Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
Burned Area Emergency Response continues at the site of the Signal Fire which burned near Pinos Altos earlier this summer. Most of the road work on the lower portion of Signal Peak Road has been completed. This road work is intended to prepare road surfaces to reduce erosion and runoff during the monsoon rains. Treatment of the upper roads will begin soon. Beginning July 9th, 1,525 acres of high severity burn areas will be aerial seeded to help re-establish vegetation to lessen erosion on the slopes.
Recently, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing permittees Tom and Sissy Olney reported that a possible mammoth tusk was eroding out of an arroyo bank on BLM land within their grazing allotment. The realization that it was likely a tusk prompted the Olneys to contact the BLM with news of the discovery. Excavation of the tusk was complete on June 26th, and the artifact was taken to the Natural History Museum in Albuquerque for analysis. The nearly-complete tusk is about 5 feet long, and was probably from a juvenile male or a female mammoth, and most likely belonged to a Columbian Mammoth.
Starting today, texting while driving is illegal statewide in New Mexico. Texting while driving includes reading or sending texts or emails whether you are moving or stopped at a red light or in heavy traffic. Nearly 1 in 5 crashes resulting in injury involve a distracted driver, and motorists who are texting while driving are 23 times more likely to crash.
After sever flooding knocked out part of the roadway, NM 159 between mile markers 10 and 13 to Mogollon is reopening Thursday, July 3rd. The New Mexico Department of Transportation warns travelers that the road is still rough terrain and drivers need high=clearance vehicles to reach Mogollon. Trailers are still restricted.
