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Features

  •
    55th anniversary
  • Group creates unique quilt for...

    Submitted to the Optic

    Silver Threads has recently completed a one-of-a-kind quilt to be raffled at the People’s Fair in August as a fundraiser for Friends of Carnegie Library.
    For June and July the quilt will be displayed at Community First Bank, Bank of Las Vegas, State Employees Credit Union, the City of Las Vegas city hall, Thread Bear and Carnegie Library.

  •
    Rosita Gallegos turns 104

    Submitted to the Optic

    Rosita Gallegos, a native of Las Vegas for more than 70 years, celebrated her 104th birthday on Sunday, June 26.

    A party was held in her honor at Vida Encantada Nursing and Rehab Center where she resides.  More than 70 friends and family members gathered for the celebration. She was serenaded by Juan Ortega with the traditional birthday song, “Las Mañanitas,” as well as other Spanish songs. A luncheon buffet of Mexican food was served.

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    Romero tapped for award

    By Margaret McKinney
    Highlands University

    Ane Romero, a New Mexico Highlands University graduate and 2005 Miss New Mexico, recently was tapped for an Excellence in Federal Government Leadership Award for her work on suicide prevention and other mental health issues.

    The National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health made the award to Romero, a legislative aid for U.S. Rep. Grace Napolitano.

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    The gardens the sky forgot

    For the Optic

    Three weeks until hopeful monsoon. Three weeks until the heavens unleash what fury remains after crying over the Mississippi and Minot floodplains.

    What did Las Vegas do to deserve Mother Nature’s stony dry stare? Look around city streets and you see the crisp gold memory of grass, see old men run hand along rheumy eyes in a desperate attempt to fend off flying dust. Once lush backyards have taken on a gritty slumber; a lone catalpa offers tiny token leaves instead of its once imposing canopy.

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    Feasting at the Farmer’s Market

    For the Optic

    Two young boys pressed through the sleepy crowds of the Tri-County Farmer’s Market early one Saturday morning.

    They each carried a handmade loaf of whole grain bread, one long and braided, the other round, earthy, dotted with black and green olives.

    A young baker handed his olive loaf to a woman wearing faded overalls in exchange for a bag of freshly picked salad greens. The woman held the bread to her nose, inhaling its rich, warm aroma through the thin plastic wrap.

  • National Trails day on Sat.

    Submitted to the Optic

    On Saturday, June 4 the Santa Fe National Forest and the Santa Fe Chapter of the Back Country Horseman will host a wilderness trail clearing event in celebration of American Hiking Society’s 19th annual National Trails Day. The event will begin at the Aspen Ranch trailhead and will start June 4 and run until June 11.  

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    Bike Rodeo scheduled

    The 20th annual Kiwanis Bike Safety Rodeo is scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 11 at the Wilson Gym parking lot on the New Mexico Highlands University campus.  

    All children from ages five to 12 years are invited to participate.  The entry fee is $5 which includes a new bicycle helmet.    

    Participants with safe and legal helmets will be admitted for $1.  

  •
    Restaurants pledge support

    Submitted to the Optic

    The Landmark Grill, the El Fidel Restaurant, Mary Ann’s Famous Burrito Kitchen and the Travelers Cafe have applied and been accepted into the Farm to Restaurant project, a local program which networks area farmers  and ranchers with Las Vegas restaurants.

  •
    Final touches
  • The big 100
  • Memorial and drive-in open Saturday

    The water-logged images washed into our minds and refuse to recede. Jagged-hulled boats grounded upon a sea of mud and death. A shaggy dog hobbling through soaked slats of wood, the remnants of a hundred, a thousand homes.

    Women, men, wailing at the edge of a placid sea, the sea that stole their family, their history. The Japanese tsunami took the lives and possessions of more than ten thousand people, and the world opened its heart and hands to help.

  • CASA having unique fundraiser

    Submitted to the Optic

    The Fourth Judicial District Court Appointed Special Advocates Board of Directors is sponsoring a fundraiser called the “No Show Ball”.  

    The concept of the “No Show Ball” is that invitations are sent out to potential donors, and instead of spending money for fancy clothes and tickets, the invitees relax, stay home and make a generous contribution to CASA so that we can continue advocating for abused and neglected children who are living in foster care.

  • Store to have grand opening

    Submitted to the Optic

    Shoppers in Las Vegas have a new place to shop for everyday essentials.  

    Dollar General recently opened a new store at 1008 Mills Avenue and is hosting a grand opening celebration starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 7.

    At the grand opening event, customers will enjoy special deals and free prizes. The first 50 shoppers at the store will receive a $10 Dollar General gift card and the first 200 shoppers will receive a Dollar General tote bag, among other giveaways.

  •
    HU teams help beautify city

    By Margaret McKinney
    Highlands University

    The New Mexico Highlands University soccer and football teams turned out in force April 30 to paint warehouses on 12th Street as part of the third MainStreet de Las Vegas Façade Squad project.

    Cindy Collins, executive director for MainStreet, said the Façade Squad works to revitalize downtown commercial buildings to attract more local customers and visitors. The Façade Squad also works to preserve the history and culture of Las Vegas and build community pride.

  •
    SynergyFest 2011 on Saturday

  • Showers bring artistic flowers

    Imagine a bovine alien in your garden. His eyes don’t mimic almonds, his body doesn’t don the silver suit of a galactic wanderer.

    Rather, he stands on vertical hooves, his exposed trunk an expanse of weathered coil and spring.

    He is the nightmare of a thousand childhood sci-fi movies. He is the height of a gnome, the monster under your bed. His head carries the ragged antennae of a sideshow bull’s horns. He looks cute, terrifying, an oil-pitch sentry. He is the somehow living recycled hothouse buffalo man of Las Vegas sculptor Debbie Morse.

  • Native’s video gets attention

    Jim Terr loves Las Vegas and what makes Las Vegas unique:  our local independent merchants.  

    He produced a video, “Mama Don’t Send Me to the Big-Box Store,” which is receiving lots of notice: more than 5,900 references on Google, when you enter the title in quotes.

  •
    Beauty Queen
  • Here she is — Miss LV Teen

    Submitted to the Optic

    The Miss Las Vegas’ Outstanding Teen Pageant was held on Sunday March 27 at the West Las Vegas High School Cafeteria.  

    Kayla Gonzales was crowned Miss Las Vegas’ Outstanding Teen 2011 and Daniela Montoya was named first runner-up. After the pageant it was revealed that Gonzales would be ineligible to compete at the Miss New Mexico’s Outstanding Teen Pageant because she is a high school graduate.