On April 19-21, 36 Sargent FBLA members traveled to Vail to attend the Colorado FBLA State Leadership Conference. Hope Rheingans and Raleigh Burt were part of the 2008-09 state officer team that lead the state with pride and excellence throughout the year. Burt was selected to be the 2009-2010 Colorado FBLA President.

Mesita, a Littleton, Colorado based experimental rock band recently released their new album Cherry Blossoms, which contains the catchy tunes The San Luis Valley and Crestone Funeral March which you can listen to and download for free here.

Costilla County resident Maclovio F. Gallegos, 62, has announced his intention to run for county commissioner from Dist. 3, which centers on the southern portion of Costilla County, near the community of Mesita.

There is a new spirit of cooperation in Congress between Republicans and Democrats, says John Salazar. For instance, the Clean Energy Act, the most recent piece of legislation put forth by Democrats, will have direct benefit in the San Luis Valley because of biodiesel production in Costilla County and the construction of a solar plant in Alamosa County.

A biodiesel plant established by the county has started to produce 30-gallon batches on a limited basis.

A 2007 water and energy bill approved by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee in June contains $74 million for water projects in Colorado, including $80,000 for obtaining locally produced oilseed crops for processing at a biodiesel plant in Mesita.

SLV Dweller was unable to attend yesterday's re-dedication ceremony for the Old State Bridge straddling Conejos and Costilla counties, but the photo above taken later in the day shows a magnificent restoration.

Despite signs in the vicinity reporting otherwise, the historic bridge is open for vehicle traffic once again. The re-opening occurred approximately two years after its original closure.

Self-proclaimed serial killer Richard Paul White was back in court Tuesday morning to agree to a plea bargain that will spare his life but guarantee that he will spend the rest of it in prison.

Gary Padilla, charged with the 1993 slaying of 60-year-old La Jara resident Lela Buhr, will be able to see the list of the grand jurors who indicted him last year.

Human skeletal remains found at a site where convicted serial killer Richard Paul "R.P." White led police last fall have been identified.

Canadian mustard will power Costilla County vehicles by October, if a county sponsored biodiesel production plant becomes operational as scheduled.

The Costilla County Economic Development Council Inc., in a partnership with the Costilla County Commissioners' Office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Office, is putting up a small-scale biodiesel production facility in Mesita. Canola seed crops grown by San Luis Valley farmers as well as sunflower and safflower crops from southwest Colorado will be crushed at the Mesita facility to produce oil for use in biodiesel production. The oil seed press being installed at the facility crushes nearly 450 pounds of seed per hour and will press any kind of oil seed.

Confessed serial killer R.P. White is shown in police custody. His father, Randolph "Duke" White is selling DVDs of his confession.

Richard Paul "R.P." White, formerly of Mesita, got a quick trip back to his boyhood home Tuesday, but there was no welcoming crowd. The self-confessed murderer reportedly directed out-of-Valley investigators to what he said were the remains of a woman he had killed, then buried near his home town.

Suspected human remains reportedly were found in a shallow grave near the rural community of Mesita on Tuesday, according to a Denver television station.

Self-professed serial killer Richard White was indicted on charges of killing two more people on Thursday, bringing to three the number of murder charges he faces.

Mesita, a tiny settlement of only a few families southeast of Alamosa, near the New Mexico border appears ramshackle but picturesque, immune to progress since it was built at the turn of the century, but not immune to other things.

According to the Pueblo Chieftain, "about 30 artists and 15 studios in southern Costilla County and in northern New Mexico will host the fourth annual Rio Costilla Valley Studio Tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 7 and 8. Based in Costilla, N.M., just across the Colorado state line, this year's tour will take visitors through several small towns and wildflower fields. Some studios are full-time operations and are home to regionally and nationally known artists. Studios are located in Amalia and Costilla, N.M., north of Taos, and Garcia, Mesita and Jaroso, south of San Luis. First stop and check-in point for the free tour is the Costilla (N.M.) Community Center, next to the Old Plaza, where visitors can obtain a free map to make the tour. For information, call (719) 672-3063 or e-mail kircher@amigo.net"