1-02-2025 3:43am

Happy 2025! 2024 Top Stories in Review by 2nd Life Media

Chris Edwards Editor

2nd Life Media consisting of news and reporting via our platforms of AlamogordoTownNews.org, streaming KALHRadio.org and Alamogordo Conservative Daily on Newsbreak had an outstanding 2o24 with reader engagement. With our focus on local regional high school sports, local business, investigative reporting into issues of importance to our local readers and listeners we expanded our followers and subscribers to over 21,000 daily engagements across our various platforms. The synergies of streaming and podcast interviews on KALHRadio.org paired with our online print media platforms allows a more complete experience for our audience of engaged local citizens. We produced over 2500 articles of written content from our staff of contributors and citizen journalists. Our professional staff consisting of Anthony Lucero as programming director, regular contributors such as Pastor Lorin Noble, Pastor JL Walker, Sarah Moro, Mica Maynard, Chris Edwards, feed significant numbers of daily and weekly content thst inspires, informs and encourages community participation.

Our series of articles on local Mobile Home Parks and information and commentary around the New Mexico Mobile Home Act by guest contributor Gary Perry garnered significant readership and inquiries from throughout the state to be included as support for an attorney general complaint that lead to upgrades of two mobile home parks locally that were in violation of state regulations in upkeep and maintenance.

Our investigations into the efforts by a small group of individuals to form the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science as a charter school engaged a record number of local activists to get involved, question the process, and forced the founding board to consider a broader approach to outreach, community engagement and made for a more transparent process than the path organizers had begun. The school was issued a charter and due public participation a much more constructive path forward with more transparency was the positive outcome as it moves forward toward a potential opening date if August 2025.

Investigative reporting questioned conditions at the Otero County Detention Center, staffing numbers of security personnel and medical personnel and raised alarms on the number of suicides and drugs flowing into the jail. A series of articles by Jena Matise raised questions from a concerned mothers point of view that has led to process reviews and new drug prevention strategies being implemented into the local jail.

Local politics was a feature of articles throughout the year. Many times those articles resulted in the mayor of Alamogordo and her posse of benefactors attacking our coverage as community pressure mounted on her and members of the political elite to take action and drive more transparency into efforts especially those involving the the allocation of LEDA funding and projects that favored certain interests without broad public participation. LEDA funded projects such as the Fun Center and a call center in the past have produced poor results and the public has lost confidence in these funded initiatives supported by the city. The outcame has been changes in city communications policies. Changes to city leadership with some new city staff are now making significant changes and driving projects forward that have been backlogged for years. Backroom deals are no longer guaranteed to move forward without public scrutiny and engagement due to a more informed local citizenary via a locally engaged media asking questions and encouraging public participation.

At the county level the leading story for 2024 is the rise of Amy Barela from as the freshman county commissioner to ascending to the position of New Mexico State Republican Chairman; this is a story of positive leadership that replaced the controversial stories of Couy Griffin from 2023.

Arts, culture and entertainment stories drove significant positive feedback from our readers and listeners from reviews of exceptional performances such as Alamogordo Music Theaters brave showing of RENT, to reporting on events at Otero Arts, to the growing community of artistic endeavors spawning new initiatives such as the upcoming show from the new REBEL Theater Troupe, our reporting is there.

Regional sports highlights is always very popular and we are thrilled to showcase the accomplishments of student success in both competitions of sports and academic achievement. Much content is generated around sports due to broader community participation and support in those endeavors but we are equally committed to highlighting student academic achievements as those stories are presented to us to showcase.

What's ahead for 2025? Mica Maynard will be at the roundhouse when it starts its next session to report on actions by our local state legislators. Anthony Lucero will dive deeper in 2025 into local interest interviews with those making an impact on our local community. I will continue to explore finding more content partners to share thoughts and insights with our community. For 2025 2nd Life Media will continue its focus on expanding it outreach to ensure local residents are informed, inspired and motivated to engage. In the spring of 2025 we plan on hosting a series of salons, live entertainment events and public forums to further engage our community to participate and be active members of our community

Check out our various platforms and we look forward to futher engagements in 2025. To a new year may peace, prosperity and happiness find each of us.