Journey Through Indian Country Part 4: Teamwork Makes a Difficult Job Easier
The uninitiated can get lost very quickly on the reservation. “When the sun goes down,” said a Navajo criminal investigator, “in some places on the reservation you can’t see your hand in front of your face.” Courtesy/FBI
FBI Series Part 4:
Louis St. Germaine, a long-time criminal investigator for the Navajo Nation, has worked closely with FBI agents over the years and recalls the surprise many of them express when first coming to Indian Country.
“Sometimes agents expect to see street numbers and paved roads,” said St. Germaine, who was born and raised on the reservation. “Out here, you make one Read More
Food on the Hill: Strawberry Delight
- 2 cups crushed small stick (sticks only) pretzels (about 6 oz). I find it best to crush them in the bag they come in. Take what you don’t need out and put them in a different bag.
- 3/4 cup melted butter
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 1- 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1- 8 oz cool whip
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large strawberry Jello
- 3 cups boiling water
- 1- 16 oz
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
Cone Zone: Road Construction Week of June 25
Public Works Projects:
For more information about the projects listed below, e-mail lacpw@lacnm.us, call 662-8150, or visit the “Projects” link at www.losalamosnm.us.
N.M. 4 Improvements Project
Starting Monday, traffic will be switched to one lane of traffic on each side of the road. Work will continue in the middle median area. Speed limit within the construction area is 30 mph. Expect modifications to the work zone as work progresses. Drive defensively and watch for construction vehicles. The contractor plans to work on Saturday and Sunday, June 30-31.
Pavement Preservation Program 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.
Valles Caldera Trust Releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement
VALLES CALDERA TRUST News
Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.com
The Valles Caldera Trust (Trust) released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Public Access and Use Plan (PAUP) aimed at expanding visitor access to the Valles Caldera National Preserve (preserve). The plan describes six alternatives for the development of facilities and infrastructure on the landscape including sites for a visitor center. The DEIS describes possible effects and environmental impacts each alternative may have on the preserve. A complete version of the DEIS is available at www.vallescaldera.gov Read More
Registration Open for Family YMCA Independence Day 5K Family Fun Run
FAMILY YMCA News:Los Alamos Police Blotter: June 14 to June 20, 2012
The following information is provided by the Los Alamos Police Department. Neither arrests nor charges indicate a conviction, and neither means that a person is guilty of the charges filed against them.
June 14 at 2:51 p.m. / A 45-year-old Los Alamos woman reported that her cell phone estimated at $251.99 was stolen on North Mesa Road. The phone was later recovered and charges are pending against the alleged thief.
June 14 at 6:39 p.m. / A 39-year-old Los Alamos man reported that someone stole the license plate from his trailer parked on Mariposa Court. The estimated loss is less than $250.
June Read More
Updates for Fires Burning Near Chimayo
West Arroyo Alamo Fire
LANS Donates to Over 230 Nonprofits
LANL News:
LANL employees Randy Erickson, center, and Louise Mendius, at right, help fill sandbags at Santa Clara Pueblo. Courtesy/LANL
- LANS Recognizes Employee and Retiree Volunteer Efforts
Nonprofit organizations will receive more than $180,000 from Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) during a recognition event beginning at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, June 28, at Fuller Lodge in downtown Los Alamos.
LANS contributions are determined by the number of volunteer hours logged by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) employees and retirees through an organization called VolunteerMatch. Read More
Muni Complex Running Months Ahead of Schedule
The 45,000 square foot Municipal Complex project is ahead of schedule for substantial completion by January 2013 instead of the original projected date of October 2013. However, at this stage of construction, County officials say that many factors could change that date again and it is most likely that the building will be finished and ready for occupancy in the fall of 2013. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
Work continues high in the rafters of the new Municipal Complex in downtown Los Alamos. Construction of the exterior walls and slab floors of the new downtown complex is proceeding Read More
Ruby K’s Remodel Includes Express Window
Ruby Alexander, owner of Ruby K’s Bagel Café at 1789 Central Ave. #2, is working with Los Alamos Architect Steven Shaw to remodel her restaurant. Her remodeling ideas target a more convenient process for ordering food from Ruby K’s. Families who want to picnic at Ashley Pond will soon be able to pick up their lunch through an express window at Ruby K’s. Busy scientists will be able to order lunch from work and it will be ready when they drive up to the downtown restaurant. The inside will be arranged so that the line will flow and people will have more personal space. Anyone with additional ideas Read More
LANL Dissolves N-4 Today
In a memo to staff members, Associate Director W. Scott Gibbs of Threat Identification and Response at Los Alamos National Laboratory announced late last week that N-4 (Safeguards and Security Systems Group) is being dissolved.
N Division recently became the Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division (NEN) to recognize and expand on two important capabilities for the Laboratory, Gibbs explained in the memo.
As the next step in furthering those capabilities, he decided that the International and Nuclear Systems Engineering Group (D-5) should join NEN to leverage that group’s Read More
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
Contractor Inserts Smart Pigs on Local Pipeline
New Mexico Gas contractor Eddie Saez, center standing, and his crew work on the pipeline near the anniverary water tank Friday morning. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
New Mexico Gas contractors are in the process of inserting a Smart Pig on the pipeline in Los Alamos County that runs from Quemazon down to the anniversary water tank at the entrance of town.
Contractor Eddie Saez said work on the pipeline is running two days ahead of schedule and should be completed by mid August.
Federal law requires the oil and gas industry to run a Smart PIG or Pipeline Inspection Gauge through big oil and
Fire Reported Between Espanola and Chimayo
FIRE News:
Crews from Santa Fe County are responding to a fire reported at 6 p.m. today in the bosque between Espanola and Chimayo that has burned more than two acres.
Crews report the fire is crowning in the cottonwood trees and burning dense salt cedar undergrowth near Mile Marker 6 at Road 76 in the Chimayo area at the Rio Arriba County line.
Structures are threatened and evacuations have been reported in the area, possibly for a two-mile radius around the fire.
No shelter information has been released at this point, but residents are being told to head south, according to fire officials, and to Read More
Entrada Water Feature Brightens Up Pajarito Cliffs
The water feature marking the entrance to Entrada at Pajarito Cliffs with its bright yellow flowers and green grass and shrubbery paints a refreshing picture during these hot days plaguing the area of late. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
The “Grandmother’s Joy” statue outside the Betty Ehart Senior Center surrounded by flowers stands oblivious to the summer heat. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More
Bandelier Chief Called to Mt. Rainier Tragedy
Mount Rainier. Courtesy/NPS
Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott was activated Thursday night with the National Park Service Incident Command Team and flew out early Friday morning to help with rescue operations and logistics at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.
Lott is expected to be on scene in Washington State for the next week or so.
Eight Mount Rainier National Park rangers have been waiting out a ground blizzard on Mt. Rainier to retrieve the body of their colleague.
Ranger Nick Hall, 34, fell more than 3,000 feet to his death Thursday while attempting to rescue four injured 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