GRANTS, N.M. – Shop with a Cop is an event where underprivileged students in Cibola are given money to go holiday shopping. The students are accompanied by a law enforcement officer who will help them keep track of the money they have to spend and help them to reach items at the store.

SAN RAFAEL, N.M. - According to Novella Crowther, students at San Rafael Elementary have upheld the tradition of caroling as long as many can remember. She said that the students used to ride on a fire truck through the streets of San Rafael while caroling in previous years. The chief who used to do this passed away a few months ago. That meant that this year, students would make a return to walking through the streets in order to uphold the tradition. The students were led by San Rafael Elementary staff and had Cibola County Sheriff’s Deputies following along with their group to make sure students were safe during their walk to carol door to door through the neighborhoods of San Rafael. Animal Control also patrolled the streets before and during this time to ensure that the students would be able to spread holiday cheer without interruption from stray animals along the way. Several classes of students were in attendance and sang several classic songs for the people who came out of their homes to hear them.

GRANTS N.M. – At the regular commission meeting on December 15, the Board of Commissioners witnessed as the Honorable Amanda Villalobos swore in the newly elected officials. The first to be sworn in was Probate Judge Marie Garcia, followed by County Commissioner Ralph Lucero, Assessor Dolores Vallejos, County Commissioner Christine Lowery, Sheriff Larry Diaz, Magistrate Judge Tony Mace, and Magistrate Judge Johnny Valdez. Sheriff Diaz then continued on to swear in the deputies and staff of the Sheriff’s office. All of them were congratulated and thanked for the service that they provide for the community. Following this came three presentations. The first of them was to recognize Cibola County’s COVID-19 Task Force for winning the 2022 Community Stars award in New Mexico. The members that could make it were brought up before the Commissioners, recognized for their efforts, and thanked for their service to the community. The second presentation was done by Julie Halbig on behalf of New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority to discuss the Affordable Housing Act. The Affordable Housing Act was created by the state legislature and was made with flexibility to help work around obstacles such as the antidonation clause. This presentation went through a few of the projects they are currently working on as an example and went into other examples of the lack of affordable housing in Cibola County. With the Affordable Housing Act, the goal is to bring balance to the market by increasing the number of available homes as well as reducing costs. They believe that the more that everyone regionally involved can work together, the more successful the project will be. The third and final presentation was the Managers Report done by Kate Fletcher. She gave a brief overview of the costs and budget related to continuing to work with the Solid Waste Authority as well as other organizations.

MILAN, N.M. – The Village of Milan swimming pool has a new winter schedule and is open for business Tuesday through Saturday. Some local residents may have been concerned about the pool roof and structural problems identified last year, but Milan Parks and Recreation Director Leanna Tipton stated that the roof is scheduled to be replaced in March of 2023. “The biggest challenge the pool faces is attendance,” Tipton said. “I would like community feedback to see if opening on Sunday and maybe closing it one day during the week would help.”

GRANTS, N.M. – At the Regular School Board Meeting on December 6, Superintendent Max Perez gave a recap on 24/7, a program presented before the Board in a previous meeting to change the current policies on smoking and vape products in district schools. This change would ban the use and distribution of these products at all times on all of the district's school property. The Board members and Superintendent were all supplied with a guide to reference in the change of their current policies at the last meeting. Superintendent Perez stated that more information about possible changes will be looked at in the next meeting.

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GRANTS, N.M. – The December 10 Holiday Light Parade was a roaring success with 500-1,000 attendees and twenty float entries.