Ex-Mayor Marty is on his way to D.C. He'll be joining a lobbying firm that represents clean air activists, education boosters, Wal-Mart, Verizon and shady car title loans.

The ancient church at Alameda kicks off a centennial celebration with a bunch of funerals.

A proposed New Mexico law written to reject Federal law (something something guns, something something states' rights) has been rejected. Duh.

Cats are killing everything. Fortunately, we have natural controls in place.

Legalized gay marriage in Washington state meant that Gomer Pyle could get married.

The Boy Scouts of America are thinking about maybe not being so mean to gay kids.

And an Arkansas town pretty much just declared martial law.

Former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez will run for congress.

Air quality alert issued for Albuquerque, so don't breathe between 4 and 8 tonight.

The Las Conchas fire is 3% contained.

Taliban attack luxury hotel in Kabul.

Hackers expose Arizona police officers personal info.

No one likes dollar coins.

Albuquerque named one of America's most sedentary cities.

Michelle Bachmann and John Wayne Gacy have a lot in common.

The company behind FarmVille and Mafia Wars is preparing for an IPO.

Some sort of devil jumping over babies party in Spain.

Read all about the first meteorite recorded in Egypt.

This Princess Diana issue of Newsweek is not at all weird.

Bill Clinton: Brony.

The Daily Beast could only think of eight appalling things about The Bachelorette.

Finally, a combination elliptical machine/office desk chair, and it's only $8,000!

Do gay bars make money?

Florida fishermen catch a 23-foot squid.

Your 4th of July menu.

Hipster Lord of The Rings is awesome.

One hundred mummies from the 16th century found buried in an Italian church.

Should we dig up Shakespeare to see if he smoked pot?

What is ganache?

The mothership is in London.

Happy Brithday Gary Busey!!!

We’ve got you covered. See the stream and the live-blog here. Or, see it on “New Mexico In Focus” on KNME Channel 5 tomorrow at 7 p.m.

A rowdy crowd cheered and booed the candidates: R.J. Berry, Martin Chavez and Richard Romero.

Among the topics covered: Sprawl, violence against women, streetcar/light rail/trolley, homelessness, green jobs, teens, mayoral term-limits, gay marriage, pay-to-play, South Valley incorporation, government spending, arts, APS, red-light cameras ...

The election is Oct. 6, but you can vote early as of yesterday. Details on what you’ll need and where to vote can be found in this article by Steven Robert Allen, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico and former Alibi editor in chief.

See that box up there on our homepage about the mayoral debate? You can sign up for a reminder about the live blog action to be found here at alibi.com on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.

Four media outlets have joined forces to put on the debate, which is free and open to the public. Each news source should have a live stream of the event on its website and a portal to the live blog featuring the readers, viewers and listeners of KNME, the Alibi, KUNM and the New Mexico Independent.

If you want to experience democracy in person, head down to the National Hispanic Cultural Center around 6 p.m. The debate starts at 7 p.m. There are about 300 seats in the theater, and it’s first-come, first-served.

We’ll be collecting questions from the audience for the candidates. You can submit a filmed question via YouTube. Details here. We’ll also be pulling questions from the live blog.

You’ll be able to hear the debate live on KUNM FM 89.9, as well.

City elections have a greater impact on your life in some ways that a presidential election. The mayor, the City Council, these are the politicians who make decisions about your neighborhood, your roads, your police force, your bars, many of the laws you have to follow, your job opportunities, the air you breathe, the water you drink, your public transit, etc.

So get involved. We want to hear from you. We want your future mayor to hear from you.

To get a preview of the upcoming city races, this weekend I set out to visit former state Sen. Richard Romero’s campaign HQ and then headed over to the Westside for Mayor Martin Chavez’s “official” announcement. (R.J. Berry and Donna Rowe did not have any announced public appearances over the weekend.)

At Romero’s mid North Valley headquarters there were about 60 volunteers who were pairing up to hit the hot neighborhood streets and knock on doors. Romero said in a short interview that he was running because it was time for a change in the city’s leadership. He said he has four priorities: public safety, job creation, education and transparent government. We did not have time to get into the specifics of each priority, but we will. Working for the underdog made Romero’s volunteers a bit on the serious side as they hoofed it through neighborhoods to spread the word about his qualifications.

On the Westside at the Chavez gathering, there were at least a couple hundred people packed into a hot community center room to hear what they already knew. There were a number of city employees and mayor appointees present. Chavez said to the jovial crowd that he is an agent of positive vision and change for the city. Chavez has the advantage as an eight-year incumbent to point out his own mayoral successes. He cited programs like quick graffiti removal, the 311 city information line, Rapid Ride, putting more cops on the streets and, of course, dog parks and other perks for Fido and Kitty.

Most everyone knows Mayor Martin Chavez intends to be mayor again. He had the state Supreme Court rule that mayoral term limits are just suggestions. He gathered signatures for public financing. He waved and smiled from atop a float at this year’s Gay Pride Parade. But he managed to delay making it official until late in the game, prompting reporters to fake-wonder at whether he would step into the ring.

He’s expected to announce his candidacy on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the Taylor Ranch Community Center. He’ll be running against Democrat Richard Romero and Republican RJ Berry.