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.

Just announced at Socorro's latest city council meeting: there will be a public hearing on Wednesday, August 19th, at 6 p.m. at city hall to discuss the environmental information document on the proposed treatment facility to remove arsenic from Socorro's water supply.

Socorro city councilwoman Mary Ann Chavez-Lopez announced at the most recent Socorro city council meeting that the city will hold public hearings to address the question of police oversight and discuss a proposed city ordinance to establish a police oversight commission in Socorro.

Socorro city council heard testimony from some concerned citizens hoping for a pet leash law. In other business, mixed martial arts promoter, Joel Partridge, once again pleaded with the council to authorize fights at Finley Gym. In other city news, the council announced that grants have been acquired to offset much of the cost of sewer connections for those not currently on city utilities.

Among other business, the Socorro City Council heard testimony from a mixed martial arts trainer and promoter, asking for permission to host mixed martial arts bouts at Socorro's Finley Gym.

There will be a public meeting Wednesday, July 22nd at 6 p.m. at the Socorro Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management to discuss the BLM's plans to use the herbicide tebuthiron on over 32,000 acres of BLM land in and around areas of the East Magdalena Mountains, Polvadera Mountain, and Sierra Ladrones.

New Mexico Tech and EMRTC have apparently not given up on their plans to expand explosives testing in and around Socorro. Public meetings on a possible Special Use Airspace are upcoming.

So we're in the worst economic downturn since the great depression. Businesses and governmental bodies alike are struggling to make ends meet. So what does Socorro City Council and Mayor Bhasker figure they ought to do during such trying times?

A local resident has filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's office regarding possible violations of New Mexico's Open Meetings Act by Tech's board of regents.

In the latest barrage from the Albuquerque Journal, their editorial board has issued a scathing, and at times comical, rebuke of Dr. John Meason of EMRTC and his attempt to justify Tech's refusal to release public records under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. This marks the second editorial in recent weeks to run in the Albuquerque Journal in which they chastised EMRTC and New Mexico Tech for their handling of the drop zone affair.