Student speaks at Rotary

Kailah Velez, Roswell Rotary’s Student of the Month, speaks to club members at its Sept. 17 meeting at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. She is a student at Roswell High School.

Appeals judge addresses club

Judge Kristopher Houghton of the State Court of Appeals speaks at the Sept. 17 Rotary Club meeting held at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. He discussed the U.S. and state Constitutions.

State bond issue to be discussed

Col. David West, New Mexico Military Institute chief of staff, and Shawn Powell, ENMU-Roswell president, will give a joint program at the Sept. 24 Rotary Club meeting.

West and Powell will discuss their respective campus projects in the upcoming state General Obligation Bond question for higher education capital projects.

Appeals court judge to speak

Judge Kristopher Houghton of the State Court of Appeals will speak at the Sept. 17 Rotary Club meeting.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the ITC Commons area at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell.

Before becoming a state-court judge in 2025, Judge Houghton served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of New Mexico.

He previously served as chief of the Criminal Division from July 2022 to May 2025.

Houghton also led the Office of the Judicial Attachee, managing the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section for the U.S. Department of Justice in Bogotá, Colombia, where he managed the busiest extradition practice in the world.

A graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law, Houghton was admitted to the State Bar in 2008. Before his federal service, he served as a judicial law clerk for the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Court of Appeals.

Ruidoso disaster recovery topic

Dr. Ryan Trosper, president of ENMU-Ruidoso, and Eric Queller, emergency manager for the Village of Ruidoso, will speak at the Sept. 10 Roswell Rotary meeting.

The topic of their presentation will be ENMU-Ruidoso and Ruidoso’s disaster recovery.

EMS programs to be discussed

Justin Powell will discuss EMS training programs and services in Chaves County at the Sept. 3 Rotary Club meeting.

Powell is the Emergency Management Services Program director from ENMU-Roswell.

The Roswell Fire Department will also have a representative to discuss the EMS the city is providing.

Gus Winter Foundation topic

Representatives of the Roswell Rotary Club’s Gus Winter Foundation will discuss the program and its mission during the Aug. 27 club meeting.