Local News Releases

January 25, at 10:00 am, 3845 North Swan Street –  "Across a Field of Stars"

Former Silver City and Grant County Poet Laureate Elise Stuart will discuss her new book and will read from her new book of poetry "Across a Field of Stars."

One reviewer wrote of it: "Have you ever questioned what the purpose of life was? What happens after death? And if it all even matters? "Across A Field of Stars" by Elise Stuart takes you on a journey through nature and experience, exploring the beginning, middle, and end of this thing called life. Reading this collection feels like being taken on a long walk, at first through the open fields, then into the shadowed places we try not to look at, and finally back out into the light. Poems keep circling nature, not as scenery but as a kind of mentor. Trees, rivers, seasons as if they're always speaking, if we slow down enough to listen."

Stuart's son provided the cover photo, a picture of stars in the sky above San Juan Island, WA.

Elise Stuart became Poet Laureate of Grant County in 2014. She had a vision of young people bringing their poetry into the world and so began offering poetry workshops. She gave nearly 100 workshops at schools around the area for the next three years.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

The regular monthly board meeting of the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District will be held Monday, January 26, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the conference room of the Natural Resources Conservation Service/Grant SWCD office located at 3082 32nd Street Bypass, Suite C, Silver City, NM. To request a copy of the agenda or for more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The meeting is open to the public

Gila Back Country Horsemen (Gila BCH) organizes volunteer trail projects in the Gila National Forest and Gila Wilderness. 

View our Spring 2026 trail project schedule details and RSVP: https://www.gilatrailsinfo.org/trail-projects 

Trail projects include: 

CDT – multiple locations

East Railroad Trail #130

Ring Canyon Trail #162

McKnight Canyon Trail #92

Clear Creek Trail #165

David Van Auker, January's Lunch & Learn speaker.By Marla McDonald, WILL Communications Chair

January 21, 2026 – Noon to 1 p.m. 

The Auditorium of the WNMU Besse-Forward Global Resource Center (the corner of 12th and Kentucky Streets)

We'd been in Silver a few months when I first heard about it.  Someone said something about Manzanita Ridge adding "you know the place where they found the de Kooning…"  "What are you talking about?" I asked.  "You don't know about the stolen painting that was found here in Silver?  Why it was the biggest thing to happen here since Billy the Kid!"  No, I hadn't heard about it.  "Watch The Thief Collector.  You'll be gob-smacked!"  We were.

Come hear David Van Auker, owner of Manzanita Ridge, tell the story… how they found the paintings, what happened when they realized what they had, how the movie came about, what the movie left out, and how this experience changed his life.  He promises to answer all the questions that the movie raises, and tell us about what has happened since. 

David will be joined by Lou Schachter. Lou is a storyteller who explores the intersection of true crime and travel.  He grew up in New York and lived in Los Angeles for most of his adult life before retiring from a corporate career in 2020 and relocating to Palm Springs. He posts his stories at http://truecrimeroadtrip.com .  Lou will be talking about the other paintings stolen by Rita and Jerry, Specifically the two stolen from the Harwood museum in Taos and their subsequent recovery.

Friday, February 6

Midwife w/ Amulets 

Metal/ Experimental

Doors: 6pm • $15/adv • $20/door 

Madeline Johnston is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer, currently based in Southern Colorado by way of Denver, where she spent the last decade developing her sound and focusing on her artistic community. Midwife began while Madeline was a resident of the beloved DIY space Rhinoceropolis in 2014. On stage, Johnston is known for her sparse, emotionally charged experimental pop music that can silence a room. On record, she produces intricate and lush sonic environments in her own little corner of the heavy music scene. She describes her sound as "Heaven Metal," AKA emotional music about devastation. Johnston writes primarily about grief, and the many faces it can inhabit.

Topic: TheActrix Studio LLC

Wendy Spurgeon is the Founder and Creative Director of TheActrix Studio LLC, a Silver City–based youth and family arts organization dedicated to cultivating confidence, emotional intelligence, and belonging through drama, storytelling, and wisdom-based coaching. 

With over 20 years of experience in theatre arts, integrative coaching, and trauma-informed facilitation, Wendy weaves performance and personal growth into transformative programs for children, teens, and families. Since opening in January 2024, TheActrix Studio has offered school break drama camps, after-school programs, weekend workshops, and 1:1 Wisdom Coaching, creating spaces where young people are seen, heard, and empowered to step into their fullest selves.

Our Taco plate fundraiser will be on January 16th at the Cobre HS cafeteria from 10 am to 5 pm delivery is available with larger orders. 

All funds raised will go to support our team this season with snacks, equipment, recognition awards , state championship rings as well as any other needs that our lifters may have thru the season. 

Our 3rd annual Cobre Strong powerlifting meet at the Cobre Stronghold will be January 24th 

Bars will be loaded and lifting starting at 9am. There will be over 200 lifters from across the state one of those lifters is our very own 2 time state champion and New Mexico record holder in her weight class Madi Tellez and her sights on winning a 3rd state title this April at the state meet in Rio Rancho.

The second public meeting for the 2026 update of the Grant County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) will be held January 22nd at 6:00 PM at the Grant County Administration Building in the Commissioners Meeting Room. The public will also have the option of attending the meeting virtually. The focus of the meeting will be on wildfire risk assessment. More information and the virtual link to the meeting can be found in the attached public meeting notice. See below