Public Service Announcement: Mountainair Ranger District Travel Management Environmental Assessment Ready for Public Review
from Mark M. Chavez, Public Affairs Officer/Web Manager, Cibola National Forest & Grasslands
Mountainair, NM – March 4th, 2010 – The Mountainair Ranger District, Cibola National Forest, is hosting three Open Houses March 9th, 10th and 11th to provide an opportunity for public review and comment regarding the proposals described in the Environmental Assessment for Travel Management on the Mountainair Ranger District. The meeting will begin with a short presentation on the alternatives at 5 p.m., followed by the Open House where individuals will have an opportunity to meet with the Interdisciplinary Team and ask questions about the environmental analysis and the alternatives. »» Public Service Announcement: Mountainair Ranger District Travel Management Environmental Assessment Ready for Public Review
Leapin’ To The Lizard
by John Weckerle
Yesterday evening, we decided enough cabin fever was enough and headed out to the Lazy Lizard Grill in Cedar Crest, on NM 14 just south of Frost Road. The Lazy Lizard serves beer, wine, and a variety of meals and appetizers. Your editor ordered the Ringneck Pizza (fresh tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, olives, and mozzarella) with extra cheese, and others ordered the Mud Puppy (a French dip-style sandwich) and the Chicken Caesar Wrap. The very tasty pizza sported appropriately fresh ingredients and went very well with the glass of oatmeal stout I ordered. Leftover slices made an excellent breakfast this morning. High compliments were afforded to the Mud Puppy as well, and the Chicken Caesar – half of which came home because it was huge – also received kudos from the consumer. In the past, your editor has also enjoyed the Sandia Park calzone, the Horned Lizard sandwich, the Lizard Bread appetizer, and several of the salads. Prices are reasonable, especially in light of the generous portions provided. »» Leapin’ To The Lizard
Moriarty Election Results
by John Weckerle
It’s official – Ted Hart has been elected as Mayor of Moriarty and Larry Irvin and Dennis Shanfeldt were elected to serve on the Moriarty City Council, which also includes Bobby Ortiz and Steve Anaya. We wish them all the best of luck!
We just discovered that all the election results for the region can be found on this Mountain View Telegraph page.
Public Service Announcement: Job Fair
by John Weckerle
U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich will be hosting a job fair Monday, March 8 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church (1400 Arenal Road SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105). For more information, see the announcement at Mr. Heinrich’s Congressional web site.
More Unofficial Election Results – Mayoral Elections
by John Weckerle
We have unofficial results on three Mayoral elections in the New Mexico Central region. Sources inform us that Ted Hart will be the new Mayor of Moriarty; that Ted Barela has been re-elected as Mayor of Estancia; and that Chester Riley will be the new Mayor of Mountainair.
Holy Landslide, Batman…2010 Election: Early Edgewood Results
by John Weckerle
We have received some reports on election results for the Town of Edgewood Council elections from former candidate (and, apparently, Councilor-elect) Chuck Ring. According to Mr. Ring, the count stands as follows:
- Chuck Ring – 365 votes
- Rita Loy Simmons – 350 votes
- Glenn Felton – 273 votes
Mr. Ring also reports that votes for the bond issues went as follows:
- Roads: 147 for, and 474 against
- Facilities: 110 for, and 431 against
Issues associated with Wildlife West Nature Park have been part of the debate. We contacted the Park’s founder and current director, Roger Alink, who stated, “We’re delighted. Chuck and Rita have been consistent supporters of the Park in all its endeavors.”
Down At The Recycling Swamp
by John Weckerle
Your editor has been recycling and composting as long as the opportunity has been there to do it. While we now have “curbside” (there isn’t a curb within about five miles of this place) recycling pickup at New Mexico Central headquarters, we had a backlog that needed disposition, and given that we also had some plain old Spring cleaning trash to get rid of, we decided to take the whole kit and kaboodle off to the Bernalillo County transfer station between Zuzax and Tijeras. Our normal modus operandi has been to take it into Albuquerque, because the sorting requirements for the Bernco location are nothing short of absurd, but we figured one stop would be better than two, so we bit the bullet and went for it. As action hero Jack Slater would say, “big mistake.” »» Down At The Recycling Swamp
WeckTech Satellite Office Closes
by John Weckerle
After nearly a year and a half, your editor’s company, WeckTech, closed its satellite office on Route 66 in Edgewood yesterday. This had nothing to do with the office, or Edgewood; we simply were not using the space often enough to justify keeping it. Work at other locations was not permitting us to spend much time at the satellite office. It was a very good small office, and well worth the rent.
It’s always tough to close a location like this, even if it makes sense. In a way, we’ll miss having the office even though we were almost never there.
Waging Wiki Wars Against Wildlife West?
by John Weckerle
It was just this past week that your editor decided to take a look at the Edgewood Wikipedia entry, having not done so in a very long time. I was appalled to find that much of the community-related information had been removed – as had the external link to Wildlife West Nature Park. We went through the edit history of the Edgewood article, and found some very interesting patterns. One especially fascinating set of changes was wrought by a user named EdgewoodNMTown, who made a series of changes in late May 2009, “updating” the page by adding citations for the Town’s web site, updating the Chamber of Commerce web address, removing referenced and relevant information on the Town history, correcting sponsorship and date information on Run Rally and Rock, and adding information from the town of Edgewood meeting minutes. When correcting the sponsorship information, EdgewoodNMTown provided an explanation: “corrected the sponsorship information. If you have a question contact EdgewoodNMTown on wikipedia or the Edgewood chamber of commerce at www.edgewoodnmchamber.com.” This involved removing the external link to the Mountain View Telegraph article “Game of Chance Decides Mayoral Contest.” Perhaps most significantly, EdgewoodNMTown also removed the external link to the Wildlife West Nature Park site just a few minutes later, explaining: “removed link to a private business, removed link to irrelevent (sic) reference (no bearing on content on page).”
Let’s take a look at what we see here, but first, there is an inaccuracy in the entries that should be addressed. EdgewoodNMTown cites www.edgewoodnmchamber.com as the Chamber address. It is not, and has not been for quite some time. It is the address for Edgewood, New Mexico and the Surrounding Area. That is an informational site about Edgewood, not connected with the Chamber, run by your editor. EdgewoodNMTown had to have known this, as it was in fact this person who had updated the Chamber’s address on Wikipedia the previous day. It is unclear whether this is a typographical error or some sort of a primitive attempt to pit uninvolved parties against each other. »» Waging Wiki Wars Against Wildlife West?
Elections Ho!
by John Weckerle
With various local elections in the region just a few days away, and the last of the newspapers to be published before the voting now on the racks, we remind candidates that they are welcome to have their last say here.
The Edgewood race seems to have dominated the letters to the local newspapers. With that in mind, and without specifically endorsing any candidate in any election, we have a thing or two to say about some of what we’ve seen in the papers thus far.
In a February 25 letter to the editor of the Mountain View Telegraph, local resident Sue West takes issue with Edgewood Mayor Bob Stearley’s endorsement of incumbent candidate Glenn Felton. We wholly agree with Ms. West’s criticism: Leaving the content of Mr. Stearley’s letter for others to debate, Mr. Stearley should not have used his title to endorse any candidate in this or any other election. The title is essentially for official use only, and using it to endorse a candidate means that Mr. Stearley is doing so in an official capacity, as a representative of the Town of Edgewood. This is improper, and we suggest that Mr. Stearley refrain from such actions in the future. We also believe that the Edgewood Code of Conduct should be expanded to prohibit such transgressions. »» Elections Ho!
Young Eagles Event in Moriarty This Saturday
by John Weckerle
Checking in on our friends at Mountainair Annoucements, we find that the Moriarty Chapter of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association, an international aviation association founded in 1953) Chapter will be sponsoring a Young Eagles Event and providing free airplane rides at the Moriarty Airport this Saturday, February 27, beginning at 8:30 a.m. In the case of bad weather, the event will take place on Sunday, February 28. For more information on the event, see the City of Moriarty Municipal Airport Page.
Formerly chaired by actor Harrison Ford, and now co-chaired by Sully Sullenbirger and Jeffrey Skyles, the Young Eagles Program was founded in 1992 to give young people ages 8 to 17 the opportunity to go flying in a general aviation airplane. The flights are provided by volunteer pilots throughout the world. For more information, check out the Young Eagles Program’s web site and the EAA Young Eagles web page. While you’re at it, have a look at the other programs, including but not limited to the Young Eagles Air Academy and scholarship/internship programs. These seem like great programs for young people interested in aviation, and we wish the Moriarty Chapter good flying this weekend.
Public Service Announcement: Moriarty FFA Alumni’s Annual Pie Auction
by John Weckerle
The Moriarty FFA (Future Farmers of America for newcomers) Alumni will hold their Annual Pie Auction this Friday, February 26, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Moriarty Lions Club. The evening will include door prizes, a silent auction, light refreshment and drinks, and an auction of delicious homemade pies, all in support for FFA and agriculture education.
The Moriarty FFA is in need of silent auction items. Businesses and individuals willing to donate goods or services, gift certificates, or store merchandise are asked to drop their donations off at Broome’s Feed in Moriarty or call the pie auction coordinators (Yolanda VanDyne, 220-1286; Pam Ball, 286-4656) to coordinate pickup. They need all donations by Friday morning, the day of the auction.
Winter, Not So Winter, Winter, Not So Winter – Mud.
by John Weckerle
Okay, let's see if anybody can guess how this ice formed.
It’s been an interesting few weeks here at New Mexico Central headquarters. We have probably had just about every kind of weather one can think of – a little rain, sleet, snow (including at least twice when there were no clouds within miles), sunshine, and even thunder. We had sunshine today, are predicted to have clouds tomorrow, and who knows what thereafter. There is one thing of which we have plenty, and that is mud. Good ‘ol, sticky mud that dries on hard and gets in everywhere. We are hearing more and more people lamenting the muddy roads, mud on the shoes, mud on the dog, the rugs, the floors, the cars… Lest we forget: the long and short of it is that the ground has not been dry here since December. As much as we may be tired of the mess, this is good news for the pinons and our nectarine tree (assuming we don’t get a frost during flowering, which happens more often than not). It’s good news for wildflowers, too. So dust off those cameras and start warming up, people; Spring’s just around the corner.
Public Service Announcement – Roadrunner Food Bank
by John Weckerle
The Roadrunner Food Bank will be making distributions on February 25 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Valley View Christian Church in Edgewood. For more information, see the Gadabout-Blogalot.com article.
Edgewood Councilor Glenn Felton’s Campaign Web Site
by John Weckerle
Edgewood Councilor Glenn Felton has declined to provide direct comment to New Mexico Central, but has asked that we post a link to his campaign web site, www.glenn4edgewood.com. As a reminder, we have offered to post any articles, information, web links, etc. for any of the candidates in any local or county election. If any of our readers should know a candidate in any race who might benefit from this offer, we ask again that our readers let them know.