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By Lynn Janes
On November 21, 2024, the commission held a regular meeting at the city annex building. Chair and Silver City Town Manager Alex Brown opened the meeting.
Raymond De La Vega, Stantec project manager, had an update on the project. They have been working on the basis of design report and laying out the alignment. All of the different departments will be wrapping up by December or the first week in January.
Stantec has been setting out the preliminary alignments. They had just recently met with the Forest Service and Department of Transportation (DOT) to go over the alignments they have been looking at to coordinate with them and find out if they had anything Stantec needed to know beforehand. Stantec had some problems with DOT and will be working to resolve those. De La Vega said specifically it has been highway 152 and highway 180. They have some monuments there and have been working on a resolution.
Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Toys for Tots, an annual toy distribution to those children who might not have had a Christmas gift this year without it, took place at the Santa Clara Armory on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. The local Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League hosts it each year in Grant County. As of noon, the count of children who had received and would be recipients of toys totaled 1,754, according to one of the Chief Organizers, Danna Lopez, who leads the annual event along with her husband, Robert Lopez. She noted that could change before the end of the distribution at 4 p.m. She thanked all her helpers and those who donated toys and cash to the effort.
By Lynn Janes
On December 12, 2024, the WNMU Board of Regents held a special meeting in the Serna conference room at Western New Mexico University. All regents had been in attendance either in person or online which included board president Mary Hotvedt PhD, Danel Lopez PhD, Dal Moellenberg, Lyndon Haviland PhD and Trent Jones. Dr. Joseph Shepard, president of WNMU, had also attended.
The board had a number of people in attendance for public input so the agenda would be amended to move public comment to the beginning of the meeting. Many had come for public comment for support and non-support of the university and Shepard.
[Editor's Note: Dates of resignation and moving out of president's house have been corrected. My fingers aren't ready for 2025!!!]
By Mary Alice Murphy
After the public meeting adjourned, Shepard met with members of the local media.
The Beat asked about the comment made that the resigning President Joseph Shepard would be henceforth titled President Emeritus and would take a faculty position.
Shepard confirmed both, and said that he would serve as a tenured faculty member, working remotely, from where he and his wife will live in Embudo, NM. after they move from the Western New Mexico University president's home by Feb. 15, 2025.
WNMU President Joseph Shepard and Regent Chair Mary HotvedtWNMU President Joseph Shepard resigns
By Mary Alice Murphy
The Western New Mexico Board of Regents called a public meeting to order after an executive session on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
Board Chair Mary Hodvedt presented the reason for the special meeting. "We went into Executive Session for the purpose of discussion of limited personnel matters, an update on possible personnel actions and discussion of president's contract and legal matters subject to attorney client privilege concerning threatening or pending litigation. The new business is the President's contract. I would like to turn this over to our personnel committee for a moment to take us into this issue, and I will ask you, Regent Daniel Lopez to speak to it. Lopez, Regent Dal Moellenberg and I were named to a Personnel Committee for the purpose of deciding how best to proceed forward with a Separation Agreement with the President. We consulted with our attorney, as well as Dr. Shepard's. We also consulted Dr Shepherd on points that we thought needed clarification or adjustment modification. I think we were satisfied that those things that we thought might give rise to difficulties in the future we were able to modify them both in the contract and a letter that later on, Dr Sheppard intends to share with the board."
Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
On Saturday, December. 14, 2024, the Silver City Museum hosted its annual Victorian Christmas. The event featured information booths, a visit with Father Christmas, musical and dancing entertainment, vendors of various arts and crafts, and food vendors. The museum courtyard filled with people to enjoy the music and camaraderie.
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