Marisa Demarco

National tensions put one local clinic on high alert

Jenny Black's day began with red paint poured over the sidewalk and wire hangers strewn about her business' parking lot. Just another Good Friday, she said.

How will New Mexicans be affected? An insider explains.

Navigating health reform legislation is no small task. This enormous Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does everything from impose a 10 percent tax on tanning salon services to reworking the country’s massive Medicare program. That’s why the Alibi turned to health policy expert and seasoned clinician Nancy Ridenour, Ph.D., RN. (Read web extras here, and see a list of basic terms defined here.)

Minie flickr.com/photos/minervana/collections

This week, I interviewed Nancy Ridenour, the dean of UNM’s College of Nursing. She worked on Capitol Hill, and she had a hand in crafting portions of the health care reform bill.

H Dragon / CC BY-SA 2.0

Burning Love: Covering Fire and the People Who Start It

It’s been three years since I started beat reporting, and in that time I suppose I’ve covered 100 fires. Probably more.

After 16 years on the job, top City Attorney Bob White is retiring. White, also known as an actor in local theater, served under several mayors. He will be replaced by Rob Perry, who was former Gov. Gary Johnson’s corrections cabinet secretary.

Dateline: Florida—According to the Pensacola News Journal, Google Earth helped a sheriff’s department bust a major litterbug. Deputy Gregory Barnes used satellite images from Google Earth to hunt down the owner of an 18-foot boat which had been dumped in an undeveloped subdivision about 15 miles north of Pensacola. Authorities were able to identify a fuzzy image of the boat in question parked at Dwight Everett Foster’s house. When police questioned him, Foster admitted to dumping the old boat. The police said it would have cost Foster $18 to dispose of the vessel at a local landfill. He now faces a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

Letters

Beverly & Pack / CC BY-SA 2.0

Fighting two costly wars, massively expanding the federal role in health care and adding trillions of dollars to America’s national debt—sounds like President George W. Bush, right? Well, it does describe Bush’s policies, but unfortunately, it also describes President Obama’s track record more than a year into his presidency.