WINNERS
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Mayor David Coss
"This is the best week ever," City of Santa Fe Public Information Officer Laura Banish tells SFR. That's because she's been working assiduously on the environmentally progressive Bike to Work Week. Last year, 300 people turned out for the event, and this year she's estimating 400 will participate. Bike to Work Week started Monday, May 12, and goes until Saturday, May 17, with the main celebration in the Plaza on Friday, May 18. The big winner, Banish says, is Mayor David Coss, who has the "coolest bike ever," a curvy two-wheeler built by his son that's only second to the one that sent Pee-Wee on his big adventure.
Gunnison's prairie dogs
Following SFR's cover story on how the Rail Runner is forcing hundreds of prairie dogs into exile [April 23: "Dog Gone"], Santa Fe prairie-dog advocates have launched a petition to pressure City Council to adopt the prairie-dog conservation plan proposed in February 2006. So far, advocates have collected 117 names toward the goal of 2,000, with signatures from as far away as the Netherlands and Thailand. The petition is available online at thepetitionsite.com/petition/723890979.
Whiney "Are we there yet?" kids
US Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, is trippin' over road-trippin'. On May 6, the Bingster sent a letter to US Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, urging her to approve $950,000 worth of Scenic Byways Program projects in New Mexico. The 10 proposals include $152,499 for seven new kiosks and 16 roadside attractions on the Santa Fe Trail, which means families on Sunday drives between Santa Fe and Clayton will have no excuse not to pull over every time tantrums erupt from the backseat.
LOSERS
Energy objectivity
Rod Troxell, chairman of last weekend's Four Corners Oil & Gas Conference in Farmington, predicts 10,000 new wells will be drilled in the San Juan Basin in the next 20 years. That's two oil wells for every attendee at the conference-between 5,000 and 6,000, according to Farmington's Daily Times. The only presentation on behalf of the public was given by Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy, which, it turns out, isn't exactly a citizens' coalition. Sourcewatch.org describes CARE as a lobbying front for NM oil and gas interests. But, according to CARE's Web site, responsibleenergy.org, it also advocates for coal plants and believes "it's time to bring back nuclear power."
House Speaker Ben Lujan and Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe
The nonprofit conservation organization Environment New Mexico has released its 2008 Legislative Scorecard, rating Reps. Lujan's and Trujillo's records at a sad 38 percent each. ENM's biggest criticism was that neither legislator voted against subsidies for coal production and urban sprawl. Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, scored 100 percent but, as SFR points out on our new political blog, Swingstateofmind.com, he's not running again. His presumptive replacement, Rep. Peter Wirth, scored a respectable 86 percent.
Vampires
Santa Fe's undead bloodsuckers take heed: After Thursday, May 15, the Santa Fe River will no longer be safe to swim in, except maybe with a holy-water-resistant wetsuit. Thursday is San Ysidro Feast Day, when the parishioners of San Ysidro Church, the Santa Fe Watershed Association and a mariachi band will bless the nation's most endangered river in honor of their patron saint of farmers. The "Mariachi Mass" begins at 5 pm at San Ysidro Church, the blessing begins at 6 pm at San Ysidro Park-both before the sun sets.
