Former Lobo Alex Kirk signs with Cavaliers
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Iraq nominates new prime minister President’s move to replace Nouri al-Maliki deepens power struggle as U.S. begins arming Kurds. PAGE A-3
Energy chief vows to reopen WIPP Secretary Ernest Moniz seeks to get shuttered nuclear waste dump back in operation. LOCAL NEWS, A-6
Feds blast LANL plans for biodefense labs Audit urges nuke agency to reconsider $9.5 million expansion project By Patrick Malone The New Mexican
A federal report released Monday criticizes a proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory to add
labs that study dangerous biological agents. In the report, auditors urged the National Nuclear Safety Administration to reconsider the additions before following through with them. The audit by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General questioned the fiscal prudence of the projects, whether Los Alamos’ reports justifying them were accurate and whether the facilities are even needed. “Given the current budget realities,
plans to develop additional capabilities without fully demonstrating a need may not be prudent,” the audit concluded. Greg Mello, executive director of the watchdog organization Los Alamos Study Group, said he hopes the audit’s findings end any plans to conduct research on biological agents at Los Alamos. “Let us hope this report is the end of these misguided ambitions,” Mello
Hospital union takes fight to the streets Robin Williams won an Academy Award for his role as DJ Adrian Cronauer in 1987’s Good Morning, Vietnam. TOUCHSTONE PICTURES
Nurses, technicians picket Christus as contract talks remain stalled
ROBIN WILLIAMS, 1951-2014
The New Mexican
By Adam Bernstein The Washington Post
The union representing nurses and technicians at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center picketed Monday over stalled labor talks with the hospital. LUKE E. MONTAVON/THE NEW MEXICAN
hospital of a potential strike are not imminent, she said, but remain a possibility. “I’d say this is kind of practice,” Osborn said. “We’ll see how well we’re able to do with this, what kind of support we’re getting. This is all part of an ongoing assessment.” Osborn said the hospital’s negotiators have refused to sit at the table with New Mexico District 1199 of the National Union of Nurses and Hospital Employees, although hospital spokeswoman Mandi Kane said Monday that communication between the two sides is ongoing
By Patrick Malone The New Mexican
orns from passing cars blared Monday outside Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, as demonstrators from the union that represents nurses and medical technicians employed there picketed on sidewalks along St. Michael’s Drive and Hospital Drive to draw attention to the labor dispute stewing at the hospital. The picket signaled one more incremental step toward a possible strike, according to union President Fonda Osborn. Plans to notify the
H
Dave Koch
Index
The Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Looking to make inroads with the rising number of Hispanic voters, conservative activists are offering English classes, health checkups and courses to help Spanish-speakers earn high school diplomas. Picking up part of the tab: Charles and David Koch.
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Please see PICKET, Page A-5
come to work.” Jessica Brandle, a nurse at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center
By Will Weissert and Philip Elliott
Calendar A-2
through a federal mediator. “Christus St. Vincent remains committed to bargaining in good faith, and we look forward to reaching an agreement,” Kane said. The union has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the hospital of bargaining in bad faith for its negotiators’ refusal to meet face to face with union representatives or rework its offer. The contract between St. Vincent and the union, which represents nearly 500 employees at the hospital, expired July 31. Two months of
It’s a safety issue, and if we can’t care for patients safely, “ then we’re risking our licenses and their lives every time we
Koch brothers working to help GOP win over Hispanic voters Charles Koch
S.F. authors: Amazon’s bully tactics threaten livelihoods By Anne Constable
Officials indicate actor’s death was a suicide
Please see WILLIAMS, Page A-4
Please see LANL, Page A-5
Local writers take aim at online retailer over dispute with Hachette
Frenetic and fearless entertainer dies at 63
Robin Williams, the Juilliardtrained actor and uncontainably exhibitionist comic who became one of the most dazzling all-around talents in show business, winning an Academy Award for a dramatic role in Good Will Hunting and an Emmy for his stand-up work, was found dead Monday at his home in Tiburon, Calif. He was 63. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office said a preliminary investigation indicates the cause of death was a suicide due to asphyxia but that an investigation is continuing. His media agent said he had been battling depression. Long fueled by an alcohol and cocaine addiction, Williams was a motormouthed and unpredictable entertainer in whatever medium he was working, whether movies, television, Broadway or gala performances before Prince Charles of England. “In England, if you commit a crime, the police don’t own a gun and you don’t have a gun,” he told an audience, referring to the tactics of London police toward criminals. “So it’s stop … or I’ll say stop again.” He was a satirist, an Oscar-winning dramatic actor and mimic of everyone from Carol Channing to
said. “LANL is not the place to do biodefense work.” The NNSA is considering a $9.5 million expansion at Los Alamos that would open a biosafety lab to study high-risk agents “that cause serious and potentially lethal infections” and medium-risk agents, according to the report. The lab for high-risk agents would be housed at
The billionaire industrialists are working to patch a gaping hole in the GOP coalition that could spell a generation of irrelevance if Republicans cannot build some credibility with Hispanic voters, who typically shun the GOP. The fast-growing group could have tremendous sway in American politics for years to come. Party elders have acknowledged their struggles to win over Hispanic voters, who as
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‘Fidelio’ Beethoven’s opera about spousal heroism in the face of political oppression is here anchored convincingly in a concentration camp dripping with Nazi imagery. 8 p.m., Santa Fe Opera, 301 Opera Drive, 986-5900, tickets begin at $32, standing room $15. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo
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recently as 2004 were roughly split in party preference. Enter the Libre Initiative, an organization that has collected millions from the Kochs’ political network. Libre, which means “free,” pushes a message of limited government and economic freedom between lessons on how to build family-run businesses and prayer breakfasts with
Lotteries A-2
A half-dozen local authors were among more than 900 writers who signed a letter published Sunday in The New York Times accusing online retailing giant Amazon of harming their livelihoods in a commercial dispute with trade book publisher Hachette. According to the authors, Amazon has targeted Hachette’s authors in an effort to force the New York Citybased publisher to agree to Amazon’s terms for marketing e-books. Among other things, they say Amazon stopped accepting preorders on Hachette books, which can be the key to a book’s success and affect its chances of making bestseller lists. The letter encouraged readers to contact Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and gave his email address (jeff@amazon. com). The two-page ad was paid for by Santa Fe-based Authors United, a group organized by Douglas Preston, a writer who divides his time between Maine and Northern New Mexico, and who with Lincoln Child is the author of thrillers and horror novels such as The Lost Island and White Fire. Although many authors offered to share in the $104,000 cost of the ad, it was apparently paid for by some of the most successful. And they reportedly got a deal from the paper. Some authors who agreed with Preston were afraid to sign for fear of retaliation by Amazon, however. Others signed and reneged, Preston said. But in recent weeks, the letter went viral with A-listers such as Stephen King, John Grisham, Scott Turow, Calvin Trillin, Anna Quindlen, Barbara Kingsolver, Donna Tartt and Jon
Obituaries Victor John Chartrand, 88, July 5 Edra L. Childers, 90, Roswell, Aug. 8 Jess Marlow, Loveland, Colo., Aug. 3 Susan Elizabeth (Pacheco) Sisneros, Aug. 7 Patricia Tremblay, 88, Santa Fe, Aug. 6 Leah Hochberg-Usatin, Aug. 9 Marcella (Marcy) Wheeler, Santa Fe, July 14 PAGE A-8
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