Release of new iPhone stirs crowds across globe Page A-2
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saturday, september 21, 2013
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Tierra Contenta group rallies to rid sidewalks of overgrowth
Joel Boyd Superintendent says Santa Fe Public Schools will use the current school year, 201314, as a planning period before initiating the reform programs next school year.
War on weeds
District widens reform options
Bear Canyon Trail closed The Santa Fe National Forest closes a portion of trail popular with families to protect the municipal watershed. LOcAL NewS, A-6
AG takes jab at gov. over gay marriage
SFPS considers ‘twilight’ school, baccalaureate program to improve secondary education By Robert Nott
The New Mexican
As it nears the final stages of its plans for secondary school reform, the Santa Fe school district is proposing new options for high school students, including a magnet school, a “twilight” school with an evening schedule and an alternative school for students serving long-term suspensions. The magnet school would offer an International Baccalaureate program for students in grades 7-12, while the twilight school, running from late afternoon to early evening, would blend online learning with classroom time. In addition, the district would increase its current offering of four career and college pathways to eight or nine, with programs in both Capital High School and Santa Fe High. The locations of the pathway academies would be based on student need and campus resources. Last spring, Superintendent Joel Boyd unveiled his plan, called “Expanding Options For Families at the Secondary Level,” and said Santa Fe Public Schools will use the current school year, 2013-14, as a planning period before initiating the programs next fall. The district’s reform efforts are primarily aimed at strengthening, expanding and changing programs at Capital and Santa Fe High. While early talks on reform
In statement, King says Martinez wrong for wanting a vote on issue By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
Bridget Wolf and her 5-year-old twins, Lilly and Patrick, make their way through weeds overtaking a sidewalk along Purple Sage Road in Tierra Contenta on Thursday. Wolf, a resident of Tierra Contenta, has rallied neighbors to form a group called Sidewalk Angels and has gotten the city to help pull weeds in her neighborhood. CLYDE MUELLER/THE NEW MEXICAN
By Anne Constable The New Mexican
Please see ReFORM, Page A-4
Colorado deals with flooding aftermath u Officials race to fix damaged roads before winter descends. u Cleanup efforts hampered as more oils spills revealed. PAge A-5
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ridget Wolf cares about weeds. They may not seem significant to others or worthy of her passion. But the way she looks at it, when weeds grow up in sidewalk cracks and block the pavement, they interfere with efforts to create a sense of community and make neighborhoods less safe and less attractive. Wolf is not one to let things drop. Her neighborhood, Tierra Contenta, on Santa Fe’s southwestern edge, does not have a homeowners association that could take care of problems like weeds, so she formed a little grass-roots organization to tackle the issue. The idea of her group, Sidewalk Angels, was to recruit some volunteers in Tierra Contenta, who would dig up weeds and overgrown plants between property lines and along curbs, which prevent residents from walking their dogs or
pushing baby strollers on the sidewalks. She never thought about an all-out attack on the pesky overgrowth in the massive mixed-income subdivision — just a block or two of cleanup. But Wolf sold her idea to the city’s Parks Division, and on Sunday, a handful of workers will be helping volunteers remove weeds along a section of Purple Sage Road between 8 a.m. and noon. If the operation is successful, other cleanup dates will be scheduled. The volunteers and city workers will be using trimmers, shovels, blowers, maybe even chain saws, to remove overgrown chamisa bushes and the spreading stands of Russian sage that were planted by the developer 20 years or so ago, as well as other unruly vegetation that is making some sections of the sidewalks impassable. Wolf first began thinking about the weeds when she would try to walk around her neighborhood with her two youngest children, Lily
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New Mexico Attorney General Gary King on Friday made his strongest statement yet on same-sex marriage and, in the process, took a swing at Gov. Susana Martinez — whom he hopes to face in the 2014 election for governor. In a statement titled “Same Sex Marriage is About Civil Rights,” issued by his office, King said he disagreed with Martinez and anyone else who believes the matter of marriage equality should be decided by Gary King putting the question before voters in the form of a constitutional amendment. The statement was emailed as a news release and posted on the Attorney General’s Office website and Facebook page. While King doesn’t want the gay-marriage issue settled by voters, the statement can be seen as a message to one important set of voters — those who will cast ballots in the Democratic primary in June 2014. As in other states, the Democratic base in New Mexico — the people who get out out and vote in the primaries — strongly backs marriage equality. “Some people, including the governor, say that
Please see Ag, Page A-4
Obituaries Tate Joel Hall, 88, Sept. 13 PAge A-12
Today Partly cloudy High 78, low 55.
Emission limits likely to have minimal impact Advocates say rules on new power plants a step in right direction By Sean Cockerham
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday set the first-ever limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, but their impact could be minimal because they don’t apply to existing plants and there are few coalfired power plants being built in the United States.
Index
Calendar A-2
Just two new coal-fired power plants are expected to open next year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, and there are none set to open in 2015. “As you look at current projections this rule won’t in itself get much in the way of reductions,” said Kevin Kennedy, who directs the U.S. Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute, a think tank that focuses on the environment and economic development. However, Kennedy said, the rule does send a signal that the Obama administration promises
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The real test will come next year when the Environmental Protection Agency puts out its greenhouse gas standards for existing power plants. to deal with planet-warming carbon emissions. The real test will come next year when the Environmental Protection Agency puts out its greenhouse gas standards for existing power plants. EPA put forth the limits for future power plants as a first step
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Editor: Ray Rivera, 986-3033, rrivera@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Carlos A. López, clopez@sfnewmexican.com
Tournament of Champions S.F. High setter takes to the court after recovering from injury. SPORTS, B-1
Pasapick
in President Barack Obama’s promise to tackle climate change. The rule would require new coalfired power plants to install costly technology to capture carbon and store it underground. The EPA standard would require future
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Radius Books Artist Party Sixth anniversary celebration brings together more than 40 artists, including Sam Abell, Barbara Bosworth, Victoria Sambunaris and Janet Russek, for a book sale, signings, video shorts and a silent auction, 5-8 p.m., Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion, 1607 Paseo de Peralta, call 9534068 for information. More events in Calendar, A-2
Please see LIMITS, Page A-4
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Two sections, 28 pages TV Book, 32 pages 164th year, No. 264 Publication No. 596-440