had been put on administrative leave or terminated were met by the assertion that it was a “personnel matter” by Chavez.

The News-Bulletin learned former Albuquerque Journal education reporter Noah Alcala Bach contacted Los Lunas Schools to inquire whether the statement issued by LLS were related to Lucero’s post about the Kirk assassination.

Los Lunas Schools marketing and media design specialist Sidney Olivas replied affirmatively to Alcala Bach, writing: “Yes, it raised concerns among some of our families and the community.”

Alcala Bach also asked if Lucero had been placed on paid administrative leave, and Olivas responded by sending him the same statement the district issued.

Pacific Fusion comes to Valencia County

The village of Los Lunas marked a milestone in its economic development strategy with the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Pacific Fusion’s new facility on Friday, Dec. 12.

The innovative fusion energy company has chosen the 200,000-square-foot south end of the former Merillat building, at the north end of Los Morros Business Park, as the site to build components used in its fusion demonstration system.

The Los Lunas facility will serve as the manufacturing hub, or “build center,” for Pacific Fusion’s New Mexico operation. Staff at the facility will build the components for the fusion system, which will be transported to and placed at the company’s research and manufacturing campus at the Mesa Del Sol site, which will be built just south of Albuquerque.

Pacific Fusion’s fusion system, which it touts as “both technologically robust and economically viable” on its official website, utilizes an approach known as “pulser-driven inertial fusion.” The process uses fast-rising, high-current pulses to magnetically squeeze and heat small containers of deuterium-tritium fuel, which drives the fuel to fusion conditions.

The Los Lunas build center will only be manufacturing the modules that will eventually be assembled at Pacific Fusion’s Mesa del Sol site. No actual power will be generated at the Los Lunas center, which is expected to create a substantial economic ripple effect, beginning with the planned hiring of about 100 high-paying employees by the end of 2026.

Company representatives confirmed the 100 jobs are part of the initial plan and not a hard cap, pointing to potential for further growth.

BFPD officer charged in rape

A Bosque Farms police lieutenant is in jail, charged with criminal sexual penetration, a fourth-degree felony.

Lt. Ricky Dominguez, 41, of Los Lunas, is accused of having anal intercourse with a 21-year-old Los Lunas woman without her consent.

The Los Lunas Police Department began a criminal investigation into Dominguez on Oct. 21 after the woman came to the LLPD station to report the alleged sexual assault. The lieutenant, who has worked for the village since October 2017, was placed on paid administrative leave that same day, Bosque Farms Police Chief Andrew Owen said.

BFPD began it’s own internal affairs investigation the next day.

“Because of the severity of the charges, we are moving forward with immediate termination. We cannot employ him,” Owen said in a phone interview Tuesday, Nov. 4.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Los Lunas Magistrate Court on Nov. 4, the victim was stopped for speeding by Dominguez while driving through Bosque Farms in late September.

During the stop, Dominguez gave the woman his business card, and she contacted him after the stop when she noticed the citation didn’t include her recorded speed or the posted speed limit. She alleges Dominguez said he would “take care of the ticket,” and later sent her a picture of the voided citation.

The woman said the lieutenant began texting her daily, which led to regular phone and text conversations. Eventually, she met him one evening at a Bosque Farms business, where they shared a consensual kiss.

The two had consensual sex on one occasion before Dominguez alleged penetrated her anally without her consent. During the investigation, LLPD found Dominguez had set up a phone without the woman’s consent and recorded the incident.

Notable deaths

Mark Gwinn, who was elected the city or Rio Communities’ first mayor in 2013 after he helped secure its incorporation earlier that year, died on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, after suffering a stroke.

The former mayor fell ill in October 2019, and took a leave of absence from his position. Gwinn never fully recovered and never returned to office.

Gwinn grew up in Belen and his family moved to Rio Grande Estates — now the city of Rio Communities — in 1964. He graduated from Belen High School in 1969. He also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Remembered as a good-hearted person with a big passion for the fledgling city, Gwinn was always willing to pitch in to make the community better, whether it was picking up trash or filling potholes by hand.

Rio Communities resident Maurine McMillan died on Nov. 30, 2025, at the youthful age of 98. The small, but mighty woman made history come alive in Valencia County, most notably at the Belen Harvey House Museum.

A long-time, dedicated member of the Valencia County Historical Society, Maurine received nearly every VCHS award given by the society, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.

Maurine was also named Citizen of the Year in 2000 by the Valencia County News-Bulletin for her volunteer work and love of history, education and the community.

Born on Sept. 15, 1927, in central Illinois, the oldest of six siblings, Maurine earned a mathematics education and home economics degree from Eastern Illinois University, where she met her husband, Dean, who was in the Navy.

The couple landed in Rio Communities in the mid 1980s, where she soon discovered the Harvey House, and became fast friends with a lot of locals, including the team of model railroaders, who recently established the Southwest Model Railroad Museum on Second Street next to the Doodlebug in Belen.

The museum was recently named for Maurine for her “generous donations, kindness and belief in our cause.”

Along with her memberships to the local and state historic societies, Maurine was also involved in the Valencia County Extension Service, the Sunshine Club, the American Association of University Women, the State Embroidery Club and more.