signpost · 2020-07-07 · election results. “they are a blessing. “we didn’t leave election...

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Manhunt freezes Placitas village as Hummer burns, ammo explodes ~BILL DIVEN

Two days after two criminal suspects fleeing the law were pursued into Placitas village, the Hummer they torched and abandoned remained among scorched cottonwoods and trails of melted aluminum.

Residents reported hearing an explosion believed to be ammunition left in the vehicle.

Two suspects in a restaurant robbery and other crimes eluded capture on June 25, but left in their wake a burning vehicle with exploding ammunition and a manhunt that locked down Placitas for hours.

At Signpost deadline, some details, includ-

ing the identities of the wanted man and woman, and how a confrontation in Placitas escalated, have not been released. What is known is that events that day spread from southern Sandoval County to Albuquerque’s East Mountains and then down through the

Primary voters flood polls, Bureau of Elections mailbox ~SIGNPOST STAFFEven with the surge of mail-in absentee bal-lots, Sandoval Country completed its counts in the June 2 Democrat, Republican, and Lib-ertarian primaries before dawn.

“The staff worked many, many hours to get this done,” County Clerk Eileen Garbagni said during the June 12 canvass of election results. “They are a blessing.

“We didn’t leave election night until 3:45 in the morning to make sure that everything in our books was balanced and to a T.”

Two other counties—Taos and Santa Fe—won court orders for extra days to complete their counts. Adding to the volume of votes was heavy turnout locally and statewide.

“We had 42 percent for the primary, which we’ve never had before,” Bernice Garcia, manager of the Sandoval County Bureau of Elections, said. That included more than 22,000 absentee ballots mailed or delivered in person and about 10,000 in-person voters on primary day.

Recent primary turnouts were 12.8 percent in 2018, when the governor’s job was on the ballot, and 32.5 percent in 2016, a presiden-tial year. The statewide turnout this year was 42 percent of the nearly one million eligible voters.

When the secretary of state failed to win state Supreme Court approval for mailing

Branding campaign aids businesses stung by U.S. 550 construction ~SIGNPOST STAFFThe double hit of a major highway project and a worldwide pandemic hit Bernalillo business owners Jose Morales and Tony Griffin differently.

Both may benefit, however, from a marketing effort launched to create a regional brand and draw customers to the town and nearby businesses. Dubbed “Crossroads @ 550,” the program by the Town of Bernalillo and the Santa Ana Pueblo business subsidiary Tamaya Enterprises, with backing from the New Mexico Department of Transporta-tion, began in June with a website, Facebook page, and mer-chant discount coupons.

Morales opened his Fresh for Less produce and Mexican-import market at 240 Highway 550 in June, 2019. By late October, a five-hundred-day project to widen the highway to six lanes was underway, focused first on the new southside lane before shifting last month to the north just outside Morales’s front door.

“We had a good couple of months before construction started, especially when chile season started,” Morales told the Signpost. Tourists, passersby, and chile helped sustain the business while local shoppers began discovering the busi-ness, he added.

The location of Plinkers Sporting Goods at 348 South Camino del Pueblo put Griffin outside the U.S. 550 construc-tion zone, but it didn’t help. Traffic backing up half a mile or more from the U.S. 550 stoplight blocked access to the store

That, along with now-finished work upgrading curbs, side-walks, and street lights on Bernalillo’s main street scared off customers. Under pressure from the town, NMDOT restored the second left-turn lane at U.S. 550, but the damage lingered as Plinkers’ lines of sporting goods shrank to guns and ammo.

And then COVID-19 hit, with emergency public-health orders closing Plinkers completely until the recent loosing allowed customers to return by appointment. A mini-surge of business followed.

“With the whole COVID thing, people are kind of freaking out,” Griffin said. “Some are buying guns; some want to get rid of them… That gave us a little boost. We’re seeing some of our old customers coming back.”

Morales never closed, as food vendors are considered essential services under the emergency orders. That even brought new customers.

“With the virus, people started coming here—maybe because the big stores were too crowded,” Morales said. Business took another dip with the construction shift, although an access sign points to an opening in the project, and drivers have become more attuned to letting shoppers back into traffic.

“People are complaining about the construction but are willing to help a small local business,” Morales continued. “They are very supportive… I’m really grateful for the peo-ple here.”

Griffin shares a similar sentiment as his customers adapt to the current reality of masks and tape on the floor, marking social distancing.

“People are pretty cool,” he said. “It’s moving along. America is a bounce-back country.”

Find the Signpost online at www.sandovalsignpost.com • Mailed subscriptions are available

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S I N C E 1 9 8 8 • V O L . 3 1 / N O . 7 • J U L Y 2 0 2 0 • F R E E

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• JULY 2020 • SANDOVAL SIGNPOST • SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1988

Sandoval Signpost • Serving the community since 1988 • JULY 2020 •

MAIL: Signpost, P. O. Box 889 Placitas, NM 87043 PHONE: (505) 867-3810 WEBSITE: www.sandovalsignpost.com EMAIL: [email protected] CALENDAR: [email protected] ADVERTISING: [email protected] DEADLINE: The 20th of each month, prior to month of interest DROP BOX: On the wall inside The Merc, at Homestead Village, 221 Highway 165, Placitas, Two miles east off I-25 Exit 242. SIGNPOST STAFF: PUBLISHERS: Barb and Ty Belknap EDITOR / BUSINESS MANAGER: Ty Belknap EDITOR / CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Barb Belknap NEWS EDITOR: Bill Diven COPY EDITOR / PROOFREADER: Evan Belknap NIGHT SKY FEATURE WRITER: Charlie Christmann MASTHEAD & DESIGN SUPPORT: Gary Priester CARTOONIST: Rudi Klimpert (in memorium) AD SALES: Office Staff WEBMASTER: Bunny Bowen DISTRIBUTION: Office Staff Sandoval Signpost is published monthly by

Belknap Publishing, Inc, P. O. Box 889, Placitas, NM 87043. Bulk postage is paid at Placitas, New Mexico. As a local newspaper of general circulation for Plac-itas, Bernalillo, Corrales, Rio Rancho and other areas of southeastern Sandoval County, we invite readers to submit stories, ideas, articles, letters, poetry, and photographs of artwork for publishing consideration. We wel-come advertising of interest to our reader-ship area. Ad and submission deadline is the twentieth of the month prior to the publica-tion month.

This issue of the Sandoval Signpost has been mailed to every home in Placitas (2,700 direct-mail), some direct-mail to Bernalillo, and delivered for free pickup at over forty locations in the Placitas-Bernalillo-Corrales and southeastern Sandoval County area, totalling about 5,400 copies.

Copyright © 2020, by Belknap Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The opin-ions expressed in articles appearing in the Sandoval Signpost are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers. The Sandoval Signpost is printed with soy ink on recycled newsprint. SUBSCRIPTIONS—--$35/YEAR, 12 ISSUES: Mail address and check to: Signpost, P. O. Box 889, Placitas, NM 87043. Or call the office at 505-867-3810 to pay over the phone with a credit/debit card or for further information.

CONTENT S from page 1——— Elections

actual ballots to all primary voters, the court did authorize mailing ballot applications. Among other security measures, Garcia said the combina-tion of bar codes tracking ballot requests and unopened returns, a locked ballot box in the clerk’s vault, and a sheriff’s escort to the vote-counting location protected the bal-lots.

Garcia said 321 people who showed up at the polls were given provisional ballots because their names were not found on voter rolls. All but five were not registered with one of the three major political par-ties, and those five did qualify but had been missed because their names were hyphenated.

One of the main lessons for the November 3 general election is to try to find more polling locations, Garcia said. The COVID-19 pandemic cut into poll workers, and two pueblos declined to allow early voting days or open a polling place for primary day.

Additionally, the clerk’s office, which in the past hasn’t budgeted separately for the back-and-forth postage on absentee ballots, tapped the county for $45,000, most or all of which will be reimbursed by the sec-retary of state.

The State Canvassing Board met on June 23 to certify candidates for the November general election. The fol-lowing are official totals listed by vote totals for countywide offices and state House and Senate offices affect-ing Placitas, Bernalillo, and nearby areas.

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State Senate District 9 (Corrales, Bernalillo, Placitas, Algodones) Democratic: Brenda Grace McKenna, 4,177 Kevin David Lucero, 2,049 Ben Rodefer, 2,151 Republican: John Stahlman Clark, 2,833 Bridget E. Condon, 1,646 Tania Arletha Dennis, 659 State House District 22 (Placitas, Albuquerque East Mountains, south Santa Fe County) Democratic Jessica Velasquez, 4,412 Republican Stefani Lord, 3,902 State House District 44 (Corrales, Bernalillo, Rio Rancho) Democratic Gary J. Tripp, 4,154 Republican Jane Powdrell-Culbert, incumbent, 3,706 Libertarian Jeremy B. Myers, 35

State House District 65 (Multiple pueblos, Bernalillo, San Ysidro, Cochiti Lake, western Rio Arriba County) Democratic Derek Lente, incumbent, 2,386 James Roger Madalena, 1,088 Republican Phillip D. Salazar, 486 13th Judicial District Attorney (succeeding Lemuel Martinez, retiring) Democratic Barbara Romo, 19,444 Mandana Shoushtari, 8,160 Republican Joshua Joe Jimenez, 17,963 County Clerk (succeeding Eileen Garbagni, term limited) Democratic Anne S. Brady-Romero, 8,914 Bob Perls, 6,080 Ignacio Pedro “Pete” Salazar, 3,029 Republican Lawrence D. Griego, 11,038 —continued on page 5

The surge of absentee ballots from voters in the June 2 party primaries didn’t all arrive by mail. Lined up outside the Placitas Community Library that day (from

front) Margaret McHenney, John Ghahate, and Susan Lashbrook line up to deliver their ballots in person while Rick Kossow waits his turn to vote.

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Up Front—1 Business-7 Around Town-8 Real People-10 Public Safety-11 Night Sky-12 Eco-Beat-13 Time Off-14

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County Treasurer (succeeding Laura Montoya, term limited) Democratic Jennifer A. Taylor, 11,179 Ronnie Sisneros, 6,649 Republican Benay P. Ward, 6,727 Carlos Sanchez, 4,978 County Commissioner District 2 (Corrales, Rio Rancho) Democratic Leah Michelle Ahkee-Baczkiewicz, 3,791 Republican Jay C. Block, incumbent, 2,668

County Commissioner District 4 (Rio Rancho) Democratic Alexandria C. Piland, 2,348 Republican David J. Heil, incumbent, 2.002 County Commissioner District 5 (Cuba and area) Democratic F. Kenneth Eichwald, incumbent, 1,684 Taylor Pinto, 1,542 Republican No Republican candidate


from page 1——— Manhuntnational forest into Placitas Village.

It was several days earlier when the sheriff’s Street Crimes and Intelli-gence Unit connected at least one of the suspects using a stolen credit card to auto burglaries at the Algodones Spillway, a popular parking area for people canoeing, kayaking, or just visiting the Rio Grande. One of the credit card purchases involved a large quantity of ammunition.

Street Unit officers were tracking the couple traveling in a stolen Hum-mer when the suspects became aware of the surveillance, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

An attempt to arrest the couple near State Road 313 and the county line failed, as the driver of the Hummer crashed into two unmarked vehicles, missing an officer on foot. Sometime later, the crew of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office helicopter spotted the Hummer in the Sandia Mountains near State Road 165, the rugged and unpaved portion of the road from near Sandia Crest to Plac-itas.

The first sign of trouble for some Placitas residents came before 5:30 p.m., as black smoke rose from a Hummer burning among cottonwood

During the manhunt for two suspects believed to be armed and dangerous, a Sandoval County sheriff’s deputy returns to his patrol car after searching the arroyo

running beside Camino del Camposanto in Placitas. The village was locked down and State Road 165 closed for hours, although the suspects managed to avoid capture.

Two days after two criminal suspects fleeing the law were pursued into Placitas village, the Hummer they torched and abandoned remained among

scorched brush and cottonwood trees. Residents reported hearing an explosion believed to be ammunition left in the vehicle.

trees off Camino los Altos near Paseo de San Antonio. Then came an explo-sion believed to be burning ammunition.

Around 6:00 p.m., telephone alerts advised residents to shelter in place. With the helicopter circling overhead, dozens of officers from multiple agen-

cies swarmed the village, searching until after midnight without locating either suspect. County firefighters kept a safe distance, monitoring the Hum-mer as it, brush, and cottonwoods burned and then smoldered.

During the manhunt, NM 165 was closed at mile marker 4 near the Placitas Community Library for about six hours. County investigators, working with state and federal agencies, are following several leads as the hunt for the pair continues, according to the news release.

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from page 3——— Elections

The Crossroad @ 550 program can be found online at www.CrossroadsAt550.com. Beyond boosting business during the highway project, a longer-term goal is creating a regional identity of history, tourism, culture, recreation, and commerce.

State transportation Secretary Michael Sandoval, whose personal experience included being caught in near-gridlock during the early days of the proj-ect, also met with business owners, some of whom reported revenue drops of forty percent.

And that was before the pandemic hit. “This is just one of the ways the NMDOT is going

above and beyond our commitment to business owners affected by construction,” Sandoval said in the program announcement.

Bernalillo Mayor Jack Torres said the program name was chosen because the town, pueblo, Plac-itas, and Rio Rancho are a crossroads and a gate-way to northern New Mexico. Money spent at local businesses helps the town and pueblo provide serv-ices to the community, he added.

The free program will expand as more businesses reopen. Interested owners and operators can obtain more information by contacting representatives of the state contractor CWA Strategic Communica-tions: Dana Bloomquist (245-3136/ [email protected]) or Patti Watson (269-

9691/[email protected].) While the program website offers driving tips for

navigating the construction zone, additional infor-mation, a signup for email updates and alerts and links to traffic cameras are available on the project website KeepMoving550.com.

Meanwhile, a planned disruption of up to ten days to install large piping for a storm drain at Camino Don Tomas and U.S. 550 in early June was cancelled. That came after the contractor deter-mined that even with turn restrictions, and block-ing through traffic on Don Tomas, there wasn’t

room to do the work, according to NMDOT. The job, intended to handle increased storm

runoff from the widened road, will be scheduled later in the project.

And, on June 18, the project shut down entirely for several days due to a potential exposure to COVID-19. The work resumed after people who may have been exposed were tested for the disease and equipment and facilities were cleaned and sani-tized following state and federal guidance.

PAGE 6 • JULY 2020 • SANDOVAL SIGNPOST • SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1988

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from page 1——— Businesses

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Fresh for Less owner José Morales (right) and employee César Olivas posed behind one of the produce bins at the store on U.S. Highway 550 in Bernalillo. The business is one of many weathering the twin crises

of a public health emergency and highway construction outside its front door.

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Sandoval County commissioners in June expressed sympathy for a pro-posed multifamily residential project in Placitas but voted down the zoning amendment needed to make it hap-pen.

Pending any court challenge, that ends, for now, building a cluster of townhouses on the vacant 4.7 acres immediately west of the Homestead Village Shopping Center at the inter-section of State Road 165 and Tierra Madre Road. The county Planning and Zoning Commission recom-mended the denial after a staff report in part cited the Placitas Area Plan as not allowing multifamily housing.

Currently, a special-use zoning des-ignation limits to commercial uses the overall eight-acre Homestead site, encompassing the shopping center and two office buildings east of it. Orville and Judy McCallister, who developed the property and own the shopping center, applied to amend the zoning to allow multifamily residen-tial in addition to commercial uses, creating what is known as mixed-use development.

During two hearings before the planning board and the June 18 com-mission meeting, Orville McCallister argued that the Placitas Area Plan approved in 2009 mistakenly left out multifamily housing. At the time, an eight-unit complex had stood about half a mile west of the Homestead site since 1985.

Additionally, zoning philosophy when his property was zoned in 1988 favored separating commercial and residential development, he said.

“That has since changed over the years, and many mixed-use develop-ments are now being put together,” McCallister added by telephone, since public access to county meetings dur-ing the COVID-19 pandemic is by video stream. “Obviously, in 32 years, conditions and demographics have changed in the Placitas area.”

Older supporters of the project have said they want the option to downsize from their homes while staying in Placitas within walking distance of the grocery store, restaurants, and other Homestead services. Deb Short of Placitas, owner of Vineyard Homes, said it’s her intent to develop an attractive and environmentally friendly project with 12 townhomes priced around $390,000.

However, if the zone change were approved, actual development would require a separate public process under the county subdivision ordi-nance, not the zoning ordinance. Crit-ics of the zone change said, through emailed comments, that the lack of a site plan left them concerned as to what the final development actually

would be. At a previous meeting Short said

her contract with the McCallisters lim-its her to 14 townhomes on the site.

McCallister also contended a zoning court case in Bernalillo County made clear that area plans do not have the force of law and can be ignored to amend zoning. However, County Attorney Robin Hammer advised commissioners that Sandoval County’s ordinances are different.

The proper way to change the spe-cial-use zoning on the McCallisters’ property would be by amending the Placitas Area Plan, she said. Commis-sion Chair David Heil of Rio Rancho agreed with McCallister that amend-ing an area plan is an arduous process.

Commissioner Katherine Bruch of Placitas said she’s open to a discus-sion about how the Placitas Area Plan applies to future growth and resources—particularly water. This comes after hearing from people on both sides of the zoning question and reports of 146 vacant lots changing hands in Placitas in the last three years, she said.

A motion to approve the zone amendment failed on a 0-4 vote, with Commissioner Kenneth Eichwald of Cuba absent.

“Mr. McCallister, I’m hoping we can find a way for you to move forward, but this just wasn’t the right approach to it,” Heil said after the vote.

In other County Commission action in June, commissioners:

• Amended the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to make short-term rentals, often called Airbnb rentals, a permissive use in Rural Residential Agricultural zones. A change in state law last year removed an exemption from the state lodger’s tax for those rentals.

• Heard their first monthly report from UNM Sandoval Regional Med-ical since voting in May to temporar-ily divert voter-approved tax revenue to help cover hospital losses due to the pandemic. Even with federal aid and the county’s $2.9 million from behavioral health programs and a yet-to-open trauma unit, SRMC projected a $2.4 million loss for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

• Extended the county’s coron-avirus emergency declaration from June 30 to December 31 to remain cur-rent with state and federal programs.

• Learned that the overhaul of the Sandoval County Detention Center may be completed in December, six months ahead of schedule. Among the upgrades, after years of neglect and security lapses, are 142 cameras to monitor the facility.

Commission rejects residences in Placitas commercial zone ~BILL DIVEN WE START WITH A PLAN

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WWW.NMFINANCIALSOLUTIONS.COMPhil Messuri is a Certified Financial Planner offering securities and advisory services through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, a broker/dealer and a Registered Investment Adviser. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity. Registered Branch: 6100 Uptown Blvd NE Ste 610B, Albuquerque, NM 87110. For a comprehensive review of your personal situation, always consult with a tax or legal advisor. Neither Cetera Advisor Networks LLC nor any of its representatives may give legal or tax advice.

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NM awards Cochiti Pueblo $2.9 million for broadband ~RENEE NARVAIZ

The state of New Mexico awarded the Pueblo of Cochiti nearly $2.9 million in emergency funding to bring high-speed Internet to the pueblo to promote social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Inter-Governmental Agree-ment, announced this month by the Department of Information Tech-nology, was signed by Pueblo of Cochiti Gov. Charles D. Naranjo and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who also signed an executive order to release the funds.

“It’s past time to end the digital divide that separates communities in New Mexico and across the country into haves and have-nots,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “The cur-rent world health crisis has made it clearer than ever that high-speed internet is no longer a luxury; it is essential to the health, welfare, and education of our people, and I look forward to seeing more partner-ships like this with more rural New Mexico communities.”

In his written request for the funding, Gov. Naranjo noted that pueblo residents tend to congregate at the tribal library to use the out-side WiFi connection despite the

need for social distancing. “This emergency funding will

help protect Pueblo of Cochiti resi-dents by assuring they have access to basic quality of life resources via internet at home without exposing themselves to unnecessary health risks,” Gov. Naranjo said in the request.

New Mexico ranks 49th out of the fifty states and District of Columbia for broadband connectivity, accord-ing to a March study by Broadband Now, a website that helps con-sumers find and compare Internet service providers in their area.

“We look forward to hearing about the development of this proj-ect and learning that Cochiti Pueblo will have the fiber connectivity needed to remain safe and prosper well into the future,” said John Salazar, secretary for the Depart-ment of Information Technology.

Over the 12-month project, work-ers will install nearly 41,000 feet of underground fiber optic cable and almost 32,000 feet of fiber laterals, reaching 260 endpoint locations—homes, anchor institutions, and tribal administration in the Pueblo of Cochiti.


More than twenty years after his discovery, a Placitas paleontologist has a second dinosaur named for him that is helping to shake up established ideas on how a particular horned plant-eater evolved.

Both discoveries came on the same day in 1997 when Paul Sealey as a member of a permitted expedition trekked three miles into a remote Four Corners area known for its fossils.

“I knew what I was doing looking for dinosaurs and where I was look-ing,” Sealey told the Signpost. “I knew what it was… Sometimes you can get it confused with a turtle; there are a lot of turtles out there.”

Sealey’s target for that day, however, was further on, so he kept walk-ing.

“So then, when I found the Bisti Beast, now I have two dinosaurs named after me all from the same day,” he said. “That was pretty excit-ing.”

This being science and not Hollywood, the previously unknown tyran-nosaurus nicknamed Bisti Beast is technically Bistahieversor sealeyi com-bining Greek and Navajo words to mean “Sealey’s Destroyer of the Badlands,” according to the New Mexico Natural History Museum. Sealey, a longtime research assistant at the museum, at the time was part of a field project headed by Thomas Williams, Ph. D., a curator of paleon-tology at the museum.

The next year it took a New Mexico Army National Guard helicopter to remove the nearly complete tyrannosaurus from the roadless Bureau of Land Management territory and place it on a flatbed trailer.

It took longer for the significance of Sealey’s other discovery to be rec-ognized in recent research and be acknowledged in a paper published in June. The work by Denver Fowler and Elizabeth Freedman Fowler, both Ph. D. paleontologists associated with institutions in North Dakota, identi-fied Sealey’s fossil, and a second New Mexico discovery, as two new species.

The species are considered missing links in a five-million-year gap in the lineage of two known horned dinosaurs about seventy million years ago. The Fowlers also used that connection to argue that an inland sea, covering much of the West, earlier split the evolutionary path of this cer-atops family into distinct northern and southern branches.

Many dinosaur fans are more familiar with triceratops, one of the last dinosaurs. It featured three horns, two on its brow and one on its snout, and a boney headdress known as a frill. It was a notch in that frill, shown to be closing over time in Sealey’s and the other fossils, that is central to the Fowlers’ conclusions.

The Fowlers named the older of the new species Navajoceratops sulli-vani for the Navajo people who live in the area and Robert Sullivan, Ph.D., who led the expedition that discovered it, and the younger Ter-minocavus sealeyi, for Sealey and “closing cavity.”

Sealey, an Albuquerque native, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology from the University of New Mexico and was one of the first research associates signing on with the natural history museum in Albuquerque before it was built. Despite the prominence of his discov-eries, dinosaurs are not his main interest.

“I found my first fossil like fifty years ago on a trip with my family,” he said. “We weren’t really fossil hunting on that trip, but I found an ammonite… That is what I research.”

Ammonites would be mollusks that left fossils know for their coiled external shells akin to the modern nautilus. Sealey is lead or co-author on numerous publications related to ammonites, often in collaboration with Spencer Lucas, Ph.D., also a curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum.

Placitas paleontologist strikes evolutionary gold ~BILL DIVEN

(Above) These newly named horned dinosaurs discovered in separate New Mexico searches bridge an evolutionary gap showing how the frill, the boney structure rising from the head, narrowed over time. The older one (left) is named Navajoceratops sulli-vani for expedition leader Robert Sullivan, Ph.D. while the younger one, Terminocavus

sealeyi, carries the name of its discoverer, paleontologist Paul Sealey of Placitas.

Paleontologist Paul Sealey poses with the skull of the Bisti Beast at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque in 2012.

As credit for his discovery, the new species of tyrannosaurus was named Bistahieversor sealeyi, the first dinosaur to bear his name.

(Above:) One of Sealey’s prized ammonites, pulled from storage in the lab of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.

(Left:) Bisti Beast rib bones from Sealey’s first find.

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Pandemic cancels Placitas parade, alters Fiestas de San Lorenzo ~SIGNPOST STAFF

As the coronavirus continues to spread, events, large and small, including the July Fourth parade in Placitas are saying see ya next year!

“What we need to do is keep everybody safe,” said Jim Madueña, who inherited the title of parade marshal more than twenty years ago. “I want to remind every-body what happened between Philadelphia and St. Louis.”

His reference is to the 1918 influenza pandemic where Philadelphia staged a large World War I parade only to soon quaran-tine the city and dig mass graves, as nearly 14,000 residents died. Meanwhile, St. Louis, among other actions, closed schools, public gath-ering places, and churches, while limiting business hours and record-ing 2,900 deaths by the end of the year.

The biggest cancellation announced to date is the Albu-querque International Balloon Fiesta, scheduled October 3-11. Sev-eral days later, the New Mexico State Fair announced it was cancel-ing its September 10-20 run.

Meanwhile, Bernalillo, which started the year billing itself as “Small Town, Big Events,” extended cancellations through August. That takes out the Fourth of July celebration and the 7th Annual Mountain Brew Fest planned for August 29 in the town’s Loretto Park.

Separately, the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse canceled the annual rodeo, set for August 15-16, at the rodeo grounds in Bernalillo. The Sandoval County Fair scheduled for August has instead turned into a virtual fair with online 4-H and FFA livestock exhibitions and sales.

A major change for the people of Bernalillo will be the 327th annual Fiestas de San Lorenzo, from August 9-11, being only accessible to participants. For the public, that means that prayers, services at San-tuario de San Lorenzo, dances, and the delivering of the statue of San Lorenzo to the new mayordomo’s can only be seen by live stream on Facebook and YouTube at “Bernalillo Fiestas de San Antonio.”

In years past, those events have

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drawn large crowds, especially for the procession and the dances of Las Mat-achines—portraying the triumph of good over evil. Fiestas is considered not only an integral part of the town’s identity but a homecoming for former residents and an attraction for thousands of visitors.

News of the pandemic-related changes and the streaming schedule are to be published in the town newsletter and also will be posted on its website: TownOfBernalillo.org.


County manager praised as she heads into retirement ~SIGNPOST STAFF

After decades in public service, Sandoval County Manager Dianne Maes is going fishing, although grandchildren might have something to do with her retirement as well.

When the county budget year ended on June 30, Maes turned over her office keys to Wayne Johnson, mostly recently the Torrance County manager. She has been with the county since 2002 and said that she has worked steadily since age 11, starting in the family grocery store in Las Vegas, N.M., taking time out only for her college years and the birth of her first child.

Most of the last thirty years have been spent in county and municipal gov-ernment.

“I look at people who go back to work after they’ve retired, and I just scratch my head,” Maes said. “We’ll definitely travel. I have three children and three grandchildren, none of them in New Mexico any more.”

For travel, she and her husband have an RV, and Maes said they both fish. During her years at Sandoval County, Maes has been a contract administrator,

capital projects administrator, and director of economic development and tourism. She was named county manager in May, 2017, after holding the acting title after Phil Rios retired.

“I would never have imagined how this ended up, but it worked out,” Maes said. “It gave me an opportunity to fix internal things I could see were lacking… Hopefully the county is in a better place now.”

Maes took over the county administration just as the high-profile escape of two inmates and the mistaken release of another from the Sandoval County Detention Center led to the firing of jail administrators. It also brought to the fore decades of neglect in maintaining the facility.

County commissioners who prided themselves on keeping taxes low increased sales taxes to fund more than $5 million in repairs, upgrades, and future opera-tions.

REAL P EOPLE

“I do feel really good about the detention center,” Maes said. “I think moving forward, and with the organizational changes, people feel good. It’s a different place to work.”

At their June 18 meeting, county commissioners recognized Maes’s accomplishment with a certificate and engraved jewelry box inscribed with recognition for her service.

“You have really been a transformational county manager in my opinion,” Commissioner Jay Block of Rio Rancho said. “You have put Sandoval County on the path that we have been working hard to get on to openness and ethics, writing policy down, enforcing policy, and it’s been hard… You are leaving Sandoval County a lot better than you found it, by far.”

County Manager Dianne Maes displays her retirement gift, presented during the June 18 meeting by Sandoval County Commission Chair David Heil.

County Commissioner Katherine Bruch is in the background.

Neva Daugherty Wenzel Neva Daugherty Wenzel, age 72, a longtime resident of Placitas, New Mexico, left us on Monday, June 15, 2020, to be with God and the angels.

She is survived by her husband, Jamie of Placitas; children, Brenda and husband, Bubba of Elephant Butte, Bryan and wife, Jackie, of Albuquerque, Paul and wife, Meaghan, of Oahu, HI; grandchildren, Sara and David of Elephant Butte; Aryton, Triton, and Melaina of Knoxville, TN, Garrett and Beckett, of Oahu, HI, Riley and Ryder, of Albuquerque; brother, John and wife, Susan, of Albuquerque; sisters, Patty and Terrie, of Clovis, NM; and cousin, Gary, of Las Vegas, NV; plus many nieces, nephews, and friends. She was preceded in death by her son, Martin of Winnemucca, NV.

A Funeral Service was held at FRENCH—Wyoming, and Interment took place in Dimmitt, TX.

Please visit our online guestbook for Neva at www.FrenchFunerals.com

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Village of Jemez Springs honors Samantha D’Anna for clean-up efforts ~ERICA ASMUS-OTERO

The Village of Jemez Springs has proclaimed June 11 as “Samantha D’Anna Day,” in recognition of Los Alamos resident, Samantha D’Anna, who voluntarily spent sev-eral hours last week cleaning up trash in the Jemez Springs area.

After a weekend trip with friends in late May, D’Anna noticed a sig-nificant amount of trash in Jemez Springs and in the neighboring Santa Fe National Forest. Days later, she spent several hours voluntarily cleaning up and removing the trash.

“We want to recognize the efforts of a true Jemez ambassador who took it upon herself to clean up trash left by other people in an effort to preserve the beauty of the Jemez Valley,” said Jemez Springs Mayor Roger Sweet. “Jemez Springs is a refuge for many people, and Samantha’s selfless care for our vil-lage is exemplary and should be celebrated!”

“I have been visiting the Jemez for years and am honored to be rec-ognized for doing something that I hope anyone would,” said D’Anna.

Using COVID Safe Practices, Mayor Sweet and Village staff pre-sented D’Anna with a proclamation certificate and $100 gift card outside the Village Plaza on June 11.

Under the Governor’s orders, Vil-lage restaurants and hotels are now operating at fifty percent capacity, with other businesses at 25 percent capacity. The USDA Forest Service has resumed trash pickup service as well.

For more information on open-ings in the Village, visit www.jemezsprings.org/News or contact Erica Asmus-Otero at [email protected] or by calling 505-259-2202.

In recent weeks, the Town of Bernalillo has gone from fearing the loss of fund-ing for a new fire truck to preparing to welcome both a new ladder truck downtown and a brush truck at the west side station.

With the special session of the Legislature approaching to deal with a rev-enue crash from the pandemic and cratered oil prices, panic spread among local governments. The initial word from Santa Fe had all capital-outlay money approved earlier this year being pulled back to plug a gaping hole in the state budget.

For Bernalillo, that meant $900,000 for the new ladder truck and $1.3 million on top of federal grant funding for water-system improvements—notably an upgrade to water lines and hydrants in the Mountain View neighborhood.

“We couldn’t hit the pavement, so we hit the phones,” Bernalillo Mayor Jack Torres said. “We reached out to the governor’s office and the capital-outlay staff to state our case.”

Ultimately, the Legislature swept up capital money for projects only partially funded or not ready to proceed.

In early June, the town got its first look at the Ferrara Fire Apparatus ladder

truck and confirmed it fits in the fire station with five inches to spare. The truck then went to vendor 411 Equipment LLC in Albuquerque for equipment installation.

The new truck, with a 77-foot ladder, five-hundred-gallon tank, and 1,500 gallons-per-minute pump, replaces a 1993 Pierce Manufacturing ladder truck bought second-hand nearly ten years ago from the city of Los Ranchos.

Bernalillo Fire Chief Mike Carroll said the old truck still maintained needed certifications but was requiring more and more maintenance. The Ferrera truck seats four firefighters and has significantly more compartment space.

“It will give us a more reliable apparatus over here, increasing our capabili-ties with a longer reach,” Carroll told the Signpost. The truck is expected to enter service in mid-July.

Coincidentally, the brush truck, ordered with earlier funding, arrived at Mel-loy in Albuquerque on June 26 for final outfitting. It should enter service about the same time as the ladder truck and will be based at Station No. 2.


PUBL IC SA F E TY

Two new fire trucks prepping for Bernalillo service ~SIGNPOST STAFF

Bernalillo firefighters (from left) Matthew Esquibel, Brian Edwards, and Lt. Matthew Miller inspect the department’s new Ferrara Fire Appartus ladder truck. After a quick visit, the truck proceeded to Albuquerque for final outfitting before delivery this month.

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AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY: With the successful May 30th launch of two NASA astronauts aboard the private Falcon 9/Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX has added to its growing list of accomplishments. It had been nine years, since the last Space Shuttle launch, in July of 2011, that the United States had to rely on Russian launch capabilities to reach the International Space Station.

NASA had set its future on having its Commercial Crew program operational by 2015, but project funding of just under five-hundred-million dollars per year, a bit short of the more than $800 million requested for the development project, had caused a projected delay until 2017.

To keep an American presence on the Space Station, NASA and the Russian Space Agency signed a contract in 2011 to deliver astro-nauts into space and back for approximately $62.7 million per seat in a Russian Soyuz capsule. By 2013, that cost has increased to just over $70.7 million per astronaut. That deal, struck in April of 2013, was for six astronauts at a cost of $424 million.

The delays and funding certainty caused NASA to push for pri-vate companies to develop human space capabilities. The space agency signed billion-dollar deals with two U.S. companies, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation, to fly unmanned resupply mis-sions to the International Space Station (ISS). By 2013, SpaceX had completed two of its twelve contracted resupply missions.

In 2014, both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded contracts to put U.S. astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil. The firm, fixed-price con-tracts were worth about $6.8 billion; Boeing received $4.2 billion, SpaceX received only $2.6 billion for the equivalent amount of effort. From this point, the race was on.

Most space experts were putting their money on Boeing to get to the ISS with astronauts first. After all, Boeing had been in the aero-space business for many decades. They had a large part in the Apollo program and gained valuable experience about human space flight. The Washington Post reported that an industry veteran said, “You know their rockets are put together with rubber bands and sealing wax. It’s not real. It won’t fly.”

With the original 2017 deadline fast approaching, Boeing was dealing with its large bureaucracy, better equipped to handle longer-term, cost plus contracts. The delays were beginning to add up. But, SpaceX had its own problems when two of its Falcon 9 boosters exploded and parachute deployment issues slowed progress.

Just as things began looking up, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule was destroyed in an emergency abort test of its escape system in 2019. Scrappy SpaceX was able to quickly find and fix the problems. Boe-ing’s Starliner, in a 2019 test, had its own major malfunction, causing its onboard computer system to crash and go offline for eleven hours, aborting the unmanned test mission. In fixing the crash, Boeing discovered another bug that could affect separation of the crew module from the service mod-ule necessary to expose the crew module’s heat shield for reentry.

Yet, on May 30, 2020, underfunded but determined, SpaceX beat Boeing with astronauts to the ISS, and recovered the first-stage boosters for reuse. The mission has been very successful and the space craft is functioning so well that the return of the astronauts from the ISS has not yet been deter-mined. A PROBLEM FOR ASTRONOMERS: While SpaceX has wowed us in delivering cargo and people to orbit, one of their projects is causing consternation with astronomers. Starlink is planned to allow affordable, fast internet service anywhere on Earth via a swarm of satellites.

Current plans are to place 1,584 small, five-hundred pound, table-sized satellites 370 miles above Earth, sixty at a time. Astronomers, along with SpaceX, were surprised at how bright the satellites appeared as the first sixty trained across the sky like a “string of pearls.” Over the next few days, the satellites migrated to their operational orbits and spread out, becoming dimmer in the process. Still, astronomers, using long-duration exposures to capture the faint light from very dim objects had their images almost ren-dered useless by streaks caused by Starlink satellites flying through the pic-ture.

More recent launches have satellites coated with anti-reflective and darker coatings to reduce their brightness even more, yet astronomers are still reporting problems. The satellites are still second or third magnitude in

brightness, and can be spotted with the naked eye (see Heavens-Above.com for times).

The FCC, who regulates the satellite radio frequencies, has approved a total of 12,000 satellites and is coordinating with the International Telecom-munications Union for another thirty thousand replacement satellites. As of June 13, 2020, SpaceX has launched 540 Starlink satellites in nine launches. ON TO MARS: SpaceX is now turning its attention to perfecting its Starship to carry humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This monster reusable rocket and space capsule system is planned to be one of the most powerful rockets ever built, able to deliver about 220,000 pounds of cargo into earth orbit. It is sec-ond only to the Saturn V, capable of putting 310,000 pounds in orbit.

So far, four prototypes have been destroyed on the test stand. Two rup-tured during a static pressure test of the fuel tanks, one from a procedural issue that caused an explosion, and one from a leak in a ground support fuel line that leveled the test area. Knowing SpaceX, those problems will be solved quickly, since NASA awarded SpaceX, in April 2020, a one of three contracts to compete in the Artemis program, aimed at putting Americans back on the Moon.

Commercial Starship missions could begin sometime in 2021, according to Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX. Unmanned missions to Mars are planned for 2022, with one, maybe two missions launched. In 2023, SpaceX has a con-tract to send Yukazu Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, around the Moon in a Starship. If all goes well, a manned mission to Mars could happen in 2026 with a viable colony operational by 2050.

July 2020 Night Sky ~ C H A R L I E C H R I S T M A N N


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ECO-BEATDistant fires smoke up Sandoval County ~SIGNPOST STAFF

Fire season has been kind to Sandoval County, so far, in terms of flames—instead, it’s smoke trav-eling hundreds of miles to afflict the area and prompt health warnings.

Three main culprits, among many contributors, have come from Arizona: the Bush Fire, more than 190,000 acres in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix (possibly human-caused); the Magnum Fire, 71,000 acres in the Kaibab National Forest north of the Grand Canyon; and the Bighorn Fire, 81,000 acres in the Coronado National Forest northeast of Tucson. Lightning is responsible for the Bighorn Fire while the cause of the Magnum Fire remains under investigation, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

At last report, three fires were actively burning in southwest New Mexico, two in the Gila National Forest and one in the San Mateo Mountains of Socorro County on the Cibola National Forest Magdalena Ranger District.

The largest was the 11,000-acre Tad-pole Fire north of Silver City, last reported to be 45 percent contained, with full containment forecast for July 18. State Road 15 from near Pinos Altos to Lake Roberts remains closed.

The 14,000-acre Good Fire is burning about 1.5 miles southeast of the Gila Cliff Dwellings and is projected to spread south-southwest. Started by lightning, at last report it was 39 per-cent contained.

The Vics Peak Fire in the San Mateos is easily visible from Interstate 25 and has spread over nearly 7,000 acres of timber litter, understory, and grasses since being started by lightning on June 15.

A health alert issued June 18 by the city of Albuquerque Air Quality Pro-gram, in addition to the usual warnings about people with respiratory and other conditions taking precautions, added a specific warning related to COVID-19. It noted smoke makes peo-ple more vulnerable to infections like COVID-19 and can aggravate the symptoms and increase the medical impacts.

More information can be found at the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions at CDC.gov/Coron-avirus/2019-NCOV/php/smoke-faq.html.

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The Bush Fire, considered the fifth largest wildfire in Arizona history, is one of many sources of smoke that shrouded southern Sandoval County in June. This June 16 view of the fire looks east from near Phoenix.


Fort Union, twenty miles north of Las Vegas, N.M., had been in service on the Santa Fe Trail for ten years when Confederate soldiers invaded

southern New Mexico knowing the fort blocked their route to Colorado. The remains of the fort, where wagon ruts from the Santa Fe Trail can be seen,

became and national historic site in 1954.

Confederate invasion of New Mexico trudged back to Texas after a year in the territory.

“Lying in camp eating scant rations and wishing for a change of clothes,” Peti-colas wrote on May 11 after trekking more than three hundred miles to what is now El Paso, Texas. “Most of us are wearing the same suit we started from Santa Fe in.”

UNM Press published the Peticolas diary in 1984 as Rebels on the Rio Grande, edited by the late Don Alberts, Ph.D., at the time chief historian at Kirtland Air Force Base.

The high point of the invasion came six weeks before Peticolas passed south-ward through Sandoval County. Over two days the Texans routed U.S. Army regulars and New Mexico volunteers, including two Placitas men at the Battle of Valverde about 25 miles south of Socorro.

The federals fell back into Fort Craig, its remains now administered by the Bureau of Land Management, recognizing the largest Civil War battle in the Southwest. The battle also produced the only Confederate war memorial in the state, erected 74 years later.

The Fort Craig National Historic Site is one of several accessible places related to the Civil War and is open Thursdays through Sundays, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., under COVID-19 restrictions, which include closure of the visitor center. Others stretch north from Mesilla, capital of the Confederate state of Arizona, along the Rio Grande to Albuquerque and overland to Santa Fe, Glorieta, and Fort Union. The sites provide destinations for Civil War buffs or anyone inter-ested in state history or just a cruise to see new country.

So, from south to north: Texas forces, eventually numbering about 3,200 men, first targeted Fort Fill-

more several miles south of Las Cruces. There, the perhaps treasonous com-mander abandoned the fort, sending his command toward Fort Stanton near Capitan more than one hundred miles away. Few made it more than ten miles to the Organ Mountains before surrendering.

Fort Fillmore today is melted adobe, on private property, surrounded by a pecan orchard, but nearby Mesilla is rich with history. Southern sympathizers welcomed the victors and hanged a couple of unionists with hard feelings, con-tributing to a deadly 1871 political riot on the Mesilla plaza, quelled by troops from post-war Fort Selden.

Some Texans continued west as part of a plan to capture Arizona, and ulti-mately California, while Mesilla became the administrative center for the new Confederate state. Others pressed northeast to Fort Stanton, a current state his-toric site that played a role in the later Lincoln County War, before torching the property at the end of a month-long occupation. (www.FortStanton.org)

From Mesilla, the now reinforced rebels marched north, unopposed for nearly one hundred miles, until clashing with troops from Fort Craig in the two-day Battle of Valverde on the banks of the Rio Grande. About 160 men died outright or of injuries, with the rebels continuing north rather than attacking the fort.

Both Francisco Trujillo and Francisco Gonzales of Placitas were among the New Mexico volunteers in the battle, according to Las Placitas, Historical Facts and Legends, oral history collected by Placitas resident Lou Sage Batchen in the 1930s. Her work was first published in 1972 with sponsorship from Las Jar-dineros de Placitas. Returning from war, Gonzales brought the first firearm to the village, she wrote.

Civil War sites link New Mexico’s past with current events ~BILL DIVEN

A century after it was abandoned in 1885, Fort Craig’s stone building walls still stood strong. Union and Confederate soldiers fought the Battle of Valverde along

the Rio Grande below the left end Mesa de la Contadera in the background.

After a cold night on wet ground near Algodones, Sgt. Alfred Peticolas of Co. C, 4th Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers, marched through Bernalillo with fellow rebels intending to reinforce Confederate troops holding Albu-querque.

Instead, it was the beginning of their arduous retreat toward home eight hundred miles away.

It was April 10, 1862. Nearly a month would pass before survivors of the

—continued next page


In 1936, the Texas division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) placed a seven-foot granite slab weighing five tons beside what is now State Road 1 near the battlefield and about six miles from Fort Craig. The engraved stone memorializes the Texas volunteers and casualties of the battle.

The monument had already stirred some controversy before the May 25 death of George Floyd—a Black man beneath the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer—ignited broadly based social- and racial-justice protests around the country. Southern Civil War monuments, many erected long after the war and seen by some as objects of racist oppression, became particular targets.

By October, 2019, chisel work on the Valverde monument, begun at least two years earlier, had nearly obliterated the engraved Confederate battle flag. Mean-while, New Mexico protests following Floyd’s death are leading to proposed reforms in the Albuquerque Police Department, although the focus of protestors here also relates to monuments tied to 16th-century Spanish colonization, and by extension, the subjugation of Native Americans.

As Union troops fled Albuquerque for Santa Fe, Confederates occupied Old Town where replicas cannons grace the plaza today, while the originals buried by retreating rebels reside at the Albuquerque Museum. The Confederate States flag known as the Stars and Bars flew on the plaza beside U.S., Mexican, and Spanish flags until 2015, when it was removed after a white supremacist mur-dered nine members of a Bible study class at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

Also taken down after the church massacre were UDC markers the then-State Highway Department installed across southwest New Mexico in the 1950s, des-ignating U.S. Highway 70, now Interstate 10, as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway. The attempt to elevate the Confederate president to the status of Abra-ham Lincoln was a response to the transcontinental Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway named in 1913, according to news accounts of the time.

Santa Fe also fell to the Texans without a shot on March 23, 1862, while Union troops hauling supplies spent five wintry days traveling 172 miles over Glorieta Pass and high plains to Fort Union on the Santa Fe Trail. At this writing, a stone obelisk erected in 1868 still stands on the Santa Fe plaza recognizing Union troops at Valverde and soldiers in the then-ongoing Indian Wars.

Long a flashpoint in cultural relations, the monument referred to Union “heroes” and “savage Indians,” until 1974 when an anonymous man in a hard-hat carved away the word “savage.” In April, someone with a marker wrote “Resilient” in the empty space, and on June 22 someone shattered part of the inscription and adorned the obelisk with graffiti labeling it racist and on Indian land.

From Santa Fe, the rebel army set its sights on Fort Union twenty miles north of Las Vegas, aiming ultimately for the gold fields of Colorado. But by then Col-orado volunteers had reached Fort Union to join in fighting the Texans near Pecos.

The Battle of Glorieta, sometimes called the Gettysburg of the West, ended with Union troops withdrawing and the Texans holding the field and claiming victory. Despite the tactical win, the battle doomed Confederate aspirations as Colorado troops descending from Rowe Mesa to Apache Pass destroyed the lightly defended Confederate wagon train with its crucial supplies.

Fort Union National Monument administered by the National Park Service is currently open daily, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Trails reopened in late May, but the visitor center remains closed. (www.NPS.gov/FOUN, 505-425-8025 ext. 0)

The park service also manages the Pecos National Historic Park, which includes the Glorieta battlefield, and hosts an annual Civil War Encampment with re-enactors in late March but canceled this year. The park is open daily, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with its visitor center still closed. (www.NPS.gov/PECO, (505) 757-7241)

The impact of the Civil War lingered in New Mexico. The California Column drove the rebels from Arizona and brought Gen. James Carleton to New Mexico where he stayed as military commander of the territory.

Carleton remains notorious for the brutal roundup of the Navajo people and their forcible removal, known as the Long Walk, hundreds of miles away to a concentration camp on the Pecos River.

Other veterans, Union soldiers discharged here and Confederate veterans who arrived later, became prominent business and political leaders at a time when success required learning Spanish. A rebel sergeant with a law degree, Thomas Benton Catron of Missouri, was elected as one of New Mexico’s first U.S. sena-tors after statehood.

New Mexico also embraced Jim Crow during the national revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, segregating Black students in separate schools in about

from page 14——— Civil War

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ten districts, from Las Cruces to Hobbs to Clovis. Even in Albuquerque, Black moviegoers were restricted to theater balconies, and many restaurants denied service to Black customers before a public-accommodations ordi-nance was passed in 1952.

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A granite monument erected in 1936 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy stands a few miles from the site the Battle of Valverde. Texas soldiers who invaded New Mexico came around Mesa de la Contadera in the background and clashed

with Union soldiers on the banks of the Rio Grande.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy monument memorializing Texas soldiers at the Battle of Valverde was already showing damage to its rebel battle flag a

few years before current racial-justice protests led to the removal of Confederate statues in other states.


Strawberry shortcake never changes. You can tweak it, but the basic trifecta of strawberries, cream, and cake is so stable that there isn’t much room for improvement. This means it’s near impossible to screw up. These qualities made strawberry short-cake a great starter cake for my nine-year-old self.

I had some help from my friend Sara Lee and her All Butter Pound Cake found in the frozen food section. The hardest part of the whole recipe was waiting for the pound cake to thaw. I cut it in half along a horizontal plane into top and bottom layers, plastered them with whipped cream and straw-berry slices, stacked them into a two-layer cake, and coated the whole thing with more whipped cream and strawberries.

My memories of that strawberry shortcake are unassailable, even though I haven’t tasted a Sara Lee pound cake in about four decades. So as part of my fiftieth birthday festivities, I staged a Straw-berry Shortcake showdown: Sara Lee vs what I would make now, if given the strawberries, cream, and the ingredients for a cake.

With so little room for improvement in the for-mula, I resorted to doubling up on the flavors already present.

Redundancy can be annoying in some contexts, but in the kitchen it’s a powerful tool, and I use it in almost all my recipes, sweet and savory. As back-ground singers embellish the lead vocals in a band, a chorus of similar flavors can add richness and depth to flavor.

My friend Luci adds yogurt to her whipped cream, which is redundant in terms of both tartness and creaminess. I like it. But, Luci admits, years back she used yogurt instead of whipped cream, arguably a borderline violation of the fundamental trifecta.

“As the kids got older and wiser they began demanding whipped cream,” she recounts. “So now we use fifty/fifty full fat yogurt and whipped cream.”

When Luci enters the kitchen to make lunch, she’s as no-nonsense as a heart attack. Everything better be in its place, because she’s got work to do, including dessert.

Dessert after lunch is part of the daily bargain on the farm when you have a crew of child laborers. This time of year, it’s often strawberry shortcake. Before she starts lunch, she preheats the oven and mixes the simple batter. No butter, hardly any sugar, and, “You don’t even have to crack an egg.”

I told Missoula’s one-and-only Chef Marianne that I wanted to put rhubarb in Luci’s cake, as a way of adding more tartness. She suggested slices rolled in sugar and folded into the batter. I also replaced Luci’s milk with buttermilk, for more tang with no extra nonsense. Nailed it.

I served the fresh strawberries in a quick sauce with lemon (more tartness), and whipped the cream with nothing but vanilla. Then I prepared for battle, chef vs chef, against my nine-year-old self.

The Sara Lee version looked sharp. The smooth, almost golden pound cake juxtaposed with the stately whipped cream, which was stiffer without yogurt. Eating it was a nostalgic experience, trans-porting me instantly across the decades. But with a life of experience behind me now, that Sara Lee was too sweet and too Plain Jane, and that stiff whipped cream kept the flavors separate when they should have mixed.

My slovenly shortcake however was long on fla-vor. The buttermilk rhubarb cake and strawberry lemon sauce came together like a strawberry short-cake should. The flavors contrasted one another brilliantly, and the textures created a place of divine creamy sogginess that you could fall into forever, if only your belly could handle it.

My kids, the new generation of critics, agreed. They were particularly impressed with the whipped cream and yogurt combo, which at first they mistook for store-bought whipped cream. They actually sprinted to the fridge from their plates, in search of the can.

Since my new formulation is messier and harder to contain than the original Sara Lee, I served it as parfait, in glasses. Parfait happens to mean “per-fect” in French, and strawberry shortcake parfait turns out to be the perfect way to combine the three pillars of shortcake, with every component mixing perfectly in each bite.

It’s the parfait solution, if you’ll excuse my French, and a reminder that with a little redun-dancy, you can teach an old recipe new tricks.

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Flash in the Pan———The parfait solution ———ARI LEVAUX

—A

RI L

EVA

UX

Strawberry shortcake parfait

—See recipe, next page

HEALTH


BUTTERMILK RHUBARB CAKE Serves 4-8 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon crème of tartar 4 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-1/3 cups buttermilk 1/2 cup of oil (I use a mild, fruity olive oil) 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or equivalent 2 more tablespoons sugar (redundancy is my friend) 1-2 sticks of rhubarb, peeled, sliced into 1/4–inch thick discs (about 1/3 cup) Combine and mix dry ingredients except the second bit of sugar. Mix buttermilk and oil and, before they separate, immediately add them to the dry ingredients. Toss the rhubarb slices in the second sugar and add it to the mix, and stir it all together. Add to a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 375, checking periodically, for about 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Whipped Cream 1 pint heavy cream 1/4 cup full fat yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon sugar Whip the cream. Add the vanilla, sugar and yogurt and gently stir. Strawberries 1 pound fresh strawberries, sliced 3 tablespoons sugar (more to taste) Juice of one lemon (about 4 table-spoons) Add the sugar and lemon juice to the pan and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the strawberries and turn the heat to medium, stirring steadily once it starts simmering. Cook for about ten min-utes, or until the strawberries fully soften. Assembling the Parfait When the cake has cooled, cut it into one inch-cubes. Add layers to your par-fait cup in this order: cream, cubes of cake, sauce. Add layers until the cups are full.

Ari LeVaux writes from Missoula, Montana, though a big piece of his heart haunts the hills, washes, and ditches of Placitas, where he spent three dreamy years. His column appears nationally in more than 70 newspapers.

Rachael Tingen, DMD

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from page 16 ———Parfait

While activities at all Sandoval County Senior centers are cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meals are still available for pick up only and potentially home delivery. The menu will be the same for all of the Sandoval County senior centers on any given day.

To learn more about the weekly menus or to receive a reopening update from your local senior center, give them a call:

Placitas: 867-1396; Bernalillo: 867-9448; Corrales: 897-3818; Rio Rancho: 891-5818; Jemez: 575-834-7630; Cuba: 575-289-3510.

If you are a senior or a disabled adult who cannot access groceries due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), call the Aging and Long Term Services Department at 1-800-432-2080 for assistance.

COMMUN I TY CENTER S Sandoval County Senior Centers continue to serve meals to public


The arrival of vacation season and increasing wildfire activity with hot, dry sum-mer weather in the West is prompting the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to ask the public to help prevent wildland fires, the majority of which are caused by people. The Southwest and Alaska are currently experiencing fire activity, with numerous large wildfires occurring, and other states may experience significant wildfire activity over the next few months.

“Every year, human-caused wildfires comprise approximately 87 percent of all wildfire ignitions across the country, posing considerable threat to public and firefighter safety,” says William Perry Pendley, BLM Deputy Director for Policy and Programs. “These wildfires are preventable and this year, more than ever, our wildland firefighters need the public’s help in reducing human-caused wild-fire risk.”

The National Interagency Fire Center’s (NIFC) Predictive Services unit, which assesses wildfire potential throughout the country, predicts above-normal wild-fire potential this year in areas of Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Hawaii due to expected high temperatures, dry vegetation, and other weather factors including high winds. Because of these conditions, human-caused wildfire ignitions have the potential to quickly grow out of control and threaten lives, property, and precious natural resources. People accidentally start wildfires during numerous activities, so the public is asked to help reduce ignitions from causes such as campfires, debris burning, equipment use, or even from an automobile’s hot tailpipe scorch-ing dry grass. Visit www.blm.gov to find more information about possible fire prevention orders and fire restrictions in your area.

Additionally, people who live near wildlands should prepare their homes and communities for wildfire. A few simple landscaping techniques can greatly improve a home’s survivability during a wildfire event, so visit www.nfpa.org. for more information.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In fiscal year 2018, the diverse activities authorized on BLM-managed lands generated $105 billion in economic output across the country. This economic activity supported 471,000 jobs and contributed substantial rev-enue to the U.S. Treasury and state governments, mostly through royalties on minerals.

BLM asks public for help in preventing wildfires ~NATIONAL. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

ECO-BEAT

~ C O N T I N U E D

LA PUERTA REAL ESTATE SERVICES, LLC • 505-867-3388 ONE RIDGE COURT • PLACITAS, NM 87043

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$225,000 – Evening Star Court2.15 AC • Build your dream home right across from the National Forest. Enjoy hiking & biking trails right out your door.

$70,000 – Tierra Antigua2.59 AC • This lot is not a part of the Casas Montanes subdivision and has no CC&R’s. Level site with backdrop views of Sandias.

$107,000 – Wide Ruin Court1.88 AC • Located in the Anasazi Trails sub-division. The premiere location in Placitas. Beautiful views & easy access. Surrounded by upscale custom homes.

$180,000 – Morning Star Court1.13 AC • Incredible building site for dream house. 37,000 acres of National Forest for your back yard. 20 min to ABQ.

$139,000 – 21 Pinon Court3.31 AC • Exquisite building site encom-passing all the views! Nice flat easy to build lot. Awaiting your imagination...

$552,000 – 7 Palomar Road3,115 SF, 3 BR, 3 BA • Custom built beauty in the country with fruit/vegetable gardens, amazing views, entertainers dream home.

$75,000 – Stardust Court2.27 AC • Placitas best buy! Build that custom home with great views! Less than 2 min. to 1-25. Small town charm abounds.

$575,000 – 281 Star Meadow Rd2,585 SF, 3 BR, 3 BA • Custom built authentic Santa Fe Style, Gold LEED certification. Designed w/master & guest wings split by open concept living area.

$210,000 – 23 Apache Mesa Road4.68 AC • The Placitas lifestyle – hiking, biking, dining & shopping in quaint/quiet small town...all right at your fingertips.

$442,000 – 122 Placitas Trails Rd2,401 SF, 3 BR, 3 BA • Hand crafted Santa Fe style custom home. Traditional farmhouse charm lives here. Outdoor space beckons.

$568,000 – 5700 Papaya Place NE, ABQ 3,100 SF, 3 BR, 4 BA • Outstanding Inman home that is ready to move into. Updated, light filled beautiful design that flows seamlessly.

$576,000 – 4 Calle Cienega Court2,863 SF, 3 BR, 3 BA • Santa Fe charm in custom Placitas home. You really can have it all, plenty of patios, three car garage.

$548,000 – 9 Mimbres Court Custom built beauty in Plactias! All the views, Sandia Mt’s, colorful Mesa’s and twinkle light nights. Very energy efficient insulated panel construction, keeping those utility bills low! Wood ceilings on the porches and great room. Very traditional Santa Fe style!

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$650,000 – 107 Buffalo Ridge2,650 SF, 4 BR, 3 BA • This is a build to suit proposed construction. Enchanted Spac-es LLC, where Scottsdale meets New Mexico, is on the cutting edge of design innovation with the latest in floor plans and finishes.

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Entries for the Saul Bell Design Award offer a glimpse into each designer’s deepest dreams. So, it’s fitting that the 2020 recipients will take home glass sculptures as singular as their winning pieces—created by an artist who knew the award’s namesake.

Like her designs, Lisa Chernoff’s living space and studio are pulsing with color and alive with form, yet serene. A paint-daubed, seven-foot statue rises from a mosaic base, her branches-as-arms embracing the sunlit room. A classic wingchair has been re-upholstered in a crazy quilt of reclaimed vinyl. Red pom-poms prevent the dog from poking her eye on the antlers protruding from re-purposed picnic seating.

But back to the glass. There’s an abundance of that, too. Suspended from the kitchen ceiling. Splashed amidst the white tiles in the shower. Serving as colorful drawer pulls and doorknobs. Lining the walls of her gallery and stu-dio.

Lisa says that she has “always been crafty.” She was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and remembers, “My father was very creative with electronics, and today he’s an expert clock fixer.” Her lack of formal art education has been liberating rather than limiting. She says, “I never felt like I couldn’t combine colors, or try certain techniques.”

She first experimented with glass by incorporating it into her ceramic designs. She remembers, “I’d bring home bottle glass from my hikes, break and mix it, and include it in my pottery. It was very intriguing to see what it would do.” Undeterred by the pieces that didn’t quite work out, she kept at it. Then she took a glass jewelry class and learned about fusing compatible glass, or glass that has the same coefficient of expansion. The bottle glass she’d used in her clay creations wasn’t compatible, which explained the mixed results she’d experienced.

Today, her creative process mixes spontaneity with science. She says, “I like fusing because you can overlay glass. It’s more random than stained glass.” Lisa starts with sheets of glass that arrive in wood crates. She scores organic shapes into the sheets and snaps the pieces apart with silicone-covered pliers. Miniscule shards tend to sift through the grid on her worktop. And while accidental breakage is rare, cut fingers are a daily reality. She smiles and says, “Sometimes a tiny bit will catch my eye, and I’ll reach down and place it into the piece I’m working on.”

Lisa begins each piece by “thinking backwards.” She says, “I envision how something will look on the wall and work in reverse.” Glittery snow swirls outside her studio window as she begins construction of one of the award statues. First, she lays a fiber paper “blanket” on her worktop, to create the indentations that add texture and encourage the subtle play of light in each piece. She follows with dichroic glass, a clear glass blank and colored glass. Sometimes glass will change color during firing. Lisa says, “Once I started thinking of fusing as an experiment, everything changed.”

The piece will be fired in a custom 6’ x 3’ kiln. After the first full fuse in the kiln, she’ll slump it using molds that are sculptures unto themselves. And like many jewelers, she has to think about annealing after every step. For example, after the first full fuse at 1,500 degrees, she’ll cool the kiln down to 950 degrees. A large piece can take days to anneal.

Large pieces are Lisa’s passion—her colossal kiln was funded by a 13’ x 5.5’ x 1’ commission comprising more than 1,000 glass “ribbons.” (She made 100 extra ribbons “just in case” and amazingly only broke two during the entire process.) She says, “I like to work on organic, asymmetrical pieces that have a lot of depth.”

Although the Saul Bell Design Award statues are smaller than many of her creations, she counts them as among her most intimate and special. Lisa knew the Bell family while she worked as “runner” in the Gold Department of what was then Rio Grande Albuquerque. (A sculpture on her kitchen wall includes spray-painted cardboard tubes that date back to her time there.) She says that Saul was “quiet and industrious. He was always physically doing the things that needed to be done.” Lisa says, “It was a pleasant surprise to hear from Molly (Executive Vice President, and Saul’s daughter.). I wanted these statues to be different and express what I do.”

Learn more about Lisa’s paradoxically named business, Pompous Glass and see her work at pompousglass.com. Learn more about Saul Bell Design Award at saulbellaward.com.


Placitas artist Lisa Chernoff builds glass trophies for Saul Bell Design Award ~RIO GRANDE JEWELRY SUPPLY, RIOGRANDE.COM

OPEN: Monday–Friday 10am-5:30pm Saturday 10am-4pm • harrisjewelersnm.com

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©JATW

2020

We are open regular business hours practicing NM covid guidelines.

Placitas Studio Tour cancelled

~NANCY HOLLEY The 23rd annual Placitas Studio Tour has been cancelled due to too much uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 virus. Mark your calendars for Mother’s Day weekend, May 7-8, 2021 when once again the growing cul-tural community of Placitas will open their studio doors to share the fasci-nating spaces where the artwork is created. Please continue to explore the tour’s website, www.placitasstudiotour.com, to browse the artists’ pages where you can still see and get in touch with the artists to perhaps purchase one of their amazing creations. We will be back in 2021!


S ANDOVAL ART SCat Tales at Placitas Community Library ~REBECCA S. COHEN

Sigmund Freud said it best: “Time spent with cats is never wasted.” Accordingly, the Placitas Community Library Art Committee is excited to offer an opportunity to observe a host of fasci-nating felines at rest and at play. Beginning July 7, and continuing through August 27, this PCL exhibit will be available for the first time—both in the library’s Collin Room and as a virtual exhibition online at PCLArt.com.

“Just like cats, the artwork for Cat Tales is beautiful, quirky, expressive, and unexpected,” says Elizabeth Potter, the exhibit’s coordinator. “Cats may have only one tail, but every cat has lots of tales to share.” Each is told by participating artists in a unique and appealing way through mixed media on paper, appliqued and pieced quilts, pastel draw-ings, and more. Exhibitors include Susan Burden, Tobin Levy, Lesley Long, Melissa Lowry Mosley, Lavon Maestas, Mary Mahon-Foley, Linda Nystrom, Judith Rod-erick, Pam Troutman, and Lisa Zawadzki. As always, works are available for purchase, with 25 percent of the price benefiting the library.

Beginning July 7, the Cat Tales exhibit can be viewed in the Collin Meeting Room during the library’s Special Oper-ating Hours on Tuesdays, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Saturdays, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Please check the library web-site at placitaslibrary.com, or call 867-3355, for schedule changes or to leave a message to arrange access to the work in the exhibit. Purchases can be made through the website. And works will be made available for pick-up at the library.

RIVER STONE MOSAIC

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Commissions for custom

indoor & outdoor installations

Free on-site evaluations

Visit www.riverstonemosaic.com

for photos of mosaic artwork

Call or email to schedule:

505-401-4015

[email protected]

“She Cat of True Blue Heart,” by Leslie Long

“Feathered Fantasy Feline,” by Pam Troutman

“Purr-Serving Life,” by Mowry Mosley

To submit a listing, send it to: [email protected]. Deadline for submission is the twentieth of the month prior to publication. The calendar is for nonprofit organizations. “First Monday” means the first Monday of each month. Daily: The Mayor Hull Show. Go to rrnm.gov/mayorhullshow. Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull talks about issues facing Rio Rancho. Daily: Free hikes at Valles Caldera National Preserve—from Magma to Magpie. For a complete list of activities at the National Preserve, go to https://www.nps.gov/vall/index.htm. Monthly: Various community events at Rio Rancho Libraries. Rio Ran-cho libraries—Esther Bone and Loma Colorado—will be hosting a variety of events all month long ranging from book signings, to poetry readings, lectures, concerts, arts and crafts, meet and greets, etc. For more information about the library or each month’s activities, visit www.riorancholibraries.org. Monthly: Urban Horticulture classes. Sponsored by the SandovalMaster-Gardeners.org. Free. Open to public. Registration preferred. Sandovalmaster-gardeners.org/public-class-registration. Mondays: Bernalillo/Placitas open Al-Anon meeting for families and friends of alcoholics/problem drinkers. 7:30-8:30. Held at the Bernalillo United Methodist Church, 136 Calle Don Andres (behind Abuelitas), Bernalillo, 262-2177. Second and fourth Mondays: Bernalillo Town Council meeting. 6:30 p.m. Held at Bernalillo Town Hall. Info: call 867-3311, townofbernalillo.org. Second and fourth Fridays: Westside Neuro Choir—A chorus for adults living with brain challenges & caregivers. Includes ALS, brain injury, MS, Parkinson’s, strokes, and others. 1-2:30 p.m. Held at Grace Outreach Church, 2900 Southern Boulevard, in Rio Rancho. Use entrance on the south side of the of the building. For more info, contact Sheri Armendariz at 917 7981 or [email protected]. Mondays through Fridays: Placitas Mothers’ Day Out childcare. A caring, cooperative, community childcare program since 1989. Hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. daily, $23. Info: Ms. Debbie Steuber, 867-3371. Tuesdays: Teen Hang Out at the Martha Liebert Public Library. 4 p.m. 867-1440. Tuesdays: Yoga with Patricia, 1-2 p.m., at the Town of Bernalillo Martha Liebert Public Library, 124 Calle Melinche, Bernalillo, NM 87004, (505) 867-1440. Tuesdays and Thursdays: Pickleball at the Bernalillo Community Center. 1-4 p.m. Pickleball is a game played on a court with paddles and a whiffle ball. The court is smaller than a tennis court and allows people to play who no longer want to run and jump as they did in their younger years. Anyone can play, even if they have never played tennis. 934-2649. First Tuesdays: Albuquerque Newcomers’ Club Welcome Coffee. 10 a.m. Held at Sandia Presbyterian Church (not affiliated with church)—10704 Paseo del Norte. Membership is open to residents who have lived in the Albuquerque area (including Sandoval County) for five years or less, or who are having major changes in their lives. Make new friends and increase your social life. Sign up for monthly luncheons and speakers, dining out, visits to area attractions, book and movie groups, bridge, bunco, mah jongg, walking, wine tastings, etc. Singles’ and men’s groups. [email protected]. 321-6970. First Tuesdays: Coronado Kennel Club meeting. 7:30 p.m. All-breed kennel club. Schedule changes in August and December. Call 867-4510 for meeting location. First Tuesday: Monthly ice cream social hosted by the Kiwanis Club. 6 p.m. Held at the Paleta Bar in Bernalillo—510 NM Highway 528. Third Tuesday: Open meeting of the Sandia Vista Amateur Radio Club. 7 p.m. Held at Fire Station 41 on highway 165, just east of the Placitas Com-munity Library. Everyone is welcome to attend meetings, whether or not they have an FCC License. Third Tuesdays: Monthly meeting of the Republican Party of Sandoval County (RPSC). 7 p.m. Held at the Gospel Light Baptist Church, 1500 Southern Boulevard in Rio Rancho. www.SandovalGOP.com. Third Tuesdays: Sandia Vista Amateur Radio Club. 7 p.m. Help provide emergency communications in Placitas. Become a “HAM” radio operator. We will help you get your FCC license. Visitors welcome. Held at the Placitas Fire Station No. 41, Hwy 165, near the Library. Info: sandiavista.net.. Fourth Tuesdays: Pathways: Wildlife Corridors of NM monthly meeting. 6:30 p.m. Held at Placitas Community Center. Open to the public. path-wayswc.wordpress.com. Election of Board officers will be held on January 28. Fourth Tuesdays: Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority (ESCAFCA) meeting. 6 p.m. Held in the Town of Bernalillo Council Chambers. Persons wishing to be on the agenda or persons with dis-abilities who need accommodations should call 771-7110 by the first Tues-

day. Board meeting agenda is posted on the ESCAFCA website (escafca.com) and at the front desk of the Town Hall by Friday preceding the meeting. Fourth Tuesdays: Placitas Democrats and Friends. 6-7:30 p.m. Held at Placitas Community Library. Meetings are open to the public and feature candidates for local, state, national offices. www.sandovaldemocrats.org, 259-5860. Tuesdays: Haven House Domestic Violence Support Group for women whose lives have been touched by domestic violence. 6:30-8:00 p.m. Topics include: Dynamics of Domestic Violence, Safety Plans, Developing Healthy Relationships, and information about available services. All sessions are con-fidential and free of charge. Held at Rio Rancho First Baptist Church, corner of Route 528 and 19th Avenue. 896-4869 or 1-800-526-7157. Wednesdays: Seniors (62+) ride free on the Rail Runner. Bring valid photo ID (with birthdate). Wednesdays: Thinking Straight open meeting of Alcoholics Anony-mous. 6-7 p.m. Have a Desire to Stop Drinking? Celebrate Sobriety with us and learn how to stay sober. Held at the First Assembly Church, 274 Camino Don Tomas (Room 8), Just south of Highway 550 in Bernalillo. 266-1900. Wednesdays: Cub Scout meetings. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Held at the LDS Church Center in Bernalillo, west of I-25’s Exit 240. New members are always wel-come. 867-4689, 867-2047. Wednesdays: Rotary Club of Rio Rancho Sunrise. 7 a.m. For breakfast, fel-lowship, a great speaker, and a chance to get involved in local and worldwide service projects. At Club Rio Rancho (used to be Chamisa Hills CC), 500 Country Club Drive, Rio Rancho. Info: Mac McKinney, 892-4313. Wednesdays: Urban Horticulture Class Continuing Series. 1-3 p.m. Spon-sored by the SandovalMasterGardeners.org. Free and open to the public. Registration preferred. SandovalMasterGardeners.org. Sandoval County Ext. Office, Bernalillo. 929-0414. First Wednesdays: Free civil legal clinic offered. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Held in the third-floor conference room of the Second District Courthouse, at the south-west corner of Lomas and Fourth, NW. Free legal advice on a number of civil legal issues. No family law services will be offered. Attendance is limited to the first 25 persons who qualify for low-income assistance. Interpreters and bilingual attorneys will be on hand. Attendees should bring all of their paperwork. Expect about a thirty-minute, free legal consultation. 797-6077. Second Wednesdays: Rio Rancho Art Association (RRAA) monthly membership meeting. 6:30-8:30 p.m. RRAA is a non-juried/all mediums regional art association. You need not be a resident of Rio Rancho to join. Held in Don Chalmer’s Ford Community Room, 2500 Rio Rancho Boulevard, Rio Rancho. www.rraausa.org, www.rioranchoartassociation.blogspot.com or 301-2009. Second and fourth Wednesdays: Sandoval County Civitans. 6:00 p.m. Held at Fair Winds, 920 Riverview Drive SE, Rio Rancho. 898-6884. Third Wednesdays: Meeting of the Coronado Optimist Club. 6-7 p.m. Held at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo. Third Wednesdays: Las Placitas Association Board meeting. 6:30 p.m. Currently held via Zoom. Attendance by invitation. Visitors welcome. Email: [email protected] for an invitation. Thursdays: Using Microsoft Word at the Martha Liebert Public Library. 10 a.m. Registration a must. 867-1440. Thursdays: El Club del Libro—Our monthly Spanish Book Club. 6-7 p.m. Recurring. Held at Loma Colorado Main Library Rio Rancho History Room. Join us in reading a book in Spanish, improving conversation skills, and meeting interesting friends who wouldn’t have the opportunity to cross paths without “El Club del Libro.” This month, in coordination with PBS’s The Great American Read program, we will discuss Bendiceme, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. No registration required. Walk-ins welcome! Please note new day and time. Thursdays: Sandoval County Historical Society archives and library are open to members and the public for family research, 9 a.m.-Noon. Bernalillo. Info: 867-2755. First Thursdays: Sandoval County veteran’s outreach and business coun-seling. 1-4 p.m. Held at the Sandoval County Administrative Building, 1500 Idalia Road in Bernalillo. All honorably-discharged veterans may be entitled to VA benefits and state Veteran benefits. Come learn about your potential benefits. Bring your DD-214. 383-2414. First Thursdays: Art and Music at the Loma Colorado Main Library Auditorium, Rio Rancho. Info: riorancholibraries.org, 505-891-5013. First and third Thursdays: Sandoval County Commission meeting. 6 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings will be held in the Sandoval Adminis-tration Building, 1500 Idalia Road Building D, Bernalillo. Info or meeting agenda: www.sandovalcounty.com, 867-7500.

Second Thursday: The New Mexico Parkinson’s Coalition (NMPC) meets. 1:30-3 p.m. Held at Grace Outreach at 2900 Southern Boulevard SE in Rio Rancho. The NMPC works to enhance the quality of life for individuals with Parkinson’s through education, awareness and support for those with the disease. For more information, call 219-5065 or visit the website: nmparkin-son.org. Second Thursdays: Visionary Arts & Crafts Guild (VACG). 6-8 p.m. VACG is a group of juried artists whose mission is to develop a fellowship among craftspeople and facilitate a market for crafts. The VACG supports the “Art of Craft” through exhibitions, education and public awareness to promote the development and appreciation of craftspeople and theira work. Baptist Church of Rio Rancho Adult Education Center, 1909 Grande Avenue, Rio Rancho. [email protected], 948-3132. Third Thursdays: Placitas Community Library Board of Directors meet-ings. At the Placitas Community Library, 453 Hwy 165. 6:30 p.m. Open to the public. Meeting agendas are posted at the library and Placitas Post Office. Fourth Thursdays: Sandoval County Development Planning & Zoning Commission. 6 p.m. Held at the Sandoval County Administration Building, 1500 Idalia Road., Bldg. D, Bernalillo. Last Thursdays: Sandoval County veteran’s outreach and business coun-seling. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Held at 433 Meadowlark SE in Rio Rancho. All honor-ably-discharged veterans may be entitled to VA benefits and state Veteran benefits. Come learn about your potential benefits. Bring your DD-214. 383-2414. Fridays: Bernalillo Farmers Market. 4-7 pm. through October. Offering fresh fruits, produce, herbs, and more. Under pavilion at Rotary Park. SNAP EBT dollars are doubled. Vendors welcome. 228-5801. Fridays: Toddler Time—music, stories, and crafts. 10 a.m. Held at the Town of Bernalillo-Martha Liebert Public Library from November 8-Decem-ber 20. Closed on Thanksgiving. 867-1440. Fridays: Sandoval County Stroke Support Group. 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Pro-vides weekly support to survivors of stroke, their caregivers, adult family members, and health care providers. Water and light snacks provided. No charge for meetings. Social outings arranged six times a year. Geri: 620-8802. Fridays: Celebrate Recovery—12 steps to finding freedom from hurts, hang-ups, and habits. 6:30 p.m. Held at the First Assembly Church, 274 Camino Don Tomas, Bernalillo. 867-7226. First Fridays: Monthly luncheon of the Democratic Party of Sandoval County. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Range Cafe in Bernalillo, 925 Camino del Pueblo. Sandoval Democrats gather once a month (most months) to welcome speak-ers, candidates, and government representatives. You pay for your lunch from the menu, or come for just the meeting. www.sandovaldemocrats.org. Second Friday: Luncheon of the San-Bern Federated Republican Women. Starts at 11:30 a.m. Held at Rio Rancho Inn and Conference Cen-ter—1465 Rio Rancho Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, 87124. The meet-and-greet luncheons are to discuss business and politics for both Sandoval and Bernalillo County Republican interests. Our aim is to promote an informed public through political education and activity. All Republican men and women invited to attend. Contact Julie Wright at 720- 4883 or go to www.sanbernfrw.org. Saturdays: Wildflower walks on the Sandia Ranger District. Starting at 9 a.m. There will be an amenity fee of three dollars. Be sure to bring a hat, water, and sunscreen. Sandia Ranger District: 281-3305. Saturdays: Casa Rosa Food Bank. Open 9-11 a.m. Held in the pink house east of Las Placitas Presbyterian Church at 640 Highway 165, six miles east of I-25. Community outreach program provides nonperishable food items as well as dairy, frozen meats, and fresh produce as available for Placitas resi-dents in need. Donations, volunteers welcome. Saturdays: Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Growers’ Market. Free. Sep.-Nov. 8 a.m.-noon. Fresh vegetable, fruits, herbs flowers, jams, cheeses, arts and crafts. Live music. Voted “Best In City.” Accepts WIC/Senior. At Village of Los Ranchos tennis court parking lot. losranchosgrowersmar-ket.com. Second and fourth Saturdays: Placitas Saturday Market. Cancelled until 2021. For additional information, contact Nancy Holley at 515-4323. Third Saturdays: Rio Rancho Northwest Mesa NAACP meets. 11 a.m. Held at Don Newton Community Center. Public is invited. www.rrnwmnaacp.org. Sundays: Corrales Growers’ Market. 9-noon. Located at Corrales and Jones Road. 259-0203.

S I G N P O S T CO M M U N I T Y C A L E N D A R


MANY OF THESE ONGOING LISTINGS ARE TEMPORARILY CANCELLED DUE TO THE NOVEL CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC. CHECK VIA THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION FOR DETAILS AND TO SEE WHEN AND IF THEY WILL RESUME.

The State of New Mexico Children, Youth and Fam-ilies Department, Human Services Department and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) are in a public-private partnership to feed more than three thousand New Mexicans who are food insecure due to the pandemic.

Since the start of the pandemic, with assistance from tribal communities, the National Guard, food banks and pantries, private food distributors, churches and nonprofits, the State of New Mexico has helped facilitate delivery of more than two mil-lion pounds of food to New Mexicans who are food insecure.

Deliveries have included donations, food from

grants, and food purchased using Federal and State emergency funds. These collaborations developed during the pandemic can serve as a roadmap to bring a new level of responsiveness to combat food. The state received 120,000 pounds of food Day Saints volunteers recently, which helped feed at least three-thousand people.

“As New Mexico’s tribal communities continue to deal with the impact of the COVID-19, it is hearten-ing to see the generosity of our neighbors,” said Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo. “This week’s delivery of over 120,000 pounds of food to Albu-querque’s urban native population by the Church of Latter Day Saints is greatly appreciated. Working

alongside our sister-agencies and philanthropic organizations, our state continues to be responsive and effective in our relief efforts in tribal communi-ties.”

Those experiencing financial hardship through the pandemic can find resources at newmexico.gov/i-need-assistance/. If you wish to help your neighbors during these uncertain times, contact the food bank that serves your county to be matched up to opportunities close to home. To learn how you can help, visit www.nmfoodbanks.org or www.rrfb.org.


COMMUN I TY B I T S

State of New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department helps feed New Mexicans in need ~NORA SACKETT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Albu-querque District announced on May 29, that two USACE-managed lakes in New Mexico have begun a phased reopening, and the boat ramp at Abiquiu Lake is now open.

USACE-Albuquerque District-managed camp-grounds remain closed and are scheduled to reopen at a later date. USACE-Albuquerque District recre-ation actions are being coordinated with New Mex-ico State Parks (NMSP) as well as Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW). USACE will not precede state actions.

State guidelines regarding COVID-19 (such as social distancing and the use of face masks) apply while visiting USACE-managed recreation areas.

For information about lake operations and recre-ation statuses at Abiquiu, Conchas, Cochiti, visit: www.spa.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Wors/Recreation/Updates/.

ABIQUIU LAKE: The boat ramp at Abiquiu Lake reopened May 30, 2020. The public is required to bring their own life jack-ets as the Loaner Life Jacket program is currently not in operation. The boat ramp is open for motorized traffic. All New Mexico State rules related to Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) will be adhered to, and staff will be monitor-ing for compliance. Other day use recreation areas that are open include the Cerrito Day Use Area; the Overlook Day Use Area, including picnic areas; and the downstream Rio Chama Day Use Area. The main office/visitor center is open for phone calls, but is closed for public walk-ins at this time. Day use fees have been waived until October 1, 2020. Normally, these fees are collected at Abiquiu from April 15 through October 15.

COCHITI LAKE: At this time, Cochiti Lake remains closed until fur-ther notice. The visitor center, campgrounds, day-use areas, boat ramp, swim areas, fishing areas, and walking trails are closed to the public. The main office is open for phone calls, but closed for public walk-ins at this time.

USACE—-Albuquerque District to expand phased reopening of lakes ~U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, ALBUQUERQUE DISTRICT THANK YOU FOR

READING THE SIGNPOST

News and information of interest to the residents of Sandoval County

Mailed subscriptions available—$35/year Email mailing address to: [email protected]

www.sandovalsignpost.com STAY HOME • STAY SAFE • SAVE LIVES

S ignPOSt

Flying insects, weeds, and rodents are a problem, but there are ways to control them without using poisons that can move into water systems and poison other animals higher in the food chain. Here are some suggestions from Las Placitas Association.

Bull snakes, red racers, hawks, and owls natu-rally control pack rats and mice, and so we should aim to protect them.

A creative way to control rodents without using pesticides is by using coyote urine (which can be purchased online and does not harm our much-needed wildlife populations who will die if they eat poisoned rodents). The suggested application method for coyote urine is to pour a bit down the holes of the packrat nests or soak cotton balls that you place down the holes and around any areas where you suspect mice are getting in. The urine triggers the rodents’ emotional response, and they quickly move on to an area where they do not suspect a coyote is lying in wait for them. It works on gophers too.

Live traps are a solution that require transport-ing and releasing the critters in a distant area—a good thing if you have the time.

Pulling weeds is a good way to avoid introduc-ing poisons into our soil and water. Avoiding chemicals on your fruit trees makes the fruit safer

for consumption and the birds will thank you. All these chemicals end up in our food, our soil, and our water. Think about the dis-appearing Placitas sun-flower. It is an annual that depends on birds for reseeding. Second hand poi-son has reduced our bird population… thus fewer sunflowers. Second hand poison kills our local pollinators (bees, butterflies, and moths) and means fewer blooming plants and shrubs—it’s all connected.

There are several small businesses that will pull weeds and help you with organic choices for pest removal at reasonable cost.

If you want to keep yourself safe from flying insects while outdoors, you can get deet-free bug spray at the new Placitas Pharmacy in the Home-stead Shopping Center.

Think before you spray, look at labels, and research what you are using. There are many alternatives to harmful products.

On a fun note, there have been reports of Lynx and a Mexican Grey wolf in Placitas. We have asked our local wildlife experts, Pathways Wildlife Corridors, to let us know about any unusual animal presence in the area.


re: Fireworks It’s not a bad idea for New Mexico residents to heed the warnings of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham about not using fireworks during the drought. Fireworks are responsible for an average of 18,500 fires every year, according to the National Safety Council, and that’s under normal conditions.

And fireworks are hazardous for animals, too. Dogs and cats who are terrified of the loud explosions often run from their homes and (hopefully) turn up at animal shelters in the follow-ing days. Scared deer and other wild animals run into road-ways, and birds flee their nests, frequently crashing into houses, signs, and other obstacles.

In 2017, fireworks injured more than 12,000 people badly enough to require medical treat-ment and killed eight. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) encourages cities to set a safe and compas-sionate example by switching to laser light shows, which offer all the “wow” without the dan-ger.

Sincerely, —MICHELLE KRETZER, The PETA Foundation

GAUNT LE T LETTERS • OPINIONS • LOCAL ISSUES

The Signpost welcomes letters of opinion.

Letters are subject to editing for length, clarity, libel, and other considerations.

Mail to: Signpost, P. O. Box 889, Placitas, NM, 87043 or email to: [email protected]

Las Placitas Association (LPA)———please don’t poison the animals

~JOAN FENICLE, LAS PLACITAS ASSOCIATION

re: In my life In my life, I have worn many hats, so I view life through multiple prisms.

But after my many travels and adventures, I choose the little village of Placitas, New Mexico, in which to spend some of my retirement time. I was privileged to get to know this little town back in the 1970s when the Thunderbird Bar was in its heyday. It was a great town then and a great town now.

I have been both counterculture and mainstream establishment culture in my time. So to keep this comment as brief as possible: the folks who made New Mexico Great are the Native Americans, the

Spanish Colonialists, and the Gringo Ranchers, Railroaders, etc.. Yep, it was a god-awful bloody, non-stop war. (Just ask Billy the Kid).

In more peaceful times, it is these same folks who were determined to live together, in peace, that has made New Mex-ico Great. That confluence of cultures here in New Mexico is second to none. Add a little red or green to that and you are in heaven.

I do enjoy the six mile drive up to Placitas from I-12. I liked it better in the 1970s when the HOA trophy houses were not here, but I am determined to get along with the newbies.

I occasionally see some written criticisms of this little village of Placitas. Yep, I get it. I was once on the Board of Directors of an HOA on the Gold Coast of Florida. The control freaks never get

enough control. I finally had to flee like a refugee. The wish to control how other people live is an international mental heath problem which results in many wars, local

and international. But help is available. If one simply switches on the TV set, there are any number of drugs that can help you get over

obsessing about how your neighbor lives and what he is doing wrong. The new wonder drugs will actually make you want to sing and dance in the streets. As advertised on TV…

Meanwhile down here in old Placitas, life is good. Let’s keep it that way… Best wishes, —STEVE T., Placitas

Poisoned birds


A mother bear and three cubs became too familiar with neighborhood garbage while roaming Los Alamos and now have a new home somewhere in the wilds of western New Mexico.

A call from a concerned resident to New Mexico Department of Game and Fish led to seven conservation officers working for several days to capture of the sow and cubs. The bears were healthy and had not been captured in the past, according to the department news release.

“Our officers did a great job safely catching these bears,” department Direc-tor Mike Sloane said in the release. “Even in the city, it’s important for people to know they can help keep wildlife wild by reducing the amount of attractants in their own yards and neighborhoods.”

For public and bear safety, keeping trash contained until the day of pickup is important, especially for people living in

or near wooded areas. Other advice includes not leaving pet food or dishes out overnight, not adding meat or sweet-smelling scraps to compost piles, and not letting fruit from trees and bushes rot on the ground.

The department also issued advice for bear encounters, starting with moving quietly away if the bear hasn’t seen you and not getting between a mother bear and her cubs. Making yourself appear large by holding out a jacket, picking up small children so they don’t run, and making sure the bear has an escape route may discourage the bear from advancing.

In case of an attack, the department advises fighting with anything from rocks to sticks to binoculars and bare hands aiming for the bear’s nose and eyes.

Urban bears returned to wilder place

~SIGNPOST STAFF

The City of Rio Rancho’s Library and Information Services Department’s Summer Reading Program is here! Online registration can be found at the library website—www.riorancholibraries.org. This year’s program can be easily completed from the comfort of your home.

The Summer Reading Program will run until July 31. Children and teens are invited to earn prizes through reading, and will have the opportunity to

be entered into a drawing for gift cards by complet-ing experiential activities. Adults will earn entries in weekly drawings for amazing prizes. All prizes will be mailed to the homes of participants.

This year, the summer reading theme is “Imagine Your Story” and throughout the summer, there will be online programs and activities focused on this theme. More information about the Summer Read-ing Program can be found by visiting the libraries’

website or by calling either library: 891-5013 for Loma Colorado; 891-5012 for Esther Bone.

This program is generously supported by The Friends of the Library of Rio Rancho.

The Loma Colorado Main Library is located at 755 Loma Colorado Boulevard, and the Esther Bone Memorial Library is located at 950 Pinetree Road.

Summer reading for all ages at Rio Rancho Public Libraries

~ANNEMARIE L. GARCÍA, COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OFFICER, CITY OF RIO RANCHO

Scouts ~DAVID GARDNER

During the pandemic, the scouts of Troop 708 have continued to meet weekly online using Zoom technology. They also continue to post the American Flag at the homes of subscribers on national holidays and days of remembrance, such as Independence Day. During July they will continue to observe health practices, including social distancing, by confining their hikes to “buddy” hikes where two at a time can hike as buddies and look after each other. At an upcoming meeting, the young men will elect their officers who will serve for the next six month.

Because there will be no Great Southwest Council camp this summer, because of pandemic restrictions, the scouts will be able to work online with merit badge counselors operating from Camp Gorham. As they complete rank requirements, they can meet with the troop advance-ment committee for a Board of Review to assess the fulfillment of the requirements. In June, Steven Harper passed the Board of Review for Life rank, and Diego Vigil passed for his First Class rank. Preston Bean is scheduled for a District Board of Review for the rank of Eagle Scout.

Pack 708 for Cub Scouts has encouraged the cubs to work at home with their families, which is in line with the scouting program, intended to be family oriented. Three of the cubs have completed the requirements for Bear Cubs, the program for nine year olds. We look forward to the time when we can meet together again as a group.

For more information call Amanda at 507-1305, or David at 867-4689.

YOUTH

—A

MA

ND

A GRIEG

O

A scout posts a flag for a national holiday.

Conservation officer Jerry Pohl carries one of three bear cubs out of a Los Alamos neighborhood in early June. The cubs and their mother

were becoming accustomed to feeding from trash bins and have been relocated to western New Mexico.

—C

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ISHAN IMAL NEW S

Placitas library invites children for summer reading ~PAM TROUTMAN Placitas Community Library’s online summer reading program continues in July with Katie Adams presenting her Make Believe Theater—a 45-minute storytelling video of classic fairy tales from the Enchanted Kingdom with singing, colorful props and mime. This program is available the week of July 5-11. During the week of July 12-18, we will show Shana Banana’s virtual concert for kids and families called “Fairy Tales Gone Bananas.” Our final program in July will be shown on July 18-25, when Matt Sandbank, teacher, poet, and puppeteer, presents his trio of workshops on the following topics: “The Science of Shadow Puppets, Poetry-Writing, and Shadow Puppet Creation.

For questions, send an email to [email protected]. The Placitas Community Library is located at 453 Highway 165.

On April 15, 2020, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) opened a sixty-day “scoping” period to receive public comments on needed changes to a manage-ment rule that will determine the recovery success of Mexican gray wolves in the southwestern United States. This revision follows on a court order to rem-edy the rule’s deficiencies and use the best available science. Despite the chal-lenges to public outreach in the midst of the global pandemic and stay-at-home orders, supporters of effective science-informed recovery of the critically endangered “lobos” submitted more than forty-thousand comments.

By initial review, the large majority of the comments submitted appear to be in support of the (FWS) taking all crucial and necessary measures to restore the endangered subspecies’ declining genetic health, allowing unrestricted disper-sal to critically important habitats, and removing the current population cap limiting the U.S. population to only 325 wolves. Proponents are also calling for an “essential” status designation for Mexican gray wolves.

For far too long, the FWS has bent to the pressures of the livestock industry by lethally removing wolves, despite evidence that these actions can have long-lasting effects on the wolves left in the wild and have also not been proven to be effective at reducing livestock losses over time. Polling shows more than two-thirds of voters in Arizona and New Mexico support recovery of Mexican wolves to restore the balance of nature in the Southwest.

In addition to the thousands of public comments, numerous non-governmen-tal conservation organizations submitted substantial comments with detailed science-based recommendations for ensuring that the revised management rule leads to recovery of Mexican wolves in the wild, as required by the Endan-gered Species Act. Furthermore, comments authored by David Parsons, biolo-gist and former Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the FWS, on behalf of

Project Coyote and The Rewilding Institute were endorsed by more than one hundred independent and academic scientists.

“Public values, the law, and the best available science are all telling U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do better, a lot better, for lobo recovery,” said Chris Smith, southern Rockies wildlife advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “This is the best opportunity for real recovery, and I hope that opportunity is taken—U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to end the cycle of litigation and do right by these iconic wolves.”

“People are saying loud and clear that we want more wolves in more places!” said Emily Renn, Executive Director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recov-ery Project. “Given all the threats that Mexican wolves are facing, there is no need for the USFWS to continue to delay their recovery through inadequate and piecemeal management plans. It’s time to ensure Mexican wolves have a viable future in all suitable habitats, including the Grand Canyon region.”

Several specific changes were consistently referenced in comments to FWS: • The FWS must designate wild Mexican gray wolves as “essential” to the

continued existence of the subspecies in the wild. Since the beginning of rein-troductions, the wolves in the wild have been legally listed as “nonessential” to the survival of the subspecies. This classification can no longer be supported by the best available science.

• There should be no cap or maximum number of Mexican wolves allowed in the wild.

• Non-lethal methods must be prioritized over removing or killing wild Mexican gray wolves to resolve human-wolf conflicts.

• Wolves should not be removed from the wild because they roamed beyond any geographic boundary. In particular, wolves should not be removed from

Forty-thousand people weigh in on Mexican gray wolves ~CHRIS SMITH, WILDEARTH GUARDIANS


AN IMAL NEW S ~ C O N T I N U E D

IN THE

GALLERY

by RUDI KLIMPERT

YOUTH ~ C O N T I N U E D

the wild for traveling into or inhabiting regions north of Interstate Highway 40, which have been determined by independent scientists to be critically important for full recovery of Mexican wolves in the U.S. Southwest.

• Recovery efforts should facilitate natural connectivity between wolves in the U.S. and Mexico.

• The USFWS must be proactive in support of estab-lishing two additional subpopulations of at least two hundred Mexican wolves in identified areas of suitable habitats in the U.S. Southwest, north of I-40.

Following its analysis of scoping comments, the FWS will prepare and issue a proposed revised management rule and an accompanying draft supplement to the 2014 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). These documents will be offered for another opportunity for public review and comment. This next step has not been scheduled but is expected before the end of the year. Following that review the USFWS will issue a final revised management rule and final supplement to the EIS. U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Zipps Court Order ruling stated that the 2015 10(j) rule requires this process and a final decision to be completed by May 2021.


Conveniently located at 4192 Hwy 528 (just South of 550)

Rio Rancho, NM 87144

Call 505-771-3311 Open: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm • Saturdays 8am-4pm

Closed Sundays and major holidays

Excellent care for your family pet Coronado Pet Hospital is a state-of-the-art, clean, and comfortable

veterinary clinic with a wide variety of veterinary services for total pet care.

Coronado's compassionate and experienced staff is fully equipped to treat dogs, cats, and many exotic species with general and emergency veterinary services, surgery, dental care, and prescription pet foods.

Stop by to meet our staff or call for an appointment today.

THE AN IMAL HOT L I N E To help reunite lost/found pets with their people.

Hello from “Straight To The Horse’s Mouth” ~LAUREL HULL

We miss seeing all of our friends at the Placitas Saturday Markets. That’s 11 markets we’re missing this year where we usually raise money to feed our family band of ten formerly wild horses. But while we’re all sheltering in place, the horses keep eating. We need to raise money to buy hay and grass while it is available!

Some of our most popular items featured at the Placitas Saturday Markets were our Sabaku Artwear Shirts. We have inventory we want to move. So every week, we’re going to feature a shirt design from our inventory on Nextdoor at a reduced price from retail. We don’t charge tax because we are a non-profit.

If you would like to order a shirt, please call Laurel Hull at 867-9172 or email [email protected]. I have the inventory and can accept cash, check, or credit. I will fill the orders on a first-come first-served basis and deliver to a mutually agreeable place. If a shirt has to be mailed, we will add five dollars for postage. You can also order and pay via PayPal on our website: straighttothehorsesmouth.org on our Contact Us page.

As always, donations of any amount are very welcome! So please help us reduce our inventory and raise money for hay for our horses.

Until we can meet safely again, stay well and safe. Thank you.

If you lose or find an animal in Sandoval County,

email the information to: [email protected]

We will place it in the upcoming issue at no charge.

If the animal you reported no longer needs attention, please email the Sign-

post by the 20th of the month to have the listing removed.

The Animal Hotline is a free community service of the Signpost.

Having fun and staying safe at “Straight To The Horses Mouth”

from page 26 ———Wolves

LOST: Cat: Pinky is a healthy, four-to-five-pound, four-year-old Siberian with long hair. She is a kaleidoscope of colors, but the base of her mixed coat is white. She is so much more than a calico.

Creme tipped tail and feet. Quite a mix. She may be more than half way through a pregnancy. She likely needs a Vet to help her preg-nancy, because of her size.

She is shy and runs fast.

She was lost on her third time outside. A lot of wild animals come thru here, so I fear the worst, but maybe someone took her in and is looking for her owner.

If you find her, please call 867-0590. Thank you so much. —MARLA LLOYD

AN IMAL NEW S ~ C O N T I N U E D

The bobcat came into our backyard yesterday afternoon and proceeded immediately down hill to an arroyo. I grabbed my Nikon and caught it just in time before it disappeared

at the bottom. Photo credit can go to me or to the bobcat. Beautiful animal. —NEAL MAZER


LALO’S ANIMAL PRINTS

Lalo: Here’s a Checkered Whiptail from our backyard. They reproduce parthenogenically, and all individuals in a colony are genetically identical females.

Cheers, —ERIC HUBBARD

A skunk has moved into our shed!

Kyle to the rescue!

Bold skunk is captured

in live trap

But wait! A baby under the floorboards!

And more and more! Six little stinkers and mama off to Wildlife Rescue for rehab & release. Phew!

Skunk moving day! —ERIN MAGENNIS AND KYLE RAY

Email your animal photos to “Lalo” at: [email protected]

S ignPOSt


ROSA’S HOUSECLEANING SERVICE, LLC ~ Family Business in Bernalillo ~

Licensed • Free Estimates References Provided

505-379-8652 • 505-990-2053

PLACITAS HOUSEKEEPING

Local resident • 25 years experience References provided • Placitas area

Lesia Graham — 448-1152 / 659-5500

CLA S S I F I E D S To place a classified ad,

email your ad or questions to: [email protected]

(Includes a free posting on the Signpost website.) For further information, visit:

www.sandovalsignpost.com or call the Signpost office at 505-867-3810.

ANNOUNCEMENT S

AN IMAL S

WILDLIFE RESCUE—Call 505-344-2500. An all-volunteer wildlife rescue program to assist injured or orphaned wildlife. A service of the Rio Grande Nature

Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

DESERT FLOWER CARPET & STEAM CLEANING CARPET AND FURNITURE SPECIALISTS

We steam clean wool and silk area rugs, too, plus your tile, grout and stone

867-4493 • www.desertflowercleancarpets.com

Camp Pa sitive Where your dog can come stay and play

Offering day camp and overnights at our home.

150 Camino de la Rosa Castilla Phone: 867-4408

Make a reservation for your pup to come play with us.

Now Open in Placitas Bridget Cobb—Proprietor

NON-LETHAL SNAKE REMOVAL ~ ~ ~ Any kind of snake ~ ~ ~

Donations accepted for payment. Call Moises—321-3600

CLEAN I Ng

S A N D O V A L

—“FOR SALE-HOMES/LAND,” continued next page

PLACITAS—5 ACRE MEADOW $88,000—Large lot with huge Sandia views as well as views of the Jemez and Mesas! Very convenient! Close to National Forest! Owner financing. Placitas Realty 867-8000, Dave 263-2266.

FLAT BUILDABLE LOT JUST ACROSS LAS HUERTAS STREAM—with old cottonwoods off the north lot line. Power and shared well available. Only $52,000 and possi-ble owner-financing. Call Porter 263-3662. La Puerta Real Estate Services, LLC 867-3388.

PRICE REDUCTION ON WILD CHERRY FARMS IN THE VILLAGE OF PLACITAS—5 lots in the compound with underground shared well, power and natural gas. Mountain/valley views tucked in among the fruit and cottonwood trees. Owner-financing possible and now only $69,000 per lot. Porter 263-3662, La Puerta Real Estate Services, LLC -867-3388.

PLACITAS—ALMOST 4 ACRES $74,000—Convenient, developed lot on paved road with water included! Moti-vated! Placitas Realty 867-8000 Dave Harper 263-2266.

FOR SA LE : HOME S / LAND

PLACITAS—5 ACRES—ONLY $60,000—Already plat-ted as 2 lots, this land has water & electric lines already run to the land! Dave Harper 263-2266, Placitas Realty 867-8000.

PLACITAS—NEXT TO PUBLIC LAND! $50,000—This land backs up to thousands of acres on Public Land and has no restrictions! Call Dave at Placitas Realty 505-263-2266 or 505-867-8000.

PLACITAS—2.5 ACRES $40,000—Ridge top lot with panoramic views! Perfect place to build your off-the-grid home! Views of Sandias, Cabezon, Jemez, mesas & Ortiz Mtns!! Dave, Placitas Realty 867-8000 or 263-2266.

PLACITAS—4.6 ACRES $35,000—Large lot along sea-sonal stream! Huge Sandia views! Call Dave at Placitas Realty 505-263-2266 or 505-867-8000.

A N I N D E P E N D E N T L O C A L N E W S P A P E R

RESPONSIBLE HOUSE-SITTER AVAILABLE—Respon-sible, mature woman seeks house-sitting position. Pets and barn animals lovingly cared for. Short- and long-term situations. References. Please call Lois at 575-519-8498.

ART / MU S IC

Paws N’ Claws Pet Care In-Home Pet Care serving: Placitas, Corrales & Rio Rancho

Overnight Pet Care provided in Placitas

Pet Sitting • Pet Waste Removal

{505} 440-0875 Insured/Bonded

Deb Stichmann [email protected]

Online VOiCe and PianO leSSOnS By Cia Khakaura, Master Teacher

505-629-2150 • www.onlinevoiceandpiano.com

Chris Livingston, Master Music Instructor

Want to learn Piano, Guitar, Bass, Ukulele or Theory? Like Jazz, Rock, Classical, Funk? What’s your Style?

Call Chris for LESSONS via Skype, Zoom, FaceTime! B.A. in Music • 20 yrs. Instructor & Performer

Certified in Early Childhood Teaching Reasonable rates • Gentle approach to teaching/learning 505-980-4322 • [email protected]

Servicing: Placitas, Bernalillo, Los Ranchos, and Corrales, NM

(505) 818-4348 • ZiaMaids.com

Call for Free Estimate Lic. & Insured • References

LOOKING FOR DOG AGILITY EQUIPMENT Happy for one piece or many. Will pick up.

Z Z Z Please call 505-867-5603 Z Z Z (We’d love the seesaw! Please call again.)

“PLACITAS WINERY” (at the old Anasazi Fields Winery location)

IS LOOKING FOR LOCAL FRUIT TO HARVEST FOR WINE- & CIDER-MAKING

Don’t let it go to waste! We’ll pick it. Apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, apples, berries, etc. are all welcome.

Please give Barb a call/text at 505-363-5606 or send an email to: [email protected].

Best wishes during this challenging time

DESERT MOUNTAIN VIEW LOT IN A CUL-DE-SAC AWAY FROM THE HIGHWAY—All underground utili-ties to the lot and a driveway cut to the building area. Complete Sandia and sunset/city light views. Only $125,000. Call Porter 263-3662. La Puerta Real Estate Serv-ices, LLC 867-3388.

—“GROUND WORK / LANDSCAPING,” continued next column

FOR SA LE : HOME S / LAND

~CONT I NUED~

GROUND WORK LAND SCAP I NG

~CONT I NUED~

FOR SA LE : M I SCE L LANEOU S We’re specialists in Landscaping & Outdoor Living

If you can imagine it, we can create it.

Call 221-8052 for free estimate

References/Pictures on Request • www.nmlandscaping.com Licensed/Bonded/Insured/Lic. #60178

A-Rating - Angie’s List • AAA - Better Business Bureau

Sprinkler & Drip Systems Concrete, Flagstone & Brick Work

Block Walls & Stucco Work • Additions & Remodels Kiva Fireplaces, Banco Seating, Outdoor Kitchens

Portals, Patio Covers, Decks, Retaining Walls Terracing , Sod, Gravel & Planting

W H E L C H E L Landscaping and Construct ion Co. SAVE 10% off our already competitive prices when you MENTION this SIGNPOST AD!

NOW is a great time to SAVE MONEY on Landscaping, Concrete Work, Paved Patios,

Patio Covers, Gravel Work & more!

DALE’S TREE SERVICE—Pruning, removals, stumps, hauling and mowing. 28 years experience. Dale Roberts, 505-473-4129 or 505-977-1981.

FOUR NEW HANKOOK OPTIMO PLUS II TIRES—Sizes: p225/60R16-97H, $100. [email protected], 10 Aspen Ct, Placitas, NM.

gROUND WORK / LAND SCAP I NG

FOREVERBLOOM—A HORTICULTURE AND ARBORICULTURE BUSINESS. Services include: Consulting, landscape design, plant care, pre-purchase inspection and selection. Disease and pest infestation control. Tree appraisals and landscape restoration. 30 yrs. exp. Please give me a call—Virginia Escamilla at 505-379-8890.

a HIGH & DRY LANDSCAPES a

Country cottage gardens using native plants & permaculture

CALL/TXT: SALLY HALL—505-695-0243

BLOOMING NATIVE GARDENS

PROFESSIONAL XERISCAPE DESIGN, INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE

BASED IN PLACITAS NOW SCHEDULING SUMMER CLEANUP!! • Xeriscape design, installation & maintenance • Installation & repair of irrigation & water features • Over 30 yrs experience in native/non-native plants • Offering maintenance schedule to fit your needs • 10% off for new Placitas customers • Installation from sod & plants to flagstone patios & block walls

505-440-0875 [email protected]

Recommended by Angie’s List • References furnished • Lic/Ins

HEALTH / S P I R I T / BEAUTY

HOMEOWNERS’ HANDYMAN SERVICES—Carpentry, decks, doors, landscaping, painting, tile, windows. Free estimates. Call 505-313-1929.

CLA S S I F I E D S ~CONT I NUED~

SERV ICE S

—“SERVICES,” continued next page


Read Signpost back issues at www.sandovalsignpost.com

LOOKING FOR DOG AGILITY EQUIPMENT Happy for one piece or many. Will pick up.

Z Z Z Please call 505-867-5603 Z Z Z (We’d love the seesaw! Please call again.)

This Land is Your Land! Own a beautiful 5+ acre Placitas property

Build your home on a rare 5+-acre parcel in Placitas that allows freedom to garden,

keep horses, have a guesthouse, and relax. Wired for Cable TV & Internet. Already subdivided to two 2.5+

acre lots. Enjoy gorgeous 60-mile mountain and mesa views. A moss rock arroyo provides your own private park. The 560-acre Placitas Open Space is next door.

Take a drive Have a look! At intersection of Sacred Path & Hohokam Road Call Dave Harper, Placitas Realty

263-2266 or 867-8000

LYNN KOCH, CRS, 3+ DECADES IN REAL ESTATE Realty One of New Mexico • Call (m) 505-379-2289, (o) 883-9400 or email: [email protected]

VISIT www.PlacitasRealEstate.com. YOUR “GO–TO” SITE FOR PLACITAS INFORMATION!

JUST LISTED Lot 20-A, La Mesa Subdivision—Backing up to hundreds of acres of City of ABQ Open Space, this lot is fully improved with utili-ties—community water, electric, telephone, natural gas, and cable tv. Lovely Sandia Mountains view and small building site already there. Incredible lot for the money. 1.708 acres $99,900 6 Camino de los Desmontes—RARE Placitas commercial metal building, very energy efficient with active solar, natural gas and individual well. Excellent (like-new) condition freshly painted interior, new commercial car-pet, new window coverings. C-1 Zoning, 3750 sf (45% office, 55% ware-house), 6 phone jacks, Ethernet cable, high speed internet, 16’ roll-up metal bay door, 1.748 acres, $589,000 7 Tierra Madre Road—UNIQUE Placitas property including 3 BR, 2 BA adobe/frame passive solar main house & 2 BR, 1 BA casita on view property in a great location. Renovated w/ new appliances, granite in kitchens & baths, new baths, some new tile, some new windows, freshly painted interi-ors, no carpet, newer septic. Get the benefit of Old World SW charm w/ new features in both ONE LEVEL homes. 2 car+30’ RV garages, $479,000 LOT 128, OCATE COURT—ALL AROUND VIEWS—Sandia Mountain, Mesa and Sunset views from this easy building site comprised of 1.68 acres. Located in gorgeous Anasazi Meadows. Fully improved w/ community water, electric, telephone, cable & natural gas. Build your dream home here! $115,000 Lot 4-1-1, Sunrise Drive—INCREDIBLE VIEW LOT where you can see forever. Sandia Mountains, the Village of Placitas, Santa Fe—a vista of over 100 miles. Fully improved with all utilities at the lot line. If you are looking for an amazing lot, this is it! 1.12 acres $97,000.

RIVER STONE CATE CLARK MASSAGE THERAPY is Covid Compliant and Open for Business by Appointment in Placitas.

Swedish Hot Stones, Deep Tissue, Craniosacral Therapy and

Certified Manual Lymphatic Therapist. MT4607 • 505-401-4015

ABR Septic Pumping & Back-Up Service “We Live & Own in Placitas!”

Call Jim: 505-315-5000 We wear masks & gloves for your protection. Regular septic service & emergencies

Call Jim: 505-315-5000 We wear masks & gloves for your protection.

FREE ESTIMATES • LOCAL REFERENCES • LIC#67125

Placitas Pool & Spa Service

Complete Service • Repair • Maintenance

797-9680 Clip This Ad and Place on Refrigerator for Future Reference

S ERV ICE S ~CONT I NUED~

THANK YOU for your support of Signpost advertisers.

Painting by United Services

Residential • Commercial All Paints & Refinishes • Int./Ext.

General Maintenance Handyman • Stucco Repairs

505.250.6646 Licensed, Insured & Bonded

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”INSECTS”

A STEREOGRAM

by GARY PRIESTER

DAVE’S BOBCAT SERVICE Dirt Removal Trash Haul • Grading Tree/Brush Removal Gravel • Driveways Snow Removal • Backhoe

Call 505-264-1062 Licensed & Insured

“Serving Sandoval County since 1996”

• • • DESERT SERVICE SPRING • • • Garage Door Service

Broken Spring & Operator Repair 505-252-9722 • WEEKENDS—No Extra Charge

O'HARA PAINTING—Quality craftsmanship. Professional service. Clean and efficient. Low VOC paint products. Licensed, Bonded and Insured. Check references at: nextdoor.com. Call Kieran O'Hara for a free estimate. 505-699-6253 (land lines: dial 505).

TO VIEW THE STEREOGRAM: Hold the image close to your wide open eyes and look “through” the image, not

focusing on it, then slowly move the image away maintaining the blurred focus.

Let your brain work to see the hidden image in 3D.

Visit: facebook.com/Eyetricks3DStereograms to see images that change each week or visit:

eyetricks-3d-stereograms.com.

NEW MEXICO RUBBISH REMOVAL WEEKLY TRASH SERVICE

• Serving the Placitas Area • Bi-weekly recycling available • Offering assistance to elderly & disabled • Placitas owned & operated

Call Jon Dominguez • 239-3971


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