BP's looking at a $4.5 billion fine and criminal charges against staff members.

The gap between rich and poor in New Mexico is the widest in the nation.

Pit bull terriers killed a Chihuahua and sent her owner to the hospital.

Debbie O'Malley might remain on the Council and take a seat on the County Commission.

Remember when 48 women training for the military said they'd been sexually assaulted or harassed by their instructors? The Air Force has a weird solution: Trainees must have a wingman all the time.

Nonstop flights from Albuquerque to New York.

FBI investigates death threats against the guy holding the coyote-killing contest in Los Lunas.

The poorest president in the world. "If you don't have many possessions, then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them."

Violence escalates in Gaza and Israel. Rockets kill 15 Palestinians and three Israelis.

Louisiana governor is the first Republican to denounce Mitt Romney's notion that he lost the election because President Obama gave gifts to minorities and youth.

5-Hour Energy shot-like drink blamed for 13 deaths.

Colorado Visitors Bureau plans NOT to capitalize on legal recreational marijuana.

Science looks at rappers' brains to find the basis of improvisation.

Pong is 40-years-old and no one has topped it, says this guy.

How to become as observant as Sherlock Holmes. (Also, "Sherlock," the BBC miniseries available on Netflix instawatch, is dope.)

APD made an arrest in connection with Tuesday’s double homicide of Kirsten Landeau of the Duke City Darlins and her nephew. (The Darlins are holding a vigil tomorrow.)

Johnny Tapia died of heart disease, according to his autopsy report.

A woman says she was fired from her state job after testing positive for marijuana, even though she had a medical card.

Does legalizing marijuana boost economies?

Olympic bronze medalist welcomed home to the 505.

America throws out 40 percent of its food.

Rupert Murdoch’s daughter isn’t a fan of his media empire.

Understanding Homer’s D’oh!

Zero percent of the country’s African-Americans support Mitt Romney.

Gonzo guide to the RNC.

Action movies aren’t always the worst.

Henry Rollins in column form.

Happy Birthday, Keith Moon.

Playing Cypress Hill through a squid.

U.S. Olympians had a record-setting day with Gabby Douglas becoming the first African American to win the women’s gymnastics all-around and Michael Phelps three-peating gold in the 200-meter individual medley.

Oh, and the men’s bball team put up an Olympic-best 156 points against Nigeria. That still doesn’t answer my question as to why we haven’t been able to view their games on regular TV.

Not much change in the job market.

Balloon Fiesta vendors are worried about what they say could be price-fixing at this year’s event.

Where Chick-fil-A ranks in terms of major companies with controversial policies.

Speaking of which, today is “National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A.”

Santa Fe bus driver admits to multiple instances of sexual misconduct, but isn’t jailed.

Sexist photography at the Olympics?

French president fulfills his promise of cracking down on the rich.

Wojdan Shaherkani became the first Saudi woman ever to compete in the Olympics.

It’s tax-free weekend in New Mexico.

The worst commercial for ice cream of all time.

Mitt Romney gains the support of what appears to be a hunk of humanoid plastic that calls itself Jenna Jameson.

Proof that Ryan Lochte is the frat-boy version of Jeff Spicoli.

And because you know you need to know, a little more info on “Gangnam Style.”

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela.

Top Syrian defense ministers, including President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, were killed in Damascus by a suicide bomber.

Shrinking Greenland ice sheet birthed a Manhattan-sized iceberg.

Track the extent of countrywide drought conditions.

City cracks down on illegal dog breeding.

Investigation of the Little Bear Fire initiated.

Santa Fe is the "best food town."

Senate Republicans heart secret donors.

"Outsized level of influence": an infographic.

The end of Penn State football is a possibility.

Should we be required to vote?

Sorry, but the Olympic mascots creep me out.

Just embrace the suck.

Ugh, I need some good news.

Life in an undersea space station.

• free speech (woodshed) [ Wed Jul 18 2012 9:18 AM ]
  

Ex. Gov. Gary Johnson likely to get the Libertarian nod for prez.

Santa Fe carnival gave out live rabbits and turtles as prizes.

College student says DEA forgot him in a holding cell for days.

Credit is America’s welfare plan, says professor.

In a move that can only devalue the old-fashioned paper tome, publishers are planning to put ads on book covers.

Ashton Kutcher’s brownface Popchips ad pulled.

Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” sold for $120 million, making it the most expensive painting in the world.

Courtney Love’s art.

Lost parakeet tells police where he lives.

Most of us are outliers.

Who riots best? Sports fans or protesters?

How superstitions and rituals help you win.

Hello Kitty airline.

Navajo Nation suing Urban Outfitters for titling some products “Navajo.”

Arizona public schools ban Bless Me Ultima, the landmark novel by local literary legend Rudolfo Anaya.

Image of Jesus appears in a tortilla in Española.

Request your FBI file.

HuffPo article on the owner of Effex, an LGBT rights activist and a Christian Republican.

Farewell, heartthrob Davy Jones.

Recycling photos from around the world.

Understanding fluffed marshmallow vodka.

The Aquabats have a TV show.

Girls make beats.

Han Solo in carbonite crayons.

50 worst baby names.

Track down criminals with Twitter.

Bank of America rolls out even sneakier fees.

Yoga championships. It’s a thing.

The life of the robot.

U.S. to ease its combat mission in Afghanistan.

Burqueños prison gang exhibits civic pride.

Foreigners stick their foreign fingers in our chile market.

Reies Lopez Tijerina, a Chicano activist, mounted an armed raid to make a citizen's arrest of New Mexico's district attorney in the '60s. He's speaking at the Statehouse today.

Tour the Old Main, home of the lethal 1980 prison riot.

To protect his riches, this wealthy man adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend as his daughter.

Anonymous hacks emails and accuses Ron Paul of being linked to a neo-Nazi group.

Washington the state passes a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

Komen yanked its funding from Planned Parenthood, so supporters around the country donated enough in a single day to make up the difference.

Baratunde Thurston on how to be Black.

Remember when we sold guns to cartels so we could track them? And then it didn't work out so well?

This cheerleader can dead lift 250.

Meet supergiant—not the band, the amphipod.

Marchers in Egypt protest military mishandling of a soccer riot that killed 74.

The most common regrets of folks at the end of their lives.

Rest in peace:

Sonic Youth collaborator and artist Mike Kelley

"Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius

Poet Wislawa Szymborska

Boxing trainer Angelo Dundee

The man who played Mr. Pitt on "Seinfeld," Ian Abercrombie

• Baratunde Thurston on Twilight (jerry) [ Thu Feb 2 2012 1:19 PM ]
  

Local credit unions see lots of new accounts after Bank Transfer Day.

The city of Farmington tries to assure Navajos that the city is a safe place for them to visit.

N.M. rattlers provide venom for cancer treatment.

Perry screws up. Big time.

A 70-year-old machine gun that still works.

Dude surfs a 90-foot wave.

Someone stole a ghost bike.

A trailer park in Tesuque Pueblo is demanding proof of citizenship from renters.

Unseen photos of Marilyn Monroe.

Caviar lipstick.

Police beat protesters with clubs at Occupy demonstration at UC Berkeley.

Penn State students riot over the firing of their football coach, who is accused of covering up his assistant coach's child molestation.

There are no more rhinos in West Africa.

Ex-banker takes over Greece.

California had a law against euthanizing "downer" animals. The Supreme Court overturned that law.

Why is gold our basis for money and not something else?

The Leila texts.

• Downer animals (sloppy) [ Thu Nov 10 2011 12:01 PM ]
  
• You forgot Eeyore. (upchuck) [ Fri Nov 11 2011 10:07 AM ]
  

 

You know, for park cleanup. Not for anything political or anything.

Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in Zuccotti Park have got to get out tomorrow morning. The billionaire mayor went to the park to deliver the news.

According to this notice, maintenance crews will be cleaning the park in thirds. While one-third is being cleaned, the other two will remain open, and it should take four hours to clean each section.

That sounds like it should ultimately affect the protesters only a little, but tacked on to the notice is a list of appropriate uses of the privately owned park.

Camping, erecting tents

Laying down on the ground, benches, sitting areas or walkways

Spreading tarps and sleeping bags

Storing personal property

Using bikes, skateboards and roller blades

Taking things out of the trash cans

MoveOn’s got a petition going to stop the eviction.

More Videos

• Portland tents torn down, TV News Hypes Threat of Cop Action (StormCrow) [ Thu Oct 13 2011 5:53 PM ]
  

 

Last night, Camp Coyote was removed peacefully—and without arrests—from University of New Mexico campus by a force of state and university police.

Spokesperson Karen Wentworth held a press conference at the UNM Police Department station, where she said the university does not allow people to camp out. “We don’t let students stay here overnight. You’re not allowed to stay here overnight,” she said. She told protesters they could be at Yale Park between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Wentworth said Occupy Albuquerque demonstrators had been repeatedly notified over the last week. Many occupiers said they were aware the university had asked them to leave. After being removed from campus, one protester who didn’t want to give her name said “The university completely reneged on their agreement with us.”

A group trying to raise awareness about homelessness camped overnight on Johnson Field last semester. What’s the difference? Wentworth said the group “went through a pretty rigorous vetting.”

The university’s Facebook page was updated yesterday by the UNM admins to say “The Occupy Burque protesters do not have permission to camp on campus overnight.”

There were 63 comments on the post, most of which were in support of the movement. Some were vitriolic. One person wrote “Kick them out there starting to bug any ways WTF when did loitering become leagle,” and another suggested “give em the gas then bash their skulls in.”

So, a Daily Lobo reporter asked, if they were in violation of the policy then why weren’t they kicked out the first night? “We were trying to make sure they understood this was a violation,” Wentworth said. “I don’t know, maybe we were too patient.”

Desi Brown, from UNM’s Peace Studies Program, has acted as a liaison between the university and the protesters. He said last week that the group filled out a permit request to stay on campus, and under “contact information” they wrote that the only way to contact them was to come to Occupy Albuquerque’s general assembly meetings, held every day at 6 p.m. Spokesperson Wentworth said the university didn’t want to go to the general assembly meetings “because we didn’t want to seem heavy-handed.”

Protester and UNM student Jordan Whelchel said the university certainly came off that way by having the demonstrators removed. “I’d say that sending out more police officers than there were people in the park is a heavy-handed gesture, if I’ve ever seen one,” he said. “Coming to an assembly meeting to let us know some crucial information is by no means heavy-handed.”

Occupy Albuquerque moved to the parking lot of the Peace and Justice Center on the corner of Silver and Harvard to spend the rest of the night and reassembled today at UNM.

More updates to come.

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Eric Williams ericwphoto.com

Solar tubes on the roof of Downtown @ 700-2nd Street. They heat water for the complex, which offers apartments on a sliding scale of $0 to $500 monthly.

We got curious about one of the bonds on the ballot. (No, not No. 12, which handcuffs millions for the Paseo interchange to millions for a sportsplex.)

We were interested in “No. 10: Affordable Housing” that kicks $10 million to workforce housing, homes for working families and inexpensive rental properties for senior citizens.

Read Carolyn Carlson’s report on the developments that come out of this money.