KCCC Eddy County Dispatch

Draft2Digital announces a one-time $20 activation fee for new accounts and a $12 annual maintenance fee for authors earning under $100 in yearly book sales. Barnes and Noble Press implements a 100-title limit per account effective May 14, 2026. Dirk and Beth break down what both changes mean for indie authors and map out the full landscape of self-publishing platforms available in 2026.

This week, the Eddy County community pauses for a special tribute — an extended remembrance of a man whose life became inseparable from the story of the region he served for more than nine decades.

In this special edition, the community honors Robert “Bob” H. Forrest — former mayor, businessman, rancher, philanthropist, and inductee of the Dale Janway Hall of Fame — who passed away Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at his home in Carlsbad. He was 90 years old.

Bob Forrest served four terms as mayor of Carlsbad, a tenure of 16 years that stands among the longest and most influential in the city’s modern history. Whether through his family’s business at Forrest Tire Company, his decades in public office, his work alongside former State Representative John Heaton advocating for Eddy County in Washington, D.C., or his co-founding of CARC Inc. in 1973 to serve individuals with developmental disabilities across southeastern New Mexico — Bob Forrest gave his time, his resources, and his name to the place he loved.

Late in life, when asked what advice he would offer younger generations, his answer was simple: “Be honest.”

Those who knew him say that quiet directness captured everything about who he was.

Full tributes, service details, and family condolences are maintained through Denton-Wood Funeral Home. To read the complete life story or to leave a message for the Forrest family, please visit:

Denton-Wood Funeral Home Obituaries https://www.dentonwood.com/obituaries

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Local Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Southeast New Mexico College is launching something new this fall — and it’s been a long time coming. Instructor of Business Raymond Dominguez and Dr. Luis Anchondo, Director of First Year Experience and Foreign Languages, sat down with Johnny Chandler on Community Forum to talk about the college’s first-ever bilingual English and Spanish business course, why it exists, and who it’s really for.

The short answer? More people than you might think. Whether Spanish is a first language, a second language, or something spoken at home but never formally studied, SENMC has a path in — and the barriers around cost and language proficiency may be smaller than most people assume.

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far.

BODY COPY:

Mid-Week Matters is live for Wednesday, May 13, 2026 — bringing you the best of Eddy County from the North Rim to the state line.

It’s one of those weeks where almost every day has something going on. From free comedy tonight in Artesia to a brunch DJ, a ladies retreat, a golf scramble, a plant swap, and Field of Dreams on the big screen — the events slate has real range. There’s also a look ahead at what’s coming in June, including the Rumble on the Pecos Car Show, CavernFest, and the Carlsbad Public Library’s Summer Reading Program launch.

The Eddy County Quickies are dense this week. Energy expansion, produced water policy, spill data, buffer zones, housing costs, WIPP's public comment period — and some news from right here at KCCC 930 AM that we're proud to share. Listen for the what or check out yesterday’s Community Forum for the why.

In the SENMC Spotlight, student worker Endymion DeVere covered the April 23rd STEAM Expo at Southeast New Mexico College, sitting down with participants, students, and exhibitors to capture what made the event special.

And in today’s Community Corner — early voting is open in Eddy County ahead of the June 2nd Primary Election, and today’s show walks through every race on your ballot: U.S. Senate, U.S. House District 2, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Commissioner of Public Lands, State House District 66, and all of the Eddy County local races including County Assessor, County Clerk, County Commissioner Districts 1 and 4, Magistrate Court, Probate Court, and a special election for the 5th Judicial District. If you’re voting in Eddy County, this segment is worth your time.

Listen now.

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far.

Last December, KCCC 930 AM owner Johnny Chandler sat down with news director Hattie Quinn to talk through something the station had been quietly building toward — a mobile studio that could go where the news actually happens. The recording got mislabeled on an SD card and disappeared for months. When it turned up, the holiday and matching campaign references had to be edited out before the conversation could stand on its own. It airs today, and the timing could not be better.

The conversation was recorded at the tail end of a transformative year. In the spring of 2025, KCCC 930 AM was selected as one of 14 New Mexico newsrooms to participate in the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding — a six-month program run in partnership with the New Mexico Local News Fund and supported by the Google News Initiative. The training that followed shaped something much larger than a fundraiser. It deepened the station’s vision for what community journalism in Southeast New Mexico could look like — certified correspondents serving every corner of Eddy County, educational pathways through Southeast New Mexico College, and an information infrastructure that connects people to resources, services, and each other. The mobile studio is one tool inside that larger vision, and the capital campaign is how it gets on the road.

In December 2025, the station launched its capital campaign and raised $5,000 from the community. The New Mexico Local News Fund matched it. Yesterday, KCCC 930 AM was awarded a $25,000 grant by the New Mexico Creative Industries Division — one of ten creative businesses selected statewide. The grant covers the van and a year of Starlink connectivity. The campaign now stands at $35,000 of the $93,000 needed for the full mobile studio setup and fulfillment of participant rewards. The station is also now participating in the 2026 News Sustainability Accelerator, run jointly by the Google News Initiative, the New Mexico Local News Fund, and Blue Engine Collaborative — continuing the work the LMA cohort started.

None of this would be possible without Southeast New Mexico College, whose partnership has been essential from the beginning, or the community sponsors who believed in the vision before there was anything to show for it. Soon, the community that has made this possible will be able to see the dream in action — at the fair, at the grand opening, at the event down the road they almost did not know was happening.

But today’s episode is not really about any of that. It is about the why — why a small station asks who is not being heard, why a grandmother in Loving should not have to navigate digital chaos to find a senior van twenty miles away, and why rural communities do not just deserve sustainable journalism but can build it themselves. That conversation happened last December. It is more relevant today than it was then.

Event organizers across Eddy County are welcome to invite the team for remotes — or may simply find them showing up.

Related Topics

Learn more about the organizations and programs making this work possible:

The New Mexico Local News Fund:

https://www.nmlocalnews.org

2026 News Sustainability Accelerator (GNI, NMLNF, and Blue Engine Collaborative): https://www.nmlocalnews.org/accelerator

KCCC 930 AM named to 2025 LMA Lab for Journalism Funding New Mexico cohort: https://localmedia.org/2025/03/meet-the-14-newsrooms-selected-for-the-2025-lma-lab-for-journalism-funding-new-mexico-cohort/

2025 New Mexico LMA Lab for Journalism Funding — Pitch Day winners: https://localmedia.org/2025/10/announcing-pitch-day-winners-from-the-new-mexico-cohort-of-the-lma-lab-for-journalism-funding/

Mid-Week Matters — KCCC 930 AM initiatives spotlight: https://open.substack.com/pub/kccc930am/p/mid-week-matters-february-4-february?r=6xidwr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

New Mexico Creative Industries Division grant announcement: https://www.edd.newmexico.gov/press-releases/245000-awarded-to-fuel-new-mexicos-creative-business-economy/

Support the capital campaign: https://chandler-broadcasting-llc.fundjournalism.org/kccc930am/

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far.

This week, the Carlsbad community pauses to reflect on the lives of residents who have recently passed. These abridged records serve as a respectful tribute to those who helped build and shape the local area. While these summaries offer a moment of collective remembrance, the full life stories, service details, and spaces for family condolences are maintained by the funeral homes serving our community.

In this episode, the community remembers those served by:

* Denton-Wood Funeral Home: Recent tributes and memorial announcements for Carlsbad residents.

To read the complete life stories or to leave a message for the families, please visit the official memorial pages:

Denton-Wood Funeral Home Obituaries https://www.dentonwood.com/obituaries

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Local Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today at noon and 11 PM on KCCC930AM Radio:

She led a World of Warcraft raid team for ten years. Now she's president of the SENMC board and coordinating health programs that are quietly changing lives in Eddy County. From produce distributions to cancer screening barriers to community gardens, Sarah Bowman is one of those people making things happen behind the scenes — and she stopped by the Mountain Lion Studio to talk food access, women's health, and what it really takes to get things done in a small town.

At the Eddy County Health Council, Bowman oversees subcommittees tackling food insecurity, women's health, and harm reduction. The Council has partnered with Roadrunner Food Bank to distribute produce to families in need, is exploring a travel fund for patients who test positive for breast or cervical cancer and can't afford the trip to Lubbock, El Paso, or Albuquerque, and is working with local gun safety educators on free gun lock distribution. A community garden at SENMC is growing — literally — with hands-on classes, volunteers, and grant applications in the works to expand it. To get involved, visit www.eddycountyhc.org or find them on Facebook by searching Eddy County Health Council.

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far.

There’s a lot going on in Eddy County this week, and Mid-Week Matters has you covered.

Mother’s Day weekend is packed with markets, teas, and family events across Carlsbad and Artesia. There’s a History Garden grand opening, a hiring fair, a free comedy night, and SENMC’s commencement ceremony. The events calendar alone is worth a listen.

On the news side, early voting is open for the June primary, a proposed change at WIPP has local officials watching closely, and the Carlsbad Current-Argus is making a significant shift in how it publishes.

And this week, independent journalist Jonny Coker of the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative reports on a Roswell organization taking a supportive and novel approach to homelessness — the kind of story that deserves more attention than it gets.

Give it a listen.

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far.

In this episode of Community Forum on KCCC 930 AM, host Hattie sits down with Deena Annaporta of Inspired by Science to talk about the organization’s most anticipated event of the year — their annual summer STEM camp — and why families from as far away as Texas make the trip.

Deena shares a peek at what’s planned for this year’s camp, including roller coasters, chemistry, physics, and electricity, though she’s keeping a few surprises under wraps. She also explains how platinum sponsors Simco, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, and XL Energy Foundation make it possible to keep the full four-day camp at just $65 — a price the organization has held for several years running.

Hattie adds her own perspective as a camp parent, recalling her son’s solar baking project, his first camp nickname, and the friendship that outlasted the week. The conversation also makes a case for STEM-hesitant parents: Inspired by Science’s Family Lab Partner Workshops are designed so that any adult — parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle — can show up without experience, because Deena and her volunteer team are there to help every step of the way.

Camp at a Glance:

* Dates: June 1–4, 2026 | 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. daily

* Ages: 7–12 (by age, not grade)

* Cost: $65

* Location: SENMC – Community Education Area (left side of the main building from the parking lot)

* Evening Events:

* June 2 – Family Night at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (hands-on activities)

* June 4 – Family STEM Night at SENMC (prize drawings, giveaways, educational booths)

* Registration Opens: May 1 at inspiredbyscience.org

Platinum sponsors making accessible STEM education possible: Simco, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, and XL Energy Foundation. Additional sponsors listed at inspiredbyscience.org.

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far.

Happy Wednesday, Eddy County. The halfway point of the week brings a fresh slate of community gatherings and a trip back to the golden age of Hollywood, right from our own backyard. This week's episode of Mid-Week Matters covers what's happening around the county and shines a light on a Carlsbad legend most people may not know.

The episode highlights a busy week of upcoming events, including the Pan-Asian Celebration at SENMC today, the Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Walk tomorrow morning, the Spring Arts and Crafts Fair at the Cascades Center, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and Jordan Allen's New Mexico debut at the Cavern Theater benefiting Creative Carlsbad.

In Community Corner, podcasting student Endymion DeVere delivers his first class project and the spotlight turns to Bruce Cabot — born Etienne de Pellissier Boujac Jr. right here in Carlsbad in 1904 — who went from oil fields and boxing rings to Hollywood stardom, facing King Kong on the silver screen and riding the range alongside John Wayne across nearly 100 films. His story ends where it began, buried here in Carlsbad.

FORECAST FOR NEXT WEEK: We will bring the interviews from the SENMC Steam Expo and Open House to the airwaves!

Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Local Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).

The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.