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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (March 1, 2026) — Lubbock Christian dropped a 4-0 decision to NCAA Division I New Mexico Saturday at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium, as the Lobos claimed the doubles point and secured three straight singles victories to clinch the dual in the programs' first-ever regular-season meeting.

New Mexico (8-3) struck first in doubles, taking the early advantage at No. 2, where Vianca Corley and Vivica Corley defeated Axelle Jacquemin and Alexandra Luders 6-2. The Lobos then secured the point at No. 3, with Ramona Petre and Bente Vandeputte posting a 6-2 win over Kristel Jativa and Ana Sofía Valero Treviño. The No. 1 pairing of Andrea De Bernardo and AnaMaria Zoric led 5-2 when play was halted.

In singles, the Lobos carried momentum into the bottom half of the lineup. The first match off court came at No. 3, where Yu Yun held a 6-2, 4-0 lead before Jacquemin was forced to retire in the second set, giving New Mexico a 2-0 edge. Vivica Corley followed at No. 6 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Valero Treviño, and Ramona Petre clinched the dual at No. 4, defeating Oshini Herath 6-4, 6-2.

The top of the lineup featured tightly contested battles that went unfinished once the match was decided. Zoric, who leads LCU with an 11-6 singles record (5-1 in duals), claimed the opening set 7-5 at No. 1 and was on serve in the second before play was stopped. De Bernardo also captured a first-set tiebreak at No. 2 and trailed 5-2 in the second when the clinch occurred. At No. 5, Jativa dropped a competitive first set 7-5 and was midway through the second at the time of suspension.

The loss marked LCU's first shutout of the season and just the second 4-0 setback in program history, with the previous occurring in the 2023 Lone Star Conference Championship against then-No. 20 St. Mary's. LCU fell to 4-3 on the season, but two of the three losses are to NCAA Division I programs (0-2 this season against Division I foes).

The Lady Chaparrals now turn their focus to conference play, opening Lone Star Conference action Wednesday in Midland, Texas, against UT Permian Basin at Bush Tennis Center.

New details have emerged in the mysterious disappearance of a retired US Air Force general, including a possible sighting near a popular New Mexico trail.

William Neil McCasland, 68, was last seen around 11am local time on Friday near Quail Run Court NE in Albuquerque, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office.

Friends say McCasland left home without his watch or phone, unusual for the avid hiker and cyclist. They noted he recently completed a 60-mile bike ride and is known to frequent La Luz and nearby trail systems.

A woman on Facebook who said she had reported the information to authorities claimed she may have seen someone matching McCasland’s description around the same time he went missing on Friday near the Whitewash trailhead in Piedra Lisa Canyon.

In a post shared with the Albuquerque Trail Running Crew group, the woman named Mj Davis said the man was standing off to the side near a bridge over the arroyo at the start of the trail.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), which is leading the search, later responded in the same thread, reminding users to report tips directly to investigators, but did not publicly dispute the sighting.

McCasland's wife, Susan, posted on Facebook that he vanished midday on Friday, and there has been no sign of him since. '[It] does not seem to have been foul play at all,' Susan added. The Daily Mail has contacted Susan for comment.

A veteran of Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, McCasland previously led both the Phillips Research Site and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson in Ohio.

Some UFO enthusiasts have linked those facilities to secret studies of advanced aerospace technology and unexplained phenomena, though officials maintain they focus on national security and experimental defense projects.

The New Mexico Search and Rescue told Daily Mail that teams 'were involved in a mission looking for him in the Albuquerque Open Space area Sunday through Monday.'

Several of McCasland's have shared details about the retired general online, with many saying that he is physically fit and a knowledgeable outdoorsman.

His Facebook page is filled with pictures showing him skiing and hiking in the mountains of New Mexico.

However, the BCSO issued a Silver Alert, a public notification used to help locate missing seniors or individuals with certain medical conditions, shortly after McCasland went missing.

'Due to his medical issues, law enforcement is concerned for his safety,' the office said.

Daily Mail contacted BCSO and was referred to a statement issued on Tuesday, which says it is coordinating with partners at Kirtland Air Force Base to expand outreach and speed information-sharing that may assist in locating.

Sheriff John Allen said: 'Our priority is finding Mr. McCasland safely.

'Our investigators and search teams are working continuously, and we’re coordinating closely with our local, state, and federal partners.'

'We’re asking the public to help by checking and preserving any security camera footage from the area and reporting any information immediately.'

The FBI told the Daily Mail on Monday that they are also involved in the hunt, but that the Sheriff’s Department is leading the search.

‘The FBI Albuquerque Field Office is involved in this investigation, as it is standard practice for the FBI to assist our local law enforcement partners if we have a tool, tactic, or technique that could benefit their investigations,’ a spokesperson said.

‘The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) is leading this investigation.’

Col. Justin Secrest, commander of Kirtland's 377th Air Base Wing, told the Albuquerque Journal the base is working closely with local law enforcement.

'Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time,' Secrest said.

The BCSO shared a missing person's report for McCasland on Facebook, writing: 'Unknown clothing description and unknown direction of travel.'

By Sunday afternoon, the BCSO said New Mexico Search and Rescue was assisting in the investigation, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

McCasland's name became associated with UFO topics after the 2016 WikiLeaks release of emails from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.

In the emails, musician Tom DeLonge, founder of Blink-182 and the UFO-focused To The Stars Academy (TTSA), referenced McCasland multiple times, claiming he had advised him on disclosure matters and helped assemble an advisory team.

DeLonge also suggested on a podcast that he was being advised by McCasland and several named and unnamed insiders to carry out a slow disclosure of UAP information to the American public from US government or contractor sources.

These claims come from DeLonge and have not been confirmed by McCasland or official records.

There is no public evidence that he participated in UFO crash retrievals, reverse-engineering of non-human technology, or classified extraterrestrial programs.

His documented work focused on advanced aerospace research, which has fueled speculation about experimental propulsion and unidentified phenomena in defense circles.

Anyone with information was urged to text BCSO at 847411 or call the Missing Persons Unit at 505-468-7070.

McCasland oversaw research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he managed the Air Force's $2.2 billion science and technology program, along with additional customer-funded research.

Wright-Patterson has long been linked in UFO lore to the alleged study of materials from the 1947 Roswell incident, though official reports attribute the debris to Project Mogul balloons.

He retired from the Air Force in 2013 and later held private-sector positions, including director of technology at Applied Technology Associates.

Defense manufacturer AeroVironment, Inc. plans to expand its Albuquerque campus and more than double its workforce in the next decade, the company announced alongside New Mexico Economic Development Department officials Tuesday morning.

Company officials said they would expand the footprint of their Albuquerque hub near Kirtland Air Force Base with a $30 million investment. They said they expect to generate about 450 jobs and $670 million in economic impact in the next 10 years. The state pledged $5 million to the effort and Albuquerque pledged $1 million, under the state’s Local Economic Development Act.

The company manufactures drones and other tools that support space missions.

“When America needs to strengthen its national security, it turns to New Mexico. This investment reinforces our state’s role as a national leader in advanced defense and space manufacturing — strengthening U.S. security while creating high-wage opportunities for New Mexicans,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “We’re proud to reinvest in a proven operation that delivers returns for our workers, our economy and our future.”

At a news conference to announce the expansion, New Mexico Economic Development Department Rob Black said the company had previously agreed to create 300 jobs in three years. Tuesday’s announcement to more than double the number of on-site employees was proof of “what good economic development looks like,” he said.

He and others who spoke, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, were quick to note New Mexico’s longstanding role in the defense economy, dating back to the creation of the atomic bomb. Manufacturing drones and tools for space, Black said, is simply the “next frontier.”

“What happens in Albuquerque affects the entire state,” Black said. “And frankly, what we’re talking about today affects the entire nation.”

Black’s Economic Development Department in December published a 158-page report that calls for growth in quantum systems, advanced energy and aerospace. Also late last year, California-based Castelion Corp. announced it would build a 1,000-acre Sandoval County manufacturing plant to build solid rocket motors, conduct static tests and “assemble components to produce finished rounds.”

Keller praised the quantum, fusion and venture capital firms setting up in the region.

“If you haven’t heard, whether it’s quantum, or fusion, or directed energy, or it’s all the VC firms associated with that, all of a sudden, we are absolutely on the radar all across the country for the most cutting-edge technology in America,” Keller said.

Bipartisan sponsors say increase in volume of requests among records custodians must be addressed

Eddie Moore/Journal

SANTA FE — The majority of government agencies in New Mexico have a deep backlog of public information requests, impeding the public's right to know, according to the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

The watchdog group, which advocates for transparency and offers legal representation when public records are unlawfully withheld, is supporting legislation in the 30-day session to create a task force that would analyze the causes of the bottleneck and help record custodians clear their queues more quickly.

Reps. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad, and Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, along with Sen. Natalie Figueroa, D-Albuquerque, sponsored House Joint Memorial 2, which calls for a diverse consortium of legal experts and stakeholders to examine the application of the Inspection of Public Records Act, the 1978 law governing the timely release of public information in New Mexico.

"The Inspection of Public Records Act is essential to achieving transparency and accountability in government," Brown told the Journal in a statement. "The sheer volume of records requests, however, has overwhelmed many state agencies and local governments, and records custodians are struggling to keep up."

The memorial is next set to be heard on the House floor, and the legislation that would fund it, House Bill 201, cleared its first hurdle in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill was scheduled for review in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee on Friday.

NMFOG Executive Director Christine Barber said the effort to form the task force grew out of three failed legislative proposals to address the IPRA backlog during last year's 60-day session and a meeting that included more than 50 IPRA stakeholders last spring.

"If you take a step back and look at those bills, they were all about getting records custodians released from this dramatic increase in the number of requests they've gotten," Barber said, estimating that "records custodians in New Mexico conservatively process about 150,000 records requests per year."

If passed, this year's legislation would bring together representatives from the New Mexico Attorney General's Office, Administrative Office of the Courts, Higher Education Department, Municipal League, Association of Counties, NMFOG, American Civil Liberties Union, New Mexico Press Association, as well as legal counsel specializing in IPRA. Together, they would work with custodians to determine how they might process requests more quickly.

Several public agencies in New Mexico have attempted to streamline their records fulfillment processes on their own in response to the spike in requests. The city of Santa Fe last fall, for example, debuted a new records requests platform that now publishes reports on all car crashes within city limits, an approach Barber said has likely helped the city reduce the demand on records custodians.

"The most common requests cities get is for traffic accidents," she said in a phone interview on Friday. "There can be six to eight different groups at a time — individuals and insurance companies, for example — all filing requests for one traffic report."

She said the task force could help pursue software solutions to replace outdated systems still in place at many public agencies. Seeking amendments to the state statute itself would be a last resort, Barber added.

"It isn't our intention to necessarily immediately go to changing the Inspection of Public Records Act," she said. "What needs to happen first is we need to actually ask the records custodians about what is happening. We need to do that data analysis to find what might actually be the actual solutions to their issues."

Beyond the backlog in requests reported at many public agencies, Barber and the legislators she's supporting also say IPRA continues to be exploited in too many cases.

NMFOG has filed multiple lawsuits in recent years against public agencies it has accused of abusing IPRA. A case the watchdog filed against the New Mexico Department of Public Safety in October accuses the agency's records department of demonstrating a "pattern and practice" of illegally delaying or denying requests without legal grounds.

"The Inspection of Public Records Act is a bedrock governmental transparency statute, but in some contexts it has also proven unwieldy and subject to abuse," McQueen told the Journal in a statement. "The IPRA task force will seek to preserve the public's right to know while also curtailing burdensome public records requests."

John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.

SMYRNA, Tenn., Feb. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Contour Airlines is excited to announce new air service at Cavern City Airport (CNM), providing travelers with convenient nonstop flights to Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) and Denver International Airport (DEN). Service is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2026, expanding travel options for the Carlsbad region and strengthening connectivity to major domestic and international destinations.

Contour Airlines will operate the new routes using its 30-seat regional jet, offering passengers a comfortable and reliable travel experience. Each flight features extra legroom, complimentary snacks and beverages, and one free checked bag with every fare.

Through Contour's interline agreements, travelers flying from Carlsbad will have access to seamless connections at both Albuquerque and Denver. These partnerships allow passengers to book a single itinerary and connect easily to hundreds of destinations worldwide.

"We're thrilled to bring Contour's service to Carlsbad and Cavern City Airport," said Ben Munson, President of Contour Airlines. "This new service reflects our commitment to connecting underserved communities with reliable, comfortable air travel. With nonstop flights to Albuquerque and Denver, and access to major airline partners, Carlsbad travelers will have more convenient connections than ever before."

The new flights will support both business and leisure travel while improving regional access to key hub airports.

Flight Schedule:

"The City of Carlsbad is very excited to welcome jet service to our community" said Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez. "This is something that has been long overdue, and our community deserves access to a larger airline that meets the needs of our growing population and local industries. We appreciate Contour Airlines for investing in Carlsbad and recognizing the potential of our region."

For more information, please visit www.contourairlines.com. For customer inquiries or travel assistance, please contact us at (888) 332-6686.

About Contour:Contour Airlines offers a premium airline product that includes a complimentary first checked bag and snack and beverage service on all domestic flights. Contour operates a growing fleet of regional jets featuring leather seating with expanded legroom in every row. Tickets are available for purchase on Contour's website at contourairlines.com, by calling the Contour call center at (888) 332-6686, and through local and online travel agencies. Travelers can also book seamless connections with Contour's interline partners; Alaska, American, JetBlue, and United Airlines.

SOURCE Contour Airlines

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