Revised page out time: Fire breaks out near Pinos Altos
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 20 June 2023 20 June 2023
Article by Roger Lanse Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
A wildfire has broken out northwest of Pinos Altos near the Bear Creek Cabins. According to Pinos Altos Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer Jennifer Olson, the fire was called in to the Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority at 3:26 p.m. today, Tuesday, June 20, and PAVFR had multiple engines and personnel on the move toward the fire in minutes. She heard that the U.S. Forest Service had two single-engine air tankers committed, as well.
Maribeth Pecotte, USFS PIO. told the Beat that their agency has seven engines on the fire, and that the fire probably started on Bureau of Land Management land.
As information becomes more available, the Beat will report it.
Bayard approves fiscal year 2024 budget
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 20 June 2023 20 June 2023
By Lynn Janes
The town of Bayard held a special meeting May 31, 2023. The meeting started with Mayor Chon Fierro calling the meeting to order and leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Attendance at the meeting included Mayor Pro tem Raul Villanueva and councilors Frances Gonzales, and Jose Diaz. Eloy Medina did not attend.
The council approved the agenda
Public input none currently.
Old business
The council approved the interim fiscal year budget for 2024. Gonzales expressed concern over the budget because of some changes that would cause a loss in fees coming to Bayard and already Bayard has had to transfer funds from the general fund to support the court. Diaz said he had gone to a training in which he found out that the courts in municipalities will not be able to charge court fees anymore.
Grant County Commission 060623 work session and regular meeting 060823 part 4
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 19 June 2023 19 June 2023
[Editor's Note: This article is the fourth of a series of articles on the Grant County Commission work session on June 6, 2023 and the regular meeting on June 8, 2023. This one focuses on the public input from the regular meeting, which would be pertinent for the special meeting on June 20, 2023.]
By Mary Alice Murphy
The public input at the Grant County Commission regular meeting on June 8, 2023 addressed the issue of pay for the Sheriff's officers and deputies.
The first to speak was a 35-year resident of New Mexico Bobby Sherling (spelling?) and an 8-year resident of Grant County. "I am speaking on behalf of the hard work of the Sheriff's Department. We live in a rural area, and when we need their services, the department members are very effective. They are underpaid. I want to support higher wages for them. In rural areas, the activities are not always nefarious, but the department needs night vision goggles. It takes taxpayer dollars to support the Sheriff's Department. Their equipment needs include wages and night vision equipment. I live in District 4, and I will be in touch with my Commissioner Billy Billings. Our neighbors have great respect for our Sheriff's Department as well as our volunteer fire departments."
Grant County Commission held work session 060623, part 3
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 19 June 2023 19 June 2023
[Editor’s Note: This article is the third of a series of articles on the Grant County Commission work session on June 6, 2023 and the regular meeting on June 8, 2023. This one completes county director reports at the work session.]
By Mary Alice Murphy
The next county director reports at the Grant County Commission work session on June 6, 2023 came from Road Superintendent Joe Grijalva.
“Our blademen are doing routine maintenance now that we just finished patching,” Grijalva said. “Now that Southwest Concrete and Paving got the chips, we will begin our chip sealing operations. We are currently hauling chips for projects. We are working with the town of Silver City to help us with putting up the warning lights on Airport Road and the Tyrone townsite. We didn’t want to accidentally get into the fiber optics on Airport Road. I talked to Robert Esqueda and he has helped us avoid the fiber optic. We need to finish Little Walnut chip seal in late June, and another ship sealing in July and in Silver City in August.”
District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards asked about lights in Arenas Valley.
Fiesta Latina 061723
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 19 June 2023 19 June 2023
Photos on Saturday, June 17, 2023 by Mary Alice Murphy
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Ballet Folkloric Paso del Norte perform
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Eve Messier and Pat Markham find a bit of shade and shelter from the wind.
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Macrina Mateo Martinez from Oaxaca showing her red pottery
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Jose Sergio Velazquez Garcia from Michoacan with hs copper vessels
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Jacobo Mendoza Vasquez with his textiles from Oaxaca
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Celia Colunga with contemporary clothing from Zacatecas
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Maria Isabel Zavala Montiel of the Tlaguemitl Cooperative with her woolen weavings from Morelos, made using natural dyes, such as cochinilla for pink and añil for blue
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Herminio Ramirez Diaz with nichols beaded work from Jalisco
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Gualberto Campos, wooden games and accessories from the state of Mexico
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
An alebrije (fanciful folk art sculpture) from Oaxaca
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Eleuterio Isaias Jimenez Carrillo and Isaias Jimenez Hernandez, artists of the alebrijes
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Salvador Barrera Hernandez holds jewelry from Guerrero made from Mata Ortiz pottery by his wife Ericka Ludmila Sanchez
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Handmade paper books from Michoacan by Tania Dominguez Gallegos
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Tania Dominguez Gallegos holds one of her handmade paper books
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Betzy Ved Castillo Espinal and Edgar Castillo Spinal with hand painted jewelry boxes from Guerrero
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Roberto Abraham Ruiz Salazar and Jose Manuel Ruiz Salazar with bone sculpture from the state of Mexico.
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Olegario Pascual Hernandez Mendoza carving on a painted gourd from Oaxaca
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Olegario Pascual Hernandez Mendoza holding the gourd
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Ricardo Navarro Rodriguez or Joel Godinez Cortes with pottery from Jalisco
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 1
Pascuala Vasquez Hernandez with textiles from Chiapas
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
David Avila Nunez with his baskets from the state of Mexico
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Porfirio and David Gutierrez with their weavings using natural dyes from Oaxaca. David explained that it could take 8 months for a single piece with nature providing the resources. "Each piece has input from nature."
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Marianne. Reynoso Ramos and Amelia Ramos Zamora with their handmade rebozos from the state of Mexico
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Natalio Chichipan Estrada and Natalio Chichipan Cuiriz with pottery from Michoacan
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Brenda Mandarin Hernandez created these alebrijes from Oaxaca
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
These jewelry artists could not come. She could not get a visa and he was hurt in an accident. They create amber jewelry
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Brigitte Maria Ordoquy represented the amber jewelry artists.
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Isabel Mendoza was eating lunch and not available for a photo with her detailed popotillo
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Martin Ramirez Salas with cardboard figures and alebrijes from Morelos
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Roberto Domingo Mejia Munoz working on popotillo from Mexico state.
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Roberto Domingo Mejia Munoz and Patricia Garcia Aguilar with one of their popotillo artworks from Mexico state.
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Angelica Morales Games with pottery with women images from Michoacan
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Ruben Flores Apaez and Gaston Aguilar Rendon with their feather work from Morelos
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Augustin Cruz Tinoco with painted wood figures from Oaxaca
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Arcadia Barbero Gomez with her mirrors from Jalisco
Fiesta Latina 061723 part 2
Adriana Favela Martinez with her papelmalecho from Jalisco
The annual Fiesta Latina event at Western New Mexico University began on June 15 and continued through June 18, 2023. It featured musicians and the always popular Mercado with artisans from all over Mexico, offering everything from clothing to jewelry to decorative and utilitarian objects, metals from copper to silver, handmade paper, and detailed craftsmanship in items made from straw, called popotillo to "paintings" made with feathers, and artwork from paintings to sculptures. The vast variety always draws lots of admirers and buyers.
Bear released from dumpster
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 19 June 2023 19 June 2023
By Roger Lanse
On Sunday, June 18, 2023, at about 4:14 p.m., Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies were
dispatched to 5212 Little Walnut Road in reference to a bear in a dumpster that couldn’t get out. When deputies arrived at the dumpster, the local New Mexico Game and Fish office was called and Don Jacquez responded.
Jacquez and Derrick Theobold, also of NMG&F, told the Beat that a small, adult, male, dark-colored bear weighing perhaps 75 pounds, had climbed into the dumpster at the edge of the forest and was unable to get out. Bruin was apparently attracted by the smell as there was no garbage in the dumpster. The NMG&F and GCSO rescuers were able to unlatch one of the dumpster’s sides to allow the bear to escape, Jacquez and Theobold said.