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Ten years into the future, C.E. Pugh wonders if small farmers and ranchers in the state – and the sense of community they bring – will be around. Their chances are slim, says the general manager of La Montañita Co-op, if they don’t find customers to buy their goods for a good price. “Local producers, … Read more

Concern over the Duke City’s future water supply has pitted the city against a private water utility company serving 55,000 people in northwestern Albuquerque and northern Bernalillo County. “They continue pumping the same aquifer we’re trying to save,” said Alan Armijo, chairman of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority board. “There really isn’t any … Read more

Walk into Whiting Coffee Co. in northeast Albuquerque and you can smell one of the reasons owner Norm Whiting started the business in 1986 after coffee roasting part-time and running a wine and cheese shop in Austin. “It just seemed like a simpler business, and might even smell better than ripe cheeses,” says the 60-year-old … Read more

In the job applications that Toni Minoli reviews as general manager of Sadie’s restaurant, she sometimes reads about work stints as short as a few months. Not much time compared to her 33 years with the restaurant on Fourth Street Northwest. “People my age were brought up with more loyalty and diligence and quality of … Read more

Of all the words describing Hurricane Katrina – disaster, tragedy, horror – there is one less heard, one still hiding inside a just-bought house on the dirt-road edges of Rio Rancho. There, in the home of Liz Dorner and Adam White, it can be seen in the freshly painted rooms and the smile of their … Read more

George Brunacini excelled at everything he did. The Albuquerque businessman and Kentucky horse breeder would help anybody with anything. Those are the memories that came through Jude Worden’s shock after hearing that Brunacini, 60, had died Sunday in a plane crash. “I always wanted a brother like him, if I could have had one,” said … Read more

If Hurricane Katrina happened again, Michael Lente would go back. He’d go back to the chaos of the Gulf Coast, to the instant entrepreneurs selling “I survived the big one” T-shirts from the back of their trucks, to the 100-degree-plus invisible goo of the summertime South called air, to the armed soldiers and helicopters criss-crossing … Read more

If you managed to reduce use of a precious, limited resource, it’s unlikely you’d do anything to undermine your success. But that’s just what would happen if drought-driven restrictions on water use were chucked, argues Alan Armijo, chairman of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. In spite of the recent heavy rains and strides … Read more

When Trish Parsons climbs aboard Gandhi the Second – the name she gave to her second Harley-Davidson motorcycle – she steps into not just a ride, but a state of being. “Especially when you get into really beautiful countryside – and there’s a lot of it around here – I think you really do get … Read more

Growing up, Juan Martinez remembers his parents struggling to get help in stores because they didn’t speak English and the people behind the counter didn’t speak Spanish. It’s an experience he’d like other families such as his own to miss. As a bilingual retail sales consultant with Cingular Wireless’ new West Side store dedicated to … Read more