Front Page News

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a work session and regular meeting at Cliff schools, on November 18, 2024. Members in attendance inlcluded  Ashley Montenegro, Michelle Diaz (phone), Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan and Kimberly Klement. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended.

Work session

Luke Allsup, president of Cliff High School student body, had a presentation for the board. Malcolm Ullery II, vice president, had been unable to attend. He had a power point presentation and went over all the activities such as the bonfire, fundraisers and fall fest that they recently had. He went on to go over what would be coming up. The students would be decorating the lobby for Christmas and homecoming in January. They will also be having dress up days.

Cliff has a podcast called Cliffhangers. Three students have headed up the project, Jasper Allsup, Andrew Eggleston and Hunter Kotchick. They started the podcast not knowing anything and quickly learned how the process worked. It started in August, and they do a ten- minute program that covers what has been and will be happening in the school. The students have also filmed some events like the fair and Veterans Day events. The podcast can be found on YouTube and Facebook.

Thank you so much for supporting Ft. Bayard National Cemetery for National Wreaths Across America Day in the past! This year, we still need 598 sponsorships to honor and remember all of the 4,890 veterans laid to rest there.

Our trucks are loading soon, and we need your help to fill them! To help us place veterans' wreaths on as many graves as possible, you can help in three ways:

By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a regular meeting November 14, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Trustees, Peter Erickson, Olga Amador and Ralph Trujillo attended. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza didn't attend.

Mayors report

Lopez said maintenance and Sheila Hudman, village administrator, had been busy preparing for the Tamal Fiesta. He wanted to recognize everyone in the office, for an award he received from the New Mexico State Auditor for the most improved audit. He congratulated them on the accomplishment. The street improvements have been continuing and they would be planting trees

By Lynn Janes

The town of Hurley held a regular meeting November 12, 2024. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Ed Stevens, councilors Nanette Day, Reynaldo Maynes, Keana Huerta and Pete Ordonez.

Public input

Ted Shinkle has owned a home in Hurley for 20 years and he came to give public comment regarding the license request from DRI Metals. "DRI Metals is a junk yard, and I think it is a very, very bad idea to have a junk yard at the entrance of our town." He felt people would not want a house behind the junk yard and it would devalue the property in town. Junk yards generate considerable hazardous material. He listed what he thought the hazardous waste would be oil, gas, antifreeze and battery acid. It would be dripping on the ground and would smell bad for years. He added that with old cars you have old tires and referred to the fire on Rosedale Road and the resources it took to put that fire out. "We want some cleaner and less offensive businesses, and a junk yard would make them less likely to come to Hurley. It will have a negative effect on the community for years to come." He urged the council at the very least to table the application until further study had been done.

By Lynn Janes

The town of Bayard held a regular meeting November 12, 2024. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Pro Tem Eloy Medina, councilors, Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales and Gilbert Ortiz. Martha Salas, city clerk, also attended.

Consent agenda

The council approved the consent agenda that included minutes, police department report, wastewater report, maintenance report, fire department report, library report and accounts payable. It also included training conferences for Robert Terrazas, wastewater supervisor and Hector Carrillo, police chief.

Old business

The newsletter update is taking a break until the calendar update on Sunday, due to upgrading it to have it work more efficiently for you readers and for staff posting it.

And you can always access the Beat and the news you expect by clicking on this link: www.grantcountybeat.com .

For all you readers out there, we will be posting items as they get written or come to us to post.

If you have extra time during the holiday, go exploring and look at items you don't usually check out, like all the various columns available on the Beat by clicking Columns in the menu, and then choosing the subcategory you wish to find out more about. 

Thank you for your patience and your faithful readership! We work for you and we appreciate every one of you!

{Editor's Note: This author photographer could not stay for the entire day of any of the three days, so the photos come from a few on Friday and the parts including and after the Grand Entry on Saturday and Sunday.

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy [Photos are in three separate shows, the few on Friday, then many more on Saturday and Sunday.]

The Red Paint Powwow and Indian Market, presented by the Chiricahua Apache Nation and the Red Paint Tribal Council, took place Nov. 15, 16, 17, 2024 at the WNMU Intramural Gym.

Friday was free admission and featured dancers showing students some of the traditional dances. Indian Market vendors began setting up the merchandise and food venues for visitors.