Here’s a look at today’s news:
The Silver Consolidated School District met in a special meeting last night and heard from five people that expressed interest in filling the District 4 board member vacancy left by Justin Wecks in October. The board appointed Dr. Michelle Diaz, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Silver City to fill the vacated District 4 seat. Dr. Diaz has a son attending G.W Stout Elementary and a daughter that attends La Plata Middle School.
A Deming Intermediate math teacher, Melanie Alfaro, was awarded $25,000.00 as the 2017-18 “Milken Educator Award” for New Mexico. Alfaro was bestowed the award by New Mexico Education Secretary-Designate, Christopher Ruszkowski, and Milken Educator Awards Senior Vice President, Dr. Jane Foley, before an all- school assembly filled with cheering members of the community. The “Milken Educator Awards” have been hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching” honoring educators that open minds and shape futures of students, for over 30 years. Ms. Alfaro is the only recipient for the state of New Mexico, and is among 44 honorees for 2017-18 to receive the national recognition and unrestricted cash prize.
The Gila National Forest will be conducting an orientation and training session for the Gila Southwest Firefighter (SWFF) recruitment program for the 2018 wildland fire season. To be accepted into the program, candidates must meet all of the attendance requirements, successfully complete a 40-hour training course and pass a Work Capacity Test. Application packets will be available at the Gila National Forest Supervisors’ Office in Silver City beginning Tuesday, December 26, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For further information call 575-388-8233.
Western New Mexico University will again honor community members during its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day event hosted by Student Affairs. Nominations for the 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award are open now, and this year’s event will be held on Monday, Jan. 15th. Committee chair, Abe Villarreal, stated “This is an opportunity to remember the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by honoring an outstanding member of the community who has given of himself or herself selflessly and has made a positive impact on others.” Past Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award winners include retired judge Ron Hall, former Gospel Mission Director Randy Salars and Grant County Detention Center Director Mike Carrillo. The 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Day event will include a service project in historic downtown Silver City and a live performance by Hakim Bellamy, Albuquerque’s first poet laureate.
The Gospel Mission is in need of wool blankets and used sleeping bags. Tonight, the local weather is expected to drop below freezing.
Today, as we remember the attack on Pearl Harbor 76 years ago we focus on the words of then President Franklin D. Roosevelt…
“December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy…. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.”
