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Hungry lads and laddies filing into the cafeteria at Dexter Elementary School Thursday were in for some surprises.

First, they were greeted by "Patches the Pirate," otherwise known as Dexter Consolidate Schools Superintendent Tom Graves, and then were allowed to share in a little "pirate loot" as Food Services Clerk Rosalinda Gonzales and Food Service Director Shelley Montgomery draped colorful plastic beads around their necks.

In addition, the cafeteria was decorated in a pirate theme and many food services workers donned pirate costumes as the school celebrated National School Lunch Week.

"It's a week that we want to focus and bring attention to the National School Lunch Program and the nutritious ways it is serving the communities," said Mark Speight, a representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) who is touring schools in the Southwest to promote the benefits of school lunches.

According to the USDA , the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions, which provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, and signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.

Speight praised Montgomery and Kim Meeks, Director of Student Nutrition for Roswell Independent School District for their work keeping students fed in a nutritious manner.

Montgomery said she is proud of the work she does for the Dexter schools.

"Every kid remembers their elementary school cafeteria workers," she said.

"The schools here in New Mexico do a great job of meeting the kids needs every day and, in addition, every child eats free in New Mexico — it is one of eight states that has universal free meals," Speight said.

He also had praise for the New Mexico Grown program.

"They source locally their purchases of fresh produce, which we are serving today," Speight said.

Montgomery said the menu for the day included corn and watermelon purchased from a nearby farm.

"The kids even helped us shuck the corn before we froze it," she said.

Speight said additional money put into the school lunch program since 2021 has benefitted the school children with local meals, but also been a boon to local communities.

"This our first line of getting nutritious meals out to children and people like Shelly and Kim that make it happen, make food exciting and make it something that is here every day," he said.

"They (the kids) know its here everyday, it is here in the summertime, they feed them during Christmas and they feed them during disasters," Speight said.

"Roswell did that during the recent flooding," he said. "They had some sites where they were feeding children during the disasters."

Republican congressional candidate and former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM-02) pushed back Wednesday night against what she says are untrue claims that if elected, she would back a federal law that would outlaw abortion nationwide.

Herrell is running to reclaim the New Mexico 2nd Congressional District seat she lost two years ago to U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-02).

In an interview with KOB on Wednesday, Herrell noted that the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling removed the federal right to abortion, and that is now an issue for individual states to decide.

"I do not support a national (abortion) ban because now policy regarding abortion has to be made at the state level," Herrell said.

Throughout the campaign, Vasquez has repeatedly assailed Herrell's comments, legislation and votes against abortion rights and alleged that if Herrell is elected, she will support a nationwide abortion ban.

Vasquez and other critics have pointed to recordings of Herrell saying that she wishes that she could eliminate all abortions in New Mexico.

They also point to her co-sponsorship of the Life Begins at Conception Act, a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would have prohibited abortion nationwide by conferring to unborn persons the constitutional rights in the 14th Amendment that apply to all people naturalized or born in the U.S.

But Herrell has since distanced herself from those views. This week her campaign released a TV spot that featured Herrell looking into the camera and stating that she is against a federal abortion ban.

"What is really unfortunate is that there is so much going on, and we are still talking about an issue that, at the end of the day, it's a personal choice, and we aren't really thinking about the other options like adoption, financial aid or even counseling, but we are using it as a wedge issue," she stated.

Herrell, in the interview, maintained that she is personally pro-life and against abortion, but supports exemptions for victims of rape and incest and to save the life of a mother. She added that she would never want to make it a criminal offense for a woman to get an abortion.

She also stated opposition to any law for the use of taxpayer dollars going to pay for abortions.

"To me, it's like saying 'OK, we're going to use taxpayers dollars to pay for having your children's tonsils removed or an elective surgery,'" she said.

When reached for comment about Herrell's statements in the interview on abortion, Dylan McArthur, Vasquez's campaign manager, insisted that Herrell was being dishonest about her views and record.

"Yvette Herrell continues to lie to New Mexicans about her dangerous record and agenda. She is desperate to hide the fact that she's on tape saying she wants to eliminate all abortion in New Mexico."

Wednesday's interview was initially supposed to be a debate between Herrell and Vasquez. In 2022, Vasquez unseated Herrell by 1,350 votes in the newly drawn 2nd Congressional District. The two candidates are now in a rematch closely watched by Democrats and Republicans at the national level.

Though she was a member of the House Freedom Caucus and an unwavering supporter of former President Donald Trump during her term in Congress, Herrell insisted in the interview that she is not driven by partisan ideology.

"I'm not about politics. I'm about people, serving and ensuring voices are being heard and that we are finding real solutions that help every family member," she said.

Aside from abortion rights, the interview also included discussion on other topics, including the economy, where Herrell assailed congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden for out-of-control spending that she argues has been a contributor to high inflation.

"Every single business owner, every single consumer and every single family is paying the price for these bad policy decisions in Washington D.C.," Herrell said.

Herrell stated that balancing the federal budget and achieving national energy independence by increasing oil production would be two of her priorities that could help lower prices.

"We know that once we have energy independence, that will start pushing the price of gas down," she said. Herrell argued with the greater abundance of energy, those reduced fuel prices will translate to lower costs associated with utilities, transportation and groceries.

Herrell's comments on energy come as the United States over the past six years has experienced record-breaking production of crude oil, according to a March 2024 report by the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

Immigration and border security, which Herrell has made the driving issue of her campaign, was also discussed. The 2nd Congressional District includes 184 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Throughout the campaign, Herrell has taken swipes at Vasquez for voting against many Republican-backed border security measures, which she contends would reduce the flow of illegal border crossings.

Herrell indicated in the interview that she is against a bipartisan border security bill introduced earlier this year that would have overhauled the nation's overburdened asylum system, and authorized money for additional personnel and security along the border.

In May, the deal was defeated in a procedural vote, with five Democrats and all Republicans voting against the measure. Trump also came out against the bill, causing Republican support in both the House and Senate to vanish.

Herrell said in the interview that she objected to provisions of the law, including one that would increase funding for asylum officers and attorneys for migrant children and restrictions on when emergency powers can be used to limit entry into the U.S.

Instead, Herrell said that if elected, she would want reintroduction of the Secure the Border Act of 2023, border security legislation authored by House Republicans that cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on a party-line 219 to 211 vote.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate has not taken action on the bill, something that Herrell described in the interview as a missed opportunity.

"That's the bill we needed," she said.

On Thursday, Chaves County Commissioners expressed their opposition to the updated New Mexico Residential and Commercial Energy Conservation Codes with a resolution explaining why.

It requires that newly constructed and remodeled commercial buildings and those facilities being remodeled have at least 5% of parking spaces equipped for electric vehicles with charging stations, or "differing levels of pre-installed infrastructure for future expansion," Resolution R-24-027 states.

This stipulation applies to locations being constructed or renovated to a specific level and would include retail centers, apartment complexes and public buildings, such as municipal and county government buildings, said Chaves County Manager Bill Williams.

Apartment complexes are considered commercial enterprises in the amended 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. It's mandated through the New Mexico Commercial Energy Conservation Code.

"People are questioning the validity," of how this conclusion was reached, Williams told the commissioners.

The resolution also stated that "these unfunded electric vehicle mandates constitute an undue burden to homeowners, small businesses, residential housing projects, and prudent use of public funds which will diminish economic development and community growth in Chaves County ..." the resolution also stated.

Subsequent language in the county's resolution also asserts that the New Mexico Construction Industries Commission didn't hold "adequate public hearings," "reach out to local governments" or "effectively inform the public of the practical implications of these electrical vehicle mandates."

The New Mexico Construction Industries Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department is considered the enforcement agency.

A portion of the most recent energy conservation code made its way into this earlier version adopted by the state and referred to as its 2021 version of the New Mexico Residential and Commercial Energy Conservation Codes. It was in full effect as of July 30. There was a six-month adjustment period during which builders could go by either the then-current or the newer rules after the state commission approved it.

Williams said the result of that choice to add language from the later code version is a code section that's more stringent than it should be — at least at this time.

The time lag between creation by professionals and adoption by state, then local governments, is "so people in the industry can see what fits in their particular community," Williams commented to the commissioners. The city of Roswell adopted the 2021 New Mexico Residential Energy Conservation Code during their meeting on Oct. 10 after voicing their own criticisms of it.

Officials with both the Roswell and Chaves County governments said not adhering to the state's rules could result in having to shut down their independent inspection operations.

Williams said the commissioners would likely complete a similar task by considering whether to adopt the state's new energy conservation codes when they meet in November.

The International Code Council developed initial standards to heighten energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings. State and local governments can adopt these standards as rules, which are subsequently updated.

Operation Green Light: The commissioners also adopted a resolution to honor veterans who have transitioned away from active military service for their "immeasurable sacrifices to preserve our freedom." The Chaves County Courthouse and its administration buildings will be bathed in green light through November. Veterans Day is on Nov. 11.

Voter turnout: Chaves County Clerk Cindy Fuller reported that as of Wednesday at 5 p.m., voter turnout was at 11% and 3,522 people have voted in person. Fuller expects turnout to increase once the Absentee and Early voting site opens at the Roswell Mall on Saturday. This location will operate Monday-Saturdays through Nov. 2. Hours will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturdays.

A man is facing charges after he allegedly tried hitting law enforcement officers with a vehicle he was driving during a recent chase.

Rene Vasquez, 37, was arrested on Sunday two miles into Lincoln County on U.S. 70 west between mile markers 308 and 309 after police took action to disable Vasquez's vehicle and end the pursuit, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Chaves County Magistrate Court.

The complaint indicates that Roswell Police began the pursuit late Sunday of what was reported to be a stolen vehicle that might have been involved in a shooting.

A Chaves County Sheriff's deputy conducted a stop on the vehicle near West Second Street and Sycamore Avenue, and was giving verbal commands when Vasquez sped off in the vehicle, heading west on U.S. Highway 70.

During the pursuit on the highway, another had set up spike strips meant to immobilize the vehicle. Vasquez ran over the spike strips west of mile marker 320, but continued west.

The spike strips were deployed again, and Vasquez swerved and tried to hit the deputy who was standing behind a guard rail while attempting to deploy the spike strips.

According to the complaint, Vasquez continued driving west as the tires began to come off the vehicle before a New Mexico State Police unit attempted to stop him by executing a PIT maneuver (Precision Immobilization Technique).

"The defendant vehicle went into the median heading westbound and came back onto the road and intentionally struck a New Mexico State Police unit pushing the unit," the complaint states.

According to the complaint, the State Police sergeant driving that unit observed Vasquez "look directly at him and turn his steering wheel in the direction of his patrol unit."

Vasquez reportedly continued to push the unit with his vehicle, prompting the State Police sergeant to hit his brakes to get Vasquez away from the unit.

When Vasquez came to a halt, deputies began instructing him to get out of the vehicle, but he resisted. Instead, Vasquez stepped on the accelerator, causing the vehicle to kick up rocks in the direction of the law enforcement officers.

Because Vasquez was not complying with the demands of law enforcement officers, they deployed two bean bag rounds into his vehicle, which struck Vasquez.

Once out of the vehicle, Vasquez got to the ground but continued not to comply with other orders. Because of Vasquez's continued resistance, the criminal complaint says, officers and deputies had to use a stun gun so that they could place him in handcuffs.

Electronic court records indicate that Vasquez is charged with one count each of resisting, evading or obstructing a law enforcement officer; aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer; aggravated battery of a peace officer; aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon; possession of a stolen vehicle and criminal damage to property.

On Tuesday, Chaves County Magistrate Judge K.C. Rogers set Vasquez's bond at $20,000. A jail population summary report from the Chaves County Detention Center showed that Vasquez remained housed at the facility as of Thursday morning.