The Last Drop: The Twilight of Frontier Justice in the Estancia Valley
The history of the American West is often imagined as a sudden, sharp snap—a violent era brought to an abrupt halt by the arrival of...
The Pack Leader: Carmen Dorsey-Spitz and a New Ceiling for New Mexico Running
Carmen Dorsey-Spitz spent her freshman year just trying to keep up. She wasn’t qualifying for state meets, let alone national finals. She was a face...
The Moriarty Shortcut: How a Cross-Country Footrace Helped Bring Route 66 to the East Mountains
TIJERAS, N.M. — While the 1928 “Bunion Derby” was a cross-country spectacle, it was the steep, rugged slopes of the East Mountains that fundamentally altered...
The Great New Mexico Shortcut: A Tale of Spite, Snow, and the Mother Road’s 100th Birthday
If US Route 66 is turning 100 years old, how did the highway end up running through Moriarty, Edgewood and the East Mountains area in...
Where Twigs Become Tools: The ‘Soulful’ Science of Learning Beyond Four Walls
By RUSSELL HUFFMAN TIJERAS, N.M. — In the modern world, the average American child spends between four and seven minutes a day in unstructured outdoor...
Puns, Purpose, and Perseverance: The 35-Year Legacy of Roger Alink’s Wildlife West
EDGEWOOD, N.M. (AP) — On a windswept stretch of the East Mountains where the high desert air carries the scent of sage and pine, Roger...
The Song is Ending: New Mexico’s Iconic Musical Highway Falling into Harsh Disrepair
TIJERAS, NM — It was once hailed as a triumph of “fun engineering” a stretch of the Mother Road that didn’t just carry travelers but...
Smoke, Iron, and Resilience: Keeping the Fire Alive at Ribs BBQ
CEDAR CREST, N.M. — Along the winding curves of the Turquoise Trail, the scent of hickory smoke has long served as a beacon for hungry...
Quarter Mile Down Tunes: When a Symphony Descended into a Gold Mine
GOLDEN – On Sunday, May 19, 1940, as the shadow of war lengthened across Europe, the Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra (now the New Mexico Symphony...
Edgewood Connected, Rich Ford Team up For Ice Skating Fun
When the members of Edgewood Connected started thinking about sponsoring an ice-skating event, they ran into a logistical problem: they needed a large, flat, paved...
MADRID: Where Coal Dust Turned to Stardust & One of New Mexico’s Best Parades
We went to Madrid on Saturday and now we can’t stop yakking about the red-nosed Yak and all the sights and sounds we saw in...
The Exhale You’ve Been Waiting For: Finding the Timeless Magic of Manzano Mountain Retreat
The transformation happens somewhere around 7,000 feet. Just an hour ago, you were likely navigating the concrete ribbons of Albuquerque, your mind humming with the...
“I Did All This While You Were Watching TV”: The Infinite Imagination of Ross Ward and His Tinkertown
SANDIA PARK, N.M. — If you drive up the Turquoise Trail toward the Sandia Mountains, the air gets thinner, the piñon pines get thicker, and...
From a Food Box to the Director’s Chair: Linda Smith’s 37-Year Mission at Bethel Storehouse
By Russell Huffman Linda Smith remembers the exact moment her life changed, not as the Executive Director of Bethel Storehouse, but as a young mother...
From the Florida Flats to the High Desert: The Paintings & Assemblages of William Bock
After decades in Florida, where the landscape is defined by its flatness and the seasons blur from one humidity into the next, Cedar Crest artist...
East Mountains Rally: Community Steps Up as Food Pantry Faces Record Demand
TIJERAS – In the face of a daunting spike in food insecurity, the East Mountains community is proving that tough times bring out the best...
Hidden History in the “Scissors”: A Guide to Tijeras Pueblo
The Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site isn’t a towering cliff dwelling like Mesa Verde or a massive stone complex like Chaco Canyon, but it is a...
Isaac Trujillo: The Wood Whisperer of Cedar Crest
The scent of Ponderosa pine and Juniper often hangs heavy and sweet in the air and it’s a familiar cologne to Cedar Crest’s Isaac Trujillo....
The Air Cure: How a Health Resort Became the Heart of Cedar Crest
The village of Cedar Crest, New Mexico, owes its very name and location to the ambitious vision of one man and the desperate hope of...
Balsam Glade Nature Trail & La Madera Canyon Overlook
The Balsam Glade Nature Trail, located high on the scenic eastern slopes of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico, offers a unique blend of easy...