Based on data SFCC reports to the US Department of Education, of the approximately 6,600 students who enrolled at SFCC in fall 2010, only half are expected to return for a second year. Even fewer will successfully earn a degree—a discouraging trend at the only public community college serving Santa Fe.

In the late 1980s, people living in the border town of Sunland Park, NM, had a big problem on their hands—and on their laundry lines, too.

My son’s body lacks hexosaminidase A, an enzyme critical for brain development, and his brain is, as they say in the neurology world, “devastated.” Before he dies, Ronan will become paralyzed, lose his sight, his hearing and his sense of touch.

The state has instituted ambitious changes over the past few years to the way child care is regulated. Oversight of providers by the state Children, Youth and Families Department has increased, with background checks mandatory for all adults who come in contact with kids.vBut the resulting shift has created fewer options for affordable child care

Linda Durham and her gallery have been a force in Santa Fe’s creative community since she first happened on her career and developed a habit of representing New Mexico and its artists locally and internationally. Now, after 33 years in business, Durham will close her gallery on March 11.

Federally-funded and state-supported drug task forces are running rampant in New Mexico. SFR reveals the results of two months of investigation into why armed, masked men in fatigues are landing in helicopters and routinely invading a normally peaceful town.

The Santa River has been in trouble for a while (the first dam was built upstream in 1881 and petitions from farmers whose acequias ran dry date back as early as 1886). But now, various conservation efforts and advocacy groups are finding the perfect chance to turn river restoration plans into action. On of these efforts is The Return of the River.

Republicans sure have interesting priorities. Even though they got elected on a fiscal agenda and arrived in legislatures and Congress with a budget crisis and a nation staring down unemployment, they’ve decided to put policing women’s bodies on the top of their agenda.

Despite the notorious drug problem in Santa Fe County, the successful Drug Court faces an uncertain future. With the paucity of funding available to sustain it in the current economic climate, Drug Court’s future is now seriously threatened.

There’s no shortage of complaints about nightlife in Santa Fe, but try and wedge all the great bars, clubs, lounges, dives and dance halls into a few pages, and it becomes apparent there’s a lot going on here—more than we can possibly include in one week’s worth of paper.

What follows then is an amended adventure through some of SFR’s favorite bars and haunts.