PASO DEL NORTE CENTRIC-NEWS
WE ARE ALL AWARE OF THE PANDEMIC THAT IS OFFICIALLY TAKING OVER THE WORLD. NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL OF US IN THE GREATER MOGOLLON REGION TO COME TOGETHER AND HELP OTHERS – COVID-19 has reached El Paso and the surrounding areas and, although things aren’t as bad as other parts of the world, we can’t let our guard down. In addition to health issues, the pandemic and its related lockdowns are financially hurting many unprepared businesses and individuals. Kudos to the Paso Del Norte Community Foundation and all the other local organizations and individuals that are donating money and food to help the community in this time of need. If you have the means to do so, please help out your fellow citizens. Every little bit helps. Together we can get through this safely, no matter how long it takes. (cbs4local.com)
SO IF KILLER VIRUSES WEREN’T ENOUGH, NOW WE HAVE EARTHQUAKES TO WORRY ABOUT. WHAT’S NEXT? VOLCANOES? GODZILLAS? – A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck between Pecos and Carlsbad this month and was felt here in El Paso. Although not a terribly big tremor, it was felt by many people in the region and was a reminder that, although we are not in a major seismic zone, the surrounding area is prone to a tremor every now and then. But at least the nearby volcanoes are still dormant – so we got that going for us. But let’s not jinx it. (cbs4local.com)
LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE MAKING PROGRESS IN STOPPING THE DUST STORMS OF DEATH THAT BLOW ACROSS I-1O NEAR LORDSBURG. AT THE VERY LEAST THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE DUST STORMS IN THE AREA LESS DEADLY – If you’ve ever driven along I-10 in the playa area near Lordsburg during any type of storm, you know that visibility can drop at a moment’s notice. Since 1980, 117 major crashes have been caused by dust storms in the area resulting in 41 deaths and countless road closures. Various government agencies have been working on making this stretch of road safer and NMSU researchers have made great progress in monitoring the area. Working together, the hope is to create an early warning system for severe dust storms that can turn deadly and cause major accidents. It’s a start and hopefully the dust storms around the Lordsburg playas will no longer be a deadly threat to drivers. (elpasoheraldpost.com)
S-H-E-N-E-L-I IS HOW YOU SPELL ‘WINNER’ – Congratulations go out to Sheneli De Silva from Mesita Elementary for winning the 2020 El Paso region spelling bee. It looks like the Scripps National Spelling Bee might be canceled, but maybe they’ll make a digital version so that kids like Sheneli can battle it out for the national crown. Either way, Sheneli is the English spelling master of the Greater Mogollon region for 2020 and even a major pandemic can’t take that away. (elpasoheraldpost.com)
REST OF THE WORLD-CENTRIC NEWS
MARCH 11, 2020 WILL BE LOOKED BACK ON AS THE DAY THAT SHIT HIT THE FAN FOR MOST PEOPLE AND WHEN THEY FINALLY STARTED TAKING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC SERIOUSLY – The COVID-19 pandemic is still going strong and will be with the world for the foreseeable future. On March 11, three things happened that finally made people see that this was a serious issue that was not just happening in foreign lands. First, the NBA postponed the remaining games of the season after Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus just before their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The situation was surreal as officials stopped the game before tipoff and left everyone scratching their heads wondering what was going on. Eventually other sports would follow the NBA’s lead and virtually all events with thousands of spectators have been postponed since. Also on this day, it was announced that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had both been infected by the coronavirus while in Australia. If wealthy celebrities could get the disease it was now apparent that no one was safe and that everyone was in danger of getting the disease. Finally, March 11 was the first time that Donald Trump addressed the nation on the serious nature of the disease after weeks of downplaying things and saying it was nothing more than a “little flu”. And now here we are, waiting for the worst to pass us by so that we can try to cope with a virus that will be a part of our lives for the next couple of months – if not years as the 1918 influenza pandemic showed us. (Bloomberg.com)
WE ALSO HAVE AN OIL CRASH IF ANYONE IS NOTICING – The price of oil has crashed to prices not seen in decades and the prices look to collapse even lower. Unlike the stock market and other parts of the economy, the government can’t really prop up oil and inflate this sector as much because if you buy oil you eventually have to store it somewhere. The government has been buying up oil as a form of welfare for the oil industry and now we find ourselves in a situation where storage space is running out and there is no demand to process the oil. So things will only get worse from here. But hey, maybe if we “open up the economy” again by letting shithole bars and restaurants in the middle of bumfuck towns operate at 50% we can “save the economy”. Sure more people will die, but at least Donald Trump can point to the clown world numbers in the stock market and claim he’s doing an excellent job and thus deserves to get re-elected. (bbc.com)
EVEN A GIANT CLOUD OF DEATH HAS A SILVER LINING – UN Security-Gerneral Antonio Guterres has called for a global ceasefire for all conflicts around the world due to the giant pressing issue that is engulfing the world at the moment. Normally the UN has very little pull, but it appears most warring factions around the world are taking heed and looking at declaring a ceasefire until the COVID-19 pandemic passes or it kills off their enemies. So it looks like the coronavirus has given us a brief taste of world peace. Someone give that precocious little virus the Nobel Peace Prize. (businessinsider.com)
WE POUR ONE OUT TO THOSE WE LOST IN MARCH – This pandemic will claim a lot of lives in the coming months. We remember all those that died this month and the countless lives that will be extinguished by this global pandemic. Stay safe and hunker down, everyone. This will be a long fight.