New Mexico mountain village braces for more rain following deadly flash flooding - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Morgan Lee and Roberto Rosales, Associated Press
RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) 鈥� A New Mexico mountain village prepared Wednesday for another round of as crews scrambled to dig out from a historic flash flood that killed three people, damaged dozens of homes and left streets and culverts clogged with mud and debris.
A man, a 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy from an RV park along the Rio Ruidoso as floodwaters raged through the area Tuesday. The bodies were found downstream from the park at a distance between 1/4 of a mile and 2 miles (3 kilometers).
The two children were related, but authorities were not releasing their names. They had yet to identify the man who was killed.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said the community is devastated by the loss of life, a tragedy that is not unfamiliar for the popular summer retreat, which is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of Albuquerque. Before summer rains began, Ruidoso had made much progress in recovering from last year's wildfires and post-fire flooding, but village officials acknowledged Tuesday's rain was too much to absorb.
鈥淎s bad as it is, it could have been way worse because people did heed the warning, did get the higher ground,鈥� Crawford said during a radio address. 鈥淏ut we do have people that are in greater need today than they were yesterday.鈥�
Dozens of swift water rescues
New Mexico's governor signed an emergency declaration Tuesday night and requests were pending for more assistance from the federal government as search and rescue crews fanned out Wednesday in places that had been hard to reach the night before.
Village officials continued to encourage people to call an emergency line if their loved ones or neighbors were missing or affected by the flood.
Emergency crews had completed dozens of swift water rescues before the water receded Tuesday, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars. Two National Guard teams and several local crews already were in the area when the flooding began, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Several roads remained closed Wednesday and the mayor said it would take time to restore utilities in some neighborhoods. He said damage assessments would take several days to complete.
Along the river, pieces of metal and other debris were twisted around tree trunks while broken tree limbs were wedged against homes and piled on porches. The water was thick with sediment.
The floods came just days after people and left missing.
Residents urged to seek higher ground
In New Mexico, Crawford described an intense bout of rain that set the disaster in motion: 鈥淲e received three and a half inches of rain on the South Fork burn scar in about a 90 minute period. That water came directly into our community and impacted the community head on.鈥�
Officials urged residents to seek higher ground as the Rio Ruidoso hit a high-water mark of 20 feet (6 meters) above normal. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings throughout Tuesday, with an upgraded emergency notification coming at 2:47 p.m.
At the Riverside RV Park, owner Barbara Arthur and her guests scrambled up a nearby slope when the river started coursing through the site. It was the sixth time the river rose in the last several weeks and by far the worst, she said.
The high water destroyed Arthur's house, a nearby rental house she owns and floated three trailers in her RV park.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a lot destruction you know, not just a little bit like I had last year where I felt like I could clean up and get back in business. This one I think has got me,鈥� she said.
A vulnerable area after last year's wildfires
The area has been especially vulnerable to flooding since the summer of 2024, when the raced across tinder-dry forest and destroyed hundreds of homes. Residents were forced to , only to grapple with .
Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early afternoon over terrain that was scorched by wildfire. The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water quickly ran downhill into the river.
Local officials said a village-wide warning siren and evacuation system was not triggered, while tailored evacuation warnings were initiated that included door-to-door visits by emergency personnel, who urged people to seek high ground.
Shelters remained open Wednesday, while food banks and donation centers handed out supplies.
The flooding also hit the Ruidoso Downs racetrack, which had been preparing for a series of big races this weekend. Crawford said during a news conference that the racing season was canceled, meaning the village would take an economic hit as the track brings in tens of millions of dollars each season.
Crawford said people are anxious and afraid as the monsoon is sure to bring more rain throughout the summer.
鈥淵esterday was a good lesson 鈥� you know that Mother Nature is a much bigger powerful force than we are,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that we can do a lot of things to protect ourselves and to try to help direct and whatever, but we cannot control.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Thomas Peipert and Matt Brown in Denver, Hallie Golden in Seattle, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
3 dead as flash flooding hits mountain village of Ruidoso in New Mexico, officials say 鈥� Morgan Lee, Thomas Peipert, Associated Press
Three people have died in a mountain village in southern New Mexico that is a popular summer retreat after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding that was so intense an entire house was swept downstream, officials said.
A man and two children were swept away Tuesday by floodwaters, the village of Ruidoso said in a statement.
Three people earlier had been reported missing, but it wasn't immediately clear early Wednesday whether those were the same three who died.
Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The water had receded by Tuesday night and search and rescue and swift water rescue teams were scouring the town for the missing people, while public works crews cleared debris from the roadways. Some cars were left stranded in the mud.
Two National Guard rescue teams and several local teams already were in the area when the flooding began, Silva said, and more Guard teams were expected.
The floods came just days after flash floods in Texas killed over 100 people and left more than 160 people missing.
In New Mexico, officials urged residents to seek higher ground Tuesday afternoon as the waters of the Rio Ruidoso rose nearly 19 feet (2.7 meters) in a matter of minutes amid heavy rainfall. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in the area, which was stripped of vegetation by recent wildfires.
A weather service flood gauge and companion video camera showed churning waters of the Rio Ruidoso surge over the river's banks into surrounding forest. Streets and bridges were closed in response.
Kaitlyn Carpenter, an artist in Ruidoso, was riding her motorcycle through town Tuesday afternoon when the storm started to pick up, and she sought shelter at the riverside Downshift Brewing Company with about 50 other people. She started to film debris rushing down the Rio Ruidoso when she spotted a house float by with a familiar turquoise door. It belonged to the family of one of her best friends.
Her friend's family was not in the house and is safe, she said.
"I've been in that house and have memories in that house, so seeing it come down the river was just pretty heartbreaking," Carpenter said. "I just couldn't believe it."
During a radio address Tuesday night, Ruidoso Mayor Lynn D. Crawford encouraged residents to call an emergency line if their loved ones or neighbors were missing. He also said there were reports of dead horses near the town's horse racing track
"We knew that we were going to have floods ... and this one hit us harder than what we were expecting," Ruidoso Mayor Lynn D. Crawford said.
The area has been especially vulnerable to flooding since the summer of 2024, when the South Fork and Salt fires raced across tinder-dry forest and destroyed an estimated 1,400 homes and structures. Residents were forced to flee a wall of flames, only to grapple with intense flooding later that summer.
"We know that the water levels seemed to be higher than they were last summer," Silva said. "It is a significant amount of water flowing throughout, some of it in new areas that didn't flood last year."
Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early afternoon over terrain that was scorched last year by wildfire. The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water quickly ran downhill into the river.
Preliminary measurements show the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet (6 meters) 鈥� a record high if confirmed 鈥� and was receding Tuesday evening.
Three shelters opened in the Ruidoso area for people who could not return home.
Cory State, who works at the Downshift Brewing Company, welcomed in dozens of residents as the river surged and hail pelted the windows. The house floating by was "just one of the many devastating things about today," he said.
The sight brought back painful memories for Carpenter, whose art studio was swept away during a flood last year. Outside, the air smelled of gasoline, and loud crashes could be heard as the river knocked down trees in its path.
"It's pretty terrifying," she said.
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Peipert reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Denver, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
Ruidoso and Mescalero officials seek state help as communities face post-fire flooding - by Austin Fisher,
Emergency warnings sounded twice during an Monday, as south-central New Mexico officials told lawmakers about ongoing dangerous flooding in their communities 鈥� and the help they still need to rebuild after last year鈥檚 wildfires.
Village of Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford told the members of the interim Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee that water had flooded the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and the village鈥檚 midtown area on Sunday, and on Monday damaged homes left intact during the 2024 South Fork and Salt fires.
Mescalero Apache Tribe President Thora Walsh Padilla told the committee the mountains have received little snowpack over the last few years, which means less vegetation to mitigate flooding in areas even outside the tribe鈥檚 reservation.
In addition, many years鈥� worth of sediment remains in the ravines, decreasing how much water they can hold and making current and future floods even worse, she said.
鈥淲e have done quite a bit as far as limiting the debris, the burnt logs, all the stuff coming off the reservation, but that does not stop the water,鈥� Padilla said. 鈥淲e have multiple burn scars contributing towards this, both on and off the reservation and on the Lincoln National Forest.鈥�
Ruidoso Downs Racetrack General Manager Rick Baugh said what Ruidoso is experiencing will happen somewhere else in New Mexico.
鈥淲e almost lost the track yesterday,鈥� Baugh told the committee. 鈥淚鈥檓 just at the end of my rope, I鈥檒l be honest with you. If y鈥檃ll got any way you can help us, we need your help.鈥�
The meeting followed a in neighboring Texas.
Crawford said the village is still rebuilding from the 2024 fires and subsequent floods, and .
Thus far, he said the village has spent $16.8 million on repairing homes and buildings, but some homes remain unfixed, and the village has run out of money.
鈥淓very dime that the village has had access to, that we could spend, we have deployed it,鈥� Crawford said.
The village has formally requested only $4 million of the $44 million lawmakers set aside in for disaster cleanup, Crawford said, because of a provision in the law that requires approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency before the local government can ask for it.
The Legislature has, in several bills over the last three years, approved at least for communities recovering from fires and floods. Crawford said the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, one of the state agencies helping towns get the funding, told the village that it is 鈥渨ay down the list鈥� behind other communities asking for the loans.
鈥淭he process is broke,鈥� Crawford said. 鈥淲hat you passed, we don鈥檛 have access to.鈥�
Crawford said the village assessed 498 sites eligible for some kind of repairs and organized them into 27 projects and sent them to FEMA for approval. Crawford said he learned on Monday that late last week, FEMA approved 17 of the projects.
FEMA鈥檚 engineers originally estimated the damage to total $29 million, Crawford said, and now the estimate is five times that amount.
Rep. Harlan Vincent (R-Ruidoso Downs), a former fire chief for the village, suggested to the committee that more legislation is needed because the funding lawmakers enacted in the prior session does not cover costs of flood maintenance.
鈥淭his silt is going to continue,鈥� he said. 鈥淒id we mess up again? Does anybody want to run another $150 million bill for maintenance budgets? If this happens in your community, you鈥檙e going to go through it, or that water will come out of the banks and it鈥檚 going to devastate people鈥檚 properties.鈥�
Padilla said the Sierra Blanca Regional Recovery Task Force has been coordinating cleanup efforts and sediment removal since the fires both on the reservation and in Lincoln County and Ruidoso. She said the task force wants to build a regional training center to improve local firefighting capabilities.
Padilla said local floodways are becoming active again nearly a century after the Civilian Conservation Corps came in during the 1930s to terrace and drain wetlands.
The landscape around Ruidoso and Mescalero doesn鈥檛 look like it did then, Padilla said. It used to be a forested grassland but now the forest is so thick and the elk populations so large that the water table can鈥檛 support it.
鈥淭his land is not in its natural state anymore, and we need something to jumpstart that and take us back a little further in time to be able to maintain living in these mountains,鈥� Padilla said.
Padilla said there has been a huge buildup of trees that is harming the land, and her tribe wants to reopen a sawmill that closed in 2012 in order to thin the forest and reduce fire risk.
鈥淚t became very apparent during the fires that we need to get back on that track,鈥� Padilla said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e taken natural fires out of the system,鈥� Padilla said. 鈥淕ood logging and thinning is how we intend to replace that, and that鈥檚 how we鈥檝e been able to keep our lands safe for many years. The sawmill is critical to that.鈥�
Padilla said the tribe received $2 million from the Legislature to reopen the sawmill, and is now asking the U.S. Economic Development Administration for $17.5 million to finish the job.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not giving up,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l stand for our homelands forever.鈥�
Former Albuquerque firefighters acquitted in high-profile 2023 rape case 鈥�
Jurors acquitted two former Albuquerque firefighters Tuesday in a trial that hinged on the testimony of a woman who accused the men of raping her in 2023.
Aden Heyman, 48, and Anthony Martin, 46, wept and hugged supporters and family members after a judge read verdicts finding both men not guilty on all counts.
The 2nd Judicial District Court jury of four men and eight women deliberated only two hours following a trial that began June 23.
The verdicts end a high-profile case that rocked the city in July 2023 when a woman told police she was raped by three former Albuquerque Fire Rescue personnel following a charity golf tournament.
The third former firefighter, Angel Portillo, 33, remains charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration for his role in the incident. No trial has been scheduled in Portillo鈥檚 case.
Both defense and prosecution attorneys told jurors Tuesday that they needed to base their verdicts on the credibility of the alleged victim.
鈥淭estimony is evidence,鈥� Assistant District Attorney Crystal Cabrido told jurors. 鈥淭here is no objective test for rape. At the end of the day, it all comes down to testimony.鈥�
The alleged victim testified during the first two days of trial, describing how she drank alcohol until she blacked out, then found herself in Martin鈥檚 dark bedroom where two of the men raped her.
The woman told jurors she ran to a downstairs bathroom and fled the apartment through a bathroom window. Prosecutors argued that the woman had no incentive to lie about the encounter.
Cabrido said the woman trusted the men 鈥渂ecause they were firefighters and colleagues of her sister鈥� who was a ranking member of Albuquerque Fire Rescue.
鈥淒o you really believe that she鈥檚 lying to you all?鈥� Cabrido said of the woman鈥檚 testimony.
Defense attorneys told jurors on Tuesday that lying is indeed what the woman had done.
鈥淐onsenting adults made a decision to have sex together, and then they did,鈥� Heyman鈥檚 attorney, Jason Bowles, said in closing arguments. 鈥淪he made a voluntary choice to have an encounter with those men.鈥�
Bowles argued that she immediately regretted her decision to have sex with the men. 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 want this to get out to her boyfriend or around the fire department,鈥� he said.
Bowles told jurors that the woman lied about her interaction with a nurse that performed the rape examination three days after the incident.
鈥淪he walked into this courtroom and she looked you all in the eye and she lied to you,鈥� Bowles said in closing arguments. 鈥淲hen a witness who is a main complaining witness comes in and lies to you, that鈥檚 really the end of the case. You cannot convict (Heyman) or Mr. Martin if you do not believe her.鈥�
DNA evidence is irrelevant because Heyman admitted in his testimony that he and Portillo each had consensual sex with the woman, Bowles said.
Jurors acquitted Heyman on two counts of criminal sexual penetration.
Judge Britt Baca made the jury鈥檚 job somewhat easier this week when she tossed the most serious charges against Martin of three counts of criminal sexual penetration. Jurors acquitted him of the last remaining charge of attempted criminal sexual penetration.
Prosecutors alleged that the woman drank alcohol and eventually 鈥渂lacked out鈥� during a pool party at Martin鈥檚 apartment complex following a charity golf tournament on July 15, 2023.
鈥淎t some point at the pool she blacks out and at this point forward she only has flashes of memory,鈥� Cabrido said. She regained consciousness in Martin鈥檚 bedroom and found the men raping her, she said.
鈥淪he wakes up upstairs, no idea how she got there,鈥� Cabrido said. All three men were naked in the bedroom and Heyman was giving instructions to Portillo, she told jurors.
The woman testified on June 23 that when she regained consciousness, she found Portillo having sexual intercourse with her and holding her hands above her shoulders.
鈥淎den鈥檚 voice was giving instructions,鈥� Cabrido told jurors. 鈥淔or example, he was saying 鈥榮he likes it like that鈥�,鈥� she said. Then Heyman took over and had 鈥渁ggressive sexual intercourse鈥� with her, Cabrido said.
Cabrido said the three men knew the woman was blacked out.
鈥淭hese three men were working together,鈥� Cabrido said. Heyman is an Emergency Medical Technician and was trained to evaluate a person鈥檚 state of mind, she said.
鈥淗e should have known that she was intoxicated and unable to consent that night,鈥� Cabrido told jurors.
Defense attorneys argued that the woman refused to take a blood test following the incident and delayed submitting to a rape examination until three days later.
Bowles also argued that the woman lied about her interaction with the nurse who performed the rape examination.
The woman testified that the nurse advised her not to provide a rape-kit examination, Bowles said. That testimony contradicted the nurse鈥檚 testimony that the woman was concerned about cannabis showing up in the test results.
NM lawmakers plan to reintroduce nicotine tax hike in 2027,
Ahead of New Mexico鈥檚 next 60-day legislative session in 2027, the interim Tobacco Settlement Revenue Oversight Committee on Monday strategized about how to best approach raising taxes on electronic nicotine products.
While New Mexico law imposes a 25% tax on traditional tobacco products, the tax on e-cigarettes is half that: 12.5%.
For the last two years, New Mexico lawmakers have tried to amend the state Tobacco Control Act to say anything that is nicotine derived should be taxed like other nicotine products, American Heart Association lobbyist Mahesh Sita told the committee.
In the most recent legislative session, state Rep. Elizabeth 鈥淟iz鈥� Thomson and Sen. Martin Hickey, both Albuquerque Democrats, carried a that would have raised taxes on all nicotine products to 40%.
The state Senate and the House Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill, but it did not receive a final vote in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee.
The 2026 legislative session, the last regular session under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, is a short session, meaning lawmakers can only consider pieces of legislation approved by the governor on her 鈥渃all,鈥� or deemed 鈥溾�� to the state government budget.
鈥淭here is a new session coming up 鈥� it is a call session, so things may be more difficult 鈥� but we鈥檙e planning out for the following session,鈥� Hickey said on Monday.
Thomson asked Sita and Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for the Cancer Action Network, about other states that have passed legislation for regulating not just existing nicotine products but also those that the industry may come up with in the future.
Thomson said the tobacco industry stays 鈥渕iles, not just steps鈥� ahead of lawmakers.
鈥淏y the time we get a bill done, with the language, they鈥檝e left us in the dust,鈥� she said.
Sita said the latest tobacco products are synthetic, so the tobacco industry argues they can鈥檛 be taxed as tobacco. However, Sita argued they should be, since they are derived from nicotine.
鈥淥ther states have done it, and the new products 鈥� the chews and the like 鈥� with a high content of nicotine, have very addictive properties,鈥� Sita said.
Sita pointed to California and Massachusetts as examples, and said his organization has proposed a uniform taxing system on all nicotine products based on their wholesale value, comparable to the existing cigarette tax.
Officials from the New Mexico Department of Health Nicotine Use Prevention and Control program presented to the committee showing that in 2023, more than a third of New Mexicans aged 18 to 29 years used some kind of nicotine product, while 22% of high school students and nearly 13% of middle school students used them.
Hickey said the greatest inhibitor to young people starting to use nicotine is cost, and Siegle said making e-cigarettes鈥� cost comparable to traditional tobacco is probably the best approach to curbing young people鈥檚 use.
鈥淭he e-cigarette market is rapidly evolving,鈥� Siegle said. 鈥淣ow there are all these other products out there, I don鈥檛 even know what we鈥檙e taxing on them 鈥� if we鈥檙e taxing them, because they鈥檙e not listed in our statute.鈥�
Mescalero tribe to seek state鈥檚 help cracking down on companies allowing online sports gambling 鈥�
The vice president of a local tribe is asking the New Mexico Attorney General and the state Legislature to intervene against online gambling apps that he says are using a backdoor to allow illegal sports gambling here and, in doing so, threatening tribal gaming rights.
Mescalero Apache Reservation Vice President Duane Duffy told a panel of state lawmakers this week that platforms like Kalshi allow customers to do online sports betting under the guise of commodity futures trading. The companies are 鈥渨iggling鈥� their way into New Mexico, a state where online sports betting is illegal, he said.
鈥淭hat is a threat to the gaming market here in the state, and a clear violation of the state tribal gaming compacts,鈥� Duffy told members of the interim Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee on Monday at the tribe鈥檚 Inn of the Mountain Gods, which houses its casino. 鈥淎nd so that is something that we are going to have to work together on [to] address.鈥�
He said he and other tribes intend to approach lawmakers ahead of the 30-day legislative session in January to see whether there鈥檚 a legislative way to crack down on the companies. He also intends to seek help from the New Mexico Attorney General, he said.
Duffy did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Neither did Kalshi.
Lauren Rodriguez, chief of staff for the New Mexico Attorney General, told Source New Mexico in an email that the office had received a letter from gaming tribes regarding the matter. The office has been in communication with one of the tribes, Sandia Pueblo, regarding Kalshi and the office is 鈥渃ontinuing to monitor developments in related lawsuits brought by other states,鈥� she said.
Duffy鈥檚 comments come as other states seek help from a federal agency to crack down on the companies, which they say are undermining hard-fought legislation regulating gambling at the state level.
In early June, Arizona鈥檚 director of gaming wrote a to the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, naming Kalshi as well as Robinhood and as companies that bypass the state鈥檚 gambling regulations by pretending they are allowing users to buy 鈥渃ontracts鈥� or engage in 鈥渢rading鈥� financial products when in effect they are just trying to predict which team will win a sporting match.
鈥淭he [companies] claim that their operations enable 鈥榯rading鈥� of financial derivatives, which is conduct regulated by the [commission],鈥� Johnson wrote. 鈥淚n truth, there is no meaningful difference between buying one of the contracts offered by the [companies] and placing a bet with any other sportsbook.鈥�
Arizona is among seven states that sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, according to online sports gambling news site Several other states have launched investigations, according to the site.
The tribal gaming compacts between 14 tribes and pueblos in New Mexico result from negotiations between the tribes, the governor鈥檚 office and the New Mexico Legislature. The 2015 gaming compact, which is in effect until 2037, requires the parties to reopen 鈥済ood-faith negotiations鈥� if any 鈥渋nternet gaming鈥� is authorized in New Mexico.
Mescalero and other tribes cited that provision recently when seeking an official opinion from Torrez about the activities of Jackpocket, an app that allowed users to buy lottery tickets online.
In February, Torrez that Jackpocket鈥檚 activities amounted to 鈥渋nternet gaming,鈥� which meant, per the compacts, the state needed to reopen negotiations with the tribes to evaluate its impact. Torrez also determined that Jackpocket was operating without a necessary authorization from the New Mexico Lottery Association.
Duffy told the committee Monday that as a result of the AG鈥檚 intervention, Jackpocket has 鈥渟ince ceased that operation when it comes to the online lottery sales.鈥�
Rodriguez, Torrez鈥檚 spokesperson, told Source that while it is monitoring the situation that the office would not be issuing a formal opinion about Kalshi like it did about Jackpocket, because the request for its opinion on the matter did not come from state elected officials like legislators or district attorneys.
New Mexico Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) asked Duffy to elaborate on what he鈥檚 asking the Legislature to do, suggesting he would like to avoid reopening compact negotiations.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 the solution to this? Because I don鈥檛 think we can stop the internet,鈥� Sharer said.
Options Duffy listed include lawsuits and seeking help from the governor鈥檚 office, the Legislature or the AG. He told lawmakers he was just putting the issue 鈥渋n your ear鈥� because the problem would not be going away.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no mechanism that exists right now that allows the tribes or racinos to engage in internet gaming, and to have these outside entities from outside the state doing that鈥t鈥檚 taken out of our pockets, sending it out of state,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we don鈥檛 have that ability then to revenue share to our full potential.鈥�
According to the latest figures, tribal casinos across the state generated more than in the first quarter of 2025, which includes the amount of money made on gaming machines minus the amount paid out in non-cash prizes. The state received more than $20 million in revenues deposited into the general fund this quarter, as a result.
Duffy said the Inn of the Mountain Gods and its casino, which generated more than $15 million in the first quarter of 2025, constitute the tribe鈥檚 sole source of revenue, excluding federal and state grants. The casino accounts for a huge part of that, especially as the tribe鈥檚 ski resort increasingly loses customers due to reductions in snowpack, he said.