Here’s a look at some local news:
Beginning this week, schools in Luna County including Bataan, Bell, Chaparral, Columbus, Memorial and RST Elementary will have a new look for “Breakfast after the Bell.” Students will go through the cafeteria serving line and receive a grab-n-go breakfast before heading off to class. The new process will ensure all students receive a meal in addition to the school obtaining an accurate daily student count. The Breakfast after the Bell program is a legislative approved program that has helped feed thousands of New Mexico children since 2011. The program ensures that all New Mexican students have access to a healthy breakfast every day at school and helps combat childhood hunger. In addition, the program increases the consumption of nutritious foods which improves academic performance by preparing children to learn.
The Western New Mexico University Alumni Foundation is working on an Initiative to return Women’s Soccer and Men’s Baseball to WNMU Athletics. The two sports will create opportunities for more than 70 students to attend Western New Mexico University doing something they love. Currently Western is the only National Colligate Athletic Association university in the state that does not offer the two sports.
In a news release issued by the Gila National Forest, the second and final phase of the environmental cleanup at the Royal John Mine and Mill is expected to be begin in mid-April of 2020 and be completed by June. The mine site is east of San Lorenzo in Grant County on the western slopes of the Black Range of the Mimbres Mountains in the Silver City Ranger District, Gila National Forest. The work planned for next spring includes the physical closure of dangerous shafts and adits to protect the public. Bat-friendly grates will be installed at seven adits to maintain good bat habitat. Past lead and zinc mining activities left an estimated 90,000 cubic yards of tailings and waste rock material along the upper reaches of Cold Springs Creek. The USDA Forest Service completed the first phase of a two-part environmental cleanup to remove waste with elevated levels of lead in August.
