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A few years ago, John Gonzales rode his candy-blue and slate-gray Harley-Davidson FXR more than 150 miles for a hamburger. Yes, it was some hamburger – one pound of a “great hamburger,” he says. But the burger was just an excuse. What Gonzales was after was a ride, a ride with hundreds of other leather-clad … Read more

Biodiesel can be produced from vegetation such as soybeans, sunflowers and rapeseed, but the best way to create the fuel may come from a little organism that likes sewage, grows in water and can produce up to 50 percent of its body weight in oil. “The plus for algae . . . you can grow … Read more

This is a sidebar to an article about biodiesel, “Pumped for the Future.” Biodiesel has grown in popularity throughout the state and country as more Americans look to alternative fuels that offer renewability, gently treat the environment and don’t rest in foreign countries. Here’s a rundown of some New Mexico companies and organizations using biodiesel: … Read more

In Fiona Sinclair’s back yard, a long sausage-shaped filter suspended above a plastic bucket drips and plops, plops, plops thick, golden droplets of a fluid she says could be the fuel of the future. The fluid is used vegetable oil. Its destination is the red tank stuck into the trunk of a modified Volkswagen Jetta … Read more

When Mike Berry’s weekly gasoline bill hit nearly $100 a week, he decided it was time for a change. “I don’t like giving the gas companies $400 a month,” says the 56-year-old air traffic controller with the Federal Aviation Administration. “It was kind of a breaking point.” So Berry – a Los Lunas resident who … Read more

When Bill Baca sits down at the balloon fiesta to eat his daily meal from Day’s Famous Indian Pueblo Fry Bread, there’s a certain choreography to his consumption. “I eat the filling first, and the sopaipilla last,” says the 56-year-old balloon crew chief, who has dined upon Day’s dish at every Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta … Read more

Looking at a map of winding paths cutting through the area north of Gallup, you’ll see the byways and highways named as one might expect: Hard Ground Canyon Road, White Cliffs Road, South White Smoke Wash Road, Becenti Trail. But keep on looking and you’ll come across a name that stands out like, well, a … Read more

What has Patty Grice worried about the Mountain View neighborhood in southern Albuquerque is the high number of people stuck with some kind of sickness. Grice, president of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association, knows many residents with respiratory problems. Three people in one area family have asthma, she says. She wonders about a number of … Read more

As task force leader of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Urban Search and Rescue Team, Tom Romero has trained for crawling through collapsed buildings and searching for victims of terrorist attacks. But nothing prepared him for what he saw in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hammered its way through. “The scale of it … Read more