Grant County Commission work session held April 11, 2023, part 3

[Editor's Note: This is part 3 of a multi-article series on the Commission work session on April 11, as well as on the regular meeting on April 13, 2023. This begins with county reports at the work session.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

Detention Center Administrator Joseph Andazola gave the first county report at the April 11, 2023 Grant County Commission work session.

"We have three officers in training and another one starting next week," Andazola reported. "We also have another pending job offer. We have two openings right now. I want to thank Human Resources for getting interviews set up quickly. We will also work with Workforce Solutions. We have two pending to potentially go work at the Sheriff's Office and another two who are applying for other positions, so we will continue our recruitment."

He said Lt. Rios, Sgt. Gnader and Officer Thayer had completed the Special Response Team school, with Gnader finishing in the top five. "I would like to thank the El Paso County Sheriff's Department for their inivitation." He also noted that he has hosted training, including one in defensive tactics.

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Grant County Commission work session held April 11, 2023, part 2

[Editor's Note: This is part 2 of a multi-article series on the Commission work session on April 11, as well as on the regular meeting on April 13, 2023. This covers the second work session presentation.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The second presentation at the Grant County Commission work session on April 11, 2023, commissioners heard from Rosalinda Natividad, founder and chief executive officer of Incite Network LLC talking about the Grant County Comprehensive Grants Plan.

"We are working together on this plan for the use of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding," Natividad began. "We want a continuing conversation. We prepared a grant plan and three grant applications for your review, as well as multiple potential grants. We also in the plan talked about whether you should hire a full-time grant writer or work with a contractor. We put in an overview of your goals. We brought in feedback from the different departments. You'll also see thoughts of potential projects."

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Cobre maps strategic plan

ca1ca2Photos and article by Lynn Janes

On March 21, 2023, Cobre school district held a public forum to map the needs of the schools. The board hired a company out of Albuquerque, CES Educational Services. This meeting will help decide what the plans will be for the next three to five years to move the district forward.

Part of the service entails the company coming in and doing a needs assessment of the district because every school has different needs. The approximately 105 participants identified 63 needs in this meeting. The people that attended included teachers, students, and other community members.

They started with asking people to tell them what need they felt the district had. They listed those and then broke people out in groups and they broke that down to a total of 33 needs and then sat down and broke it down to 10 needs. They ranked those needs from the most important to least. A point system had been used to break it down and rank the needs.

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Man at midnight flees from officers

By Roger Lanse

On Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2023, at five minutes past midnight, a Silver City man on a motorcycle began to lead Silver City Police Department officers on a chase from Broadway through streets in the southwest section of town. Originally, the officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the motorcycle because he could not see a license plate or a license plate light on the bike, according to a SCPD incident report. The rider was wearing a black hoodie, a black hat and jeans, and carrying a black backpack.

From Broadway, the report stated, the pursuit continued south on Texas Street, west on Spring Street, south on Arizona Street, south on Pinos Altos Street, west on Sonora Street and south on Cooper Street. The speed of the motorcycle was about 30 mph and the pursuing officer could now see a partial Arizona plate. The motorcycle then turned east on Chihuahua, south on Arizona Street, east on Garcia Street, south on Texas Street, west on Alice Street, south on Arizona Street, west on La Capilla, and south on Victoria Street.

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Grant County Commission work session held April 11, 2023, part 1

[Editor's Note: This is part 1 of a multi-article series on the Comission work session on April 11, as well as on the regular meeting on April 13, 2923. This begins with the first work session presentation.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The first presentation of the day featured Phoebe Schoeder, representing the New Mexico Department of Health and reporting on the Grant County Community Health Council efforts addressing community needs.

"This will be a brief report on what the Housing Insecurity Taskforce and the Health Council are working together on," Shroeder said. "I've been working with SPIN (Supporting People in Need) and the Gospel Mission to determine the needs of the community. We are seeing that needs are typically monetary. When I contacted the NMDOH, I learned we will be introducing the harm reduction mobile unit. The first time it will be in use will be on April 22, in conjunction with the Toss No Mas Earth Day clean-up that day. We will be going out to SPIN and the Gospel Mission introducing the services. We will also be working with individuals to get them the services to help them get off substances and connecting them with the mental health services if warranted. Additionally, the Homelessness Taskforce has been working with SPIN and the Gospel Mission to work with the San Vicente Consortium to meet concerns head on. As well as that, we are working on the Community Health Action Plan, that NMDOH is doing in conjunction with health councils across the state. Grant County had chosen to focus on mental health and substance abuse and focusing on those experiencing housing insecurity as well."

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Silver City – Grant County Chamber of Commerce holds monthly luncheon 040623

img 6426Photo (in bad light) and article by Mary Alice Murphy

Silver City – Grant County Chamber of Commerce Director Romeo Cruz introduced Vladimir Gnilozubov, Edward Jones Financial Advisor, to the chamber members at the monthly luncheon on April 6, 2023 at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center.

Gnilozubov said he knows people have concerns about stocks, market inflation and potential recession. "I saw that as a need for what I do. Value is what I do. I know time is value, and I don't want to waste time for people who come in to see me."

He said his office helps its clients with all their financial issues from beginning investments to estate planning.

"Things have been painful the past two years," Gnilozubov agreed. "They include inflation, the rapid rise of interest rates, wars around the world. It all comes from 2020. It comes down to money supply. The country was printing money with no balance. The money supply increased by 40 percent."

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Fatal Crash Involving an ATV on State Road 35 in Grant County

Grant County, NM – On April 7, 2023, at about 11:00 p.m., the New Mexico State Police investigated a fatal crash involving an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on State Road 35 around milepost 18, northeast of Silver City.

The initial investigation indicates that a Polaris Sportsman ATV, driven by Alexander Harry Yazzie, 35, of Hurley, NM was traveling on State Road 35. For unknown reasons, the ATV overturned, ejecting Yazzie and his 39-year-old female passenger. Yazzie suffered fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced deceased on the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The passenger was airlifted to an area hospital. Her condition is not known.

Alcohol appears to have been a contributing factor in the crash, and helmets were not utilized. This crash is under investigation by the New Mexico State Police.

Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt 040823

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

The annual Easter Egg Hunt sponosred by the Silver City Kiwanis Club took place on Saturday April 8, 2023 beginning at 9 a.m. a Penny Park. Groups participating included volunteer face painters, as well as representatives from Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and the Silver City Police Department, the Grant County Sheriff's Department D.A.R.E program and the Silver City Fire Department. They took part helping the kids find eggs, find out information about their organizations, and simply make kids and their parents aware of what the groups do. 

According to various members of the local Kiwanis Club, about 4,000 eggs were stuffed with goodies by members from two clubs of K-Kids and three Key Clubs.  About 15-20 kids participated in each of the 13-14 heats that took place. Planning for this annual project takes a lot of volunteer time, but the Kiwanis Club does it for the kids. 

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