Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
Military veterans and active-duty personnel were honored today at the State Capitol in Santa Fe on during “Military and Veterans Day” at the 2018 Legislature. This annual day during the legislative session is presented by the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services and the New Mexico National Guard to honor active-duty service members and veterans for their sacrifice and service for our country. The highlight every year is a noon ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda honoring not only active-duty personnel and veterans, but also highlighting a particular segment of the military community. This year’s ceremony is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War–and the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Angel Fire, which was the nation’s first Vietnam War memorial and the inspiration for the creation of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service have announced the 2018 grazing fees. The Federal grazing fee for 2018 will be $1.41 per “animal unit month” for public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and $1.41 per “head month” for lands managed by the USDA Forest Service. The 2017 public land grazing fee was $1.87. An AUM or HM—treated as equivalent measures for fee purposes—is the use of public lands by one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. The newly calculated grazing fee was determined by a congressional formula and takes effect March 1, 2018. The fee will apply to nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM and nearly 6,500 permits administered by the Forest Service. The grazing fee applies in 16 Western states on public lands administered by the BLM and the Forest Service. The states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Gila Regional Medical Center interim Chief Financial Officer, JoBeth Vance, reported positive financial news during the GRMC board of trustee’s meeting last week. For the first time since July 2017 the hospital’s revenues were after expenses were positive by over $1 million. Gross patient revenue is up $2 million for a total of $16.4 million, partly from the number of Gila Regional Cancer Center visits that increased in December.
A grant from the PNM Foundation has enabled more than 400 second, third and fourth grade students in Deming, to experience hands-on science through the nonprofit “Asombro Institute for Science Education.” The grant has covered costs for Asombro educators to work with students from Columbus, Memorial, and Ruben S. Torres elementary schools. The “Desert Stories” series of classes combines math, science, and language arts to excite students about science and help address the anticipated future shortage of a workforce trained to enter the STEM fields that include science, technology, engineering, and math fields. “Asombro”, the Spanish word for “wonder”, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to increasing natural science literacy through engaging, place-based education.
This has been a look at some of today’s headlines. Thank you for listening to Silver City Radio.
