The Santa Fe New Mexican, May 11, 2013

Page 1

Bacon, Chavez shine in Class A/AA State Track Championships

Locally owned and independent

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sports, B-1

www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢

proposed facility for ‘Hugging Saint’ followers spurs protest from neighbors

No embrace for Amma

By Phaedra Haywood

Hugging Saint

D

Amma is widely regarded as one of India’s top spiritual leaders and “a guiding light of Hinduism.”

The New Mexican

evotees of a woman known as Amma, “The Hugging Saint,” want to build a 16,000-square-foot building near Santa Fe to accommodate an annual event that draws thousands of people each summer to receive her hugs. However, neighbors of the Amma Center of New Mexico, in the foothills east of the city, aren’t embracing the idea. They fear noise and traffic, as well as possible tragic consequences if a fire ignites around the steep, dead-end loop near Cañada de los Alamos. The center proposes to build the structure in the residential area under a county policy that

Steve Schmidt, a member of the Amma Center of New Mexico, says the guru has been holding programs in Santa Fe since 1987. Schmidt is shown Thursday at the center’s ashram.

allows “community services” to be built anywhere in the county. The county identifies developments that provide a community service as schools, fire and police departments, day care centers, community centers and churches — which is the designation under which Amma Center board member Steve Schmidt proposes the project be considered.

Please see AMMA, Page A-4

legIslATure lOBByIng

$32,000

Amount Mayors Against Illegal Guns Action Fund spent on advertising in New Mexico for legislation to expand background checks for gun buyers.

$512,000

Total amount lobbyists spent on this year’s legislative session from January through April; expenditures were down from about $755,000 in 2011.

Gun bill ads top session’s lobbyist spending By Barry Massey

The Associated Press

Jim Alley, left, and David Birnbaum, neighbors of the Amma Center of New Mexico in Cañada de los Alamos, say they’re concerned about the center’s plans to build a 16,000-square-foot facility in the community to accommodate an annual gathering of people devoted to Amma, ‘The Hugging Saint.’ The events could draw thousands of people, increasing traffic and noise levels. PHOTOS BY LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Tour downtown Santa Fe’s last remaining horse trough and see murals by Olive Rush as part of the Historic Santa Fe Foundation’s Mother’s Day House Tour. lOcAl news, A-6

By Robert Nott The New Mexican

Seamtress survives 17 days buried in rubble A woman emerges alive from the wreckage of a garment building 17 days after it collapsed just outside the capital of Bangladesh. PAge A-2

Pasapick

Cloudy with a thunderstorm. High 70, low 42.

www.pasatiempomagazine.com

PAge A-12

Opera open house

Obituaries Bruce M. Gallaher, 62, Santa Fe, May 2 Angie D. Rael, Santa Fe, May 6 Verlynn Ruth White, 50, May 5

Explore the set for The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein and learn about costumes, props and production from opera personnel, 10 a.m.-noon, 301 Opera Drive, no charge, 986-5900.

PAge A-10

Index

Calendar A-2

Classifieds B-7

Please see lOBByIsT, Page A-4

InterLock Impact

Homes with history

Today

A national group founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pumped nearly $32,000 into an advertising campaign in New Mexico for legislation to expand criminal background checks of gun buyers. The campaign by Mayors Against Illegal Guns Action Fund was the most costly lobbying effort in this year’s legislative session, Michael according to a Bloomberg computer-assisted analysis of lobbying disclosure reports by The Associated Press. The gun measure passed the House but died on the last day of the session, when opponents offered a series of amendments to run out the clock and prevent a final vote in the Senate before the Legislature adjourned. Overall, lobbyists and their clients spent about $512,000 from January through late April. Most of that went for meals, drinks, gifts, entertainment and receptions for lawmakers and other state officials, but it also included advertising and phone bank operations. Lobbying expenditures are down from nearly $755,000 for the

Comics B-12

Lotteries A-2

Opinions A-11

The use of ignition interlock devices to curb drunken driving in the state has resulted in 700 fewer alcohol-related crashes and 27 fewer fatal car crashes since interlocks became mandatory in New Mexico in 2005, according to a new study put together by four students in The MASTERS Program, with the aid of adult mentors from the Santa Fe Institute. The students — seniors Arlo Barnes, Krishan Bhakta and Noah Kwicklis, and junior Raj Singh — presented their findings Friday morning during a MASTERS Program Mentorship Festival designed to showcase the results of the students’ work with mentors in the community. The MASTERS Program is a state-chartered, dual-credit school housed on the campus of the Santa Fe Community

Please see IMPAcT, Page A-4

Police notes A-10

Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Carlos A. López, clopez@sfnewmexican.com

Sports B-1

MASTERS students, Santa Fe Institute scientists find ignition devices help curb drunken driving

Arlo Barnes, 18, discusses how interlock devices help lower drunken driving during a presentation Friday at the Santa Fe Community College. Barnes and three other MASTERS students worked with mentors at the Santa Fe Institute to complete the study. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Time Out B-11

Life & Science A-9

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010

Two sections, 24 pages TV Book, 32 pages 164th year, No. 131 Publication No. 596-440


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