Tent Rocks to reopen with a celebration

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument will officially reopen to the public on Sept. 12 with a special reopening celebration. After some weather-related and construction delays, crews have been making good progress with the road-paving project.

BLM officials look forward to reopening the monument and hope an earlier reopening may be possible if the remaining work goes smoothly.

The reopening celebration will feature a road dedication and ribbon cutting, guided hikes and activities at the monument, and events at the nearby Cochiti Pueblo.

The purpose of the paving is to improve the quality of the road, reduce the need to close after heavy rain and snow, and minimize the dust stirred up from the five-mile dirt road.

Luján to hold town hall meeting about land grants

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján will hold a town-hall meeting about land grants Aug. 26 in Española.

The event takes place at Northern New Mexico College. Luján's office said the public will be able to speak to Luján about his work on land grants.

The meeting is from 2 to 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, Luján's staff will be in the area today to talk to constituents in several outreach events.

Among the events: Santa Fe, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center; Chimayó, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Benny Chavez Community Center; Jemez Pueblo, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jemez Senior Center.

Pecos Valley Cowboy Church hosts open rodeo

It's rodeo time in Pecos.

The Pecos Valley Cowboy Church is hosting an open rodeo at the Pecos Sheriff's Posse Arena at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

A rodeo parade will take place in downtown Pecos at 10 a.m. Saturday. A Cowboy Church service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Admission to the rodeo per day is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 to 12. Children age 5 and under can attend the rodeo for free. Bring your Saturday ticket on Sunday for half-price off. Teachers will enter for free on both days with identification.

Rodeo contestants can sign up an hour prior to rodeo time. The rodeo stock contractor is Wiseman Rodeo Company from Clayton.

For more information on events, guidelines and forms, go to www.pecosrodeo.net.

Library exhibit aims to raise peace awareness

Starting today, the Southside Branch Library, 6599 Jaguar Drive, will be hosting a three-day poster exhibit titled Art Beyond Borders, a traveling exhibition from Teacher's Discovery and the International Museum of Twenty-first Century Arts.

The exhibition intends to bring awareness to the United Nations International Day of Peace, which is Sept. 21. Santa Fe is one of the 244 cities across the U.S. that participates in the Mayors Peace Program.

Mayor David Coss will read a proclamation at 11 a.m. The art project will be on display through Saturday.

Gov. commits money for teacher insurance

Gov. Bill Richardson announced Monday that he's committing $2.5 million in Recovery Act money to help teachers pay insurance increases. The money provides $2 million to offset insurance premiums and should benefit about 33,400 teachers and school staffers across the state, according to the Governor's Office. The other $500,000 will go toward professional development for Albuquerque Public Schools' educational assistants. The money comes from the Government Services Fund, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

New Mexico newspapers go digital at UNM

The University of New Mexico Libraries plans to digitize 100,000 pages from New Mexico newspapers that date between 1860 and 1922 and feature stories that deal with historical issues relevant to the state. UNM received a grant of more than $350,000 for the project from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Daily Lobo reported this week. Michael Kelly, director for the Center of Southwest Research and Special Collections at UNM, said a board will be created to choose which of UNM's collection of newspapers will be digitized. UNM, which has been collecting and microfilming newspapers for years, has about 500 wheels of microfilm with 1,000 pages of newspapers on each wheel, a UNM spokesperson said.

Record number of students took ACT

A record 61 percent of 2010 New Mexico high school graduates took the ACT college admission and placement exam, the state's Public Education Department announced Wednesday. The state compiled this data from the ACT's annual Condition of College and Career Readiness report, available online at www.act.org. Among other data, the report reflects that 59 percent of New Mexican students met ACT standards in English; 32 percent in math; 47 percent in reading, and 22 percent in science, with a composite average score of 17 in all four benchmarks. The national average composite score is between 20 and 21.

City Arts Commission awards grants

The Lensic Performing Arts Center, The Santa Fe Film Festival, and the Santa Fe Children's Museum were among recipients of the city of Santa Fe Arts Commission grant awards this year, the city announced. The arts commission provided funding to 45 local nonprofit arts groups via the city's 1 percent Lodgers' Tax and the Community Arts Development Program. The Lensic received $18,000 in support of various programs, including its Big Screen Classic series. The film festival, scheduled to run in October, received $8,000. The children's museum got $16,878 to support its Comprehensive Participatory Arts Program. Other recipients include Theater Grottesco, Pandemonium Productions and the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association. A summary of grants can be found on www.santafeartscommission.org.