- Montezuma County Commission considers beer sales at the Four Corners Ag Expo.
- One million pound transformer arrives at the Latigo Wind Farm being constructed in southeast Utah.
Do ale and agriculture go together? A proposal to sell beer at next spring’s Four Corners Ag Expo met with skepticism from the Montezuma County Commission on Monday, but the board agreed to consider the idea. The Expo, which draws thousands of ag enthusiasts every year, is held at the county fairgrounds, where nearly all events have been alcohol-free. Expo executive director Radiance Beals and board member Shay Allred told the commissioners they had discussed with the sheriff possible arrangements for preventing any underage drinking or drunk driving, including the use of portable breath testers and plainclothes operatives. The commissioners said they would prefer that sales be restricted to a certain area, but Beals said Expo-goers don’t like to be forced to stay in one place. The commissioners are to revisit the matter in two weeks.
One of the heaviest loads ever to travel on state highways in New Mexico and Arizona arrived in Monticello, Utah, Monday after a road trip that began in Thoreau, New Mexico. A transformer weighing more than 1 million pounds was hauled to the Pinto substation, which serves the Latigo wind farm being built on a ridge near Monticello. The Farmington Daily-Times reports that the 411-foot-long transformer, made in China, traveled by boat to Houston, Texas, and by rail to Thoreau. From there, it journeyed at speeds of 3 to 10 miles per hour to Crownpoint, Shiprock, and finally Monticello via U.S. Highway 64. KSL-TV says the total load weighed nearly 1.8 million pounds. A second, slightly smaller transformer is set to be transported the same way in two weeks and will also serve the 60-megawatt wind project, whose windmills reportedly will be visible as far away as Mesa Verde and Pleasant View.
