Nation

Interesting Factoids About New Year’s Eve/Day

Courtesy/snopes

WalletHub News:

Countries all around the world have their own unique New Year’s traditions. Many places feature customary cuisine, such as lentils (Brazil and Italy), suckling pig (Austria) and grapes (Spain). Others get a bit more creative. The Danish, for example, smash broken china on friends’ front doors, supposedly in a sign of affection. But you obviously don’t need to go global to learn a lot about New Year’s.

We have plenty of customs right here at home, from watching a giant crystal-covered ball drop in Time’s Square and drinking sparkling spirits at midnight to eating Read More

Beyond Nuclear: NRC Must Publish Flawed Reactor List

BN News:
 
TAKOMA PARK, Md.  Beyond Nuclear (BN), a leading national anti-nuclear advocacy group, last week called on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to make public the full list of U.S nuclear power plants that are known to be operating with potentially defective parts imported from France.
 
The flawed components could seriously compromise safety at the nuclear sites, the group warns. Affected reactors should be immediately shut down, BN says.
 
The NRC has refused to reveal the names of all affected U.S. nuclear power plants. So far only one nuclear
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LACACIS Announces Two Sig Hecker Talks

Former LANL Director Sig Hecker. Courtesy/wikipedia

LACACIS News:

The Los Alamos Committee for Arms Control and International Security (LACACIS) has announced that former Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Sig Hecker is going to speak early next month at two events in the area:

  • Jan. 6, he will speak at the annual Institute for Nuclear Materials Management Dinner at the Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe; and
  • Jan. 10, he will talk about his book Doomed to Cooperate at the monthly Los Alamos Historical Society Lecture at 7 p.m. at Fuller Lodge. The lecture is free and open to the public.

At the Jan. 6 Read More

Classical Music World: Concert Hall Tours

By ANN MCLAUGHLIN, Artistic Director
Los Alamos Concert Association

I don’t really have a bucket list, but I’d like to hear as many of the world’s great orchestras in their home halls as I can before my expiration date rolls around. My husband Bill and I try to take in concerts when we travel and enjoy guided tours of the halls as well.

On two visits to Amsterdam in the last couple of years, we have attended performances in the storied Royal Concertgebouw, a hall famed for its fine acoustic qualities. I had always imagined that this hall would be as lavish as the word “royal” implies, but on a tour our guide Read More

NNMC JumpStart Pilot Program A Success … GED®-to-College Program Invited To National Conference

NMMC News:
 
ESPANOLA — During the Department of Education Office of Migrant Education Annual Director’s Meeting in Washington, D.C. in July, Northern New Mexico College’s JumpStart Program (GED®-to-college) creators, Tobe Bott-Lyons, Student Success coordinator and Shari Jobe, High School Equivalency Program (HEP) director, were asked to present at the High School Equivalency Program (HEP)/College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) National Conference in Sacramento in October.
 
More than 263 educators were in attendance at the conference with
Read More

NNSA Highlights 2016 Successes In Stockpile Stewardship, Nuclear Security, Naval Propulsion And Enterprise Management

Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz (Ret.)
 
NNSA News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) released “2016 Year in Review,” a report highlighting major accomplishments from the past year across NNSA’s national security missions, and detailing noteworthy improvements in project management and enterprise oversight.
 
“The Nuclear Security Enterprise faces significant challenges. We must sustain an aging nuclear deterrent and modernize the infrastructure that supports it. We must protect nuclear
Read More

FBI: Corruption On The Border

Courtesy/FBI
 
FBI News:
 
During his trial on public corruption charges in 2013, former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ofc. Hector Rodriguez admitted that he had been receiving bribes of cash and luxury items for two years in return for admitting illegal aliens into the U.S. through his inspection lane at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, Calif.
 
While the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers and public officials who work at the country’s ports and borders are honest and dedicated, even one corrupt official like Rodriguez can pose a serious threat
Read More

Heinrich Announces Funding For Innovative STEM Education Program

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced $25 million in authorized funding for the continuation of the nationwide STARBASE program, which motivates fifth grade students to explore Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) through hands-on learning in collaboration with military installations.

The program in New Mexico is based at Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) La Luz Academy where scientists, engineers, and military volunteers from AFRL and other Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) Read More

WIPP Cleared To Resume Waste Emplacement

WIPP News:

Today the Department of Energy (DOE) authorized Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) to resume waste emplacement in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

This decision confirms that all pre-start corrective actions identified in the two operational readiness reviews have been completed and properly validated and other required actions were completed.

It is anticipated that the first waste emplacement will be completed in early January 2017 after final ground control preparations are completed.

Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) Manager Todd Shrader said, “Extensive efforts to identify Read More

U.S. Rep. Lujan Grisham Appointed Senior Whip

U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham

POLITICAL News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham has been named a Senior Whip, which is an opinion leader who helps develop strategy on votes that are important to the House Democratic Caucus. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer appointed Lujan Grisham to the leadership position.

“I am proud to announce that Rep. Lujan Grisham will serve as a Senior Whip in the 115th Congress,” Whip Hoyer said. “As chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, she will bring an important perspective to the whip operation. I look forward to working with her to support Read More