Ice-cold send-off: 49ers knock out Packers in frigid wild-card game Sports, B-1
Locally owned and independent
Monday, January 6, 2013
www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢
Tech is the new black
Teach toddlers to eat right
Wave of wearable gadgets expected at upcoming trade show.
It’s never too soon to promote good food habits, writes John Rosemond.
TeCH, A-6
FAMILY, A-7
Washington ‘very, very concerned’ about fighting in Iraq, Kerry says The secretary of state says the U.S. supports Iraq but will not send troops as the Iraqi military unleashes airstrikes against al-Qaida militants in Anbar province and fighting kills dozens. PAge A-3
Texting ban bill resurfaces
Dealer sues would-be buyer of Zuni vessel Complaint says Santa Fean has not received payment for ceramic jar shipped to Indiana By Phaedra Haywood The New Mexican
A Santa Fe art dealer has filed a lawsuit claiming he shipped a $35,000 piece of pottery to a potential buyer in Indiana for approval, but the would-be buyer never paid for it and won’t return it. Christopher Selser filed a complaint Dec. 20 asking the state District Court to issue a “writ of replevin” directing law enforcement officials in Indiana to seize the piece from the would-be buyer, Bruce Gilman, and return it to him. He is seeking triple damages (about $105,000) plus attorney’s fees, and he also is accusing Gilman of breach of contract and unfair trade practices. The piece in question is described as a “Kiapkwa” ceramic jar from Zuni Pueblo that is 12 inches in diameter. Neither Selser — who is listed online as the owner of Christopher Selser Tribal Art on Canyon Road — nor Gilman could be reached for comment. According to the complaint, Selser sent the piece to Gilman via UPS with the understanding that Gilman would inspect the jar, and “if its appearance and condition were as represented,” Gilman would purchase it.
Please see ZUNI, Page A-4
A driver texts while stopped at a red light at Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive on Thursday. Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, will push in the upcoming legislative session for approval of a bill prohibiting texting while driving. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
Santa Fe lawmaker leads latest push to prohibit texting while driving By Staci Matlock The New Mexican
Election-year politics shape congressional to-do list By Donna Cassata The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Congress returns to work Monday with election-year politics certain to shape an already limited agenda. Republicans intend to focus on every facet of President Barack Obama’s health care law. They see a political boost in its problemplagued rollout as the GOP looks to maintain its House majority and seize control of the Democratic-led Senate. First up in the House, according to Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is legislation addressing the security of personal data, part of his party’s effort “to protect the American people from the harmful effects of Obamacare.” Republicans also promise closer scrutiny of the administration’s tally of enrollment numbers in the program. Democrats will press to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour and extend unemployment benefits, trying to cast the party as more concerned with the less fortunate and intent on dealing with income inequality. The issues resonate with liberals, the core Democratic voters crucial in lowturnout midterm elections. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said an extension of federal benefits for an estimated 1.3 million Americans who saw their payments stopped on Dec. 28 is more than an economic issue.
M
aybe the fifth time will be the charm for a bill banning texting while driving in New Mexico. Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, has pre-filed Senate Bill 19 to prohibit people from reading or typing on smartphones, iPads or any other handheld device while they are driving. It is the fifth year some version of the “don’t text and drive” bill has been introduced by various lawmakers at the state Legislature. Wirth’s texting ban bill last year died on the Senate floor after majority leader Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, who opposed the legislation, kept it off the agenda. Sanchez said at the time that the bill was good, but he was worried advocates would use it to push for tougher penalties. Wirth’s bill introduced for the upcoming session that begins Jan. 21 is similar to the version considered in the last session. It imposes a $25 fine for a first texting-while-driving violation and doubles the fine for a second violation.
Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds B-5
Comics B-10
ABOUT THe SeRIeS
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Linda Hogan Native poet reads from The Remedies, 6 p.m., Collected Works Bookstore, 202 Galisteo St., 988-4226. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo
Today Mostly sunny. High 37, low 18. PAge A-10
Family A-7
El Nuevo A-5
New Mexico’s failure to pass a ban on texting while driving has cost the state federal money. About $22.5 million was available in 2013 for states that had laws prohibiting texting by drivers. “Because the legislature has failed to adopt these federal standards, New Mexico remains ineligible to receive this additional funding,” said Gov. Susana Martinez’s spokesman, Enrique Knell, in an interview with reporters after the 2013 session. “The sooner we participate in this federal program, the larger share we will receive. Distracted driving is an important issue,
especially amongst our connected teens.” Wirth, with Martinez’s backing, successfully marshaled through legislation in 2011 to prohibit teens with a learner’s permit or provisional license from texting while driving. The National Highway Safety Administration estimated that seven people in New Mexico died in 2011 due to drivers who were texting and took their eyes off the road. Another 21 people were hospitalized that year due to injuries in car accidents related to distracted driving. New Mexico is one of nine states that lacks a ban on texting and driving for all drivers. Twelve states prohibit use of hand-held cellphones while driving, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Former Rep. Antonio Lujan and former Sen. Lynda Lovejoy introduced legislation to ban texting while driving in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Those measures failed to pass. Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com. Follow her on Twitter @stacimatlock.
Santa Fe Institute celebrates 30 years
Pasapick
Please see POLITICS, Page A-4
The new bill imposes a $25 fine for a first texting-while-driving violation and doubles the fine for a second violation.
Opinions A-9
Editor: Ray Rivera, 986-3033, rrivera@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com
The Santa Fe Institute is a private, nonprofit, independent research and education center founded in 1984, where top researchers from around the world gather to study and understand the theoretical foundations and patterns underlying the complex systems that are most critical to human society — economies, ecosystems, conflict, disease, human social institutions and the global condition. This column is part of a series written by researchers at the Santa Fe Institute and published in The New Mexican.
Police notes A-8
Sports B-1
T
he Santa Fe Institute turns 30 this year. It’s hard to believe it has been three decades since a group of senior scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory and a few of their colleagues devised a plan that would revolutionize the worldwide institution of science. Remarkably, they did it right here in Santa Fe. There’s no better place, of course. The City Different is renowned as a spot where people can make a fresh start, try new things, and even ruffle a few feathers in art, culture and cuisine. Why not in science? In 1984, George Cowan, David Pines, Murray Gell-Mann and a handful of other innovators — we now call them founders — did all three when they established an
Tech A-6
Time Out B-9
Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010
independent theoretical science and education center that focused on complexity at all scales. Their concept rejected the Jerry way science Sabloff was generally Science in a conducted Complex World at the time (safely within the boundaries of the traditional scientific disciplines). These visionaries sensed that many of the most important problems facing science and society
Please see SCIeNCe, Page A-4
Two sections, 20 pages 165th year, No. 6 Publication No. 596-440