SantaFe.com

St. Francis Auditorium is more often home to the mellow strains of violins and cellos, but Tuesday night’s economic forum sent some shrill tones through the some 300 locals attending.

Billed as “The Future of the Santa Fe Economy,” the event was sponsored by SantaFe. com, Journal Santa Fe and Hilton Resort and Spa at Buffalo Thunder.

Pat French, co-publisher of SantaFe.com, said the forum grew out of a “call to action” from local residents and businesses worried about how they would make their payrolls and stay in business.

The forum, moderated by Michael French, also a co-publisher of...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
by Polly Summar • Journal Santa Fe

After more than a decade of planning, the golden shovels finally came out Tuesday for the new Santa Fe County Courthouse.

A prelude to the serious construction scheduled to begin in two months, the groundbreaking attracted a few dozen attendees to the barren corner of Montezuma Avenue and Sandoval Street. Work on the complex is expected to last until 2011.

“It’s truly a momentous occasion,” Santa Fe County manager Roman Abeyta said.

While discussions about a new courthouse have been in the works for years, the project moved into a higher gear in 2005, when the County Commission voted to...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
by Kiera Hay • Journal Santa Fe

State regulators are proposing new rules that would require oil and gas companies to jump through more hoops before they can drill in the Galisteo Basin.

The rules — which would apply only to the basin and Santa Fe County — would mark a significant change from how the Oil Conservation Division evaluates drilling applications.

Currently, operators submit applications for individual wells — that means the division does not weigh the cumulative impact of multiple drilling sites on an area. Moreover, the OCD’s focus in considering applications is on correlative rights.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
by Raam Wong • Journal Santa Fe

November 18, 2008 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

The impact of the recent global financial meltdown on the economy of Santa Fe will be the subject of a two hour forum sponsored by SantaFe.com, Journal North, and Hilton Resort and Spa at Buffalo Thunder.

On November 18, 2008, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., at St. Francis Auditorium (New Mexico Museum of Art), seven prominent Santa Feans will focus on Santa Fe’s small businesses, commercial and residential real estate, capital and credit, non-profits, tourism, city revenues and services, as well as long-term growth and development.

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by Mary Corcoran (Vice President, SantaFe.com)

The city’s budget could have a hole as big as $5 million by the June 30 end of the fiscal year, according to the latest projections.

But city councilors hearing the news at a special session of the city’s Finance Committee on Monday night postponed any action to balance the budget, balking at a proposal to use cash reserves and demanding more detailed suggestions from city finance staffers.

They asked that specific costcutting measures be delivered at the next Finance Committee meeting on Dec. 1, when they also will take up resolutions offered up by Councilor Matthew Ortiz and Mayor David...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
by Kiera Hay • Journal Santa Fe

On Wednesday afternoon 13-year-old Shiann Gonzales enjoyed a slice of pizza in the Albuquerque airport before boarding a nonstop f light to Washington, D.C. This would be her first time in an airplane, and she was pretty excited.

“I’ve never been out of the state of New Mexico,” said the Ortiz Middle School seventh-grader by phone, minutes before the boarding call. “I’m going to the White House. That’s awesome.”

For the past two summers Gonzales has participated in the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s Art and Leadership Program, which was recognized Friday by first lady Laura Bush in the East...

Saturday, November 15, 2008
by Emily Van Cleve • Journal Santa Fe

Hoping to put some oomph in Santa Fe’s economy, Mayor David Coss has introduced a resolution directing the city to move forward rapidly with programs in alternative energy, the 400th anniversary commemoration and upgrading infrastructure.

Coss asks the city manager to mandate the following actions:

Invest $400,000 in promotions that will attract visitors to the city’s 400th anniversary commemoration.

Invest $500,000 in energy conservation and alternative energy programs aimed at helping homeowners and small businesses cope with rising energy prices.

Accelerate a $6 million investment in...

Friday, November 14, 2008 at 2:00 PM
by Kiera Hay • Journal Santa Fe

When the local Republicans bloodied his nose, a 10-yearold Emilio Naranjo learned to box.

When the GOP hid voter registration information in telephone booths, Naranjo registered Democrats door to door.

And when a political opponent challenged his reign over Rio Arriba County Democratic Party politics, Naranjo was accused of planting marijuana on the rival.

Narjano, who built his county’s Democratic machine in the 1950s, then manipulated its levers for more than four decades, died Thursday morning. One of New Mexico’s last political patrones and perhaps its most famous, Naranjo was 92.

Friday, November 14, 2008 at 2:00 PM
by Raam Wong and Dan Boyd • Journal Santa Fe

The bleak beauty of Wyoming and the Nebraska sandhills infuses Chessney Sevier’s prints with a longing for a past still alive in the ache of memory. “Works by Chessney Sevier” opens at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian with a series of etchings on Saturday. The winner of numerous blue ribbons at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Northern Arapaho painter and printmaker has also shown her work in shows at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, at the Phippen Museum of Western Art in Prescott, Ariz., and at the Bradford Brinton Memorial Museum in Big Horn, Wyo. She is represented by...

Friday, November 14, 2008 at 2:00 PM
by Kathaleen Roberts • Journal Santa Fe

In an Op-Ed piece in October 17’s NY Times, Warren Buffet (perhaps the most successful investor in America) writes: “I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds…Why? A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors.” It is known that Buffet had almost $45 billion in cash a month ago, and has since spent over $35 billion on American businesses because...

Friday, November 14, 2008
by Andrew Hoffman • Mortgage Partners Santa Fe