Santa Fe Mayor David Coss is running for re-election in the March 2, 2010 municipal election. Former City Manager Asenath Kepler is challenging him, as is District 3 City Councilor Miguel Chavez. SFR reached all of them by telephone to ask the week’s most burning question.

Susan Witt is the executive director of the EF Schumacher Society. The society is dedicated to finding practical applications for the ideas Schumacher expressed in his well-known book, Small is Beautiful. Witt will speak at 7 pm, Oct. 24, on “linking land, people, communities and local economies” at the La Montañita Co-op’s annual membership meeting. The meeting is open to the public and takes place at SITE Santa Fe.
 

Animal Protection of New Mexico began as Sangre de Cristo Animal Protection in 1979 and has been run by Executive Director Lisa Jennings since 1993. APNM is responsible for everything from 2007’s cockfighting ban to training New Mexico’s animal-control officers to more effectively fight animal cruelty.

In 1998, Matthew Shepard was beaten and left for dead in Laramie, Wyo., a victim of a hate crime. In the event’s aftermath, members of the Tectonic Theater Project set out to Laramie to interview residents and mold their reactions into a narrative play, The Laramie Project. Extended online interview with Tectonic member Andy Paris.

If you want a music education, tune in to musician and producer Brian Hardgroove’s Fuse Box radio show, from 10 am to noon on Saturdays on KBAC 98.1 FM. If you want to experience one of the best concerts of our time, be sure to catch Public Enemy, for which Hardgroove plays bass. If you want to hear what Hardgroove is up to lately musically, check out the debut of his new band, OverShine, at the Pumpkin Festival. With Web Extra video interview.

David Brancaccio is one of public broadcasting’s biggest stars. He hosts NOW on PBS; public radio listeners will recall his old job, hosting Marketplace. Earlier this month, he swung by SFR’s office to promote a PBS special on health care reform, with the Nightly Business Report team and Tavis Smile.

Throughout its 20 years, WildEarth Guardians (formerly Forest Guardians) has grown into a nationally respected environmental organization. Its Wild Places Program director, Bryan Bird, answered SFR’s eco-questions in advance of the organization’s anniversary gala.
 

Having begun as a part-time doorman at Cheeks in 1989, Elmo Montoya worked his way through the ranks to head of security, assistant manager, manager, general manager, half owner and full owner of the 22-year-old Cerrillos Road gentlemen’s club—the only one of its kind in Santa Fe.

Joe Marquez is the owner of Yan-You-Len Pond Service and also runs a koi fish rescue operation (his youtube channel, youtube.com/user/yanyoulen, is popular among koi enthusiasts worldwide). Marquez has more than 100 fish in 8,000 gallons’ worth of ponds on his own property, including a 300-gallon “hospital” for sick fish. He is interested in starting a koi club in Santa Fe and can be reached at 795-6285. His business’ name translates from Chinese as Caretaker of Fish.

US Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, is six months into his first term representing the 3rd Congressional District, of which Santa Fe is a major portion. On Aug. 19, he joined SFR for a group interview (with a cameo from Truffles, SFR’s office pig) to talk about everything from life in Washington, DC to health care reform to what he learned visiting war zones.