Here’s a look at today’s local news:
The Copper Country Senior Olympics held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the location of their new office in Western New Mexico University’s Watts Hall in Silver City. To celebrate the new location, members of the Senior Olympic Board attended along with: New Mexico Lieutenant Governor, Howie Morales; WNMU President, Joseph Shepard; Silver City Mayor, Ken Ladner; and State Senator, Gabe Ramos. The Copper Country Senior Olympics program is dedicated to offering adults aged 50 and over with opportunities for healthy, active lifestyles by promoting physical fitness, and mental and emotional well-being for seniors. In addition, the program offers opportunities for seniors to participate in 31 local events, 25 state events, and 15 national events. Silver City Mayor, Ken Ladner proclaimed April 22, 2017 as “Copper County Senior Olympics Day.”
Deming Crime Stoppers is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the case of a severely beaten woman. Mercedes Featheringill, was found on March 29th in an unconscious state and left on the side of the road at 6545 U.S. Highway 180, north of Deming. In addition, her car was found burned in a house fire in Fierro, located in Grant County. Currently, the victim is reported in critical condition and unable to speak. Law enforcement is looking for any information regarding this case. If you have information regarding this case, contact the Luna County Crime Stoppers at 575-546-7800; the Grant County Sheriff’s Department, 575-574-0100. Calls to Crime Stoppers remain anonymous.
The Gila National Forest Tanker Base will be having a helicopter training mission this week, weather permitting. They are staged at the Grant County Airport for the upcoming fire season. This training mission will be moving materials from the Mimbres Helispot to the Black Range Helispot. This mission gives the pilot and crew an opportunity to have some flight time before fire season intensifies. For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at f s dot u s d a dot gov slash gila or join the conversation on Facebook at Gila National Forest.
A survey conducted by the New Mexico Department of Health has found that 85% of adults within the state recognize prescription opioid abuse to be an extremely serious public health problem in our state, with nearly two-thirds of those surveyed reporting they know someone who is or has been addicted to opioids. According to the NMDOH, opioids are a class of drugs such as oxycodone, codeine, morphine heroin and fentanyl, all of which can cause addiction. In addition, when asked which the more serious public health problem was: alcohol use, opioid use, or methamphetamine use, methamphetamine use was rated highest by 34% of survey respondents, slightly ahead of alcohol and opioids.
