Northern New Mexico suffered many losses after the Las Conchas fire engulfed 150,000 acres this summer.

New Mexico kids’ reading scores are better than those in only one other state or district nationwide, according to a new report.

Santa Feans who currently park for free with city-issued permits received a less-than-welcome surprise in their mailboxes.

In this week’s cover story, SFR examines the plight of the chronically underfunded, politically footballed New Mexico Rail Runner Express.

SFR's Weekly Matrix

Before her doctor recommended daily doses of medical marijuana, Krista Robbins frequently blacked out. Later, she would awaken with multiple self-inflicted cuts on her body. One was so bad that it required 80 stitches. Robbins, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, says her doctors put her on “more drugs than would kill the average person,” including 1,400 miligrams of Seroquel, a powerful antipsychotic.

Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center couldn’t afford to co-sponsor the Mayor’s Ball, which benefits a local charity, two weeks ago. And if things don’t improve for the hospital, it might have to stop providing free dental care to Santa Fe's needy children. And there might be “serious layoffs.” That’s what Christus CEO Alex Valdez told Santa Fe County commissioners at an Oct. 25 meeting of the County Indigent Hospital and Healthcare Board.

Last Friday, members of Santa Fe’s art community invested $8,015 in the imagination and self-esteem of 20 DeVargas Middle School students during SITE Santa Fe’s micro-granting dinner, SPREAD 2.0. The event took place at the Santa Fe Farmers Market.

It turns out that a secret decoder ring isn’t the best prize kids can get out of a cereal box. Last school year, Pablo Roybal Elementary, a private school, raised the most money of any Santa Fe school—$2,200—through the Box Tops for Education program. Santo Niño Regional Catholic School came in second place with $1,023, which Vaisa says went to both classroom and playground supplies. The school comes up with various incentive programs to get kids to bring in the cardboard box tops—a system that seems to be yielding results.

On Nov. 3, the city’s planning commission will consider a proposal to eliminate (technically, “reduce by 100 percent”) residential development impact fees for two years. The plan’s sponsors, City Councilors Rebecca Wurzburger and Matt Ortiz, tout it as a way to bolster Santa Fe’s faltering construction industry.