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The sound of roosters crowing, hens cackling and pigs squealing marked the beginning of the Eastern New Mexico State Fair on Monday, with competition for chickens and rabbits kicking off the livestock contests.

Giselle Sigala, Teagan Arthur and Jozelle Piñon, members of the Gadsden High School Future Farmers of America (FFA), were in the rabbit barn Monday after making the trip from Doña Ana County to exhibit Sigala's New Zealand rabbits.

"Animals are my thing," Sigala said about raising rabbits. She said it was the first year she has been raising the furry animals.

Sigala said she is from Mesquite, New Mexico, while Arthur is from Chaparral and Piñon hails from Berino.

Nearby, Teresa Desautell, from Sudan, Texas, was judging the rabbit competition as volunteers Kelly Trammell and Amy Jeter assisted.

Elizabeth Kanapilly stood nearby anxiously looking as the judging proceeded. Her mom, Debbie Kanapilly, said they have been bringing rabbits to ENMSF for many years.

"We love this fair," she said.

Over in the livestock pens, Tannah McCoy was giving her cross pig "Titos" a sudsy bath.

McCoy, who is from Texico, in Curry County, admitted her pig was "pretty spoiled."

Shortly before the poultry judging was set to begin, Eleven-year-old Rileyanne Bell was eager to show off her six different breeds of chickens. A member of the Chaves County 4-H, Bell said it was difficult to decide which birds were her favorites. Among the breeds Bell was exhibiting were Cornish Cross broilers, Silkies and Golden Sebrights.

"I like them all," she said.

The ENMSF livestock competitions continue today with market swine competition set at 8 a.m., market goats competition at 5 p.m. and the breeding dogs competition set after the market goats.

New Mexicans favor the Democratic candidates in both the presidential and U.S. Senate elections, according to a recent poll.

"Vice President Kamala Harris defeats former President Donald Trump 50% to 42% in an election held in New Mexico today," stated a memo from the KOB/Survey USA poll released on Sept. 19.

Among the other 7% of respondents, 4% said they would vote for another candidate, while the remaining 3% said they were undecided.

Harris outpaces Trump in the poll by 23 points among women (57% to 34%), Hispanics (53% to 39%), non-white and non-Hispanic voters (69% to 21%), as well as voters with either some college education (50% to 42%) or a 4-year college degree (59% to 35%) and among voters who are homeowners (52% to 41%).

The survey showed Trump holding leads over Harris among men (49% to 44%), registered Republicans (88% to 7%), white voters (49% to 45%), people who rent rather than own homes (47% to 44%) and voters with a high school education (52% to 39%).

The former president also has managed to maintain his hold on self-described conservative voters over Harris (71% to 21%).

Registered Democrats who participated in the poll said they would choose the sitting vice president over Trump (87% to 9%), as did independents (47% to 37%), moderates (51% to 38%) and liberals (88% to 10%).

Among age groups, Harris performed best among voters 65 and older (63% to 35%), while voters 30 to 44 were the one age group where Trump led Harris (55% to 39%).

Harris also won the majority of poll respondents between 18 and 29 (48% to 41%) and those between 50 and 64 (48% to 43%).

Poll respondents from urban voters expressed support for Harris 55% to 39%, as did those who reside in the suburbs (57% to 37%). Trump outpaced Harris among rural voters (54% to 35%).

According to the poll, 2020 voters have mostly opted to stay with the party whose nominee they supported four years ago. Voters who had cast a ballot for Biden in 2020 said they would vote for Harris (87% to 8%), and those respondents who voted for Trump four years ago said they would do so again (89% to 6%).

Support for the two presidential contenders also reflected a regional divide in the state, with Harris garnering majority support among poll respondents from two major population centers in New Mexico. The poll had Harris carrying the Bernalillo County area (61% to 32%) and Dona Ana County (57% to 40%).

Trump was ahead among those voters who did not live within those two areas (52% to 38%).

U.S. Senate race

Poll respondents also said they backed the reelection of Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), although nearly a quarter said they were unsure who they would vote for in November.

Heinrich faces Republican Nella Domenici, a former hedge fund manager and the daughter of the late Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), in the Nov. 5 U.S. Senate election.

In the survey, Heinrich was the choice of 47% of respondents, while 34% said they backed Domenici. Another 19% of respondents said they had not decided.

The poll had Domenici ahead of Heinrich among registered Republicans (74% to 11%), voters who backed Trump in 2020 (69% to 12%) and self-described conservatives (65% to 14%).

According to the poll results, Heinrich led among most other groups, including women (50% to 28%) and men (45% to 39%).

When broken down by race, Heinrich was favored by Hispanic voters (46% to 29%), non-white and non-Hispanic voters (65% to 12%) and by four points among whites (45% to 41%).

By region of the state, Heinrich led in the Bernalillo County area (67% to 33%) the Dona Ana County area (66% to 34%) and throughout the rest of New Mexico (42% to 37%).

Heinrich garnered support from majorities of college graduates (58% to 32%), voters with some college (44% to 35%) and high school graduates (38% to 33%), according to the poll.

Urban voters chose Heinrich over Domenici (55% to 28%), while those from the suburbs backed him 43% to 35% and rural voters expressed support for him over Domenici (44% to 39%).

Heinrich also dominated Domenici among all age groups, as well as both homeowners (49% to 34%) and renters (42% to 32%).

The Domenici campaign has worked to make inroads among registered Democrats in New Mexico. However, the poll showed Heinrich largely retaining the support of that group (78% to 8%) while winning independents (44% to 24%).

Liberals poll respondents said they would cast their ballots for Heinrich (81% to 12%), as did moderates (55% to 21%) and 2020 Biden voters (78% to 7%).

U.S. House races

All three seats from New Mexico in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for reelection. The memo outlining the poll's findings said the results could not be broken down by congressional district.

However, 50% of poll respondents said they would vote for the Democratic candidate, compared to 38% for the Republican candidate. The other 12% remained undecided.

By region of the state, poll respondents favored the Democratic candidate by 58% to 30% in Bernalillo County, an area split between the New Mexico 1st and 2nd Congressional districts, and by 54% to 36% in Dona Ana County, which is in the 2nd district which encompasses much of southern New Mexico.

Poll respondents from the rest of the state said they would go for the Republican candidate 45% to 42%.

The poll of 619 likely voters was conducted between Sept. 12 and 18th with a margin of error of +/- 5.4%.

Members of the city's legal committee recommended the Municipal Local Option Gross Receipts Tax, approved primarily for creating a city-run ambulance service, should be set for a public hearing to consider amending its specifications about how the proceeds are used.

Ordinance 23-10 was signed by Mayor Timothy Jennings on Sept. 14, 2023. It had been referred to as the ambulance tax during discussions among city officials, but it was formally named the "unrestricted municipal gross receipts tax."

Collection of the five-sixteenths (0.3125%) of one percent tax on reported or required receipts, began on Jan. 1. It states that money collected as a result of this tax could be used for other needs if its intended use is changed.

It now has two purposes: One is "to provide an ambulance service in good repair and to pay legitimate expenses of its operation." The other is to place any remaining revenue "into a special public safety fund for safety and medical equipment and vehicles."

The staff report for the city councilors that was included in their agenda packet for that meeting about a year ago proposed a description of how the tax revenue could be spent on a city ambulance service. It was suggested to be for that type of operation's "creation, maintenance, operation, debts, repair, improvement, expansion and reserve fund."

The proposed amendment to the ordinance was suggested by Councilor Edward Heldenbrand, who chairs the Legal Committee. He suggested last week there should be more ways to use any money left over after paying for the future ambulance service to work well, cover necessary costs, and set aside at least $3 million for a fund to create and maintain it.

Also proposed in the amendment ordinance is new wording that would allow any further money to be used for a wider variety of purposes: "All remaining funds shall be expended for Roswell's Public Safety needs," the document says.

Councilor Robert Corn noted that the minimum reserve fund proposed for the ambulance service had been $5 million. Drafts of the original ordinance stated the minimum reserve should be that amount, or two times the service's losses during the previous fiscal year — whatever is more substantial.

This amendment ordinance calls for only a $3 million minimum reserve fund. The original ordinance, as adopted, doesn't state how much money should be set aside to ensure an ambulance service could operate without adequate income for a long period. It relies on the statement calling for the operation to be in "good repair" and that spending be for "legitimate expenses."

Also not in the original ordinance was the intended start for the service to happen in 2026.

Deputy City Manager Mike Mathews suggested the list of city departments that focus on health and safety services that could be eligible to receive any extra funds should include Emergency Management.

A huge spike in the cost of contracting with American Medical Response (AMR) to provide ambulance transport was what prompted the city to begin creating its own ambulance service.

AMR announced that it would exercise its option to end the agreement after the first year. They were paid about $165,000 annually. Initially, AMR asked for about $2.6 million to continue providing their service, but ultimately reduced their price to $1.5 million a year after negotiations.

They have also been helping the Roswell Fire Department to prepare for when it starts running ambulances.