Santa Fe City Clerk Yolanda Vigil has certified Mayoral and City Council candidates seeking public financing under the City Code for the March 4th Municipal Election. Mayoral candidates Patti Bushee, Bill Dimas and Javier Gonzales qualified to receive sixty-thousand dollars from the City’s Public Campaign Finance Fund. The other mayoral candidate, Rebecca Wurzburger, was not certified. Seven of the eight City Council Candidates who applied for public financing were certified for 15-thousand each in public campaign assistance. Four other council candidates didn’t apply.
Santa Fe Community College’s Governing Board voted 3-2 Monday night to fire President Ana “Cha” Guzmán for just cause. The vote followed an executive session lasting more than four hours. The Board didn’t explain the reason for Guzman’s termination. The “just cause” determination means that, under terms of her contract, Santa Fe Community College isn’t liable for paying the now-former President’s nearly 200-thousand dollar annual salary. Guzmán is planning a lawsuit.
A Saturday killing on Taos Pueblo has led to federal murder charges being filed against a 54-year-old Taos man. A federal complaint filed Monday charges Jorden Medina Jr. in the killing of 28-year-old Nicholas Concha of the Pueblo at a convenience store and gas station. The FBI said it had jurisdiction to investigate the shooting because it occurred on Taos Pueblo land.
Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have developed an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technology that may provide a breakthrough for screening liquids at airport security. It’s called “Mag-Ray” technology, and adds low-power x-ray data to the M-R-I mix. LANLMagRay Engineer Larry Schultz says it began as an effort to develop portable MRI devices in battlefield and other contexts. *****Dec. 3 Schultz-1 :11***** Mag-Ray can better distinguish between harmless liquids and ingredients for explosives. Schultz expects two-to-three years of testing is likely before we’ll see MagRay in use at airports.
Santa Fe County Commissioners last week approved a resolution calling for implementation of a federal revenue-neutral carbon fee-and-dividend program. Such an effort would levy a fee collected by the federal government on carbon, and producers would pass costs to consumers, who would reduce fossil-fuel consumption as a result. The federally-collected funds would be returned to taxpayers, minus administration fees. Maria Rotunda is the leader of the local Citizens Climate Lobby chapter: *****Dec. 3 Rotunda-2 :11*****Some 30 countries have developed such a carbon-taxation program.
Santa Fe Homeless shelters say they’ve experienced an increasing need for warm clothing to provide to the needy. The New Mexican reports that the Interfaith Community Shelter has been housing nearly twice its limit of 60 people overnight since the last snowstorm. And at St. Elizabeth Shelter has a need for shoes and socks because people are showing up with wet footwear due to the weather.
Santa Fe Weather: Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 48. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. Tomorrow, a system packing windy weather and some precipitation moves our way bringing with it a slight chance of rain and snow showers with partly sunny skies and a high near 45. The chance for snow increases to 50-percent tomorrow night.