By Carol Bondy

Nothing like waiting until the last minute.   Last week I renewed my driver’s license and got a Real ID.   It was actually pretty painless.   I brought in the required documents and even brought in a few extras following these requirements.  New Mexico MVD is open by appointments avoiding the crowds and long wait times of the past.   When completed you’ll be given a temporary license.  Your actual license will be mailed to you.

• REAL ID Requirement:

Beginning May 7, 2025, you must present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license or another acceptable form of identification to board a domestic flight, enter a federal building, military base, or nuclear facility. 

• How to Identify a REAL ID:

Check if your New Mexico driver's license or ID card is REAL ID compliant by looking for a star symbol. 

• Acceptable Forms of Identification:

According to TSA, in addition to REAL ID-compliant licenses, other acceptable forms of identification include a valid U.S. passport, passport card, or military ID. 

• Where to get a REAL ID:

You can obtain a REAL ID at a New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) office. 

• Why get a REAL ID?

If you plan to fly domestically or enter federal facilities, it's recommended to obtain a REAL ID to avoid any potential issues with identification requirements. 

• Standard Driver's License:

Standard driver's licenses will not be accepted for boarding domestic flights or entering federal facilities after May 7, 2025. 

• Enhanced Driver's License

State-issued Enhanced Driver's Licenses (EDLs) are also acceptable alternatives for official federal purposes such as accessing a Federal facility or boarding a commercial aircraft. 

Digital IDs accepted at select airports.   You must check with your airport and always carry your actual ID with you. 
For information on how to add your drivers license to your Apple Wallet click here. https://support.apple.com/en-us/111803

By Chase Barnes
Courtesy of Golden Apple

In its third year, our program continues to strengthen New Mexico’s teacher workforce with local talent

NEW MEXICO - The Golden Apple Scholars Program in New Mexico, a nonprofit dedicated to preparing, supporting, and mentoring aspiring educators, is pleased to announce that applications for 2025 are now open.

Aspiring teachers have until April 8, 2025, to apply.

The Golden Apple Scholars Program in New Mexico provides future educators with hands-on classroom experience, personalized mentorship, instruction from award-winning teachers, a financial stipend, and job placement support after graduation. By developing highly qualified teachers from local communities, the program prepares graduates to return to their home areas, helping to close the gap in New Mexico’s teacher shortage. According to a New Mexico State University report, the state faced 737 teacher vacancies in 2024.

“Our program is already transforming the education landscape in New Mexico,” said Alan Mather, President of The Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching. “We are committed to building on this momentum by training more passionate individuals who will make a lasting impact in classrooms across the state.”

Golden Apple Scholars are selected for their dedication to education and their commitment to serving students in high-need areas. Since its launch in 2022, the program has welcomed 120 scholars, representing 23 out of the 33 counties in New Mexico. The Golden Apple Scholars Program in New Mexico aims to have 100 teachers in New Mexico classrooms in the next four years.

“Golden Apple succeeds in New Mexico because it inspires teachers and students alike,” said Golden Apple Scholar Sahira Mendivil, a resident of Farmington. “They see it as more than a job—they're inspiring high schoolers and college students to pursue a meaningful career.”

The program offers teacher preparation and financial support for high school seniors and college freshmen and sophomores who are driven to teach. Scholars receive up to $15,000 in financial aid, extensive classroom experience, social-emotional support, job placement assistance, and mentoring from award-winning educators.

Applications and referrals can be submitted online at GoldenApple.org/Scholars-New-Mexico.

About Golden Apple
Golden Apple’s mission is to inspire, develop, and support teacher and school leader excellence, especially in schools-of-need. Our leading-edge preparation delivers exceptional teachers who make an impact. We help students thrive in the classroom and in life. Our vision is for every classroom to have a great teacher, and to realize this, we are committed to making a material difference in resolving the teacher shortage throughout New Mexico.

Submitted by Carol Bondy
Courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers (first two paragraphs)

The Swim Beach section of the Cerrito Recreation Area will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning April 1st, 2025, and is scheduled to continue through October 15th, 2025.  This closure will affect the Swim Beach, Paddle Craft Launch area, and group shelters 4 and 5.

Visitors may park at the corral area at the Vista Trailhead, but will still need to pay the $5 day use fee.  Parking in front of group shelter 2 is reserved for visitors with group shelter passes only.  The restroom at the paddle craft launch will remain open for general visitor use, but restrooms at the group shelters are reserved for group shelter use only.

The Federal hiring freezes have left the Corps of Engineers unable to fill Ranger positions which have necessitated a reduction in services.

In an article in the New Mexican, district spokesperson Elizabeth “Lisa” Lockyear reports the area is being closed to vehicles due to a shortage of park ranger staff. The decision was made out of an abundance of caution, Lockyear wrote in an email to The New Mexican. Abiquiú Lake is short three park rangers, but the staff is “fully functional,” Lockyear wrote. “Public safety is our main priority at our lakes and we don’t want to stretch our park rangers to where they are limited in their ability to respond to public safety needs at the lake,” Lockyear wrote.

Should it put the lotion on its skin, now that it's nearly forty?

By Zach Hively

I’m nearing forty.

Reaching this age teaches a man a lot of things, among them that forty is not nearly as old as I always thought it was.

I came by this delusion honestly. You see, my parents, when they were nearly forty, were significantly older than I am now.

I can also think of one middle-school teacher in particular who skewed my perceptions. He had the visual texture of a neglected Red Wing boot. I thought he had simply been worn down by very many years of life and sunshine. Now, having also been worn down by almost forty years of my own, I realize he had something extra: excessive exposure to middle schoolers. For putting up with the likes of us for nearly two decades, he looked great.

Even though I’m not as old as other nearly-forty-year-olds, I still need to take certain precautions into consideration. Like continuing to limit my exposure to middle schoolers. Like learning what exactly a 401(k) is. Like partaking in routine health exams recommended for Men of a Certain Age, Whether or Not We Agree with That Age.

It’s in my interest not to die young even if, on paper, I’m getting older.
I’m beginning with what appears to be the least invasive of these routine health exams, which is a skin cancer screening.

I took great skin care precautions in many of my earlier years. For instance, I wore a baseball cap—the same baseball cap, mind you—for about four presidential terms, back when we youths curved the bills of our caps and wore it over our faces. This fashion provided an amount of shade and shielded me, at some distance, from an obvious lack of coolness.

​I also wore a shirt in outdoor public spaces for most of my adolescence and young manhood, due to such debilitating body image issues as acne, lack of muscles, and middle schoolers being really mean at the pool, even to college graduates.
​
All for naught.

If you listen to skin health experts, you learn that you are at heightened risk for skin cancer if, like me, you have left the house at any point. Your odds worsen if you went out in daylight hours. You might slough off your epidermis every month or so, but the UV radiation? That sticks like glitter, and it gets everywhere.

That’s how you get spots like this one on my arm. I thought it was yet another weird zit. But then it didn’t pop and it never went away. For two years. Nothing to worry about at thirty-seven, I figured. But now, as close to forty as I’ve ever been, this spot inspired me to figure out whether or not I have insurance, and what, if anything, it covers.

Then I had to call and make an appointment with a dermatologist who, at least in that moment, accepted my insurance. That’s right: the don’t-make-me-use-the-phone generation is entering its big four-ohs. In case you wanted to feel old too.

The dermatologist’s office scheduled my critical preventative care appointment several months out.

Fortunately, this placed my appointment in that small window when health insurance companies were reluctant to deny any coverage at all, especially for handsome white men.

I arrived on time, which is late, to fill out my emergency contact info. You’d be surprised how often recommended routine care goes sideways. Unless you’re American. In which case, you’re surprised to learn that there is such a thing as recommended routine care.

Then they put me in a room with a doorway in full view of the lobby and told me to strip to my underwear.
​
So I’m in there, down to my skivvies, for two trained medical professionals to inspect at their leisure. They make casual chit-chat to put me at ease and make a conversation in my underwear feel more normal. Their idea of casual chit-chat, it turns out, is asking me what they’re looking at today.

I balk.

I don’t know. That’s why I’m HERE.

In this room, our expected medical knowledge directly correlates to the layers of clothing we are wearing. The only resource I have in my pocket (which is over there on a chair at the moment) is the internet. It has convinced me that I am a walking squamous cell carcinoma because I forgot to wear my cap that one time.

So they whip out what sure looks like a black light flashlight. This makes me nervous. I don’t know what that black light will reveal on my skin. Remember, I was once a middle schooler. There is no telling what stains might show up. Also, isn’t UV light what caused me to need this checkup in the first place?

But the trained medical professionals don’t seem concerned. They flash that radiation stick over every inch of my skin outside of my undies, and as a sign of their advanced education, they do not make a single hurtful comment about my physique. They aren’t concerned with any of my many spots, despite every one of them sure looking irregular to me after I stare at them too long.

I point out the not-a-zit on my arm, which the trained medical professionals seem to have overlooked. They freeze it off to shut me up and make me confident that I am getting my insurance money’s worth.

They recommend I come back once a year for the rest of my life, just to be safe. They even rebook my next appointment for one year later, down to the minute. I appreciate their faith that I, who will be nearing forty-one at that point, will still be kicking.

By Carol A. Clark
Courtesy of the Los Alamos Daily Post

PEEC News:

Nature enthusiasts and bird lovers are invited to join local birders Mary Parsaca and Mary Orr for guided birding walks at the Los Luceros Historic Site, hosted by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC). These walks will take place on Sundays: April 6, May 4, and June 1, 2025. Participants should meet at 7 a.m., at Los Luceros Historic Site, located at 253 Co Rd 41, Alcalde, NM 87511.

These birding walks offer a unique opportunity for both novice and experienced birders to explore an area known for its old-growth cottonwoods and exceptional Rio Grande habitat. With over 152 bird species recorded, Los Luceros is a treasure for bird watchers and was once nominated as an Audubon Important Bird Area.

​“Dawn ’til Dusk Day” at Los Luceros provides an ideal setting to discover local birds and possibly spot new species. Participants are encouraged to bring binoculars, a camera (optional), snacks, and water. A limited number of binoculars will be available to borrow.

The event is free and limited to 15 participants per walk, so early registration is recommended. For more information, visit PEEC’s website at peecnature.org/events. Stay connected on social media for updates on each week’s activities.

PEEC was founded in 2000 to serve the community of Los Alamos. It offers people of all ages a way to enrich their lives by strengthening their connections to our canyons, mesas, mountains, and skies. PEEC operates the Los Alamos Nature Center at 2600 Canyon Road, holds regular programs and events, and hosts several interest groups, from birding to hiking to butterfly watching. PEEC activities are open to everyone; however, members receive exclusive benefits such as discounts on programs and gift shop merchandise. Annual memberships start at $35. To learn more, visit peecnature.org/support/membership/.