Freeform

Whether you’re with the “long-ear planning group” or the “animal-that-ropes-with-his-nose planning group,” this year’s election will prove to be a little more aurally interesting than in the past. For the first time, spoken Navajo translations of the ballot will be available on voting machines that allow voters to select their choices on a screen. Sounds … Read more

David Bacon has two words to describe his campaign for the District 4 seat on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission: up and down. “I’m going to work to keep your rates down and your service up,” said the 57-year-old Green Party candidate and one-time gubernatorial candidate. “Everyone gets that.” In a race that could … Read more

People used to tell M.T. Hyatt that her husband’s voice was something you could fall in love with. Her response to the statement about John Hyatt – Johnny to his friends – was simple: “I’d say, ‘I did.’ ” That deep voice is one of the many things she will remember about the Albuquerque resident, … Read more

An Albuquerque man and U.S. Marine who was killed in Iraq has been nominated for the Medal of Honor, the U.S. Military’s highest honor for bravery on the battlefield. Chris Adlesperger was nominated after killing at least 11 enemy soldiers while recovering the body of a friend and fellow soldier, said his stepgrandmother, Lynda Adlesperger, … Read more

Even with Fourth Street construction hurting Roger Erker’s Los Ranchos de Albuquerque business, the JB’s Restaurant owner sees the necessity of the sandbags, the traffic barriers, the torn-up asphalt and the lines of cars jammed into a milelong stretch of half a road. “Something needed to get done,” he says. “It’s like a grape on … Read more

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