Active wildfire in the Florida Mountains south of #DemingNM moving slowly. BLM is in charge of the response, since it is on federal land. Lightning is believed to be the cause. https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/07/17/floridas-wildfire-moving-slowly-fire-crews-monitoring/

#NewMexico #wildfires #LunaCounty #FloridaMountains

P.S. Here is one of those stories.

“…you are talking about things that are so far over our heads,” (County Manager) Brice said while struggling to conclude his presentation, as a resident stood and yelled at the commissioners about federal immigration policy: “This is on you! You have blood on your hands!”

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/05/18/interruptions-slow-luna-county-commissioners/

#publicmeetings #journalism #LunaCounty #NewMexico #DemingHeadlight

In #Deming and #LunaCounty, these two local governments have been struggling to find ways to allow public input without the meetings becoming a circus.

Public comments can sometimes bring a lot of entertainment and some spectacle to a dry municipal meeting, but they decided there needed to be limits.

Deming got rid of public comments altogether -- but began holding monthly "town hall" meetings to let folks ask questions and comment at length. 1/2

#publicmeetings #civics #localgovt

The mayor of #ColumbusNM reported missing. #LunaCounty sheriff seeks tips after mayor apparently entered #Mexico at #Palomas on April 4, having announced he would be on vacation for a week in the midst of a financial emergency at the village. He was expected back at town hall Monday, but has not been seen since he left and isn’t answering phone calls or emails. https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/04/11/columbus-mayor-esequiel-salas-reported-missing/

In #LunaCounty #NewMexico commissioners will consider reviving a dormant citizens' planning commission. This is something several citizens and a newly elected commission have been calling for.

Interestingly, they also agreed to the county manager's request to release eight RVs the governor donated for #ColumbusNM, for which the county had served as fiscal agent. (More…)

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/04/07/luna-county-commissioners-consider-reviving-planning-commission/

The talk was mostly about infrastructure investments, with politics in a competitive congressional district as a backdrop, as "Secretary Pete" drove home the message that the Biden Administration is investing big in rural America.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/04/05/buttigieg-highlights-infrastructure-deming-visit/

#Infrastructure #newmexico #buttigieg #lunacounty

A broadband project announced yesterday involves installing 49 miles of fiber optic in #LunaCounty #NewMexico, bringing service to #ColumbusNM and remote areas south of #DemingNM.

822 locations sounds like a modest number but it belies the geographic scope of the undertaking, mostly covered with federal #COVID19 money and some matching money by the provider.

And they say they'll have it done in a year, which is bold.

Story from #DemingHeadlight:

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/04/01/rural-broadband-project-will-connect-columbus-luna-county/

#FTTP #broadband

Surprised by how little I heard about the #poppies this year. I'm told they came as early as December, and can still be found around Rockhound and Spring Canyon state parks in #LunaCounty #NewMexico.

When the winter precipitation is at just the right volume and timing, we get gorgeous displays of poppies in our desert. Other years, hardly any. But during March and April the show rolls up and the waves of color recede.

It’s not impossible we see the state take control of the village’s finances, as happened a decade ago in #SunlandPark. If governance can’t be established, it’s not impossible Columbus ends up under #LunaCounty governance as an unincorporated community.

For now, I wonder if the village will meet its next payroll; and what happens if it does not.

Since 2019, the Deming Silver Linings resource center has been assisting unhoused people in the community.

They've been championing the conversion of an unused motel into transitional housing for years, and #NewMexico is kicking in money to help make that happen.

Meanwhile, their work, a block away from downtown, continues.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/01/20/silver-linings-cheers-plans-transitional-housing/

#housing #homelessness #DemingNM #LunaCounty #DemingHeadlight

Today's #DemingHeadlight: A visit to the Silver Linings resource center for the unhoused; new #LunaCounty board postpones action on a #solar project; #DemingNM Wildcat basketball; Deming SkillsUSA student leaders speak; former Sen. John Arthur Smith (and others) adjusting to life after Legislature; and more.
#NewMexico #localnews #newspapers

A story about a retiring local magistrate judge. He liked town, met a girl, settled down with a police job. He just retired after 16 years on the bench.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/01/13/we-have-to-have-a-heart/

#DemingNM #LunaCounty #NewMexico

The city of #DemingNM saw a big jump in the price of natural gas which it purchases from the San Juan Basin. Customers saw a 73 percent increase in their heating and cooking bills. Now the city is kicking $20 to each customer as a rebate.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2023/01/09/city-estimates-natural-gas-rebates-cost-380k/

#energy #naturalgas #NewMexico #LunaCounty

Was at a New Year's Eve party when someone among a group of accused kidnappers I recently reported about showed up at the party. She was cheerful as could be even after we were rather awkwardly introduced. (Asking for an interview felt like bad taste so I refrained.) #JournalismEthics

That was the most exciting part of NYE other than going to sleep with the sound of fireworks and gunfire (people firing in the air). (Welcome to #LunaCounty)

Speir Family Farms won awards at this fall's statewide #chile taste-off, and the New Mexico Chile Association rated #LunaCounty the state's top-quality producer. I paid a visit to Speir's farm last Friday, a few days after the last reds had been harvested and the family was ready for a break before getting ready for 2023's harvest.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/demingheadlight/news/2022/12/30/luna-county-claims-top-honors-new-mexico-chile?fbclid=IwAR1aGWMS1jL3BI7IEjlL0rLvptoTHozKa5Fs8XPHrWFS3HEiaHcWLk7smtU

#agriculture #NewMexico #chilepeppers #DemingNM #DemingHeadlight

In today’s #DemingHeadlight: Speir Family Farms and other #LunaCounty #chile growers had a banner year for quality, if not quantity; charges brought in 2021 kidnapping case; #DemingNM Wildcats arrive at the Las Cruces Hoopla; why your internet is so damn slow; and more.

#newspapers #NewMexico #localnews

Saddlehawk Ranch in #DemingNM has set up a nonprofit aiming to teach leadership through horsemanship.

I paid a visit, filed some photos and wrote this story:

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2022/12/27/saddlehawk-ranch-teaching-leadership-horsemanship/

#LunaCounty #NewMexico #DemingHeadlight #LocalNews #livestock

School resource officers, to use the popular term for law enforcement officers assigned to schools, remain popular among many parents and elected school boards.

New Mexico 6th District Attorney Michael Renteria is seeking grant funding to place more SROs at schools across Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2022/12/26/focus-security-final-deming-school-board-meeting-2022/

#DemingNM #DemingPublicSchools #LunaCounty #NewMexico #lawenforcement #CopsInSchools

Solar developers are coming to rural #LunaCounty, #NewMexico. A former county planner poses questions for developers and suggests a comprehensive #RenewableEnergy plan with ample public input.

The second of at least three essays written by a resident of the Florida Mountains who supports #solar energy yet thinks planning has fallen behind the pace of special permit requests and financing for new projects in a county that sits on the path of a new transmission line.

https://www.demingheadlight.com/2022/12/26/hard-questions-solar-developers-luna-county/

Today's edition of the #DemingHeadlight: Hard questions for #solar developers; Wildcat football post-season honors; progress on the city's inflatable water park; SaddleHawk Ranch founds nonprofit center for equine education; an update on hospitals under the tripledemic; winners of our inaugural Headlight-Solitaire Homes Christmas coloring contest; and more...

#LunaCounty #NewMexico #newspapers #localnews #horses