Rio Grande Sun from Espanola, New Mexico • C5

By Lisa Dunlap Roswell Daily Record ROSWELL Construction has begun on a new type of transitional housing to help local women rebuild their lives after addic- tion. The nonprofit Reflections Recovery is building a four-plex four tiny homes on its 5-acre site on West Alameda Street for women who have completed the organi- sober-living group home program but feel ready to live on their own. The project is in response to what wom- en have said is needed, according to Lorual VanRheenen, a former school social worker who has headed the faith-based nonprofit for about 16 years. time we add to our program and grow it, out of information-gathering from the program she said. She explained that the ACE Overcomers counseling program a curriculum to help people overcome the trauma of sexual, physical and verbal abuse or other adverse childhood experiences (ACE) was intro- duced to supplement 12-step substance abuse programs based on what she heard from program participants.

She said that it is similar to the four-plex project. tiny homes are the same way. A lot of the ladies said, know, we felt safe, we felt confident, we felt like we could do it when we lived on your site and in the group home. But once we left your site, we felt vulnerable again and fell back into addic- The tiny homes and accompanying re- covery programs will offer a transitional phase from the more strict environment and requirements of the adjacent group home that opened in 2013. The group home offers communal sleep- ing, living, studying, bathing and kitchen areas for up to eight women who are either self-referred after addiction struggles or re- ferred by criminal courts.

Living at the home for a minimum of six months comes with restrictive rules about curfews, visi- tors, employment and daily routines. Women in the Phase II tiny homes will pay monthly rent for the furnished one-per- son units of about 400 square feet, with the rates still to be determined. They still will have curfews, be required to hold down jobs, attend 12-step or ACE Overcomers counseling, and have some restrictions on visitors. But VanRheenen said all those will be more than the rules for the group home program. The entire living experience is intended to help women to learn how to function in a health- ful, sober way with the stresses of relation- ships, jobs and finances.

The project is now expected to cost about $180,000, up from an initial estimate of $150,000 due to increased costs and new fire suppression system requirements, Van- Rheenen said. So far, donations of services and funds have enabled the organization to progress from planning and design in February to the construction start in October. With its avail- able resources, site preparation has oc- curred, a foundation is being built now and exterior walls are expected to be erected soon. Future progress will depend on weather, as well as additional donations of money, services or materials. are really trying not to take out a loan so that we can have the building done free and VanRheenen said.

If all goes as anticipated, a roof-raising event will occur in February and the project will be completed by the end of 2020. The group already has received grants from several foundations, as well as money and donations of time and labor from Fulk- erson Plumbing, Xcel Energy, Elec- tric, Richard Acuna Construction, Donald Daugherty architectural services, AG Ser- vices Construction, Roswell Winnelson Champion Truss and Roswell Ready Mix as well as other businesses and groups. VanRheenen said she is grateful for the and feels they will support the project until it is finished. know there is a need and they want to see it she said. we are very that they donate.

The group might build sober-living fa- cilities for men in the future, VanRheenen said, but she added that the organization is focusing right now on being caretak- of their current projects before deter- mining what other community needs it can address. Besides the sober-living homes and 12-step and ACE programs, the organiza- tion provides therapeutic art classes, prison ministries, support programs for the family and friends of people with addictions, and a that provides food, clothing or sleeping bags to people who are homeless. More information is available on its web- site: reflectionsandrecovery.com. By Kevin Wilson Eastern New Mexico News CLOVIS Sam Thompson calls herself a private person by nature, and being a subject of interviews and documentaries is something she dreads. What she dreads more, how- ever, is the thought her killer may never be found.

why one of many who took part in a Netflix docu- mentary exploring the tale of Henry Lee Lucas, who falsely admitted to the killing of Jean Abla and hundreds of others. been a never-ending source of frustration and heart- Thompson said. in this documentary was an act of Thompson and the case of Abla are referenced in the fourth and fifth parts of Confes- sion a five-part limited series that debuted on Netflix earlier this month. Abla first went missing in October of 1982. was a theory among law enforcement that she had gone into hiding from her boy- Thompson said.

her dad, my grandpa, knew bet- ter. My mom had problems, but she loved her family and her body was discovered the following May just north of San Jon. Henry Lee Lucas confessed to her slaying in June 1983, and the case was cleared but never tech- nically closed. He soon recanted that confession and was never charged. Lucas died in prison in 2001, convicted of 11 killings.

The documentary explores how Lucas gained notoriety when he confessed to hundreds of killings, and the process by which numerous law enforce- ment agencies simply accepted confession despite clear signs he have done ma- ny of the crimes to which he confessed. bias played a big said Taki Oldham, who made the documentary with Robert Kenner. mem- bers wanted the case closed. The media found an incredible story and a monster. Everybody loves to see the monster being caught.

There were a lot of people who saw what they wanted to see in Henry Lee The impact of confes- sions was far-ranging, derailing some investigations and in one highlighted case overturning a conviction. Kenner said there were many law enforcement agencies did think this was a lot of but in many cases investigators ended up taking their foot off the pedal and not investigating other leads once Lucas con- fessed. are these families that have lots of evidence Lucas could not do this Ken- ner said, law enforcement is not listening. to put it mildly, a very frustrating experi- Kenner said in the weeks the documentary first went online, three Lucas-related cases have been reopened. He and Oldham understand not every department has the resources to open de- cades-old cases, but they are en- couraged by the actions of many departments who are taking sec- ond looks.

today represents is an opportunity to draw a line in the Oldham said. agencies are very different than they were. It can really be a very positive thing for the community to see an agency is willing to re- open an old Regarding the documentary, Thompson said it was a story that was a long time coming and was good to see, but that her fo- cus remains on her mom. Thompson understands the Quay County Office have the resources to work the Abla case, and has worked with the Cold Case Foundation. The foundation does work at no charge, but relies on others to pay travel costs.

has become as much about giving her the dignity of a full and proper investigation as it is about finding out who killed Thompson said. may never know. It is an uphill battle. we let people be murdered and not follow up. The Lucas thing got in the way of it, and spent the last 25 years trying to push it out of the way.

This is not even technically a cold case. This is an incom- plete case. A cold case is where all viable leads have been fol- lowed up on. That is not the case here, and running out of Thompson said anybody with any information, no matter how small it is, or anybody willing to help investigate or cover travel expenses for the Cold Case Foundation can visit confession- killer.net. need all the help and sup- port I can Thompson said.

this documentary was an act of desperation for me. a private person; I do not enjoy the exposure. This is what had to do to get people to hear This story was first published in the Eastern New Mexico News. It is provided by Gazette Media LLC. Rio Grande SUN, Thursday, December 26, 2019 C5 (Photo by Lisa Dunlap, Roswell Daily Record) Crews from Roswell Ready Mix pour part of the foundation for the four-plex, or at the Reflections Recovery site.

The company is one of many that has donated time and materials to the latest project. Little Houses Project Nears Completion No Raise for Lincoln County Employees Documentary Explores Mysterious Details of 'Confession Killer' Roswell's Reflections Recovery plans for December 2020 housing completion Lincoln County News CARRIZOZO Facing higher than anticipated costs to com- plete the new hospital and new costs to expand the county de- tention center, Lincoln County Commissioners simply did not vote to provide a cost of living adjustment to classified county employees. At their meeting Dec. 17 the commissioners heard requests from county treasurer Beverly Calaway, county clerk Whitney Whitaker, assessor Walter Hill and undersheriff Mike Woods for sheriff Robert Shep- perd to provide a three percent cost of living adjustment (CO- LA) for their staffs. Calaway said the three per- cent increase would not be for elected officials, just classified employees for the second half of the fiscal year (ends June 30, 2020).

She estimated for salaries alone the increase would cost under $50,000 and explained that the county employees are hardworking, resulting in the county getting praise from audi- tors and state offices. are in a unique situa- responded commission chair Preston Stone. want each elected official and their staff to understand that whatev- er decision made by the com- mission they should not take personally, or as put down or disapproval of your perfor- After discussion, commis- sioner Dallas Draper made a motion to provide a two percent COLA for classified employees for the rest of the fiscal year. His motion got no second and was declared failed. No other com- missioner offered a motion for a COLA.

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