Mundo Carrillo, managing editor for Alamogordo News, has the top stories from Alamogordo and Otero County.
Scott Brocato:
Let's start with an update on the screwworm cases that have been popping up there.
Mundo Carrillo:
So last week I told you guys about screwworm, and unfortunately it's gotten a little worse, right? It's continuing to spread through Southwest New Mexico and the cases just kind of keep going up exponentially. In fact, in November, we've had more cases just in the first ten days of November than we had all the rest of the year. So it's really starting to become kind of an issue we should keep our eyes on.
Now with that said, the state is recommending that people check their pets for screwworm and take them to the veterinarian because that's bad news for your pet. But also, let's say, Scott, that you hop in your car with your dog. You're traveling from Alamogordo to Santa Fe. Well, if your pet's infected, guess what? You're bringing that up to, you know, northern New Mexico or somewhere outside of the infected zone. And that's what they don't want to happen. So not only is screwworm getting worse, but we want to keep your pets checked as well, make sure they're not infected.
Scott Brocato:
Let's move on to a flood emergency that's occurred at Bonito Lake.
Mundo Carrillo:
Yes, so Bonito Lake is the reservoir that Alamogordo uses for its water. However, it's up here by Rudoso in a very popular recreation area. Now, the city of Alamogordo has declared a state of emergency due to the flooding damage that has occurred. Now, I don't want anyone to panic or anything; this just means that they get more money to fix what they need to fix. There was talk of closing it though from the city commission. They have kind of stalled that vote and because of damage and safety concerns and things like that. But in the meantime, it's still open, for fishing and things like that. But they just want to, I guess, address some safety concerns, some infrastructure concerns there at the city's reservoir.
Scott Brocato:
And finally, let's talk about the Sunspot Observatory. That has been closed, but the community is still rallying to try to keep it open or try to save it.
Mundo Carrillo:
Yeah, it's been closed because of a mercury leak in the telescope. And they, I think, want to close it permanently. They want to, in fact, demolish the grounds that it's on, just completely start over. And people in the community, of course, don't want that. They want to save it. And so there's been a lot of community support. In fact, the local governments, the city commission, the county commission, they've all taken up resolutions to save it.
A resolution, unfortunately, Scott, doesn't do a whole lot, but it just shows the National Science Foundation who runs the telescope or the observatory that, hey, the locals, they want this and they want to keep it. So no word on whether, you know, what's going to, what its future is just yet, but we do know the community wants to keep it around.
Scott Brocato:
All right, and where can folks read about that story and more?
Mundo Carrillo:
Alamogordonews.com