GRANTS, N.M. - The city council covered a great deal of information and made many decisions in their April 12, 2021 regular city council meeting, but the decision that stood out was the decision to end the City of Grants’ contract with former City Manager Laura Jaramillo.

Community members adding more decorated rocks to the “rock garden” located on Santa Fe Avenue, just a few feet away from the Route 66 Drive Thru Sign. The rock garden is part of a small initiative to spread positivity within the community and promote the town by encouraging tourists to grab a rock while they’re passing through. Project coordinator, Angel Duffett, encourages more people to paint and decorate some rocks and drop them off at the local garden. Kylie Garcia - CC

GRANTS, N.M. – City of Grants councilors approved one construction project and the design of another during the April 12 meeting. Compass Engineering was awarded construction of Phase Two of the Second Street Channel Project, which includes a new bridge into the Grants High School Performing Arts Center. Wilson & Company was awarded planning/design for a grading structure on the south side of the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge.

MILAN, N.M. – Village of Milan trustees and Wilson & Company staff discussed natatorium repairs, reviewed current projects, and considered future undertakings.

CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – Native Americans have treasured the Bluewater Valley area for centuries. Ancient tribes relied on the ecosystems that encompassed Bluewater and Cottonwood Creeks; these were the primary streams which flowed through the area. The influx of immigrants forever changed the land.

Starting plants from seed can be confusing. Too little water, and they dry and die. Too much, and suddenly, you are farming algae. Patience and attentiveness are required during this delicate phase of seedling growth, especially if some seeds are sprouting while others take their sweet time. Visit the blog version of this column at https: //nmsudesert-blooms.blogspot.com for more seed starting tips, and check out the recorded Ready, Set, GROW! gardening webinar “Indoor Seed Starting” with NMSU Bernalillo County Extension Program Manager Nissa Patterson at https://desertblooms.nmsu.edu/ready-set-grow.html.

The third Economic Impact Payment is different from the first and second payments in several ways. The third Economic Impact Payment is an advance payment of the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit.

CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. - The Grants City Charter is a blueprint outlining how the city can and should operate. The document is 32 pages long, filled with legal mumbo-jumbo that most people do not have the opportunity or desire to read and understand given the sheer length and complexity of the document. Today we are going to discuss Article One and all its subsections.

ln 1947-42 when my family moved to the Milan Ranch there was no school bus service for grade school, my brother and I walked to the highway and the High School bus picked us up. The bus was full, and we stood in the aisle looking at all these huge older students when a beautiful Japanese girl grabbed me by the hand and sat me on her lap, I gasped because I had seen newsreels of Japanese Americans being interned in camps. We had just moved from Gallup and the only Japanese person that we ever saw was Hershey Miyamura. Hershey was a very popular among his peers and was the center of attraction of teenagers laughing at the drugstore. Hershey joined the U.S. Service and became a hero during World War II, A memorial, a street, and a school are dedicated to Hershey in Gallup.