Political solicitation is not allowed on Albuquerque Public Schools campuses. Military-based organizations are not considered political, says Rigo Chavez, APS spokesperson.

The high school rumor mill strikes again. How will the State Senate kick off its next session? Why is the governor in hot water? How did a mail carrier allegedly dispose of his loot?

Winter in the Gila. Snow sparkles between the trees. Ponderosas cast long shadows in the moon’s cold light. It is a magical, frozen night deep in New Mexico’s greatest wilderness.

Most of us can identify the major national figures who have an impact on our lives: the Cheneys, the Clintons, the Richardsons. Few would probably know the name Kevin Martin. He's the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and his actions Tuesday, Dec. 18, reduced your options in this media-soaked environment.

While going though files on psychics in my Buffalo, N.Y., office a few years ago, I came across a newspaper article listing annual psychic predictions--in and of itself, an unremarkable find. The article appeared in this very newspaper, and featured predictions from local psychics for the following year. What made this particular article interesting was the year being predicted: 2001, in an issue dated Jan. 11-17.

Russell Pickavance's short list of life goals reads something like this: 1) Make an affordable, water-powered car. 2) Feed everyone in the world.

Dateline: Japan--An aquarium in Tokyo has turned to a Japanese inventor for a novel way to light a Christmas tree--using electric eels. Inventor Kazuhiko Minawa said it took him more than a month to devise a system that would effectively harness eel power. Two aluminum panels were eventually placed inside the eels’ tank to serve as electrodes. Cables attached to the panels supply the lights on a nearby tree with electricity. “If we could gather electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree,” Minawa told Reuters Television. The tree, which will stay illuminated until Christmas, is proving itself a popular attraction, drawing tourists from all over the country.

I was surprised to see Simon McCormack's column, “Transgender Transfixion," in the Dec. 6 issue of the Alibi [Thin Line]. While I lived in Arizona from 2001 to 2005 I had numerous media stories published concerning the transgender community. Yet after I moved to New Mexico in 2006, not one newspaper has paid any attention to my queries. This includes the Alibi, which I've contacted at least three times during the past two years with offers to provide an inside perspective on this community.

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as hundreds of Christmas trees filling up Albuquerque Convention Center’s Ballrooms A, B and C from Friday, Dec. 6 through Sunday, Dec. 8 from 10am to 6pm. This 12th annual Festival of Trees raises funds for the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation through the $1 donations requested at the door. It is chock-full of Christmas decorations, wreaths, Santa, hot cocoa and, of course, trees. For more information on this all-ages event, see festivaloftreesnm.com.