Local News

Many rural residents want their roads paved, but those living on a forest road near Pecos apparently don’t.

The U.S. Forest Service had asked San Miguel County to accept Forest Road 223 as a county road. But a county road-viewing committee recommended against doing so, saying that the agency needed to obtain the proper easements from landowners and settle all issues involving the road.

Franchesca Hentsch and others want help from the government to improve their street, Don Gallegos Circle.

But there’s a problem: It’s a private road.

Hentsch said she and others are concerned with the ruts in the road, which can become a major problem in the winter. This situation is particularly problematic for a small nursing home on the street, she said.

Don Gallegos Circle is off of Eighth Street on the north side of town; dozens of houses are along the street.

Highlands University has the lowest tuition and fees of any four-year college in an 11-state region in the West, according to a study.

In the study, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education showed that Highlands’ tuition and fees for undergraduate residents was at $2,688 per year, far lower than other colleges in the region, which includes the dozens of colleges in California.

The next lowest was Metropolitan State College of Denver, which charges $3,241 in tuition and fees.

Students in Mike Boyle’s Introduction to Engineering class at Robertson High School are getting hands-on lessons.

This week, they’ve been working on a “puzzle cube” lesson in which they make parts to a cube. First, they must design the parts with a hand-drawn sketch, then do so on a computer.

“It’s supposed to assemble. Everyone has to do their own individual cube,” said freshman Dillon Martinez. The class is made up of students from every grade — from freshmen to seniors.