As I listen to 13-year-old Ian Jones rattle off phrases like "dynamic attack," "releasing the tension" and a "fully formed endgame," I become less and less confident in his previous assertion that chess "isn't just for super geniuses."

When it comes to the health of New Mexicans, it's hardly a level playing field.

A Health Disparities Report Card released by The New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) earlier this month tells a disparaging tail about the constitution of the state's racial and ethnic minorities as compared to white New Mexicans. Of the 19 health-related categories looked at in the report, there are significant differences between whites and minorities in teen births, infant mortality, diabetes deaths, adult obesity, hepatitis B and drug-induced deaths.

Why is the mayor studying red-light cameras? Who's jumped in the Senate race (that could give said mayor a run for his money)? Why is Downtown suddenly a war zone? What new privilege have we given the city's public school police?

In July 2007, a rancher in the small Texas town of Cuero captured a strange creature that had been attacking her livestock. She claimed the blue, hairless animal had been lurking around her ranch for years, and when it was hit by a car, she suggested she had finally captured a chupacabra, the vampiric goat-sucking monster of lore. Tissue samples were sent to biologists at Texas State University for DNA analysis, and while the rancher waited for the results she sold thousands of "2007: Summer of the Chupacabra" T-shirts and caps.

On the environment front, good news arrives from an unexpected quarter.

Out of Las Cruces, a group called People for Preserving Our Western Heritage has made a historic proposition. With the support of a growing list of businesses and organizations, they are calling for the permanent protection of 302,000 acres of federal lands in Doña Ana County.

Why “historic”? The proposal comes from ranchers.

When KKOB and ABC radio announced Albuquerque would be the site for a national town hall on one of the hottest of hot button issues, the “immigration crisis,” I groaned.

While councilors lit no bonfires to mark their Nov. 5 Guy Fawkes Day meeting, they protected the crown jewels and added another one to the treasure chest.

Dateline: The Netherlands--Residents of chilly Terschelling island, 70 miles north of Amsterdam, are getting their recommended daily allowance of potassium thanks to the tons of unripe bananas that have washed up on a half-mile stretch of beach. The fruit fell off a Cuban cargo ship that encountered stormy weather last week. Authorities estimate that six containers were washed off the ship and at least one burst open. Local beachcombers checked out the tropical bounty but weren’t as excited as they were one year ago when tennis shoes, aluminum briefcases and toys washed ashore. Old-timers also remember a nice load of sweaters that was swept onto the beach 20 years ago.

[RE: Newscity, “Scraping By,” Nov. 1-7] Well, I guess we know now that homelessness is not brain science. People are homeless because there is a lack of housing: 3,000 homeless (many think around 5,000) and a total of just more than 300 total beds available.