Here’s a look at today’s headlines:

Grant County Sheriff’s Officers yesterday afternoon took part in a D.A.R.E. Carnival for children aged 6 to 14.  Children had the chance to meet with the D.A.R.E. Lion and play games with visiting D.A.R.E. Officers.  The D.A.R.E. Carnival was part of a conference that local and state agencies have been taking part in as part of a ten week program.  Grant County Sheriff’s deputies want to offer the D.A.R.E. program in the schools.  D.A.R.E. officers have also been asked to provide their curriculum to boy scouts, cub scouts, El Grito Head Start, and other organizations.

The Silver Schools Board of Education will hold a special meeting tonight at 6:30 to select one of four applicants to fill the district 5 seat on the board, recently held by Debbie Eggleston.  This will be an open meeting, and allows opportunity for the candidates to present a case to the board discussing why they should be selected to fill the position.  Whoever is selected will hold the position until the next election in January.

The New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators recently inducted Dick Pool retired Superintendent of Silver Schools, into their hall of fame.  The Hall of Fame Award is presented to a New Mexico educator who has mad a significant contribution to education and to the Coalition.  Mr. Pool was the co-chair of the NM Funding Formula task force, and also a former Superintendent of the Year for New Mexico.  The other Superintendent inducted this year is Mike Phipps, a former Superintendent in Artesia.

A Flash Flood Watch is in effect over southern New Mexico and Far West Texas through the morning of Saturday, August 2^nd.  Storms will be able to produce heavy rainfall, and excessive rain runoff will have the potential to produce flooding along drainages, arroyos, and small streams.  Additionally, poorly drained low lying areas and roads will see increased puddles of water.  According to the National Weather Service, the rainy pattern will persist through Saturday for all affected areas of southern New Mexico and far west Texas, and continue over portions of Southwest New Mexico on Sunday.

Robert McDonald was recently confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  McDonald is recently retired after 33 years as Chairman, President, and CEO of Proctor & Gamble.  McDonald is a graduate of West Point, and served as U.S. Army Captain in the 82^nd Airborne Division.  He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal from the U.S. Naval Academy.  McDonald was confirmed by a vote of 97 to 0.

Here’s a look at today’s headlines:

Officers at the Grant County Detention Center on Monday had to pepper spray 8 inmates when tensions rose among the inmates in the male unit of the facility.  Several inmates began behaving aggressively toward officers, banging on and throwing things at the pod windows.  Officers calmed down most of the unit, but the 8 inmates who were eventually pepper sprayed continued to act out and threatened a stand-off with the officers.  Despite calling reinforcements out to the Detention Center, the officers there handled the entire situation.  No injuries were reported.

This weekend is Tax-free Weekend as students prepare to go back to school for the fall.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday, participating retailers will not charge sales tax on purchases of certain products in order to help parents buy the school supplies their children need for school.  Tax-free items include shoes and clothes, school supplies, and computers and other hardware.  Parents should be aware of the price limit of Tax-free supplies at any given store, however.

The City of Bayard is in the process of constructing the city’s first Cemetery off U.S 180 just outside of town.  The project is scheduled to be completed September of this year.  The update received at Monday’s Bayard City Council Meeting from Engineers Inc. stated that they are putting down curbs and gutters, and will then work to complete the entrance road to the cemetery.

PNM added Outage Alerts with the launch of its enhanced website earlier this year.  With the monsoon season reaching its peak, PNM encourages customers to sign up to receive the alerts via email, text, or phone.  Customers will receive a message whenever there is a known outage at their home or business.  The message will include an initial estimate for power restoration and additional messages if the restore time changes by more than 30 minutes.  Customers will also receive a message when power is restored.  Customers can sign up for outage alerts at PNM.com/outage.

Feeling thirsty?  Tune in to KSCQ, 92.9 and KNFT-FM 102.9 all week for your chance to win during the “Share a Coke” giveaway.  Listen each day this week for your chance to win great Coca Cola products, and head out to Food Basket in Bayard on Friday morning, and Food Basket in Silver City Friday afternoon for your chance to win a ‘year supply’ of Coke!  It’s a summer of sharing.  Find a Coke with your name on it, and grab one for everyone you know and love while you’re at it. Keep the fun going all summer long by creating your own custom virtual Coke at www.shareacoke.com.  And, stay tuned to Silver City Radio for your chance to win Coca Cola T-shirts, coolers, beach towels – and the grand prize of a ‘year supply’ of Coke!

Here’s a look at today’s headlines:

School Board President Trent Petty and board member Tony Egan will meet with the Silver Consolidated Education Association members in a closed meeting.  Silver Schools’ Superintended Lon Streib and the school board’s lawyer are also expected to attend.  The purpose of the meeting is for the board and SCEA to sit down and be able to talk as equals – to open up conversation about what is going on in the district.  SCEA out-going president Wecks said the “SCEA may put the grievances they are filing on hold briefly, but they still expect to file their grievances with the state labor board.”

GRMC recently appointed two new members to their board of trustees: Dr. John Stanley and Joe Ramirez.  Dr. Stanley has been on the board of trustees before.  Also at the meeting, the Board of Trustees honored several GRMC medical professionals for their service, over 200 years between only seven loyal employees.  A representative from Horizon Home Health also spoke briefly about the transition of patients from GRMC’s home health care.

Two students from Silver High School recently traveled to Europe this summer as student ambassadors with People to People.  They visited four countries, including Italy, France and Austria.  The two teenagers from Silver High were also accompanied by other students from Tennessee and Texas through the People to People, locally of Las Cruces.  Students had to raise $7,500 to go on the trip.

The Govina Fire burning in the Reserve Ranger District, started July 24^th, is 53 acres and burning slowly on all sides in grass, mixed conifer, ponderosa pine, and Pinion Juniper north of John Kerr Peak.  The fire is currently being confined within existing road systems and natural barriers.  Smoke may be visible in Apache Creek and Aragon areas, and smoke from the Tige and Sycamore fires in southeast Arizona may also still be visible.  To learn more, contact the Reserve Ranger District.

LULAC Council 8003 has been helping students achieve their potential by awarding educational scholarships to students wishing to continue their studies in higher education. With the vision of its original founders, the council began hosting fundraisers to collect money for the annual student scholarships. The first award amount was $250 and quickly escalated to several $1,000 scholarships a year.  Past recipients are spread throughout the country as students had the freedom to utilize the award at any college or university of their choosing. Past recipients include doctors, engineers, business owners, and many more including New Mexico Senator Howie Morales.

Here’s a look at today’s headlines:

6 Mexican wolves were released into the Gila Wilderness last week as part of a 15-year effort to reintroduce the endangered predator into the Southwest.  Among the released wolves is a female wolf who was recaptured in May and has six pups with no wilderness experience.  Numbers from earlier this year show there were 83 Mexican wolves in the wild – 46 in New Mexico and 37 in Arizona.

The latest Youth Mural Dedication will be held at the Murray Ryan Visitors Center this Sunday.  Head out to celebrate the dedication of Silver City’s newest mural, completed by the Mimbres Region Arts Council Youth Mural Project.  The first phase of the mural was completed by Cobre High Students and Jose Barrios 5^th graders for the 2012 Clay Festival.  The second and third phase of the mural project were completed by Aldo Leopold Middle and High Schools and Jose Barrios Elementary.

The Copper Cowbelles are now taking scholarship applications for the 2014-15 school year.  Applicants must be entering their sophomore or higher year in college and be pursuing a degree in an agricultural field.  They must also be a graduate of a Grant County High School.  The Cowbelles are a non-profit organization whose interests are providing educational information about the beef industry and preserving the western lifestyle.  They encourage students studying courses such as range management, animal and veterinary sciences, and agricultural economics to apply.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office recently conducted a School Trends Training for the Cobre District, instructing students what to do and look for in case there were ever a critical incident at school.  The main focus of the training was preparation for an active school shooter incident.

A resident of Hurley was recently arrested at his home after witnesses identified him as the person who was driving a Dodge truck aggressively, recklessly, and with excessive speed causing a motorcyclist to crash.  The accident occurred on Highway 180 just north of North Hurley early Wednesday afternoon.  According to the report, there was no collision, but the truck attempted to pass another vehicle and failed to see the motorcycle coming.  The motorcyclist took evasive action to avoid the truck and lost control of his bike.  He was airlifted to an El Paso hospital for treatment.  The driver of the truck was charged with great bodily harm with a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, and child abuse/endangerment for having his 4 year-old son improperly belted in a booster seat in the vehicle when the crash took place.

Four Grant County Youth recently traveled to Albuquerque for the annual Rooted in Community Summit to promote food justice through sustainable communities, rural and urban agriculture, food security, and racial, ethnic, economic, and social equity. During the Summit, youth learned about media influence on food choices, the impact of access to health foods on rural and urban communities, farm worker rights, organic gardening techniques, growing and cooking culturally relevant foods and much more.

Here’s a look at today’s headlines:

Senior Citizens from Grant County recently brought home a total of 40 medals from the New Mexico Senior Olympics in Roswell.  Mario Quintana earned seven medals and three ribbons, and was honored as the Golden Male Athlete of the New Mexico Senior Olympics.  Quitana earned two gold medals, two silver medals, and three bronze medals, but was more impressed with the 40 medals his team came back with.  The Grant County Senior Olympics have now qualified to compete at the national Senior Olympics next summer in Minnesota.

Residents of Silver City should expect to see some road work beginning in August, according to Town Manager, Alex Brown.  Among the roads to be worked on is a bridge on Highway 90 between Broadway and Richard Street.  Work on the bridge is expected to last eight months to a year, and will require traffic to be redirected.  Other roads include11th and 12 streets near Pope, 16^th and 17^th Streets between Swan and Silver Heights, 21^st, 23^rd, and 25^th near Juniper, Broadway from Hudson to Gold, Cactus, Corbin, Juniper and Yucca Streets near Silver Heights Boulevard, Main Street starting at 21^st, Swan Street from Broadway to 12^th Street, and Pope Street beginning at 19^th Street.

In cooperation with the Silver City Public Library, the Silver City Museum will be transferring its library of resource materials to the Public Library’s reference section for use by the general public.  The move is scheduled to take place through August with an anticipated completion by mid-September for most of the materials.   It is anticipated that the reference book collection will be cataloged and fully accessible to the public by December of this year.

The Lordsburg City Council decided to cancel its contract with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Agency at a council meeting earlier this month.  Despite cancelling the contract, the city of Lordsburg will continue its participation in Operation Stone Garden.  With the assistance of the Operation Stone Garden Grant, the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department has received new body cameras for deputies.  The equipment is intended to provide indisputable evidence and will be used at all times when a deputy makes contact with the public.