Santa Fe New Mexican:
Ralph Nader whacks Governor Richardson for speeding. A bit faster than the vehicle I observed a few weeks ago with State Senator tags. Dangerous. Oftentimes, it’s not the speeder, but the overreactions of innocents that start a domino effect ...
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Spraying may not help, but bark beetles are on the rise over the last week. I choose to fight.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Builders unhappy with new impact fees. I can understand why they would be ... but this will go a long way to avoiding what happened in my beloved hometown of Princeton, and other New Jersey municipalities. Developers dump thousands of box homes on old sod farms, and put nothing into infrastructure. Once populated, the infrastructure crumbles, the repair and support of which then sends tax rates into the stratosphere.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Local interest. The problem with water.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Everybody? Let’s sing: “I’m gonna wash those dogs right outta my yard ...”
Santa Fe New Mexican:
One of the more infamous events in local Santa Fe news was the hit-and-run of a tourist couple last year. The accused individual cannot even remember being behind the wheel of a car that evening. Oh, and he has merely nine previous drunken-driving arrests. Where’s the “three strikes” laws when you need them?
Santa Fe New Mexican:
State Medicaid cuts proposed. New Mexico may be in the black, but Richardson has shifted spending priorities. This is not an auspicious move.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Santa Fe tops list of healthiest U.S. cities. “The article ... [snip] ... cites pristine desert air—free of most agricultural and industrial chemicals—as one of the main reasons Santa Fe is so healthy.”
Santa Fe New Mexican:
“Stealing from the alms box.” Continuing the subject of taxing non-profits. When I first moved to Santa Fe, folks informed me that there were more non-profits here than ‘straight’ businesses. There are certainly quite a few. I don’t know if that’s still true (or ever was), but you can imagine the impact this little piece of contemplated legislation is having locally.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
State Attorney General objects to WIPP legislation. You who oppose Yucca Mountain should read this one. Seems the Feds would like to sling any old hazardous waste in their anointed Carlsbad hole-in-the-ground. Happy day, you’re next!
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Forest thinnings could be source of heat. I was just wondering out this the other day! With acres of piñons dying all over the region, they will overtax our landfills if dumped. The thought of a properly-scrubbed biomass incinerator that generated either heat or power came to mind as a solution. One could even imagine employing the jobless and homeless to work as tree-cutters on public lands affected. Utopian thinking, I know ...
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Governor ends minnow talks with environmentalists. They were a waste of time. “Richardson on Thursday postponed talks indefinitely because the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which administers federal water projects on the Rio Grande, said this week it doesn’t have time to reach a final river-management agreement before Congress is likely to act.” Watch this carefully, for this is truly an economic growth-vs.-endangered species issue. Much as I’d like to see the species win out, I believe the human interest (briefly postponing, once again, the rather dessicated realities of living in the high desert) will conquer all comers.
In the local news,
some enterprising Albuquerque local was caught on his fifth DWI ... he’d fiddled with his special breathalyzer/ignition gizmo in his car. So much for that brilliant idea ...
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Talking Drought. The 80’s and 90’s were anomalously wet. Our water choices, rather than voluntary, will be forced upon us by climate. “We are all going to have to start living like camels.”
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Plan for the Plaza gets mixed reviews. Our plazas are uniquely New Mexican constructs, and therefore history should be consulted before applying ‘fixes.’
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Tex-Exodus update: The Democrats will be going home. To fight what is probably a losing battle.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
The City Pretty. “Lodgers-tax revenues would be used to improve the Santa Fe Plaza and possibly other downtown tourist attractions under a proposal working its way through city committees.” Hooray! This is way overdue.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
‘Pet Paraders’ locked out of Cathedral Park. The park was just resodded, and is beautiful and green for the first time in years. I believe the ‘pet prohibition’ was appropriate.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
In the line of fire. Zozo almost didn’t burn, due to winds and rain. The concept of having “Old Man Gloom” flashing peace signs, and then getting torched, is a bit boggling. I heard someone mention his floppy hands looked more like ‘gang sign’ ... but given that last link, one could interpret even a vintage G.I. Joe as flashing ‘sign’. Zozo was quite a bit more vocal than last year. I have no doubt the official “groaner” is quite hoarse this morning.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
A *big* bear was nabbed from Sol y Sombra, the estate where Georgia O’Keeffe spent her declining days before death in Santa Fe. A 300 pounder. Wow. I’ll have to be a bit more circumspect on my hikes ...
Pagan ritual ...
Zozobra, “Old Man Gloom,” burned in Santa Fe tonight [as he does each year]. This weekend is Fiesta. Not just that, but we’re back to frost date again. Tomorrow night, we’re forecast mid-30’s ... summer’s so short.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Santa Fe New Mexican:
The Forest Service is going to be thinning forests up around Taos. Price of Solitude, and Some Taos County Residents think Plan goes too far. I may have to venture up and take some pictures, for first-hand view of these thinning operations in progress.
In other local news, Enviros Oppose Nuke Fuel Factory Planned for Lea County. Seems like another half-baked proposal, with no good to recommend it other than jobs. So, of course it will be built.
Finally, Nonprofits upset at Tax-Reform proposals. It may hurt smaller nonprofits, but it is probably targeted mostly at Los Alamos, to capture gross receipts from one of the biggest industrial complexes in the state. Gross receipts in New Mexico are around 6% off the top of your gross, paid every month. Cost of doing business in a beautiful place.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
A crop of local stories. War of the weeds. “They cloak themselves in pretty flowers, enticing people to pick them for bouquets and take them home.” Dump the dried remains outside ... there you go. Instant weedfest. Buy a town, begin anti-terror training. Without a tight skyscraper/urban environment (the most likely location for terror), I question the real-world value. Finally, we’ve had a lot of rain, but we still have a lot of drought. “We are in a very serious drought, definitely the most serious drought we’ve seen since the early ‘50s.” Our piñon trees are the most visible, and best indicator of that severity.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
This title is phrased in such a way, as I would never have ever considered posting such a thing in my lifetime: “Evolution science staying in schools.” Is this the 21st century?
