Southwest roundup - Oct. 10

Locally owned pharmacy sells to CVS

ROSWELL — A well-known local pharmacy will close at noon on Oct. 19, to reopen as CVS Pharmacy on Oct. 22.

Charles and Jana Shannon have sold Primm Drug, the business they have owned and operated for 35 years.

Charles Shannon said they decided to sell when they found an offer that could meet their criteria, including offering jobs to all their employees.

— Roswell Daily Record

Oilfield services firm opens local base

ROSWELL — A Lovington oilfield services company is expanding its operations locally, with plans to construct a new building and employ up to 12 people within the next six months.

Rogelio Hernandez Jr. said he has owned and operated Legendary Services LLC since June 2005 and has been in the industry since 1999.

Legendary Services, he said, provides hot water, hot oilers, kill trucks, vacuum trucks and lease operators (people who monitor and record daily oilfield production).

— Roswell Daily Record

New interpretive signs installed at Fort Bayard

SILVER CITY — Santa Rita Masonic Lodge No. 44 recently donated $500 to the Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society for the purchase of new interpretive signs marking the location and history of the Fort Bayard Sojourners Club.

An official dedication ceremony was held during the Fort Bayard Days event Sept. 22. The Santa Rita Lodge was established in 1911, according to a news release.

The Sojourners Club originated among Freemasons serving in the U.S. military in the Philippines in 1900, the release stated. It was formally organized in the United States in 1917.

— Silver City Daily Press

Commissioner to fight felony charges

ESPANOLA — Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo pleaded not guilty Sept. 21 to four felony charges.

The charges are a result of a Sept. 6 grand jury indictment. He is charged with three counts of unlawful interest in a public contract worth more than $50 and one count of failing to disclose campaign contributions. Each is a fourth-degree felony.

County Manager Tomas Campos said he does not anticipate charges to impact Trujillo’s work as a county commissioner.

His second term on the Commission ends Dec. 31.

— Rio Grande Sun

Library to get facelift for its 50th birthday

SANTA ROSA — The Moise Memorial Library is getting a facelift for its 50th year anniversary.

Library Director Dina Martinez is working with Steve Moise, volunteers and city staff to organize the library building improvements in preparation for a five-day celebration from Nov. 6-10.

In the next couple of weeks Martinez said the book drop box will be sandblasted by James “Bozo” Cordova, who is volunteering his time; the benches will be repainted; and the flag pole refurbished.

— Guadalupe County Communicator

Arrested for car theft, wanted for murder

LOVINGTON — Police have arrested and charged a Mexican national, Juan Ruiz Cornejo, 50, for stealing two vehicles in the city earlier in the year. He is also wanted on murder charges in Mexico.

The arrest involves the theft of two vehicles in March, both of which were recovered. Using DNA evidence collected at both scenes, detectives received forensic confirmation linking Ruiz to both incidents. He is charged with two counts of receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, and is being held in the Lea County Detention Center.

— Lovington Leader