Front Page News

Article by Rebecca Reza, RadioTour Photos Courtesy of Velo Images/Brian Hodes for Tour of the Gila

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

Gough Park, in Silver City, hosted the 2024 Earth Day and Continental Divide Trail Days in an event on Saturday, April 20, 2024/

Vendors selling everything from tents to plants to trail food and shoes and informational booths filled Gough Park, and attendees of the event covered the park. too.

Photos by Paul Michaud of the start of Stage 1 of the 2024 Tour of the Gila.

By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a meeting April 11, 2024. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza and Trustees, Olga Amador, Peter Erickson, and Ralph Trujillo attended.

The council approved the department head reports after some spoke on the reports briefly. Larry Montoya, animal control officer and fire chief, went over the dogs and cats they had and the citations and warnings he had done. Montoya said he had been working with the fire department in Mexico on the donations. They had recently had an ISO (Insurance Service Office) inspection and dropped a point which will help the residents with their fire insurance rates. Angel Granadino, maintenance supervisor, said they had mostly been taking care of weeds and cutting trees. Lonnie Sandoval, police chief, said they had held back on citations due to not having a judge at this time and have just been more of a presence. They have had one arrest and have been dealing with burglary and criminal damage cases. Rosemary Arciero, code enforcement officer, said she had been busy with permits and had 12 citations. She also has been focused on vacant buildings and compliance.

Last Friday, the Defend EPLUS coalition showed up to help New Mexico's Game and Fish Commission members, who were meeting in Silver City, NM, understand the value of the Elk Private Land Use System. Briefly:

Lesli Allison, CEO of the Western Landowners Alliance, and other coalition leaders, addressed commissioners at a public meeting in Silver City.

• "Eliminating EPLUS and hurting landowners and their ability to care for the land will only accelerate the loss of our state's critical habitat," Allison told the commission.
• Speakers in favor of EPLUS outnumbered opponents 3 to 1.
• We introduced this new report that lays out the benefits of the Elk Private Land Use System for rural communities, economies and all wildlife in New Mexico.
• A full media release about the new report is included below.

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

Love Your Library Day took place on April 20, 2024 at the Silver City Public Library. Due to other events going on the same day, turnout was not what they usually expect. But families were there to choose free children's books and tables and tops of bookshelves had plenty of free adult books to choose from, too.

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

Western New Mexico University held its 57th running of the Great Race on Saturday, April 20, 2024.

The Alumni and Friends cart took off first for a ceremonial race around the race course. Then the competing teams including Advantage, Chi Alpha, Pour Decisions, Terranator and One Love took their turns taking off. 

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Town Council held a regular meeting April 9, 2024. Attendance to the meeting included Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano, Councilors Rudy Bencomo, Nicholas Prince, and Stan Snider. Mayor Ken Ladner joined the meeting by phone.

Council comments

Bencomo wished Ladner a speedy recovery.