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Today's News

  • LETTER: Jackets were a bribe, not gifts

    This letter is in regards to the Optic’s May 15 article, “Spending in Mora Questioned.” It is an absolute embarrassment and disgrace that Mora school employees tastelessly attempted to bribe legislators and board members. While some call the purchases gifts of appreciation, others call it a bribe when it’s purchased with public funds.  The crux of the embarrassment is that our state representatives accepted wrongfully purchased leather jackets, beef jerky and empanadas. It’s cheap.  

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  • Residents seek strict turbine rules

    Dozens of Bernal-area residents showed up at this week’s County Commission meeting to seek tougher restrictions for wind farms.

    They are responding to an effort by Chicago-based Invenergy to put up wind turbines in their area.

    The company has yet to submit an application to the county, but it has signed a two-year option on more than 7,000 acres of state trust land atop the mesa for the turbines.

    Residents say they’re concerned about the unsightliness of the turbines, the noise and the effects on wildlife.

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  • West opposes two-lane Grand

    West Las Vegas is voicing its concern about the possibility of Grand Avenue becoming two lanes.  

    West Las Vegas school board Chairman Kenny Lujan said he, along with fellow board members, asked Superintendent Jim Abreu to draft a letter to Mayor Tony Marquez and the City Council declaring that the board is in favor of keeping Grand Avenue a four-lane street.

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  • Men face dog-fighting charges

    Two Las Vegas men are accused of arranging dog fights, and one dog owner reported that she came home to see her pet injured.

    Phil Juarez, 36, 1028 Railroad Ave., and Ramon Herrera, 23, Lakeside Trailer Court, Space 39, were arrested on charges of dog fighting and conspiracy.

    A state official says this is only the third criminal case involving dog-fighting since the law against the practice was enacted nearly three decades ago.

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  • Hail bombards Las Vegas

    Marble-sized hail bombarded Las Vegas for more than a half hour Wednesday afternoon. At least three inches of hail accumulated on city streets and sidewalks in New Town.  It's likely that gardens and farms have suffered severe damage as a result of the storm. As hail fell, leaves on trees could be seen going down as well. It piled up on the Plaza like a snowstorm.

    The city plowed local streets covered in hail.

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  • Luna expands tech, science programs

    Luna Community College is making a major expansion in its science, math, technology and engineering programs.

    The school is adding degree programs in alternative and sustainable energy, life science, physical science, mathematics, video game design and development, and general engineering. All of them have been approved by the college’s Board of Trustees and the state Higher Education Department.

    Officials say they have designed the programs to make them transferable to Highlands University and other four-year schools. The programs will start by the fall.

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  • A packed house on the west side

    Once upon a time, Robertson High School produced far more graduates than its crosstown rival, West Las Vegas High School.

    Those days are over.

    At Saturday’s graduation at West, 140 got their diplomas, well more than the 99 on the east side. Last year, both schools had 141 graduates, according to the state Department of Public Education.

    In 2001, the numbers were far different, with 105 graduates at West and 163 at Robertson.  As late as 2006, West only had 85 graduates, an all-time low in recent years.

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  • Graduate describes turnaround

    In 2006, it didn’t seem likely that Nicole Gutierrez would ever don a cap and gown. That’s by her own account.

    Speaking to Robertson High School graduates on Friday, the 19-year-old admitted that she didn’t care about education at all three years ago. She dropped out of school and went to Luna Community College to get her GED, but she quit that program, too.

    She said she was dealing with cops all the time. And she really didn’t care what others thought. To make ends meet, she worked at McDonald’s.

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  • Official questions holiday schedule

    West Las Vegas schools board member Kenny Lujan called a recent vote by the district’s 12-month employees “un-American” after a majority decided on a calendar that would exclude Veterans Day as a paid holiday.

    Lujan was the lone no vote on accepting the 2009 calendar at the board’s recent meeting, as members Christine Ludi, Gary Gold, Caroline Lopez and David Romero sided with the wishes of the administrative staff, which includes secretaries, maintenance, custodians and main office staff. 

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  • Group: City parks understaffed

    Las Vegas’ parks department is understaffed compared with other towns, which is unfair to city employees, the chairman of a local group said last week.

    “Las Vegas asks its parks people to do about 20 times the work that other cities ask,” John Spencer, the chairman of the Las Vegas Tree Board, told the City Council at its regular meeting. “These guys are great, but they aren’t superheroes.”

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The Las Vegas Optic is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in San Miguel County and Las Vegas, NM, and the surrounding area.