Grant County Commission work session 020624 and regular meeting 020824, part 5

[Editor's Note: This is the fifth of a series of articles on the Feb. 6, 2024, Grant County Commission work session and Feb. 8, 2024, regular meeting. This continues with the work session review of the regular meeting agenda and elected officials' reports.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The first elected official report at the regular meeting on Feb. 8, 2024 came from Treasurer Patrick Cohn, after Clerk Marisa Castrillo said she had no report.

Cohn talked about the tax maintenance report as of Jan. 31, 2024.

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About 100 friends show up to honor Sister Rita Plante

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

On Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, more than 100 people showed up at a huge potluck at the Silver City Woman's Club to honor, thank and send off with best wishes Sister Rita Plante of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She has served the community for 20 years. She left the following day to return to the Nazareth Motherhouse of the order in Concordia, KS.

The Sisters of St. Joseph have served for almost 100 years in Grant County, as teachers at St. Mary's Academy, and in other positions since the closing of the school. Sister Rita served as a chaplain for many years at Gila Regional Medical Center, as well as hosting a large prayer group, to which many of the guests on Sunday belonged. One photo will show part of the group.

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Hurley hires a police officer and code enforcement officer

By Lynn Janes

The town of Hurley held a regular meeting February 13, 2024. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ed Stevens, councilors Nanette Day, Reynaldo Maynes, Keana Huerta, and newly appointed James Langley.

The council approved the consent agenda which included department reports and regular meeting minutes.

Lori Ortiz, city clerk, reported they had a lot of projects they will be working on. They have sent out two bids and will have awards to be approved by the next regular council meeting for those projects. One will be for the emergency lift station repair and the A Street project.

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Cobre interviews for board vacancy

By Lynn Janes

The Cobre Consolidated School Board held a special meeting on February 9, 2024. Board members in attendance included Gabriella Begay, Gilbert Guadiana, and David Terrazas. Acting superintendent Michael Koury also attended.

New business

The board has two vacancies to fill. One of the two applicants had not been able to attend.

The applicant would be given three minutes for an opening statement and three minutes for a closing statement. Each board member would ask two questions and the applicants would have three minutes on each question to answer.

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Cobre meets to plan vacancy process

By Lynn Janes

The Cobre Consolidated School Board held a special meeting on February 5, 2024. Board members in attendance included Gabriella Begay, Gilbert Guadiana, and David Terrazas. Acting superintendent Michael Koury also attended.

Stephanie Mendivil, attorney at Walsh Gallego Trevino Kyle and Robinson P.C., attended the meeting and helped answer any questions concerning the vacancy process.

Begay asked if they could postpone due to an appointment she had that could not be changed. Mendivil said if they changed some of the dates, they would have to start the process all over, but for the changes Begay asked if they would just need to contact the applicants and let them know.

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Santa Clara seeks alternate municipal judge

By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a meeting February 8, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza and Trustees Olga Amador, Peter Erickson, and Ralph Trujillo attended.

Mayor's report

Lopez has been meeting with the department heads to make plans on how they could make everything work smoother and improve the process. He had not attended any meeting but would be meeting with the DOT (Department of Transportation) the following week and the Grant County Water Commission after that. He thanked the department heads for all they do.

Public comment

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Crash on 180 East 022424

These photos were sent to the Beat from a reader about 1 p.m. Sunday. The Beat is trying to get information on the crash and will update as soon as it's available.

crash 180 022424

crash wider better

Grant County Commission work session 020624 and regular meeting 020824, part 4

[Editor's Note: This is the fourth of a series of articles on the Feb. 6, 2024, Grant County Commission work session and Feb. 8, 2024, regular meeting. This begins with the review of the regular meeting agenda and reports and presentations heard by the commissioners.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

County Manager Charlene Webb, at the Feb. 6, 2024 Grant County Commission work session, began the review of the agenda for the Feb. 8, 2024 regular meeting. With no public input, the first item was the monthly report from Gila Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Robert Whitaker.

Whitaker opened his report by giving the December hospital statistics. He said they had 101 discharges, compared to 109 in the prior year. For the first six months of the fiscal year-to-date, the discharges totaled 526, about 75 less than the prior fiscal year to date in December. He noted that many admissions come through the emergency room and those numbers were down, too, "as you will see. These are December statistics because we haven't presented the January ones for approval by the Board of Trustees yet."

Read more ...

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