ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Daniel "Grumpy" Hernandez, 33, of Silver City, New Mexico, was convicted by a federal jury on May 6 on seven counts of a 10-count indictment. Hernandez and his co-conspirator, Savannah Padilla, were indicted on Nov. 13, 2019.

Hernandez pleaded guilty on April 29 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. As a previously convicted felon, Hernandez cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition.

The jury found Hernandez guilty of conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking, brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, theft of a firearm, possessing a stolen firearm, and two additional counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On Feb. 23, Padilla pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. According to the plea agreement, on or about Sept. 7, 2018, and continuing to on or about Sept. 8, 2018, Hernandez and Padilla committed a carjacking in Grant County, New Mexico. Hernandez and Padilla demanded money from the victim at gunpoint, and later demanded that the victim get out of the driver's seat and into the back seat of the vehicle. The victim fled in fear for his life.

By Roger Lanse

A Silver City Police Department officer was dispatched on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, at 7:58 p.m. to the Hillside Apartments, 2545 N. Swan Street, in reference to a welfare check. A caller to Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority advised that a male toddler ran toward the roadway on the Swan Street side. The blotter for this incident stated the caller brought the child around looking for the mother and found her, appearing to be "out of it," in one of the apartments.

When the officer arrived at the address, according to an incident report narrative, a strong smell of marijuana as well as smoke was coming from the apartment. A female, later identified as Jessica Alvo, 25, and another female, were seen by the officer sitting at a kitchen table which was the only furniture in the living area. The narrative stated when the officer was observed through the open screen door, Alvo tried closing the main door and reaching around the table grabbing items.

On May 8, 2021 at approximately 7:47pm, Grant County Sheriff’s Deputies and Tyrone Volunteer Fire units were dispatched to Mangas Valley Drive in regards to a motor vehicle accident. Upon arrival, Deputies observed a single vehicle rollover involving a pickup truck with one female occupant trapped in the cab. The driver was able to get out of the vehicle and sustained non-life threatening injuries. Upon extrication by Firefighters, the passenger was determined to be deceased.

Both occupants were believed to have been seat-belted and alcohol is not currently suspected as a factor in this incident. The investigation into this matter will remain active pending completion of the Office of the Medical Investigator’s report.

Sheriff Gomez and his staff wish to offer our condolences to the family of the deceased.

Eight additional COVID-19 deaths - Saturday, May 8, Sunday, May 9, and Monday, May 10

SANTA FE – New Mexico state health officials on Monday announced 570 additional COVID-19 cases. Per the state Department of Health, the most recent cases are:

157 new cases in Bernalillo County
1 new case in Catron County
18 new cases in Chaves County
3 new cases in Cibola County
1 new case in Colfax County
23 new cases in Curry County
7 new cases in De Baca County
41 new cases in Doña Ana County
4 new cases in Eddy County
2 new cases in Grant County
2 new cases in Guadalupe County
7 new cases in Lea County
13 new cases in Lincoln County
1 new case in Los Alamos County
7 new cases in Luna County
14 new cases in McKinley County
16 new cases in Otero County
6 new cases in Quay County
9 new cases in Rio Arriba County
5 new cases in Roosevelt County
29 new cases in Sandoval County
154 new cases in San Juan County
1 new case in San Miguel County
20 new cases in Santa Fe County
3 new cases in Sierra County
1 new case in Socorro County
5 new cases in Taos County
4 new cases in Torrance County
16 new cases in Valencia County

The Department of Health on Monday reported eight additional deaths in New Mexico related to COVID-19:

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy 

[Editor's Note: Two slideshows will accompany this article below the text.]

The Farmer's Market on Pope Street and the Maker's Market at the Silver City MainStreet Plaza just off Bullard were two venues where donors could give to their favorite non-profit organization on Give Grandly Day. This author did a quick tally of the donations posted on www.givegrandly.org. A few reached their goal on the day, but if a potential or new donor goes to the website, clicks on a favorite non-profit and find that it hasn't reached its goal, that donor has the opportunity to give a new donation or add to a donation through May 22. The preliminary total of $121,541.32 is less than half what the overall goal for the campaign is. 

Another event that took place downtown was the annual Western New Mexico University pottery sale to raise funds for the ceramics program. It was held at the Lions' Club building on the north end of the MainStreet Plaza. Beautiful bargains of creative pieces of pottery filled the building's tables, and happy customers walked out with one-of-a-kind pieces.

NEAR CRITICAL TO CRITICAL FIRE CONDITIONS FOR MONDAY... .Very dry air with Minimum RH values in the single digits, ongoing drought conditions, and winds around 20 MPH will create high to very high fire danger for portions of southwest and south central New Mexico.

RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM TO 8 PM MDT MONDAY FOR
VERY DRY CONDITIONS AND GUSTY WINDS FOR NEW MEXICO FIRE WEATHER
ZONES 110, 111, 112, AND 113...