Sports Editor, Carlsbad, NM

The Carlsbad Current-Argus is seeking a full-time sports editor. The ideal candidate will be skilled at page design as well as reporting/writing, because this is a one-man sports department covering prep-level sports. The successful candidate will be self-motivating and have excellent time management capabilities. A journalism degree and two years of sports reporting experience are preferred, but new graduates with good internship and campus news experience are also encouraged to apply. The Current-Argus, a six-day a.m. paper located in the sunny desert of southeastern New Mexico, serves a community of some 26,000. The Pecos River runs through town, providing a host of recreational activities. The sun shines year-round, allowing for plenty of hiking, biking and other outdoor activities. Carlsbad Caverns National Park and nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park both draw tourists to our area year round. If you are interested, send a letter of interest and resume to Martha Mauritson, managing editor, P.O. Box 1629, Carlsbad, NM 88221, or e-mail to marthamauritson@currentargus.com. You also can contact me at 575-628-5512.

 

You've got to wonder about a town where the big tourist attraction is a hole in the ground (even as impressive a hole as it is). At least Roswell has the alien thing going for it.

 

What's the likely salary range here?

 

Given all the talk of sunny desert and natural splendor, I can't imagine it'd be very much. $9.50 an hour? $10?

 

I hate ads like that. To my knowledge, you can't purchase anything in Wally world with sunshine.

 

And even then, the alien thing ain't much. The first time through the UFO Museum is kind of cool, but it loses its luster 10 minutes into the tour.

The year after I left, they started bringing in big name bands to the UFO Festival. The Foo Fighters played Roswell that year, or maybe the year after. I think Willie Nelson played there, too.

Real entertainment, in the form of hanging with the locals, is at Variety bar on West 2nd Street..

 

The thing I remember about that area is the effed-up liquor laws (at least there's no wet-dry option in New Mexico; it's a matter of how many liquor licenses the state hands out). In Roswell, they allow liquor by the drinkon Sunday but no package sales. Carlsbad is the exact opposite -- package sales but no liqor by the drink. On football Sunday's, if you want to take a sixer home and watch a game, you need to be in Carlsbad. If you want to sit in a sports bar, you need to be in Roswell.

For what it's worth, regardless of the positives or negatives involved with working for the papers in these towns, Roswell offers a much better quality of life than Carlsbad. Or at least it did back during Clinton's second term.

 

Why can't I find any rental listings in a town of 26,000? Is a good, solid tent a requirement?

 

A couple of co-workers and I went spelunking in the "hole in the ground" a couple years ago. It was actually pretty interesting. As far as the paper and town, I don't have much to add.

 

Any word on this?

 

I work just down the road from Carlsbad and they've hired someone.

 

Go Cavemen.