Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
The Community Development Council recently presented awards to two southwest New Mexico Communities to the Town of Hurley Street and Drainage Improvements on Nevada Street, and to the City of Deming Street and Drainage Improvement on Buckeye.
The Bayard City Council announced at its June 22 meeting that the city would go to a residence and get one pickup truck load of yard waste free of charge from residents who contact City Hall to schedule the collection. A temporary adjustment in monthly water service fees for the Hanover community, for the next six months, from $400 to $200 was also approved.
On Monday, June 22, 2015, the New Mexico Court of Appeals declared that the provision of the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Act, NMSA §52-1-6(A), excluding farm and ranch laborers from mandatory coverage is unconstitutional.
The PNM Power UP Foundation has provided $20,000 that will be used to fund the next stage of upgrades for the John T. Waits Park, also known as Rabbit Park, on Deming’s north side. The park was originally established as a sports park, but the residents of Deming have voice their desire for shade trees, places to walk and sit, and a covered pavilion shelter for events.
CNBC’s annual ranking of the top states for doing business boosted New Mexico to number 24 from 37 last year. The ranking is based on 60 measures of competitiveness and data is grouped in 10 broad categories and weighted based on how frequently the states use each as selling points. New Mexico was ranked particularly high in infrastructure, workforce, and cost of living, but fared poorly in education and business friendliness.
The Silver Consolidated School Board met on Tuesday evening in a special closed session to address concerns regarding Superintendent Lon Streib. The meeting lasted nearly three hours. Board members also discussed negativity toward Silver High School principal Beth Lougee. Some people in the community remain in support of the district and it’s administration, and others still believe something is inherently wrong.
The U.S. House passed H.R. 2042: the Ratepayer Protection Act. This legislation would suspend enforcement of the EPA’s rule to force the closure of coal-fired power plants until the resolution of the numerous legal challenges to the rule. The bill would also allow state governors to opt out of the rule should the governor determine the rule would have a significant adverse effect on electricity ratepayers or the reliability of the state’s power grid.
