Bosque Farms Could Learn From Belen

This author has had the opportunity to attend several functions in Belen and would like to share what this author has observed and encourage Bosque Farms Government to learn from Belen's Example.

Lesson One

Whenever Belen has something to celebrate, celebrate they do. When they finished a small gazebo type thing in their mainstreet, they had a party. They inviteded big wigs, small wigs and normal people wigs to come and see and participate. They have done this for small things and they have done this for big things. If they pave a road that was particularly bad this author wouldn't be surprised to learn the Mayor has a ribbon cutting ceremony.

LessonTwo

If Belen doesn't have something to celebrate, they make it up. They have a chile cook off, they have a Halloween party, they have a Dia De Los Ninos and so on and so on.

Lesson One and Two and a Half

And directly tied to Lesson one and Lesson Two is that these events are held yearly, and they are becoming part of Belen's identity. Bosque Farms has one event similar to this, the annual fair. That is a great event. Maybe it is time to expand on this.

And this author will take the opportunity to say the Bosque Farms Business Fair was a big event the first year and then it got tied to the fair and became less than it was the first year and seems to have gone away. Similarly the luminarias have as well. This author hopes the Bosque Farms business group revisits this idea.

Lesson Three

They have local businesses participate to bring in more people. The gymnastics kids do a small show, the dancing classes do a small show and so on. If there is a 4H group they model the dresses the girls have made or bring the goats they are raising for a petting zoo and so on and so on. This brings in parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles who come to watch their kids and stay to participate in the events.

In fact, some of the businesses actually put on these events. The fall event held at city hall was and one of the most recent events this author attended was put on by a different business.

http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/63735-08-09-06.html

http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/35282-10-11-03.html

An Idea, A Solution (Moved from October 10, 2006)

This post has been moved up as it is a previous idea this author provided that is directly related to the lesson that Bosque Farms could learn from Belen.

One reader used to often say 'you have seen the problem but what is the solution'.

Here is one solution for what can be done to attract outside people to Bosque Farms to spend their 'outside money' in Bosque Farms. And it would also give Councilor Knowlton's committee something to spend those advertising dollars towards. (The dollars that will be given to the Village by the state and the matching funds the Village will have to spend.)

Use the new big parking lot to host a weekly farmer's market. There is a farmer's market in Belen but many people simply don't know about it or are unwilling to drive that far. If Bosque Farms could use this as a jumping off point and do more and better, it might be an idea worth consideration.

It certainly is not the only idea but it is one idea.

What would be the more? the better? Let's get creative and think... Just brainstorming...

Maybe some of the local bands could play. In fact, one of the former Bosque Farms employees (the former dog catcher! no less) used to have a well known band as does his son. There is a singer who sings at weddings etc. She would jump at the chance to get her name known and to demonstrate her ability to a wider audience.

The local businesses could 'draw straws' and take turns setting up there to advertise their wares. This author is not advocating a business fair, such as the ones held in the past, but a chance for different businesses to hand out cards or sell their wares or provide the entertainment. (Just like Intel sponsors a concert at the zoo, Benny's could sponsor a singer at the farmer's market!)

Maybe there could be a make it take it table sponsor for children. Trinity Mobile Home Park could sponsor a craft table for kids as could several other businesses. Each child wanting to do a craft could pay a small fee of a dollar or less and walk away with a craft.

And young gardeners could be encouraged to set up a free table and sell their produce.

And heck, since it is right there in front of the Fire and Police station maybe the fire men and police men and women could take turns doing something interesting. The police could provide a jumper one week or the fire men could let the kids look at a fire truck.

The point would be to get people from outside of Bosque Farms to visit Bosque Farms and get to know the businesses here in a very positive, relaxing form.

Maybe advertising could be 'it's about the kids, Bosque Farms'.

The Community Center, Possible Uses (From Oct 7)

This was moved also as it addresses ideas that can easily become larger, yearly events. Some comments have been added in green.

(Fourth Post On This Topic Recently)

(There may be other posts on this topic during the past year)

It seems there has been a call on this blog and by many this author speaks with that the scope of services the community center provides needs to be expanded. There are many possible uses for the Bosque Farms Community Center. Many uses that are being overlooked. This is unfortunate that the Community Center is not being used to it's fulled extent possible. And any one of these could be developed without taking away from the senior programs.

Note: This author thinks the senior programs that are held are important and should not be dropped or decreased, but rather a few other programs should be added that would benefit every person in the Village.

The current community director would not have to do all of this on her limited budget but rather use volunteers and part time help as needed to expand the scope of what the Community Center currently does.

Some ideas

• Movie night for families. There is a big screen TV in there, let's throw up a movie and let families come watch. Better yet, let's do what other communities do: Throw a sheet up on the wall and watch a movie outside!
• Art Lessons taught by volunteers, crafts taught by volunteers. Both of these being held in the evening when even teens and young children can come. Maybe some during the day for adults and maybe even some kid classes.
• Book discussions and book groups. Maybe this could be done in connection with the library. Read the book, discuss it at the library, and watch the movie at the community center.
• A place to hold a debate for local candidates for local offices.
• A monthly lecture series. People from around the community that impact the community could be asked to speak and answer questions on local issues. Some suggestions might include the school board, the principal of the local elementary school, the president of the Bosque Farms Business Association, and so on.
• Even limited special events, rather than on going events could be considered. A queen's tea, a pot luck at Thanksgiving for the people who live here, and so on.

Some links that might help.

http://www.walkinmovies.com/

http://www.nmcdc.org/cinema.htm

http://www.tempe.gov/pyle/

A Chance to Help

This is a chance to stand up and be counted as a person who helps make the Village of Bosque Farms a better place, a place that runs smoother.

Over the years various ordinances (laws) have been written that address one issue or another. It seems this Council and the previous Council have been reading those ordinances and have realized that there is very little that ties these ordinances together, they overlap too much, don't overlap enough, contradict each other and so on.

The previous Council did much to fix that and this Planning and Zoning officer continues that trend.

A Committee is being formed by the Governing Body to review the current animal control ordinances and propose changes/revisions. Call the Village Office (869-2357) if you are interested in being on the Committee.

http://bosquefarms.us/

Talking About Drought

Why oh why does there have to be a flood plain that encompasses all of Bosque Farms when we are reading that there will be a severe drought for 20 years?

It is time for Bosque Farms and those that are in positions of elected power to begin the process of negotiating with FEMA to get the majority, if not all of Bosque Farms out of the Flood Plain.

This author would support whole heartedly any Councilor or Mayor who began that process immediately and then asked to be re elected to finish that goal.

Getting Ready for the Future

This is an interesting article about a long term drought headed this way. The drought could last many many years and impact everyone living here in the South West.


'There are going to be some tough decisions on how to allocate water. Is it going to be the cities or is it going to be agriculture?'
— Richard Seager, Lead author of the study

This author truly hopes that Bosque Farms is looking at how this may impact the residents who live here.

Does Bosque Farms have enough water rights to ensure that the Village will be on the list for getting water? Are these on paper water rights or legal no questions need be asked water rights? What is going to take priority here in Bosque Farms? Farms? Seniority? Need?


http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-swdrought6apr06,0,122112.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Going Out of Business

It looks like this Council that wants to be known as a pro business Council has chased at least one business out of town recently. The used car lot across from Sopa's is seemingly gone. Larry's.

Larry's has been here for as long as this author can remember and has leased the land for his business from Councilor Proctor.

While there are those that might say 'good, another used car lot gone', and while this author would agree with you; there is another side to the story as Councilor Proctor has pointed out many times. As a Councilor and previously as a resident and business owner, it has been his stand that even though used car lots don't bring in revenue in the form of GRT; it does bring in people to the Village. These very same people shop here, eat here, and buy gas here, thus bringing in GRT.

So now, a business that is on Councilor Proctor's property is gone.

But that is not all.
Snippity Snips is also gone.
Bosque Coffee Roasters which used to be in Bosque Farms is now in Los Lunas.
The Marble cutting place is gone as well.

Without looking up dates, if that is possible, to see when they left but other businesses that have left are My Car Care, the Monster Car Repair place (The place that was originally going to rent from Mayor Ake but instead went across the street from his wife's place), and the pool store.

Whoah! This author thought this Council was going to be business friendly and that businesses would stay here and stay in business.

The Former Library Aide

This author will miss going to the library and being helped by the library aide that recently left.
She was always the most patient, most willing to help and the friendliest.

There is a new library aide and this author extends a warm welcome to her. She has been a part of the Friends of the Library and has frequented the library often. Now she can work where she enjoys spending her time.

Happy Earth Day

Be sure to switch your lightbulbs and all the other small things you can do to make this a better place.

http://www.earthday.net/

Sorry that this was not put out on Friday as that is when it should have been posted. This author was visiting friends all day.

Advertising

http://www.riverbottomneos.com/

Another business that uses the web to advertise. This author would make a wild guess and say that most of you readers have not heard about this one.

This author appreciates those businesses that are helping themselves and not asking the Village to do it for them.

Tax Day

"The income tax law is a lot of bunk.

The government can't collect legal taxes from illegal money."

-- Attributed to Al Capone.

On April 23, 1930, the Chicago Crime Commission issued its first Public Enemies List. Al Capone's name was first. Capone was in charge of a crime organization that made money from the illegal liquor. And yet, when he went to prison, it was for failing to pay taxes, not for murder or any other violent crime.

http://chicago.about.com/b/a/162189.htm


Before reading or visiting the next link: Take a quick jab at an informal survey of sorts. How much money, cents on the dollar, would you say is wasted by the Federal Government?
.28 cents? every dollar? Or something in between? Once you have decided what you believe, you can visit the next link and see how you fit in with what others have said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/PollVault/story?id=1843313

Apologies, A meeting by the police.

Unfortunately this author lost track of the dates and did not get this posted in time.

The next Crime Prevention meeting sponsored by the BF Police Department will be Tuesday, 17 April and will discuss issues on auto theft

Did anyone attend? How did it go?

While this author has heard that the number of people attending has fluctuated from zero to many people, this author is glad the police are doing this. After calling for this type of event repeatedly on this blog this author supports the police in their decision to continue to reach out to the public in this manner.

Now if the police will just stop once in a while and say 'hi', introduce themselves to people they see outside, and get to know those of us who live here, this author would be more impressed.
This nice weather means many are out working in the yards, walking on the path, and so on. Now is an ideal time to begin.

Virginia Tech.

It is with great sadness that this author sends prayers and thoughts towards those who have been impacted by this tragic event.

An Alternative View About Traffic Safety.

There may be a good argument for rethinking the way traffic is managed in Bosque Farms. The idea in the past has been to throw up a sign to let people know how to behave, "No Truck Parking" , "Horses here" etc etc.

And in fact, in one of their official acts the Councilors researched more signs and paintings and lines in order to "Make the Walk Path Safer"... (Similar to the cry of "For the Children")

But is it better to have more signs? Is it better to have a seperation of bikes and walkers as proposed by "Coulrophobic" and "El Tigre" and AASHTO? Maybe no.

To make communities safer and more appealing, Mr. Monderman argues, you should first remove the traditional paraphernalia of their roads - the traffic lights and speed signs; the signs exhorting drivers to stop, slow down and merge; the center lines separating lanes from one another; even the speed bumps, speed-limit signs, bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings. In his view, it is only when the road is made more dangerous, when drivers stop looking at signs and start looking at other people, that driving becomes safer

But does it work? Well, there have been no accidents on the roads designed by this man and read this:

Several early studies bear out his contention that shared spaces are safer. In England, the district of Wiltshire found that removing the center line from a stretch of road reduced drivers' speed without any increase in accidents.

In West Palm Beach, Florida, planners have redesigned several major streets, removing traffic signals and turn lanes, narrowing the roadbed, and bringing people and cars into much closer contact. The result: slower traffic, fewer accidents, shorter trip times. "I think the future of transportation in our cities is slowing down the roads," says Ian Lockwood, the transportation manager for West Palm Beach And Property Taxes went up.

Another article
http://www.walkablestreets.com/wild.htm

A Google Search

??? Did you know ???

That if you do a google search for "Transportation Experts" that AASHTO doesn't show up?

http://www.apta.com/

That if you do a search for Transportation Specialist, AASHTO doesn't show up?

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/employ_cto780.html It took two google o's to find something other than a trucking company.

That if you do a search for "Walk Path Engineers" AASHTO doesn't show up?

??? Did you Know ???

That there are other groups founded that are all about traffic safety and engineering for traffic?

http://www.asse.org/

http://www.ite.org/default.asp

Yucca Little League (Moved from April , 2007)

"Coulrophobic" had this to say about Yucca Little League.

The Juniors have won their district championships a couple of times in the last 5 years and don’t even have a field of their own. Hopefully the league and the Village can help them out, with future funding from the legislature. Or Yucca LL may have to go somewhere else within their boundaries for a Juniors field.

This author has always wondered, ever since Councilor Knowlton and others started pushing for more Little League fields in the Village (To the point of suggesting those who develop their property give up some of it) why they don't go elsewhere. And really, why should they get something more just because they won district championships? (which is the only reason "Coulrophobic" can provide it seems.)

This is not a post saying "Go get out" but rather a thought this author has always had about some of these desired sports fields.

It seems that if Yucca Little League wants a big clover leaf field (Four fields) with parking, bleachers, stands to sell hot dogs, storage for their equipment, etc. A good way to get this would be to start saving the money from the legislature and go up on the hill. If they were to go out on the hill where the land is a bit cheaper and there is plenty of space they could easily afford a place like this.

It seems to this author that if the Yucca Little League got their numbers in order and gathered their facts they could go forth and ask the various cities and the county to help support this program.

And if you read the comments to the previous post about YLL it seems this is exactly what they will be doing.

April 16, Emancipation Day

Nine months before Abraham Lincoln released the slaves with his historic "Emancipation Proclamation" he signed the Compensated Emancipation Act. This act only impacted those living within Washington D.C. Because of this important act 3,000 slaves were freed in the district and your taxes are not due on this day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day

Beginning Monday, April 9, the DC Government is sponsoring a week of activities to celebrate and educate about DC Emancipation Day - April 16, 1862 - when President Abraham Lincoln ordered the slaves in Washington, DC freed, 9 months before the more famous Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing the slaves in the Confederate states

http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/

A good place to eat

http://burritosinaninstant.com/index.shtml

This author is more and more appreciative of businesses that have webpages, pay for a little bit of advertising and do something to help themselves succeed.

This place has good food, good service and look, you can use their website to plan your meal or get a catering menu or find their place. Very nice.

Google Rankings

This author is learning quite a bit thanks to reader comments.

Did you know that according to Google that you can not buy a higher page ranking? But the ranks are achieved, not on accuracy or correctness but merely by how many people look at a page.

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

http://www.google.com/technology/

But it is more than that which will determine how a page is ranked. If your site is registered for only a year, that will count against you. Thus, some large group that registers a domain name for 10 years will have a higher ranking than one that pays for a name for one year.

In addition, sites might be ranked by the season. Ski sites getting higher rank in the winter than in the summer. One way to increase the page rank when you do a google search is to have more pages on your site. The 'stickier' your site is, the longer people stay at your site and the more pages you have that people visit, the more your rank will increase.

(That explains those websites that have hard to find information and lots of it spread around on several pages doesn't it?!)

Also, being signed up for google adsense and generating effective click throughs on the ad will help generate a higher ranking.

There is a lot of information available about this very topic, from choosing keywords to

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-10-2005-71368.asp

http://www.apromotionguide.com/google.html

A New Committee (From 3/19/07)

Way to Go! Another committee has been set up.

For what you might ask?

To finish the walk path. Yup. Finally, those water fountains and benches and shades that have been ordered and sitting in storage will be installed.

And what in the world in a committee needed for?

At one point everything was just about finished. Places had been chosen for the benches and water fountains and they had been ordered and a bid had been set up for the concrete and all that needed to happen was for Mayor Ake to say "Go and Do".

But that didn't happen. This author is not sure why but now, when the deadline to spend the money is looming, there is a committee being set up to finally Go and Do.

Let us hope that Councilor Proctor, the chair of this new group, listens to Dennis Gabaldon who was on the previous committee about the decisions that had been made and finishes it quickly.

Other people on the committee are Todd Boughman and Leah Wharton. (yes, the same Miss Wharton who was opposed to the path in the first place!)

For the Husbands

Happy Husband Appreciation Day.

http://www.inbloomfloralboutique.ca/floral-holidays.php?id=137

(Yup a special day made up just so you can buy flowers! Check it out, there are hundreds of these days out there, and this author has missed many of them and imagines you have too!)

AASHTO, Some Thoughts(From April 3, 2007)

Look, here is someone who disagrees with AASHTO on one of their newer suggestions on left hand turn lanes. This author will leave it to the engineers and interested parties to read through this site. It is easy to read and easy to understand and makes a compelling argument.

Dr. John C. Glennon is a traffic engineer with 43 years experience. He has over 120 publications. He is the author of the book "Roadway Safety and Tort Liability" and is frequently called to testify both about roadway defects and as an accident reconstructionist.

http://www.johncglennon.com/papers.cfm?PaperID=27

And look again. Here is someone advocating for bikes. And here is what they say:

The AASHTO Guide has some parts that mix motor vehicle design parameters with those for bicycles -- for example in their suggestions on trail design.... The most glaring error ... goes back to the 1981 version. Clearly someone's been asleep at the wheel since it hasn't been corrected in well over a decade!

http://www.bikeplan.com/ashoprob.htm

The New Face of Elections

When there is an election to be held an election board is set up. Some of the duties of the election board include helping voters vote by showing where to vote (which table to go to), ensuring all election rules are followed, and know how to work the machines and what to do when they are not working.

This is a very important position and someone who is trustworthy to serve needs to be asked to do this. It involves going to training, learning how to work the machines, reading the state laws and so on.

For many years this person who headed up the election board in Bosque Farms and often in Valencia County was Lilly McNabb. She worked hard every year in this position. She strived to ensure that each voter had the most pleasant time with the least amount of fuss possible. Her dedication to a fair election was admirable.

...For more than 30 years, McNabb has been on hand for every local, state and national election making sure that every vote is counted. Since the early 1970s, McNabb has been a member of the election board, a presiding judge and now what's called a special ...
"I have and always will respect and protect the voters' right to their privacy and vote regardless of party affiliation," she said. "I believe in helping a voter feel at ease and welcomed. I have also been very outspoken on the issue of voter's rights.
"I have attended every class available on elections to be able to serve the citizens better," she said. "If only I can impress to the registered voters that every vote counts, so exercise your rights to vote."
http://www.news-bulletin.com/locals05/unsungcoy/55516-10-29-05.html

Rumor has been heard by this author though that Miss McNabb is nearing the end of her service as well. She may possibly do the next Bosque Farms election (IF the Council approves her as the election board head.) and she may help by serving under someone else once in while, but it appears Mss McNabb is stepping down from running the elections.

A loss we will feel for many years.

Yucca LL Questions and the Ambulance Service

"Courophobic" provided some information pointing out how wonderful it is that Yucca Little League gets money from the state to spend as they see fit, but it's now Village property.

While this author has many questions about the details of how this might work, "Just Here" remembered something else and had other questions about how this type of funding might work.

Bosque Farms used to be the fiscal agent for the ambulance if I remember correctly and now Los Lunas is the agent.

yet did we get our ambulance equipment back from the company? Do they only use the equipment bought with funds while we were the agent of money only on BF residents? We just got money to do a life saving program (first intervention or something). Can we go take our equipment off of the ambulances now and use it now that we'll have our own vehicle?

This author's original questions are posted in the original post, linked to below. Unfortunately, the person who seemed to have the most information and might know the answers to this question is more interested in continuing arguments rather than providing information.

http://bfgovernment.blogspot.com/2007/03/coulrophobic-explains-yucca-little.html

Getting Dirty

Reading through some of the posts now and in the past, it has come to the attention of this author that this blog might just be helping some of you stay healthy.

Ok, maybe not, but it's an interesting article and this author wanted to share it with each of you.

PEOPLE who suffer from depression could benefit from getting "dirty", according to new research published today. ...

A "friendly" bacteria found in soil has the same uplifting effects as those produced by anti-depressant drugs, the study found.
...
They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all spend more time playing in the dirt. This soil that carries the bacteria is found almost anywhere.

Maybe the Village Councilor should leave off discussion of a pool and think about just setting up a big dirt pile for everyone to dig in?

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=506592007

A Good Idea

The City of Belen is taking measures to implement a program that will provide residents with the tools to help keep their neighborhoods clean on a regular basis, beyond scheduled state and national trash cleanup days.
Recreation Director Brenda Gurule said the program will allow residents to adopt a part of the city, a median or neighborhood, and the city will provide trash bags as well as a litter pick-up tool, to make it easier.

http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/70169-03-31-07.html

Almost five years ago the Village was approached with this idea, set up an adopt the neighborhood or an adopt the street program. It was a good idea then and it remains a good idea.

This has been on the author's unfinished or imcomplete work list for the past year. It would take very little effort to set this type of program up and impliment it. The onus would be on the residents who adopt a street or neighborhood to do the physical labor.

Unfortunately, this idea got pushed to the wayside and is still not set up. Now Belen is taking a good idea and running with it.

Not that this author is saying the Council is not doing anything but...

Happy Easter

Enjoy your special day.

County Mistakes, Additional Thought

It seems that the County fired a good County Manager in order to get someone that was their friend and look at where that got them.

Mike Trujillo was a great County Manger. While he was manager the County hired it's first ever fire chief. He helped Tome' get a new community center, Los Chavez a new fire station, and on and on it goes.

More County Problems

Ruben Chavez, the acting Valencia County director of code enforcement, was arrested by the State Police on Friday on a charge of driving while under the influence on roadways laned for traffic.

http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/70270-04-04-07.html

County Mistake

State law says you can hold ana emergency meeting with little notice, in fact the County read this law in their emergency meeting.

an emergency refers to unforeseen circumstances that, if not addressed immediately by the public body, will likely result in injury or damage to persons or property or substantial financial loss to the public body...

And then they went on to debate if the meeting was legal and if there was an emergency. Really?! Here is a word to the wise, if you have to question it, and if the attorney can't say they can defend it when questioned, then it's probably not a legal meeting.

So what made it an emergency?

Rael alleged that Apodaca, because he felt that his contract with the county was in jeopardy, made upsetting comments to Otero-Kirkham and County Administrative Services Director Vangie Gabaldon.

Oh, some commissionar and some employee were upset because of something Apodaca said. And???
Rael said Apodaca had threatened the county with litigation ...

Rael said that a picture of a skunk had been slipped under Gabaldon's office door and her nameplate taken, but Gabaldon said that she didn't know who had taken the action — and added that the photo was of a rat.

Oh and someone took a nameplate and put a picture of a rat or skunk was put under an office door. Sure, sounds like an emergency to this author. (NOT!)

a rolling quorum. This is the when members of a public body never meet but make continuous phone calls among themselves to decide how they will vote on an issue.

Yet Mrs. Otero Kirkham swears that her employee can swear that she never met with all three. Sounds like misdirection to this author. Really? That is why rolling quorums are so difficult to prove. She calls him and he calls another and the other calls her and so on it goes. Or she talks to one and then she talks to another... you get the idea.

And the response to the accusation? It is just not an important concern. The public just doesn't need to know what is going on and why it seems...

Rael said that there was at least one county employee who feels harassed. "That opens us up to lawsuits," he said. "We need to stop this immediately. I would rather risk an Open Meetings Act investigation than a lawsuit over harassment."

More on AASHTO

This paper evaluates the ... (AASHTO) line load and live load distribution factors. The standard AASHTO formulas for live load in some cases underestimate the live load moments by as much as 40%. ..., leading to unsafe designs.

http://scitation.aip.org

And here you can read AASHTO's own words in section two is specifically states, AASHTO Tries to be correct but gee whiz, errors can occur.

http://news.transportation.org/legal_information.aspx

Alcohol Awareness Month

This month, April, is Alcohol Awareness Month.

http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/seasonal/aprilalcohol/

There are free screenings, online questions you can answer, and much information about alcohol and binge drinking and alcoholism.

A Committee Meeting

Tonight at 6pm in the Council hambers there was the final (Suppposedly) meeting of Councilor Wallace's Property Maintance Committee. After this final public meeting the ordinance will go to the Council (supposedly). Once it is in front of the Council, finally, the Council will listen to public opinion and act on it (or not) and make changes as they see fit. Then this ordinance will be passed.

In Support of Helmets When Riding Horses

Rather than agree with "Been Around" that children riding horses need to be protected and wear a helmet, "El Tigre" chose to be argumentative and sarcastic. This is unfortunate. Particularly when this author did a little bit of reading and found this information:

It is a dangerous recreation as a large number of accidents occur; the British Horse Society is made aware of eight accidents per day involving horses and over one-third may result in head injuries. ...a study of medical examiner reports from 10 states in the USA it was found that as many as 217 deaths per year were attributable to horseback riding.

And while that may seem mild read this:

Horse riding carries a high participant morbidity and mortality. Whereas a motor-cyclist can expect a serious incident at the rate of 1 per 7000 h, the horse-rider can expect a serious accident once in every 350 horse rides, ie 20 times as dangerous as motor cycling.

http://www.nature.com/sc/journal/v40/n6/full/3101280a.html

Only 36.7% of persons with concussions wore a helmet at the time of injury. Physicians should counsel their patients who ride horses about the hazards of the sport. the need for appropriate training and the importance of helmets

http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/dawson/amea/apr93nws.htm

"Coulrophobic" Explains Yucca Little League

Yucca Little League is based in Bosque Farms but has an area that includes Peralta, Valencia, Meadow Lake, and much of the east side of Los Lunas. Before Councilor Knowlton became a Councilor he was on the Yucca LL Board of Directors for a couple of years. He wrote a proposal to the legislature that got the funding started. Yucca continues these efforts and the Village has agreed to be the fiscal agent for spending the funds. All the dollars that the legislature gives to Yucca are for public procurement of facilities and equipment that Yucca will use but not own. The funds have to be managed through a fiscal agent and that fiscal agent owns the assets. So the $125,000 that has been awarded to Yucca has paid for a new field at the rec site as well as bleachers and some fencing that will be coming this year. All this now belongs to the residents of the Village. It’s a great deal for Yucca LL and the Village residents.

(This author left this post in black as it is lengthy and this will make for easier reading)

Here are a few questions for readers that seem to be in the know.
Who gets to pick how the dollars are spent?
Does Yucca LL get to just pick and then the Village has to live with the choices?
Or do the Councilor get some say in how the funds are spent?
What happens when funds are overspent? It doesn't seem to have happened to date, but what if does?
What if the Council doesn't like how the funds are spent?

"Been Around" Shares some Concerns and Info

Here's what I found out. Phone calls are routed to a given 911 center (a Public Safety Answering Point known as a PSAP) through a mapping process by the telephone company that uses the physical location of the service to provide the Automatic Location Identification (ALI).

All this information in plugged into a Master Street Address Guide (MSAG). The MSAG is pre-programmed to route specific calls from specific ALIs to specific dispatch centers.

Now, if this information is true, and I'm no expert, is El Tigre telling us that when this store dialed 911 that the security system on the store's phone was dialing the wrong 911 dispatch center? That the stores has an security system that overrides what the pre-programmed MSAG provides?

OR is El Tigre telling us that the routing for the store was not switched back over to Valencia County in the change over? Does that mean other phone numbers might not be automatically routed to the right dispatch center? If that is the case - how do we check? Dial 911 from home and ask where it is being picked up at?Is this why there are problems relating to both fire & police? Is this happening alot?

Emphasis added by this author. But immediately upon reading the first two question this author had the same question "Does that explain why this is occuring and what do we need to do about it?"

It seems that the only way to be sure your phone in your home and your business would call the correct dispatch service is to dail 911 and then ask them which dispatch service it is. That certainly doesn't sound wise.

This is of huge concern to those who live here and contrary to the advice of "My Turn" to get over it, this author believes that everyone needs to completely understand what happened and why and what is going to happen next to ensure it doesn't happen again.

April Fool's Day

Nothing will be put up except this:

Happy April Fool's Day

"The first of April

is the day we remember

what we are the other 364 days of the year."

Mark Twain