Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society will be having a Film Series. Starting August 31st, Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society will be starting once again their FREE Thursday evening film series.  The fall series runs for 12 weeks, through November 16th.  For a complete listing of the movies go to historic fort Bayard dot org.  The films are shown in the Santa Clara Armory building located at 19990 US Highway 180, near the Fort Bayard turn off. Admission is free. Donations accepted. Doors open at 6pm with movies starting at 6:30pm.

In Western New Mexico News – Social work and counseling programs team up to work with the NM Expanding Opportunities Project. Two WNMU master’s degree programs, the Master of Arts in Counseling and the Master of Social Work, have teamed with the New Mexico Expanding Opportunities Project (EOP) to support graduate students who plan to provide mental health care in the state’s school system. Sponsored by the NM Department of Education’s Safe and Healthy Schools Bureau, the EOP “aims to recruit and retain school-based mental health (SBMH) professionals to serve the needs of students across New Mexico, focusing on rural and frontier communities with a high percentage of at-risk and vulnerable student populations,” according to the program’s website. The program is funded with a grant from the United States Department of Education.

Some of the upcoming local election seats for the November 7th, 2023, election include the following from the region.

Up for reelection:

  • The City of Lordsburg has three councilor seats 
  • The Lordsburg and Animas School districts have three board members seats
  • The village of Virden has two council seats
  • The Hidalgo Soil and Water Conservation District has three board supervisor seat (Grant and Hidalgo)
  • The Grant Soil and Water Conservation District has three board supervisor positions (Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo)
  • The Caballo Soil and Water Conservation District has three board supervisors positions (Dona Ana, Luna, and Sierra)
  • The Deming Soil and Water Conservation District has three board supervisor positions (Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo)
  • The Village of Santa Clara has the Mayoral seat, two trustees and the municipal judge positions
  • The City of Bayard has the Mayoral seat, two councilors and the municipal judge positions
  • The Town of Hurley has two councilor seats and the the municipal judge position
  • The Town of Silver City has two Councilor positions, District 1 and District 3
  • The Cobre Consolidated School District has three board member positions
  • The Silver Consolidated School District has two board member positions
  • The City of Deming has the Mayoral seat, and two Councilor positions, District 1 and District 4
  • The Village of Columbus has the Mayoral seat, four trustee seats and the municipal judge position
  • Deming Public Schools has three board positions

Candidate filing day for all local offices for the 2023 Regular Election is Tuesday, August 29th between 9am and 5pm. Requirements for running for office, including lists of qualifications, is available online at the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website, sos.state.nm.us