Grant County Commission hears a second presentation at work session 011221and GRMC update at regular meeting 011421, Part 2

[Editor's Note: Due to the length of the work session and the regular meeting, they will be broken up into several articles. This one will cover the report from WildEarth Guardians and the update from GRMC.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

Right before they began the Grant County Commission work session on Jan. 12, 2021, District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings asked who had sponsored the second group of presenters, which would be a report from WildEarth Guardians. District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne said he had invited them to present.

When technical glitches slowed down the connections for WildEarth Guardians executive director John Hornung and his co-presenter, Madeleine Carey, Browne was heard to say: "You'd think we would have figured this out after nine months."

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Governor remains optimistic as vaccine administration continues 011421

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham opened the press conference on Thursday January 14, 2021 with the case update. At this time the case counts are rising. "I don't want to see the case counts going up, but the test positivity rate is not," Grisham said. She said both need to be low to help the gating criteria.

"This is a deadly, highly contagious virus," Grisham said. "We have to keep doing the work to prevent the spread of this virus."

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New Mexico COVID-19 update: 1,266 new cases, totaling 161,805 - 011521

Thirty-eight additional COVID-19 deaths

SANTA FE – New Mexico state health officials on Friday announced 1,266 additional COVID-19 cases. Per the state Department of Health, the most recent cases are:
291 new cases in Bernalillo County
77 new cases in Chaves County
9 new cases in Cibola County
7 new cases in Colfax County
46 new cases in Curry County
2 new cases in De Baca County
190 new cases in Doña Ana County
69 new cases in Eddy County
14 new cases in Grant County
2 new cases in Guadalupe County
1 new case in Hidalgo County
55 new cases in Lea County
44 new cases in Lincoln County
17 new cases in Los Alamos County
19 new cases in Luna County
50 new cases in McKinley County
1 new case in Mora County
29 new cases in Otero County
4 new cases in Quay County
31 new cases in Rio Arriba County
7 new cases in Roosevelt County
58 new cases in Sandoval County
89 new cases in San Juan County
16 new cases in San Miguel County
59 new cases in Santa Fe County
9 new cases in Sierra County
2 new cases in Socorro County
15 new cases in Taos County
6 new cases in Torrance County
2 new cases in Union County
32 new cases in Valencia County
1 new case among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
12 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility

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

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Man shot near San Vicente Creek

By Roger Lanse

Silver City Police Department officers were notified by Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, of a man in Gila Regional Medical Center's ER with a gunshot wound to his chest. According to an SCPD incident report narrative, officers identified the man as 65-year-old Vincent Raucci, of 1000 Slag Road, Silver City. Slag Road is east of the Highway 90 bridge located just south of Broadway. Raucci told officers he heard a gunshot "down by the water," and when he went to investigate, he was shot in the chest. Raucci stated he did not know who did it nor where the shot came from.

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Released murder suspect arrested on related charge

By Roger Lanse

According to the Grant County Sheriff's Office, on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, at 12:23 p.m., deputies arrested Cody William McDonald, 33, of Silver City, on the charge of receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony. The charge was authorized by the Sixth Judicial District Attorney's Office in connection with the ongoing investigation into the murder of Daniel Murillo.

McDonald had been booked into the Grant County Detention Center by GCSO deputies in reference to the Nov. 18, 2020 shooting death of Murillo, 23, of Silver City, which occurred on Broken Arrow Drive in Silver Acres.

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The ongoing effort to deliver broadband throughout New Mexico

By Kas Nelson

January 13, 2021: In a webinar hosted today by New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, New Mexico State Representative Natalie Figueroa characterized broadband as an ‘essential service.’ Both Rep. Figueroa and Sen. Michael Padilla reiterated benefits of broadband to New Mexico’s business, telemedicine and education initiatives. It seems like such a good idea, why the hold up?

The trip to the finish line is a long and winding road. Sen. Padilla has been involved in legislation passed, amended or in progress, whose function is to maneuver the state into the starting gate. The Legislature is seriously thinking about firing a starting pistol at some point in the future.

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