On Nov. 11, officials from Gov. Bill Richardson’s office released a revised estimate of New Mexico’s budget shortfall. Previously thought to be approximately $260 million, Richardson’s staff now puts the number at $452 million, sending most of the state into a frenzy of worry.

US Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, has received “more than a couple hundred pieces of correspondence,” mostly from New Mexicans, conveying concerns about invasive Transportation Security Administration procedures for airline travellers.

When the New Mexico Department of Health announced sweeping cuts to the state’s Developmental Disability Waiver, an optional Medicaid program, Fritzi Hardy was surprised.

Earlier this fall, the US Department of Transportation released a report that indicates New Mexico, in figure after figure, is a dangerous place to drive. The state has a crash rate that is 63 percent higher than the national average, more traffic fatalities per 100,000 people than any other state in the Southwest and an overall ranking as the 11th most deadly place to drive a car.

While Santa Fe Public Schools scrambles to prepare for a greater than expected state budget deficit, critics like Fred Nathan point to intrinsic flaws in the existing system. Optimizing school performance on a leaner budget requires more than cost-cutting, they say: it requires systemic change.

Tuesday, Nov. 16 marked the end of Before There Was Choice, the five-film series organized by Planned Parenthood, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Santa Fe chapter of the National Organization for Women.

In northern New Mexico, military aircraft flying 500 feet above the ground scatter livestock; people are startled by B-1 bombers refueling at higher altitudes. Many also see C-130s practicing approach and departure maneuvers from the Taos Regional Airport; the aircraft don’t touch down, local residents say, but they practice their moves repeatedly.

It’s that time of year again—no, not Thanksgiving, not winter, not bear-hunting season—when Travel Leisure magazine’s survey results of America’s Favorite Cities set people all atwitter with passion and dismay. But Santa Fe appears not to gain nor lose rankings due to its proposed panhandling ordinance.

Do you want beautiful Santa Fe to be turned into an overdeveloped, gridlocked and polluted Southern California? Hell no, you don’t. Just like you don’t want the US of A to be turned into a socialist haven for freeloading bums, gay junkies and thieving, opportunistic brown people from some other damn country.