Once again, Socorro's El Defensor Chieftain newspaper shills for the corporate agenda with press releases and spin being served up as "news" and "opinion" - Socorro can (and should) do better.

Socorro's city council met Monday, October 5th. Citizen input included testimony on how Socorro might break into the movie business.

Most folks know about Roswell's connection with extraterrestrials, but fewer know of Socorro's connection. But the more UFO-savvy may recall that Socorro was home to one of the more famous UFO sightings in history, way back in 1964. New information raises questions about the veracity of Socorro's 1964 UFO incident.

The stage is set for the annual Enchanted Skies Star Party, October 14 through the 17th, 2009. An exciting and eclectic blend of events will be held at several locations in and around Socorro - not the least of which will be a first-hand account of the recent Hubble servicing spacewalk.

Local residents recently delivered a petition with over seventy signatures to the Socorro school district, complaining that military recruiting in the schools is not balanced with alternate viewpoints, and that students' ability to opt-out from military "junk" mailing lists is not being managed properly.

After 29 years serving the Socorro, Magdalena, and surrounding communities, the Mountain Mail newspaper will shut down and cease operations.

The EPA's latest standard for arsenic dictates that the city must get the public water supply below 10 parts per billion. The city failed to meet the initial deadline; January 2009 was the date by which the city should have been in compliance with EPA's new rules. Although the deadline was missed, the city is at least in the process of evaluating solutions. Wednesday, August 19th, Robert Fowlie with Camp Dresser and McKee, Inc., held a meeting to discuss his recommendations for treating Socorro's water.