It's rare to hear there's a whole town for sale, but that's what's happening at Fort Wingate, New Mexico.Over the years, Fort Wingate has seen people come and go. The Bear Springs Plaza there is now completely empty. This comes as the town has been put up for sale with a price tag of $11 million. What comes with it? Eighteen acres of real estate, including a convenience store, gas station and café. But inside the café is empty, yet full of welcoming characters like birds, a rabbit, a coin-operated elephant, even a koi pond and waterfall. On the walls are traces of history at every glance.The old military base of Fort Wingate is across the street from the town, it is not part of the sale, it is abandoned and locked up. "There were actually two Fort Wingates," said Rob Martinez, New Mexico state historian.The original Fort Wingate was near San Rafael, New Mexico."What's significant, in the 1860s is that this is where Kit Carson and the U.S. military are headquartered and they round up Navajo people to March them on 'The Long Walk,'" Martinez said.This was a 300-mile walk from Fort Wingate to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Nine thousand Navajo men, women and children were forced to walk and kept there for three years before being returned, this time to a new Fort Wingate, where the people were processed.For years it served as a military base and eventually became an Indian Boarding School. "It was a terrible experiment, a disaster, really, attempting to assimilate the Navajo people, force them to become culturally American," Martinez said. The town has been in the owner's family since the 1940s. He grew up here and now maintains most of the town on his own.The owner did not want to do an on-camera interview but did give sister station KOAT a tour of the café. He did not want to be on camera but did give me a tour. Fort Wingate has 27 homes that are 100% occupied. Many of the people who live there have been there for decades. The owner said he wants to sell to someone that will allow these people to stay. Everything inside the café including historical items is part of the sale. "I would hope that we remember the legacy of Fort Wingate," Martinez said. "The long walk, Kit Carson and the U.S. military forcing Navajo people into a horrendous situation, and the military purposes Fort Wingate served throughout the decades."Watch the video above to learn more about this story.

When it comes to mariachi music, there is a meaning behind every Mariachi traje. "We share a lot of special moments with people, in their weddings and their birthdays," said Mundo Marquez, a local mariachi musician.Marquez has been playing mariachi for 10 years. But making a career as a mariachi musician wasn't the plan."Playing mariachi just drew me in. It kept taking care of me, you know. In every sense... mentally and physically," Marquez said.Meanwhile, for Pedro Sepulveda, a 77-year-old trumpet player, his desire to be mariachi started early."I remember hearing a trumpet that hit my heart right away my soul," Sepulveda said.Once he got his first trumpet, he started going out to gigs at 11 years old. In mariachi, there's typically six different instruments. Two of them are uniquely used in mariachi music."People always ask what the name of that instrument is. It’s not something that you see everywhere. I play the rhythm section, so it's vihuela and guitarron," Marquez said.In mariachi, the "Grito" is well known."It's natural. It's something that you can explain it's something that you feel, and when you feel something, you're the only one that's feeling it," Sepulveda said. Getting to call yourself a mariachi is "part of our culture. It's part of our Mexican culture," Sepulveda said. "To me, it’s the biggest privilege to be able to represent that. It’s a blessing. It’s super special," Marquez said. For Sepulveda, mariachi has come full circle, playing with several generations. "I really put myself as the great grandfather of all the musicians here in New Mexico you know from my era," Sepulveda said."I've learned songs with Pete," Marquez said. "We'll just walk in and Pete always likes to lead us into that. He will go have you heard this song it goes something like this.""We just start doing it, and then he says, 'OK, let's go back and just try it again,'" he added.In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque is an annual event that brings together musicians from all over the nation. It started in 1991. Noberta Fresquez and a colleague put together the very first conference. They had "60 students and that has grown too close to 1,000 today, you know, with dancers and mariachi musicians."Fresquez has always had a passion for mariachi music creating this program was another way of promoting it. "I never realized the impact that it would have," she said. "It was just a labor of love that I knew there were enough people that would love it as well."The conference set out to teach students the history of the music. Oftentimes long-time mariachi Jonathan Clark will share with young students the stories of mariachi and his documentation of the music. To pass on the stories, the Albuquerque mariachi conference began to celebrate pioneers. "It wasn't until we started bringing in pioneers and educating basically and sharing that information of the musicians it had gone unrecognized," Fresquez said.For Clark, it's an honor to share the stories of the heroes of mariachi music."It's a real privilege. You know, I feel it's my destiny and without me knowing, I think this was what I was put on the Earth, on this Earth to do and was what I was meant to do," Clark said.With over 30 years of organizing the conference, Fresquez is retiring next year, but that doesn't mean spectacular will retire with her. It will be organized by the Atrisco Heritage Foundation. "I'm just so comfortable in knowing that it's there, it's going to continue. And we're grateful for the community support. It's definitely a community-based program," Fresquez said.Watch the video above for the full story.

August is National Black-owned business month — and one New Mexico business is set out to inspire. When it comes to products to help protect hair, there are plenty. But for Juperi Johnson and her daughters, creating a hair wrap that worked for their hair type became their business."When we first started this, they were about 6 years old and so I needed something that would work on braids, or if I wore my braid my hair natural or curly," said Juperi Johnson, owner of Kena Wrap. "Something that would work on all three of our different hair types."Johnson is a mother of three. She's also the creator of the Kena Wrap. The goal was to create something that worked for everyone. "What started as a series of hand-drawn sketches from one of my friends that's an artist turned into about eight or nine different prototypes," she said.Johnson said it was important to be an example for her daughters. "It's invaluable to be able to inspire my daughters. You know, they go to school telling their teachers and their friends that they're inventors," she said.She said her business is also about giving back and empowering others."If there's any message I can give to young Black women in our community, it's to utilize the tools that are around you," Johnson said. "If I can give back in some sort of way with knowledge and education that's worth its weight in gold."Johnson said in the future, she would love to create a nonprofit and teach kids about math, science and finances. Most importantly, show how to start a business.The African American Chamber of Commerce encourages anyone interested in becoming a business owner to contact them. Watch the video above for the full story.

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On Albuquerque, New Mexico's, west side hot air balloons dotted the morning sky.When Albuquerque resident Josh Perez looked up he couldn’t believe it.“I the balloon. And she's like screaming. Everyone's screaming, 'the balloon, the balloon!' It was by itself so I was like well where is the basket so I immediately reacted and I started running that away,” Perez said.Another Albuquerque resident on the north side of I-40 saw it when she took her dogs out for a walk.“As I watch it, it gets smaller and smaller and finally it's interwoven and it just went into the scramble, vertical line and just spiraled straight down,” said witness, Tamara Sanchez. According to the Albuquerque Police Department, the hot air balloon crashed into power lines near Central and Unser.During a news conference, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said, “We know that the balloon encountered these power lines, this top line above me, they caught the top line and it's been cut and the envelope was separated from the basket and it's now being protected for evidence at a school nearby.” Witnesses nearby did what they could to help. Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina said, “That's what being one ABQ is all about. When we are here together and willing to risk our lives as citizens to help others, if you risked your life I want to say thank you.” Sanchez said, “When I saw it I think it was just that adrenaline. Like what if that's your family? What if that's your friend? You just kind of spring into action. You don't give it a thought. I just jumped in the car and came down here immediately to see if there's anything that I could do to help out.”When people close by tried to help, there wasn't much they could do.Perez said, “The basket was on fire there was a lot of smoke coming out of it. It was already on fire.” “I saw the basket and then I saw the bodies on the ground. People were crying and hugging each other and kind of explaining you know what they witnessed and what they saw. I knew immediately when I saw them that they didn't make it,” Sanchez said.State police released the names of all five victims early Sunday morning: Pilot Nicholas Meleski, 62.John Montoya, 61.Susan Montoya, 65. Martin Martinez, 59, a retired officer for the Albuquerque Police Department and his wife, Mary Martinez, 62.All five victims were from Albuquerque.The crash became the deadliest since 1982. Witnesses were in disbelief. “Never in one million years did I think I would witness it. So when I actually saw it it took a minute to register like is this really happening,” Sanchez said.