Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
Monday, November 23rd, is the last day to order specific request wreaths to place or have placed upon the graves or markers of fallen veterans at Fort Bayard National Cemetery. Members of the non-profit local Wreaths Across America planning group plus local veterans and interested community members will lay the donated wreaths the day prior to the December 12 ceremony. The fresh green balsam wreaths, placed to remember veterans over the Christmas holiday, are shipped from Maine to over 1,000 cemeteries across the Unites States. The cost is $15 a wreath, but order two for $30 and a third is provided to Fort Bayard. Over 4,000 markers at Fort Bayard National Cemetery will need a wreath. Call 538-2626 for more information.
New Mexico State Highway 159 (Bursum Road) will be closed for the winter beginning Friday, Nov. 20. Gates will be locked just north of Mogollon and on the Bear Wallow Lookout Road 153S. Until the closure is lifted in the spring, travelers will need to go through Reserve to get to Willow Creek or Snow Lake. For more information, please call the Glenwood Ranger District at (575) 539-2481 or the Reserve Ranger District at (575) 533-6232.
The Tour of the Gila is pleased to announce a new date for the 30th annual race in 2016, to begin Wednesday, May 4 and concluding on Sunday, May 8. In his final year as race director next season, Jack Brennan, made the decision following discussions over changes to the National Racing Calendar (NRC) and National Criterium Calendar (NCC) racing calendars with USA Cycling. The two calendars are to be combined for the upcoming season, including a new point system that was recently announced by USA Cycling. Beside the date changes, the racecourse and format will remain the same.
U.S. Senators Tom Udall, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Martin Heinrich, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined the Senate in voting 93-0 for critical funding for New Mexico’s veterans and military construction projects. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations bill funds the Department of Veterans Affairs and construction at military bases in New Mexico and across the country. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed similar legislation. Congress is under a tight Dec. 11 deadline to resolve differences between the bills and agree to a measure to fund the rest of the government.
A new cholesterol-lowering vaccine leads to reductions in `bad` LDL cholesterol in mice and macaques, according to research published in Vaccine. The authors of the study, from the University of New Mexico and the National Institutes of health in the United States, say the vaccine has the potential to be a more powerful treatment than statins alone.
