Here’s some news:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Grant County as a primary natural disaster area due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought. Farmers and ranchers in the contiguous counties of Catron, Hidalgo, Luna and Sierra in New Mexico also qualify for natural disaster assistance. Qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for the Farm Service Agency’s emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers located in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration of March 29th, to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. For more information, visit fsa.usda.gov
A resident of Deming may have found human remains on his property while he was cleaning up trash in an abandoned well. The bones were found inside a freezer that was disposed in the old well located in the 15,000 Block of Cortez Road SE in Deming. The bones have been sent to the Office of the Medical examiner for further determination.
United States Senator, Tom Udall, has begun accepting applications for nominations to U.S military service academies for recent graduates who are interested in applying to enter an academy in the Fall of 2019. Members of Udall’s staff will host information sessions throughout April and May at high schools across the state. For students in Southwest New Mexico, the Military Service Academy Information Session will be held on Tuesday, April 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. in the Mayfield High School Library, located at 1955 North Valley Drive in Las Cruces. Students have until Oct. 12th to submit their application for Senator Udall’s nomination. Prospective applicants are encouraged to begin the application process well in advance. Applications can be submitted online, visit silvercityradio.com for additional information. (Applications can be submitted online at www.tomudall.senate.gov/help/academy-nominations. For questions, please visit Udall’s website or contact his Albuquerque office at (505) 346-6791.)
The Wilderness Ranger District will be conducting a prescribed burn in the L-T West burn area. The planned dates to start is April 9th, weather dependent. The L-T West Prescribed Burn is located off Hwy 35 near mile marker 17, east of the Old GOS Ranch, between Lincoln Canyon, Terry Canyon, McKenna Mesa, and North Star Road (also known as the Wall Lake Road). The project is a 5,500 acre broadcast burn and will take several days to complete. Ignitions within the burn area will be done by helicopter ping-pong drops. Smoke and flames will be noticeable during days of ignitions and will linger at night and early morning and in addition, will impact Highway 35. For firefighter and public safety, Gila National Forest officials remind the public to not enter or park near the project areas and to watch for firefighters and equipment in the described locations.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation along with TLC Construction will be reconstructing the roadway, installing curb and gutter, sidewalk and bike lanes. NM 15 will be CLOSED from HWY 180 to the 32nd street interchange. Detours will be in place and traffic is asked to reduce speed and use caution, seek an alternate route if possible. Contractor’s hours of operation will be from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday; closures and traffic control shall remain in place 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Construction is scheduled to be completed by spring of 2019. For updated information go to: New Mexico Department of Transportation at www.nmroads.com.
