D’Arcy Norman

 

One of the tidbits in this week’s Council Watch got a lot of attention. Albuquerque is going to build a line from a local dump to our Westside lockup. The excess methane that’s usually burned off at the landfill with be used to heat water in the jail’s boiler room.

It’s predicted the project will save the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center thousands every year for about a century.

mscaprikell / CC BY-SA 2.0

 

Have you heard about this grassroots effort to improve the city?

The model works like this:

• Folks pay to get into a dinner cooked by a local chef.

• During the dinner, people make pitches on how to make Albuquerque a better place.

• The diners vote, and the money they paid to attend the event becomes an instant micro-grant for the winner.

In Albuquerque it’s called ABQ Sprout, though it’s based on a model that goes by various names in other cities. The first-ever dinner is Saturday, Jan. 28, at the South Valley Multipurpose Center (2008 Larrazolo SW). Admission is $15 to $30 on a sliding scale.

17-year-old student stabbed and killed at school.

City pays woman back after police destroyed her weed.

State lawmakers looking to banish the $50 million cap for film rebates imposed last year.

Look inside the Fukushima containment vessel.

Santa Fe's minimum wage will be the highest in the country.

Congress is going to hold off on PIPA and SOPA votes.

Romney may lose to Gingrich in South Carolina.

College students are playing the fainting game. I thought that was for kids.

Hackers retaliate after Megaupload is shut down.

A matrilineal state in India (where women rule).

If that capsized cruise ship dumps its fuel, it will pollute one of the most pristine segments of the Mediterranean.

Why is it hard to believe in evolution?

Advice that doesn't make sense until you're too old to need it.

Pulitzer Prize: Meh.

• Presumption of guilt (sloppy) [ Fri Jan 20 2012 10:31 AM ]
  
• Hmm... (m_​​c_​​zero) [ Fri Jan 20 2012 12:27 PM ]
  

Julia Minamata

 

In the Alibi that’s on stands, Contributor Margaret Wright wrote an article on polarized reactions to the repeal of Albuquerque’s building standards.

The debate was repeated throughout New Mexico in 2011 as construction and real estate folks attempted to lower stringent regulations. They argued that tough rules drive business away and result in fewer jobs. Our Republican leadership mostly agreed and helped usher in repeals of various environmental protections.

But as a September New York Times article tells us, there is nothing new about this ideological conflict. It happens regularly around the country. An MIT economist quoted in the report talks about the “Groundhog’s Day quality” of the argument. He’s actually measured job loss as it relates to environmental regs. Turns out, it’s a tricky thing to study.