Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
Silver City Elks Lodge 413 is proud to honor Mrs. Betty Conner with the 2015-2016 Citizen of the Year. Each year the Elks Lodge selects a citizen who has contributed in a special way to improving the local community by showing leadership in the community, contributing voluntary service and being an all-around good citizen. Betty Conner has served as a locksmith, volunteered as a 4-H leader, worked with Habitat for Humanity, and volunteered with the Lions Club, Silver City Elks and Horizon Hospice. She has provided over 13,000 volunteer hours with Hospice alone.
The U.S. Border Patrol/El Paso Sector made additional drug seizures and arrests this past weekend as agents in the Animas Valley removed 1,763 pounds of marijuana, valued at over $1.4 million during two foiled drug smuggling episodes. One vehicle was identified as a late model Ford pickup traveling north on a county road. One suspect was apprehended while the other eluded capture and returned to Mexico. On a separate incident, Border Patrol agents working in the same general vicinity arrested three suspected smugglers during the seizure.
Robert Steven Elliott II, 32 of Deming, pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Cruces to production of child pornography charges. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to a prison term anywhere from 20 to 45 years, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He has also agreed to pay over $210 thousand in restitution to the child he victimized through his criminal conduct and will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.
In sports action, the number 21 WNMU men’s golf team tied for fourth at the CBU Invitational that ended Tuesday at the Eagle Glen Golf Club. Senior All-American Calum Hill tied for third on the leader board; Junior All-American Harry Wetton tied for 16th, and Senior All-American Thomas Neve landed in a tie for 28th. WNMU will play against this coming Monday and Tuesday in the St. Edward’s Invitational that will take place at the Onion Creek Country Club in Austin, Texas.
U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe announced that the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge will receive $1 million in additional annual funding to engage urban communities and youth in conservation and outdoor recreation. The Refuge, located in Albuquerque’s South Valley, is only five miles from downtown and has been working extensively with partners and community members to create a shared vision for opportunities to connect the Refuge with families and youth through conservation, culture, and community.
