On behalf of everyone with the City of Carlsbad, we wish to offer our condolences to the family, friends and students of Gavin Mack, who had been a teacher at the Early College High School since 2016. Mr. Mack passed away on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness. He taught numerous subjects at the school and served as the advisor for the Carlsbad Early College High School BPA Chapter, where he coached and prepared students for national competitions. He was very well liked and respected by staff and students. At City Hall, we’ve been very fortunate to have several outstanding interns from the Early College High School Program, and they all spoke very highly of Mr. Mack and the opportunities he provided for them. He helped organize numerous fundraising and community service projects to make certain his students had every opportunity provided to them. He also helped students with credit recovery to ensure their successful graduation. This was a very sad loss for our students and our entire community.
There was some positive news this week in terms of the recovery of the oil and gas industry. According to Oilprice.com, the U.S. Rig Count for last week stood at 337 oil rigs and 93 gas rigs. Of that count, the Permian Basin reports 224 rigs – or well more than half. The total rig count for the country was 602 at this point last year, but it was in the middle of the massive dip caused by the COVID-19 shutdown. The Permian Basin – in particular the New Mexico side- is truly at the epicenter of our country’s oil and gas effort.
Two major beautification efforts are coming up in May. Riverblitz 2021 will take place from 7-11 a.m. on May 1. You can register for the annual City and Eddy County-wide Pecos River cleanup by calling Mary Garwood at (575) 302-7665 or emailing msgarwood@cityofcarlsbadnm.com. We will be providing bags, gloves, snacks, water, masks and hand sanitizer. We’d love to see a friendly competition between local businesses as to who can clean up the most trash and provide the most volunteers that day.
Household Hazardous Waste Day is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 15 at the Carlsbad Beach Parking Lot. We will be taking back residential waste including tires, fertilizer, paint thinner, gasoline, anti-freeze, batteries, old cell phones, cleaning products, pesticides, E-waste and fluorescent light bulbs. You will also be able to drop off prescription medication that you no longer are using. For more information, please call (575) 628-8176.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway