MILAN, N.M. – The Village of Milan Police Department recently discovered a missing Texas woman in Cibola County. After speaking with the woman, they determined that she had left Texas on her volition due to family arguments, and was not in danger. In the State of New Mexico, going missing is not a crime, and MPD did not have cause to hold her or send her back. Near the end of August, around 3:30 p.m., Cibola Regional Dispatch informed MPD that a woman was having mental problems on West Street. Milan Police Department has made significant strides over the past several months to increase their positive response to mental health crises, by adding chaplain assistance and phone call programs to help residents understand that they are not alone in struggling with mental health. Sergeant Joe Galindo arrived on West Street, finding the woman dressed in a pink sweater and black sweatpants. The woman was crying and visibly upset. After a short conversation, the sergeant learned the woman’s name was Lucy Rivas.

MILAN, N.M. – Albuquerque, New Mexico, woman Lupe Sanchez has been arrested after allegedly sending a handwritten letter with drugs inside to the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, N.M.

Drought conditions in Cibola continue to improve through August thanks to significant rainfall across the county. August saw an increase in rainfall, with 1.01 inches more than average.

As the cold air approaches, the Cibola National Forest staff remind Cibola County residents that firewood is for sale. While collecting firewood in the Cibola National Forest, remember to be courteous of the forest and be safe when harvesting wood. All information in this story comes from updated tree harvesting guidance released by the US Forest Service, and a press release from the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands Superintendent’s Office. In the Mt. Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, those looking for firewood can get their permits from the district office located at 1800 Lobo Canyon Road in Grants, N.M. Firewood permits will be available until December 15. Firewood collection permits in the Mt. Taylor Ranger District are $2 per cord of wood. A standard cord of wood is four feet wide, four feet tall, and eight feet long. There is a 10-cord minimum/maximum of $20.

“Those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it.” This often-repeated axiom certainly seems to apply to the events examined in this book. In an article that appeared in the Cibola Citizen last month, conditions at a local correction center seemed to describe those leading up to the prison riot of over thirty years ago. The complaintant alleges that both Cibola County Corrections Center and the medical ICE field hospital in El Paso failed to provide medical care, as well as violating his rights to due process. He had a broken ankle which was untreated for several days, as well as being refused a wheel chair or pain killers.

When Edith Iwan asked me to cover an article for her about the carrots grown in the area, I told her I was the wrong generation. I had heard stories and seen the mural on the Milan government building. So, I figured I would ask my parents, Eddie and Pat Roberts, what they remembered about those days in the history of carrot fields. Salvador Milan was credited in 1946 with converting his sheep farm into a truck farm and the Carrot Capital was born. Grants shipped out over a thousand train cars full of carrots, peas, lettuce, etc. over the growing and harvesting season! The volcanic soil was rich for growing vegetables. The train that came to Grants helped with several industries in the area such as logging and the feldspar mines. But then those industries faded in the 1920 and 1930s. Bluewater dam was built and the agriculture industry became interested in the area. But the carrot fields used wells about 600 feet deep for a more reliable source of water than the water in the lake that relied on snowfall. My dad remembers coming in the mid-1940s to visit relatives, when the fields were being leveled and plowed causing some dust to blow into Grants. He talks about the migrant workers that came to the area and the many different and diverse ethnicities of the people that followed the farming needs and harvesting. The workers were only here for a few weeks and they camped along the foothills of the Zuni Mountains that flanked the fields. Their small fires for cooking and gathering could be seen during dusk and night. These workers also had a commissary to buy food and necessities that was on the land owned by the owners of the carrot industries. The workers bought on credit and their earnings were paid to the commissary first and the rest went home. So, the population of Grants would swell for a few weeks while the migrant workers were here until they moved to the next harvest in another town.

Writing a will may not be a top priority for you, but ensuring you have one can save a lot of headache in the future. A will is a legal document that states how your affairs will be handled after you die.

MILAN, N.M. – During the nighttime and into the early morning of September 16, Ortega’s Propane in the Village of Milan was robbed.