Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
On Saturday, Aug. 29, at about 11:40 p.m., Silver City police officers were dispatched to Walmart regarding shots fired. Witnesses told the officers, according to a SCPD incident report, that two vehicles, a teal blue 2002 Chrysler Sirius and a black Dodge Neon raced into the Walmart parking lot from the carnival across the highway and almost collided with each other in front of the grocery side doors. Witnesses said, according to the report, that all four males in each car got out and began yelling at each other. At that point, the Neon’s occupants re-entered that vehicle and sped away, witnesses described, and someone from the Sirius fired a shot at the fleeing Neon, then the Sirius began chasing the Neon in the direction of town. The SCPD asks anyone with information relative to this incident to call 538-3723
Over the next year, many visitors to the Gila National Forest will have the opportunity to let the Forest Service know how their recreational expectations are being fulfilled on Forest Service lands. This opportunity for input is the result of the 2016 National Visitor Use Monitoring survey which will be underway on the Gila National Forest beginning in October 2015. The purpose of this survey is to provide an estimate of forest recreation visits, the activities engaged in while visiting the forest, visitation trends and the economic impact of recreation visits on local communities.
Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall announced that he has hired Bianca Ortiz Wertheim to serve as his new chief of staff starting Sept. 8. A native of Nambé, north of Santa Fe, Ortiz Wertheim has worked for Udall for six years as the director of his state offices, supervising his constituent service work and team of local representatives. She will move to Washington with her husband, attorney and businessman John Wertheim. She succeeds Michael Collins, of Taos, who is leaving for the private sector. Collins has worked in Udall’s U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate offices for 15 years, including three years as his Senate chief of staff.
As part of President Obama’s commitment to protect our nation’s unique outdoor spaces and ensure that every American has the opportunity to visit and enjoy them, the Obama Administration today formally launched the new Every Kid in a Park program. Starting today, fourth graders nationwide can visit the new Every Kid in a Park website to obtain a pass that provides free access to students and their families to all federally managed lands and waters – including national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries. The pass is valid for the 2015-2016 school year and grants free entry for fourth graders and three accompanying adults (or an entire car for drive-in parks) at more than 2,000 federally-managed sites.
New Mexico USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director, Molly Manzanares reminds producers who suffered qualifying livestock losses due to attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by the federal government that they could be eligible for the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)–this includes losses from wolves and avian predators. LIP also covers livestock death losses caused by adverse weather conditions.
