Nick Seibel, editor and publisher of the Silver City Daily Press, covers top stories each week in the Silver City Report. New World screwworm infests a horse in Grant County, a stabbing and a shooting happen on Corbin Street and Cobre Consolidated has a land leasing issue.
Susan Morée:
Nick, there's been a lot going on in Grant County recently. Let's start with the New World screwworm. What's going on?
Nick Seibel:
Yeah, of course. The second case of the New World screwworm reported in New Mexico was found in a horse in Mimbres late last week.
Susan Morée:
How's the horse doing?
Nick Seibel:
They don't really give us much details on the animal themselves, but it sparks, of course, a bunch of quarantine measures that kick in when the screwworm is found. So that's really sort of thrown some people off because, of course, this week is the Grant County Fair and about half of Grant County is sort of under precautions for the screwworm, so there was some concern there that that would affect the fair, but the Cooperative Extension Service is working together with the state and the fair boards. As animals get moved to the fairgrounds, they get inspected anyway, so they're just sort of adding that screwworm inspection to the inspections that the kids' animals get as they come to the fairgrounds this week. But yeah, inconvenient timing there, certainly, and officially within that zone around where the case was uncovered, you're prohibited from bringing warm-blooded animals into or out of that zone without getting permission from the state there, which includes pets. We had an opportunity to talk to a veterinarian in Silver City about treatment options for small animals and basically just advising people to keep an eye on their animals, make sure that if they have any open wounds that they're covered up. Just so the fly that basically lays the eggs, that the screwworm is the larvae of don't have a chance to do their business on your animal and spread that infestation any further.
Susan Morée:
Okay. And there was both a shooting and a stabbing on Corbin Street. What's going on there?
Nick Seibel:
Yeah, it's a rough week for the 200 block of South Corbin Street. The Silver City Police Department basically called on the public in both cases and in both cases made arrests. A week ago Sunday, police responded to the Snappy [Mart] around the corner of Broadway and Hudson Street where an 18-year-old woman had been stabbed in the chest. She'd been brought to the Snappy [Mart] from the 200 block of South Corbin Street where that stabbing took place. And police made an arrest early Wednesday, last Wednesday morning. In that case, that man, of course, being held in jail. And then there was a shooting that took place late last week, also in the same block. And after a search, police made an arrest there as well. So definitely a rough week up on the south end of Brewer Hill last week.
Susan Morée:
And Cobre Consolidated is having some leasing problems. Tell us what's going on there.
Nick Seibel:
Yeah, that's been an interesting one. So Cobre High School has a golf course, a small golf course that they operate. Basically, they have a golf team at the high school, but it's open to the community as well, and there's maintenance costs associated with that. So the school district has been talking with the City of Bayard about leasing that to the city and having the city maintain it for public use. Everyone seems on board with that, although they haven't officially signed the lease. The superintendent, however, prepared a proposed lease for that, which she based on another ball field adjacent to Bayard Elementary that the city of Bayard already leases from the school district. They signed a 100-year lease just a couple of years ago on that field. As part of that process, one of the school board members said, 'Hey, have the attorney look this over, will you?' The attorney looked it over and said, 'Oh, you got to have the state's permission in order to lease school district property.' And the state is basically not going to sign off on anything longer than five years. So since that lease with the city of Bayard on the ball field was never reviewed or approved by the state, basically it's null and void, and they've got to go through that process all over again. At the same time, look at doing the same thing with that golf course property. So sort of looking to take a step forward and ended up taking a couple of steps back out there in the Cobre School District.
Susan Morée:
And where can readers find these stories, Nick?
Nick Seibel:
You can find this and more at scdailypress.com.
Susan Morée:
Thanks so much.
Nick Seibel:
Have a great one.
