Duck Race Grand Marshals Interviewed
Contact:  Dave Johnson 575 694-4873           
    
(Deming)--This year's Grand Marshals for the 33rd Annual Comcast Tournament
of Duck Parade are local businesswomen -- and sisters -- Tamara Hurt and
Candie Sweetser.
  Hurt  opened her certified public accounting office in downtown Deming in
1989 and has been a duck race sponsor every year since.  Hurt also was the
tabulator quacker for the races in 1991 and 1992.   Hurt said the thing she enjoys most about the duck races is watching children
as they hold a duck for the first time.  "It is delightful to see the kids' eyes light up as they are shown the proper way to hold a duck and then carry the duck to the starting line.  It's so cute when they talk to their duck and coach their new feathered friend on the best racing strategy."
  Candie Sweetser has managed Luna County Broadcasting, and radio stations KDEM-FM and KOTS-AM, since 1990.  The stations also have a long history of  sponsoring the duck races, and even used to broadcast interesting facts  about the races which she
called "Mallard Minutes."  You can still hear hourly duck race schedule updates throughout the weekend on both KDEM and
KOTS.
  Sweetser believes the races are good for Deming  because they are just plain fun.  "Where else can you see waddling  ducks, people waddling like ducks, racing outhouses, tossed tortillas and  more -- all in one weekend?"    The Comcast Tournament of Ducks
Parade will be Saturday, August 25th beginning at 10 am.  Entry Forms  for the parade are availalble on line at demingduckrace.com, or at  Southwestern NM On-Line at 202 S. Diamond.
   The Great American  Duck Race, which this year celebrates New Mexico's 100 years, is sponsored  in part by Luna Energy Facility, and has been designated as an Official  Centennial Event.

Another Arrested in Prescription Fraud
 
(Deming) -- A  second person has been arrested in a local prescription fraud
investigation. 31-year-old Brooke Jacobson was arrested Wednesday for forgery in the issuing or transferring of a prescription and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. Deming Police Chief Michael Carillo said Jacobson's arrest resulted from the follow-up investigation into medical assistant Jafet "Jay" Vallejo's arrest two weeks ago. Vallejo also was arrested on charges of forgery and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance after being accused of taking a forged prescription for 100 tablets of Adderall -- a brand-name psychostimulant medication considered to have high abuse potential -- to the Wal-Mart pharmacy. The pharmacist flagged the prescription after Vallejo asked if the dosage could be raised.  The pharmacist confirmed with Dr. George Williams -- for whom Vallejo worked at the time -- that the prescription was forged and notified the Deming Police Department. Jacobson's forged prescription also was for Adderall.

(Deming) -- A Bell  Elementary  School teacher has been awarded the Grand Prize in a "We Are Teachers" national  competition aimed at incorporating technology in the classroom.
   Fourth grade math and science  teacher Aaron Rogers submitted a contest entry application to Troxell Communications in Phoenix explaining how he would use the company's communications tools in teaching a lesson on the area and perimeter of a  rectangle to his fourth graders.
   Rogers' submission landed him  in the top ten of social media vote-getters for the contest... and ultimately  was chosen as the Grand Prize by Troxell officials.
   Rogers said his classroom will  be getting a document camera... new audio equipment... a projector system that  turns a digital projector into a smart board using a stylus instead of a  marker... and a student-response system allowing for immediate feedback on  questions posed to his students.
   Troxell officials have already  visited Rogers' classroom to visualize the space before the equipment is  delivered this summer.
   Rogers, who is completing his  third year at Bell School, said Troxell is paying for the equipment, its  installation and his training.

(Deming) -- Luna County officials are accepting letters of interest to serve on the Library Board and the Advisory Board to the Healing House domestic violence shelter.
Anyone interested in serving as  the county's representative to the Library Board should submit a letter of  interest by next Thursday, May 31st. The appointment is for a three-year  term.  Anyone interested in  serving on  the Healing House advisory board should submit a letter of interest by next  Friday, June 1st.
The board offers guidance to  the Healing House staff in their mission to provide comprehensive support and  intervention services to person affected by domestic violence. The Healing House  also offers emergency shelter and provides protection order advocacy,  counseling, immigration advocacy and education.
Letters of interest for either  board should be sent to Glory Johnson, Assistant to the Luna County Manager, at  700 South Silver Avenue, Deming, 88030. They also may be hand-delivered to the  manager's office in the Luna County Courthouse.

(Deming) -- Deming Public  Schools held its first-ever Elementary Career Day Monday at the Mimbres Valley  Learning and Special Events Center.
School Superintendent Harvielee  Moore said the event was the idea of a fourth-grader last year who wrote to  Moore suggesting it would be a good idea for fifth graders to participate in a  career day to begin learning about career options and what skills and education  levels were needed for each.
The student, Andres Reyes, chaired a steering committee convened by Moore which was comprised of a  fifth-grade boy and girl from each elementary school. The students represented  the 484 fifth graders in the district.
Moore said the students planned  the event, named the careers they were interested in learning more  about, and  agreed that each school would prepare career collages as part of their studies  in the classroom.
The committee members also  designed a tee-shirt which each of the fifth-graders in the district wore to the  event. The shirt slogan said: "Fifth Grade, the Future" on the front... and "The  future is near..." with a Charlie Wildcat wearing a graduation cap and leaning  on the words "Wildcats 2019" on the back.
Career presenters included the Southern Area Health Education Center... DeLaney and Hernandez, Attorneys at Law... High Desert Veterinary Clinic... Deming Police Department... McReynolds Family Chiropractic... Deming Fire Department... Rick Holdridge with the New  Mexico Space Port Authority... Mark Vasconcellos, Move Production... and Mary  Anderson and the Skills U-S-A students.

(Deming) -- A local medical assistant has been charged with forging a prescription for a controlled  narcotic  using the name of the doctor for whom he worked.
34 year old Jafet "Jay" Vallejo  was arrested on charges of forgery and fraudulently obtaining a controlled  substance.
Vallejo, an assistant to Doctor  George Williams, is accused of taking a forged prescription for 100 tablets of  Adderall, a brand-name pyschostimulant medication considered to have high  abuse potential, to the Wal-Mart pharmacy.
The pharmacist flagged the prescription after Vallejo asked if the dosage could be raised.  The pharmacist confirmed with  Dr. Williams that the prescription was forged and notified the Deming Police Department. Vallejo invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Chief Michael Carillo said both  charges are fourth-degree felonies.

(Deming) -- Here's the area crime report:
Bradley Brown, age 31 was arrested on two Luna County Magistrate court
warrants – one for failure to pay fines, and the second for failure to
appear.   Anthony Banegas, age 22 of Las Cruces was arrested on a Dona Ana County warrant for Failure to Pay  Fines.  Gordon Garland, age 37 was
  arrested on a Luna County Magistrate court warrant for failure to appear.  Juan Carbaja, age 28 was arrested for receiving stolen property and on a 6th Judicial District Court warrant for contempt of court… and Gerardo Torres, age 41 was arrested for driving while license suspended or revoked ... Gordon Garland, age 37, was arrested on a Magistrate warrant for failure to appear... Anthony Banegas, age 22, of Las Cruces, was arrested on a Dona Ana County warrant for failure to pay fines... and a 17-year-old boy was detained for battery on a household member and false imprisonment. And in other news... a vehicle parked off East Florida
sustained 500-dollars in criminal damage after it was spray-painted.

(Deming) -- Here's the area crime report:
Juan Carbajal, age 28, was arrested for receiving stolen property and  on a District Court warrant for contempt of court... Gerardo Torres, age 41, was  arrested for driving while license was suspended or revoked... Gordon Garland,  age 37, was arrested on a Magistrate warrant for failure to appear... Anthony  Banegas, age 22, of Las Cruces, was arrested on a Dona Ana County
warrant for  failure to pay fines... and a 17-year-old boy was detained for battery on a  household member and false imprisonment. And in other news... a vehicle  parked off East Florida sustained 500-dollars in criminal damage after it was  spray-painted.

Thieves Caught Taking Sign Batteries 
(Deming) -- Two Deming men were  caught taking batteries from lighted traffic signs off the Silver City Highway,  and one of the men was still recovering from a gunshot wound he sustained in a  residential break-in.
Thirty-year-old Abelardo Contreras and 32-year-old Justin Hull were stopped by Luna County Sheriff's  Department deputies Tuesday after they were seen by witnesses taking four batteries and cable from traffic signs off Highway 180 near milemarker 162. Contreras was arrested on charges of larceny and causing criminal damage to property.  Hull is facing a charge of  conspiracy to commit larceny, but was not immediately arrested because he is still recovering from gunshot wounds to his stomach and right leg he received in  February after breaking into an unoccupied home off Amapola Road Southeast.
Hull was shot by the property  owner, a 62-year-old man who was staying in the home after discovering that the  home had been broken into previously, and property had been piled in rooms ready  to be loaded.
Sheriff's officials said the  sign batteries were recovered after deputies followed tire tracks which led them  to the stolen items.
(Deming) -- Here's the area crime report: Bradley Brown, age 34, was  arrested on two Magistrate warrants... Carlos Munoz, age 34, was arrested on a  Magistrate warrant for failure to appear and on a Municipal warrant for failure  to pay fines... and three rolls of five-foot cattle fencing and fence posts with  a combined value of nearly 500-dollars were taken from a location off Leghorn   Road.

(Deming) -- A 72-year-old  Columbus man was ripped off by a woman who befriended him, and that woman is now facing charges.  54-year-old Patricia Garcia of Las Cruces has been arrested on charges of fraud over 20-thousand dollars... computer access with intent to defraud... and fraudulent use of a credit card over 20-thousand dollars. Luna County Sheriff's  Investigator Bobby Brookhouser said Garcia was arrested last week at the Santa Teresa school where she is employed. She is accused of taking over  80-thousand dollars from the Columbus man over an 18-month period by transferring funds from his account to hers... making Automated Teller Machine  withdrawals at a casino... and using the man's debit card. Brookhouser said Garcia's  arrest was the result of a three-month investigation, which began after the man's family members discovered money missing from his accounts.