State

How the Affordable Care Act is Working for New Mexico

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By Sen. Jeff Bingaman

In the two years since Congress passed the health insurance reform law, called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there has been a lot of debate about its merits. As we move closer to implementing some of the most significant pieces of that law, I’d like to highlight reasons why New Mexico will be one of the nation’s biggest winners from the improvements in the ACA.

Nearly one in five New Mexicans lacks health insurance, making New Mexico the state with the second-highest rate of uninsured in the country. The cost of treating the uninsured is being passed along to those who have insurance, Read More

Our Threatened Jemez Forests

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Rep. Jim Hall of White Rock, center, during a workshop in the Jemez last week focused on changing forest management policies based on current forestry science. Courtesy photo

Column by Rep. Jim Hall

I attended a Desired Condition Workshop May 9 and May 10. The workshop was a joint effort of the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University, the Forest and Watershed Institute at New Mexico Highlands University and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute at Colorado State University.  

The focus was on the changing forest management policies based on current Read More

Espanola YMCA Teen Center

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ESPANOLA YMCA TEEN CENTER News

The Espanola YMCA Teen Center (EYTC) hosted the second annual Born-2-Cruise Model car & Custom Bicycle Show Saturday, April 14.

This event was a great success and was flooded with more than 200 visitors and more than 50 participants.

Low-rider enthusiasts from all around the community and outward attended and showed off their custom creativity.

Courtesy Photo

 

“The Espanola youth were given a chance to shine and that is what we (EYTC) are all about,” EYTC Program Co-Director Dion Gabriel said. “The kids love it … when they Read More

Forest Hosts Public Field Trips Into Southwest Jemez Mountains Landscape Restoration Area

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SANTA FE NATIONAL FOREST News

The Santa Fe National Forest is hosting three educational field trips into the Southwest Jemez Mountains Landscape Restoration project area.

These field trips are designed to provide on-the-ground information about the project. Participants will be guided through the area to see and learn about existing conditions, desired conditions, ecosystem function, treatments that have been accomplished, and engage in interactive conversation with Forest personnel about the project.

“We are in the process of drafting a proposal to treat approximately 110,000 Read More

Bandelier Advising of Upcoming Closure May 22 or 23

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Jason Lott, Superintendent of Bandelier National Monument, has announced that the main visitor area in Frijoles Canyon will be closed for at least part of the day on either Tuesday, May 22 or Wednesday, May 23. 

“We will be having very large pieces of equipment working in the canyon that day to install an interim crossing of the creek,” he said. “We are not certain yet which day, or at what time, this work will happen, but we want to minimize the impacts on our visitors.” 

Anyone planning a visit to the park on either of those days should keep an eye on information sources for updated information Read More

Los Alamos Students Win First at State National History Day Competition

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NATIONAL HISTORY DAY News

Ruby Selvage and Kathryn McClenahan accepting a special award from the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum for the best project on agriculture and rural life (with staff from the museum). Photo by Kim Selvage

A pair of Piñon Elementary 6th graders won first place at the statewide National History Day competition on April 27 in Albuquerque.

Kathryn McClenahan and Ruby Selvage will be part of the New Mexico delegation at the national NHD competition in College Park, MD, June 10-14. Their project, a performance entitled “Land Where Our Children Die: The Reactions and Reforms Read More

Bandelier Seeks Public Input on Management of Tsankawi Unit

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At Tsankawi you can hike the same trails used by the Ancestral Pueblo people. Photo by NPS Photo by Sally King

BANDELIER News:

Bandelier National Monument is initiating a planning effort to improve resource protection and visitor understanding of the unique Tsankawi Unit.

The resulting decisions will provide guidance and direction for managing visitor safety, accessibility and resource protection for the next 10 years.

“We invite everyone who is interested in the future of Tsankawi to participate in the 30-day scoping period,” said Park Superintendent Jason Lott in a news release. Read More

NM Search and Rescue Annual Conference at Buffalo Thunder Resort

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The New Mexico Search and Rescue Council Announces Annual Search and Rescue Conference.

The New Mexico Search and Rescue Council (NMSARC) will be hosting ESCAPE (Emergency Services Annual Preparedness Event), its annual training event for search and rescue volunteers on May 4-6 at the Buffalo Thunder Resort, Spa, and Casino in Pojoaque, NM.  Over 200 volunteers from throughout New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, will be attending to train in all aspects of effective search and rescue.  The three-day conference also has a trade show, featuring the latest in search and rescue Read More

Bandelier National Monument Seeks Public Input on Management of Tsankawi Unit

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BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT News

Bandelier  National  Monument  has  announced that the park is initiating a 30-day  scoping  period,  from  April  16, 2012 to May 15, 2012, as part of planning  to  improve  resource protection and visitor understanding of the unique  Tsankawi  Unit.  The resulting decisions will provide guidance and direction  for  managing  visitor  safety,  accessibility, and natural and cultural resource protection for the next ten years.

Photo Read More