Here’s a look at today’s headlines:

The Mimbres Region Arts Council held it’s 2015 Pickamania this past weekend at Gough Park.  Performers included Amos Torres, the Gypsy Feet Band, the Lowest Pair, and many others.  The crowd included locals and visitors, and guests were able to browse vendor booths, enjoy fair-style food, and ride the carnival train while listening to the picking of guitars and mandolins around the park.

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, two Mariachi performances were held Saturday at the Western New Mexico University Fine Arts Center Theater.  Performers included Con El Mariachi with Alma de Jalisco and Salvador Hernandez and the Ballet Folklorico Tierra Del Encanto.  The theme was Celebrating the unity of cultures through the universal language of music.  The performances were a benefit for the Forgotten Veterans Memorial Park.

Fort Bayard Days 2015 has been cancelled due to demnolition of the 1920 Veteran’s Administration Hospital.  With the demolition process in action, the Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society has canceled the September 18 – 20, 2015 Fort Bayard Days.  However the Fort Bayard Museum and tours of Fort Bayard will continue throughout most of the process.

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and Dr. Susan Kelly, Director of the Department of Defense’s Transition to Veterans Program Office, today announced the integration of agriculture into the career training and counseling programs Service members receive as they transition out of the military. Information about USDA resources and programs will now reach 200,000 transitioning Service members every year.

U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) today announced that they are introducing bipartisan legislation, the National Bison Legacy Act, to make the American bison the national mammal of the United States. The bill also recognizes the historical, cultural, and economic significance of the bison, the largest land mammal in America.  More than 40 million bison once roamed across most of North America. However, by the late 1800s, fewer than one thousand bison remained. The species is acknowledged as the first American conservation success story, having been brought back from the brink of extinction by a concerted effort of ranchers, conservationists and politicians to save the species in the early 20th century.