Today's News

This is a special statement from the National Weather Service:

SHARP TRANSITION TO WINTER COMING FOR THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT...

THE PROLONGED STRETCH OF UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER WILL COME TO A JARRING DEMISE THIS WEEKEND. TEMPERATURES WILL EASE DOWNWARD SLIGHTLY IN MORE LOCALES THAN NOT TODAY AND SATURDAY... BUT TEMPERATURES WILL REALLY CRASH SUNDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOCIATED ARCTIC COLD FRONT BARRELS THROUGH THE STATE.

HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY WILL BE BETWEEN 20 AND 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS PORTIONS OF COLFAX AND UNION COUNTIES... A RADICAL CHANGE FROM THE RECENT WARM WEATHER. IN FACT... SOME AREAS OF THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TO THE FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS WILL STAY BELOW FREEZING SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SUNDAY NIGHT WILL BE THE COLDEST SO FAR THIS SEASON... WITH MANY LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTHERN AND WEST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO BETWEEN 5 BELOW AND 5 ABOVE ZERO. STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL ALSO CREATE BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILL VALUES LATER SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

Scholastic books are for sale at The Family YMCA from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily, through Thursday. The public is welcome to come to the Y and shop. A variety of picture books to young adult novels are available.
Partial proceeds will benefit the Y’s annual campaign that supports scholarships for those needing financial assistance.

On Dec. 1, the Los Alamos High School NJROTC took 42 cadets to compete against 11 other schools from New Mexico and Colorado in the Area 9 West Drill, Academic and Fitness Championships.
They finished as follows:
First place: Academics, overall fitness, armed drill, 16x100 relay. Second place: Unarmed regulation drill, unarmed exhibition drill, color guard, personnel inspection, 8x220 relay.
Individual awards went to the following cadets: Academics, Felicity Kubic, first place; David Murphy, second place; Kyle Partin, fourth place. Boys push-ups: Jordi Kandarian, first place; John Gibson, fourth place.
Girls push-ups: Tessa Snyder, third place and Melissa Wysocki, fifth place. Boys sit-ups: Jordi Kandarian, second place; Diego Cardiel, third place; Rigel Baron, fourth place. Girls sit-ups: Gianna Maggiore, first place and Rachel Barthell, second place.
Kyle Partin took first place in the armed commander category; Richard Whittemore took first place in the individual drill dow; and Victoria Hypes took second place in the unarmed commander category
The NJROTC took first place overall at this competition and once again, for the fourth straight year, earned a spot to compete at the Regional Competition in Kansas City on Feb. 23.

Congressman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District highlighted $25 million in Race to the Top funds that New Mexico will receive to improve education in the state.
The grant from the Department of Education is part of the Early Learning Challenge that focuses on improving early learning and development programs for young children by supporting states’ efforts to:
• increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged children in each age group of infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are enrolled in high-quality early learning programs;
• design and implement an integrated system of high-quality early learning programs and services; and
• ensure that any use of assessments conforms with the recommendations of the National Research Council’s reports on early childhood.
“Education is the key to unlocking opportunities for our children and preparing them to be leaders in our community,” Luján said. 
“It is vital that New Mexico’s children get off to a strong start with a solid foundation, and these funds through the Race to the Top program will enable New Mexico to invest in early education that is a critical component to future success.”
New Mexico will receive the $25 million award over four years.