Bug Zoo Comes to Summer Family Evenings at PEEC
PEEC News
The Harrell House of Natural Oddities will be bringing some of the world’s most unusual creatures to PEEC at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday July 10, as part of PEEC’s Summer Family Evenings series.
The program is free for PEEC members, and $10 per family for non-members.
The Harrell House is a family-run business based in Santa Fe, and dedicated to educating the public about arthropods.
The Harrells travel the country putting on insect shows and will bring their critters to PEEC Tuesday.
Their collection includes tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes, crabs, and more, and they’ll present Read More
Friday Nights at the Bradbury Science Museum
Museum Director Linda Deck of the Bradbury Science Museum presents a talk at a recent Rotary Club meeting at Fuller Lodge in which she highlighted current and upcoming museum events. This summer, the Bradbury Science Museum is open until 9 p.m., each Friday night. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
Bradbury Science Museum Director Linda Deck briefs Rotary Club members on upcoming events including Nanoscale Science and Engineering July 13, Entrepreneur Night at The Hive July 20 and Mars Science Laboratory, robots, FIRST Robotics July 27. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More
NMSU, NMBC, Beef Industry Experts Host National Beef Academy for Youth at Valles Caldera July 8-13
Valles Caldera. Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.comThree Local Organizations Partner to Promote Literacy
Community news:
Otowi Station, Los Alamos Rotary Club, and Self-Help, Inc., are partnering to provide free books to 500 local disadvantaged schoolchildren.
The project is part of Self-Help’s “Tools for Schools” program in which the books will be distributed with school supplies for the neediest elementary school children in Los Alamos and surrounding communities, as designated by school counselors.
Members of the community can buy a copy of a book at Otowi Station Bookstore and the Los Alamos Rotary Club will match the purchase with a second book.
The objectives of the “Book of My Very Own” Read More
School Board Addresses LAMS, LAHS Projects
School Board Secretary Melanie McKinley, left, and Los Alamos Middle School Teacher Allison Washburn, both former LAMS students, joined Superintendent Gene Schmidt in knocking down walls Thursday at the middle school. Demolition is moving along with asbestos removal from the 100 and 500 wings nearing completion. Construction of the portable classroom complex is advancing with four portables already on site. Classroom portables from Los Alamos High School will be transferred to LAMS soon. Construction fencing is in place and the portable classroom complex will be operational in time Read More
Meeting with the Elders in Afghanistan
Dr. Bob Fuselier of Los Alamos, foreground, with Dr. Mohammad Kharoti, center, during meeting with elders from Helmand Province village in Afghanistan recently. Courtesy photo
Not knowing the language of the people you are visiting obviously slows the process of getting to know one another.
At the GVS-AEC, however, the language barrier didn’t keep the staff and students from making us feel at home.
Any meeting was accompanied by smiles and tea served by someone who worked in some capacity in the compound that housed the AEC: the cook, the watchman, Read More
Youth Businesses Stand Ready to Serve
LACDC News:
This was a fantastic year for the Youth Business Grant Program (YBGP) of the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation (LACDC.)
The Youth Business Grant Program is a summer program that encourages young people in the communities of Los Alamos, Jemez Springs, Espanola and Pojoaque to open and run their own business.
The YBGP selected its 2012 recipients from a record 25 applicants.
YBGP awarded 18 grants, up to $400, to help youth ages 13 to 19 start a summer business.
There were 12 recipients from Los Alamos and six from Espanola.
The goal of the program is to help young entrepreneurs Read More
Heinrich Visits Local Teachers Union Officials
U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, center, visited with Vice President Ryan Ross of the Los Alamos Federation of School Employees and LAFSE President Ellen Mills of Los Alamos at the American Federation of Teachers-New Mexico offices in Albuquerque Saturday. The AFT-NM endorsed Heinrich, a Democrat, who is running against Republican Heather Wilson for the United States Senate seat of retiring Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Courtesy photo. Read More
Drumheads Tuned to Make Quantum Dots
NIST researchers showed that straining graphene membrane creates pseudomagnetic fields that confines the graphene’s electrons and creates quantized quantum dot-like energy levels. The background is a false color image of the graphene drumheads made from a single layer of graphene over 1 micron-sized pits etched in a silicon dioxide substrate.Credit: N. Klimov and T. Li, NIST/UMD
NIST News:
Tightening or relaxing the tension on a drumhead will change the way the drum sounds.
The same goes for drumheads made from graphene, only instead of changing the sound, stretching graphene Read More
Friendship: An Evolutionary Puzzle
SFI News:
Dan Hruschka will present his talk: Friendship: An Evolutionary Puzzle at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday June 27 in the James A. Little Theater in Santa Fe.
Hruschka is a Santa Fe Institute Omidyar Fellow alumnus, is an assistant professor of anthropology at Arizona State University and author of Friendship: Development, Ecology, and Evolution of a Relationship
Abstract: Friends sacrifice for one another with little concern for past behavior or consequences.
Such unconditional helping provides an important buffer against hardship. But it also poses an evolutionary puzzle.
How have people Read More
School Board Meeting Set for June 28th
Los Alamos School Board News
The School Board will hold a Work Session on Thursday, June 28, 2012, immediately following the Special School Board Meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Los Alamos High School Speech Theater. The agenda items for the Work Session will include a presentation on the Arts Grant, a briefing on the LAPS Strategic Plan, an update on the high school bus loop, a discussion about district surveys and a discussion regarding the funding for the middle school construction project. The agenda for the Special Board Meeting is an Open Meetings Act Compliance Resolution.
Local Man Captures Bird Development
Day one. Photo by Carl Newton
By Carl Newton:
About two months ago, a couple of Say’s Phoebes began building a nest at my back door.
The Say’s Phoebe, a passerine, is in the Tyrant-Flycatcher family. Named for Thomas Say, the American naturalist, it is a common bird in the western United States that prefers dry, desolate areas.
After the nest was built, I raised a mirror above the nest to see when things would be interesting to take pictures.
I monitored the nest by holding up the mirror until the first chick appeared, then photographed one or two times a week.
I have a sequence of stages Read More
Arrowsmith Graduates from Leadership New Mexico
From left, Leadership New Mexico Chair Tony Atkinson, Program Director Jenny Lewis, Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities Manager John Arrowsmith and LNM Curriculum Committee Chair Jim Haynes at the LNM graduation ceremony June 15 in Taos. Photo by Sharon Stover/Cell Phone
Leadership New Mexico
Los Alamos Deprtment of Public Utilities Manager John Arrowsmith is one of 38 members of the Leadership New Mexico class of 2011-2012 gathered June 13-15 in Taos for its final session and graduation ceremony.
Leadership New Mexico is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization founded Read More
The Crown Jewel of Manhattan Project Properties: The Oppenheimer House
Exterior of Master Cottage #2, when May Connell lived there. Courtesy/LA Historical Society
When conducting school tours of the Los Alamos Historic District and the Oppenheimer House, I like to tell kids that A. J. Connell, director of the Los Alamos Ranch School, thought girls had cooties. Most third and fourth graders love that!
Even the hard-headed Connell had to give in a bit, though, realizing that if he intended to prepare his young male students for Ivy League schools, he would have to offer art education, Read More
Los Alamos Students Return to U.S. Following 12-Day Educational Tour of Europe
Recent high school graduates from Los Alamos feign sadness that their educational trip through Europe has come to an end Friday as they enter the U.S. airpirt in Atlanta. Photo by Lynn Ovaska
The travelers share their final meal together in the Atlanta Airport Friday before returning to Los Alamos and are delighted to be surrounded by “free refills, free toilets and free wifi” following their trip to Europe. The Los Alamos students include Michelle Boerigter, Anna Grothaus, Katherine Joseph, Kayla Suazo and Erin Burr, Hannah Breshears, Megan Kelley, Anna Carroll, Taylor Mason, Read More
Local YCC Transforms Canon de Valle
After indoor safety trainings, members of The Family YMCA’s Youth Conservation Corp trained on repairing a trail in Canon de Valle, focusing on a trail completely destroyed by last summer’s Las Conchas Fire and subsequent watershed issues. Courtesy/YMCA
Family YMCA News:
The status report sent to the State of New Mexico for The Family YMCA’s Youth Conservation Corp program details tremendous accomplishments achieved by the local organization, which employs 24 youth during the summer.
Trainer Zach Close and Educator Craig Martin discuss Canyon de Valle trail work progress as members Read More
Authors Speak Series Features Married Mystery Writers June 28
By Kirsten Laskey
Writing is a solitary task. Typically, it’s just a writer and a computer. There are always exceptions to the rules, however, and Aimee and David Thurlo are one of them.
For the past 30 years, the husband and wife have joined forces to create several mystery series including the Ella Clah series, romantic mysteries and supernatural thrillers centered on a Navajo vampire.
Their collaboration has earned the Thurlos spots on best-seller lists and starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly.
Their novels are sold in 18 countries and Hollywood has taken an interest in their vampire books. Read More
Summer Giving Effort Provides $20 Million in Grants for Youth
Youngsters from the Family Learning Center are among those who recently enjoyed a nutritious meal at the Española YMCA Teen Center. Courtesy/EYTC
Family YMCA News:
Walmart and six of its nonprofit partners serve up a smarter, healthier summer for 180,000 kids in 350 communities nationwide, including Los Alamos.
The Walmart Foundation announced more than $20 million in grants to six nonprofit organizations nationwide that will create opportunities for children to enjoy smarter, healthier and more productive summers.
The grants will help expand nutrition, learning and employment programs Read More
Rotary Club Thanks Community
Members of the Rotary Group Study Exchange from Capetown, South Africa visited Los Alamos recently including from left, Matt Haywood, Simisha Pather-Elias, Tabiso Mokwena, Robin Gilfillan and Viennie McShane. Photo by Gil Butler
By President-elect Linda Hull
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos would like to thank everyone in the community who so warmly welcomed our Group Study Exchange (GSE) visitors from Capetown, South Africa of Rotary District 9350 during their brief stay here last month.
The GSE program offers opportunities for four young professionals, ages 25-40, to travel to a Rotary Read More
“Meet the PEEC Critters” Summer Family Evening
PEEC News:
Foxxy the Hognose Snake is a friendly favorite of kids visiting PEEC. Courtesy photo
What is a turtle’s favorite food? Does a snake feel smooth or rough? Join animal-care expert Jennifer Macke at 6:30 p.m. at PEEC, (Pajarito Environmental Education Center) Tuesday June 19 for an informative presentation about the live animals on exhibit.
Macke will discuss what each animal eats and tell some amazing facts about each one. The program will answer many questions about local reptiles and amphibians, including questions you never knew you had.
Kids of all ages will get to touch and feed Read More
