Shafter silver mine closing

Marfa Public Radio reported to day that the Shafter Silver Mine, run by Aurcana corporation out of Vancouver, is closing. This is bad news for the county in several ways but I must say that I am not surprised. Several years ago when the mine "re-opened" (which it did but never produced product) I was invited, as a City Councilman, to a party/BBQ at the mine with a whole bunch of other folks, including local leaders and Aurcana bigwigs. Canadian Business Television was covering the event and as the speeches went on, I went from being excited about the mine and its future to being somewhat blown away by the company's presentation towards the media. I drove home in complete silence and considered what I had seen and came to the conclusion (thought I might have jumped the gun on this one at the time but was convinced nonetheless) that the whole thing was being executed as a way to get more investor money and not actually about viability. Silver at that time was above $30/ounce and it was clear that their financial matrix was dependent on the price of silver staying there or rising. There were so many "forward looking statements" that I was nearly in shock. In retrospect it appears that the company may have been able to make it work if they had not made some grave errors in purchasing worn out equipment and been run more efficiently overall. I don't really know, but with silver hovering below $20/ounce recently I'm not bullish on them finding a buyer or another operator. Hopefully the work they did complete down there will pay off down the line someday for Shafter- for now it's just another sad ending to a chapter in the long history of that mine and the town.

Border fence to be built at Juan de Oñate crossing, site of Hart’s Mill and the first Fort Bliss - Newspaper Tree | El Paso's Original News Source

Border fence to be built at Juan de Oñate crossing, site of Hart’s Mill and the first Fort Bliss - Newspaper Tree | El Paso's Original News Source

In 1986 we celebrated the demolition of the Berlin Wall. In 2013 we continue to build a wall between ourselves and one of our closest allies...

Finally figured out how to log on again- big probs with Google ID for a while

Yeah, I'm back- been a while. Couple of thoughts--- "Big" news- "Blockbuster is closing last location..." and "Last video rented at Blockbuster ever was..." Blockbuster has not closed. The franchisees are getting raped by this massive publicity stunt. There's still about 200 franchise locations open in smaller towns, mostly in Texas. What the ? is with the corporate office?! Killing their loyal franchisees... Went to the Presidio County Commissioners meeting today. looks like the Shafter mine is pretty much over- called it as a scam. I guess it would have worked if silver had stayed above $40/ounce. Rough. HGoing to be a major property tax revenue shortfall... Also, golf course "management" aka non- management is biting them in the ass, as it did the city. Same old stuff Lastly, MPRadio drama has died down, and I'm still doing both shows- late Tues/early Wed Night TRain (11PM-2AM) and Friday Oldies (11AM-1PM) Didn't realize how upset I was at the created controversy... WORD OUT Dabeed

Viva Big Bend Food fest this weekend

Bands in the Airstreamland lot Sat Noon-3- looks like Free Budweiser too. Boyz2Men, Fat Lyle's in the lot. Showing La Bamba on the Drive In movie screen Saturday at sundown. Playing with Primo at Padres Friday at 8:30, Boyz2Men opening Friday after radio show. Man, it's gonna be an exhausting week!

A gun owner against assault weapons- on the record

I am a gun owner. I own a .38 Special- a gun typically used to do nothing but shoot people, not animals. Not an accurate gun, but a compact and effective pistol- Smith & Wesson. Anyway, I am in favor of citizens being able to purchase and own guns. I am also happy that I don't have to pay a yearly permit fee or have it inspected. I did buy it at a "real" dealer over 15 years ago, so the State of Texas knows I have it. I could have easily bought the same type of gun at a gun show anonymously without the 2 day waiting period, but didn't. I am 100% in favor of banning the sale of assault rifles, semiautomatic weapons of all sorts, and anything more militaristic than that. Of course, millions of these weapons are already out there, and I don't believe there's any reason to try to confiscate them. In my opinion, this would make sense for everyone other than the gun manufacturers (and probably thousands of dumb, fat white men). For the record here...

Regarding Satellite Radio and its impending demise

New Chevrolets are equipped with "Internet Radio" - the beginning of the end...