Play-by-play icon calls last game

From KRQE-TV.com by Dick Knipfing - One of New Mexico's best known voices signed off for the final time Friday night after broadcasting his last high school football game.  Mike Roberts is best known as the "Voice of the Lobos." He did the play-by-play of Lobo football and basketball games for 40 years.
     After that ended five years ago he switched to high school sports:  "I enjoyed it," Roberts told KRQE News 13. "I started doing play-by-play when I was in high school. "That was one thing I really loved doing, and I was lucky enough to have people let me do it."
     Mike, who's now 80, says he doesn't know what he'll do now, but he'll have to learn how not to work. Roberts began his broadcasting career in Atmore, Alabama, at WATM in December 1951. More

Play-by-play icon calls last game

Hunting season officially underway in NM

Oh deer, it's hunting season

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jeffery Gordon, KOB.com - Hunting season is officially underway around New Mexico. Sunday marked opening day for hunting deer, elk, squirrel, dove, grouse and band-tailed pigeons.
     The department of game and fish is urging all hunters to be safe in the field. They also want hunters to be mindful of private property and to follow all laws and rules. More

Hunting season officially underway in NM

Thinking about man-made global warming

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Albert Einstein changed our world without getting into data. He used a notebook and pencil to think his way through issues of theoretical physics. He sat thoughtfully dreaming questions. Early in life Einstein imagined chasing after a beam of light. That physical question brought about his theory of relativity.
      Others before and after Einstein were data-centric researchers trying to make data answer questions. They thought mathematically while he thought physically. We can all learn from Einstein’s approach.
     For the last forty years we have been pummeled by doomsayers about man’s role in the climate of our planet. First, in the 1970s it was man-made global cooling that was set to kill us all. Then in the 1980s it suddenly shifted to man-made global-warming. Now we are menaced by man-made global climate change.
     Throughout 45 years the data has remained stable while the arguments have been all over the place. We Americans were all supposed to be dead by the year 1980; then 1990; then 2000; then 2010. Now we are told we have just ten years and then worldwide catastrophe. ...what we are really asking is: what is the correct temperature for our world? If we are intervening based on temperature it must be wrong, but what is right?
If slabs of ice descend over North America it will cancel the running of the Indianapolis 500. Still, if the new danger is global-warming, Canada becomes the garden spot of North America instead of the icebox.
In the 1980s when man-made global warming was going to kill everyone on the planet by the year 2000, my question about attempting to reverse it was: how will you know when you have gone too far reversing the ravages of man-made global-warming? There was never an answer to that question.
This leads to the question: what is the best overall temperature for Earth? Would the seven billion people be better off if the temperature was a smidge hotter or colder? How could we make that determination? If the temperature of the Earth goes up or down, which regions of Earth win or lose. If the Earth cools, the Russians and Northern Europeans are in the frozen hurt locker. If it goes up, they will dance in the streets.
With a perspective of four decades man-made global change seems a political belief system providing financial and political advantage to the proponents. I do not need data to know that the essential questions of an intervention were and are never addressed. Read full column

Thinking about man-made global warming

Climate Change Editorial by the Washington Post contains misstatements, half-truths, and omissions

Commentary by Robert Endlich, co-host, News New Mexico
The recent editorial by the Washington Post “Humans’ complicity in climate change can’t be ignored,” begins describing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, as, “arbiter of the scientific consensus.” Scientific Consensus is an oxymoron. Science is not done by consensus, it is done using the scientific method: Propose a hypothesis, carefully observe the results, and determine whether the observations match the results. If the results don’t confirm the hypothesis, the hypothesis is wrong.
The claim, increasing greenhouse gases humans have emitted into the atmosphere as chief driver of the warming of the planet over the past half-century, a finding to which they ascribe 95 percent confidence, is without merit or foundation. There is no technical basis for such a claim, if there were, the IPCC would trumpet it loudly; it is simply bloviation.
Since the Post mentions greenhouse gases, we have a considerable number of observations of the temperature, made by NASA satellites since 1979, to validate or falsify the IPCC claims. Measured temperatures from the lower troposphere are determined by the microwave emission from O2 molecules, and are published by two world class organizations, the University of Alabama at Huntsville, UAH, and Remote Sensing Systems, Inc, or RSS, from California.
Observations of greenhouse temperatures by UAH are available monthly on the Internet athttp://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/ These data show that the latest temperature a mere 0.17C above the 30 year mean 1981-2010. Look at the data; there is no CO2 signal. Read entire column

Climate Change Editorial by the Washington Post contains misstatements, half-truths, and omissions

Animal Control confiscates about 24 boa constrictors

From KOAT-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Two dozen dangerous snakes have been confiscated by Animal Control. The snakes were being sold illegally on the side of the road and on Craigslist. Albuquerque’s Animal Control found two dozen red-tail boa constrictors someone was breeding.
     “He had three boas of his own, one male and two females,” said Sharen Westhoff, an Animal Control officer. “(He) ended up with them in the same tank together, which created boa babies.” That is against permit laws. In Albuquerque, private citizens can’t sell boa constrictors.
     A "for sale" sign stuck in the middle of the sidewalk was used to advertise the snake sale. They were sold at $70 per snake. Had all the snakes been sold, the owner would have made close to $2,000.
     Animal Control found more "up for sale" signs among couches and collectibles on Craigslist. The person selling the snakes has yet to be caught. “Snakes of any variety can be incredibly dangerous,” said Westhoff. “They will bite, especially when feeling threatened.”
     The snakes were confiscated and are at an aquarium. They are headed for a reptile rescue. More

Animal Control confiscates about 24 boa constrictors

Santa Fe bans plastic bags

Santa Fe has become the latest in a growing number of cities to ban plastic grocery bags. 

The ban, which covers carrier bags thinner than 2.25 mils, will take effect in six months. Ron Trujillo was the sole dissenter on the council, which passed the measure by a 7-1 vote. 

 Paper bags, containing 40 percent recycled materials, would still be available, but shoppers would have to pay 10 cents for them. The fee would be waived for people who receive food assistance such as food stamps. 

The ban will not apply to restaurants or food banks, and grocery stores will still be able to supply smaller plastic bags for bulk items such as meat, produce and bakery goods. And they will still be able to sell garbage bags. 

The measure also allows the Environmental Services Division to provide reusable bags to low-income families.

Santa Fe bans plastic bags

ABQ abortion ban will likely go to vote

Albuquerque voters could, and likely will, vote on an abortion ban by November. 

The city clerk verified that anti-abortion protestors collected enough valid signatures – a little more than 12,000 – on a petition that prevent women from having an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

 In the last month, protestors from all over the country have criticized the city and the State of New Mexico for not having any bans on abortion.  Some protestors compared the city to Auschwitz – a concentration camp that existed during the Holocaust.

 Organizer Elisa Martinez said nearly 27,000 people signed the petition. 

Amy Bailey, Albuquerque’s city clerk, said city council members have two weeks to vote on the legislation as written, or they could turn it over to voters. She said a special election could cost roughly $600,000.

 If the mayoral election in October leads to a runoff in November, Bailey said the abortion issue could end up on the November ballot.

ABQ abortion ban will likely go to vote

More counties begin to issue same sex marriage licenses

Following the actions of three other counties in the state, the Valencia, San Miguel County and Taos county clerks have decided to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. 

San Miguel County Clerk Melanie Rivera confirmed she ordered new licenses from the printer, but said she is now issuing "Spouse and Spouse" licenses that have been manually altered starting on Tuesday. 

According to Valencia County Clerk Peggy Carabajal, paper stock for the licenses have already been ordered. They plan to change software to print "Spouse and Spouse" instead of "Bride and Groom" as soon as the paper arrives tomorrow morning. 

Taos District Judge Jeff McElroy said the county clerk will likely not contest the decision in court and will begin issuing same sex marriage licenses soon.

More counties begin to issue same sex marriage licenses

Albuquerque ranks below average in safe driver survey

From KOB-TV.com - By: Joseph Lynch,  KOB Eyewitness News 4 - What's one word you would use to describe Albuquerque drivers? According to the Allstate Insurance Company, two words describe us: Below Average. In a survey of 200 cities, looking for the best drivers, Albuquerque comes in at 121. No argument from people KOB Eyewitness News 4 talked to on the road today.
     No, Albuquerque isn't at the bottom, but the city has dropped from last year's position of mediocrity. The Duke City is now 121 out of 200 on Allstate's survey. Allstate's survey looked at data like crash fatalities and number of collisions. It even factored in "big city vs. small city" driving. No shortage of common mistakes made here by drivers. 121 out of 200 leaves a lot of room for improvement. There is always next year's survey. A closer look shows, according to Allstate's numbers, drivers in Albuquerque are involved in an accident every nine years. Local drivers are 13 percent more likely to be involved in a crash than the national average.
     The safest drivers in America are in Fort Collins, Colorado. The most dangerous? Washington D.C. More

Albuquerque ranks below average in safe driver survey

We can drill our way out of this problem

Commentary by Marita Noon - Perhaps you read the USA Todayeditorial on August 19 that concludes with: “the most important gains could come from radical shifts that are as unanticipated as was North America's emergence as an oil and gas powerhouse.” It points out “that free enterprise has a way of solving problems that is beyond the capabilities of government.” And continues: “The surge in domestic oil and gas production—spurred on by such new techniques as hydraulic fracturing (or ‘fracking’) did not come about as the result of government energy polices, but largely in spite of them.”
     Other oil producing countries are taking note. Mexico has huge oil-and-gas reserves— estimated at 115bn barrels of oil equivalent, comparable to Kuwait’s—but lacks the technology to develop non-conventionals, such as shale gas and deep-sea crude. President Pena Nieto is looking to make reforms that would allow foreign companies to partner with the state-owned oil company, Pemex, to bring the wealth to the surface.
     The reality of North America becoming an “oil-and-gas powerhouse” threatens more than just OPEC nations. In response to the USA Today editorial, Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), wrote an “opposing view” proclaiming: “Increasing domestic oil and gas production is no panacea for our nation's energy needs or economy.”
     Apparently, she is not aware that regions with oil-and-gas development have some of the lowest unemployment in the country—states with resource extraction such as Texas, Montana, Oklahoma, and Wyoming all have unemployment rates below the national average and North Dakota has the lowest in the country at 3.9%. My home state of New Mexico shares the rich Permian Basin with Texas. There, they tell me: “Anyone who can pass a drug test can get a job.”
     Friday, August 23, was the deadline for public comment on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) draft rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. Oklahoma Attorney General Pruitt and attorneys general from four other states sent a letter to the BLM, objecting to the agency’s intent to duplicate the state’s long-standing regulation of hydraulic fracturing. “States have been regulating hydraulic fracturing for more than 40 years with great success. This proposed rule is just another layer of unnecessary regulation that will cause significant delays and hinder natural gas production,” General Pruitt said. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that regulation of water and land use is a state and local power, and no law gives an agency such as the BLM the authority to pre-empt state regulations.”
     Environmentalists’ hyperbole about the use of hydraulic fracturing would lead the general public to believe that the practice is new. In fact it has been successfully used to extract oil and gas for more than 60 years—and, over the decades, it has been refined and made giant technological leaps. Attempts to link fracking to water contamination have repeatedly been disproven. Read full column

We can drill our way out of this problem