Bill also requires increased disclosure of chemicals

By Hannah Grover
​NM Political Report

​HB 222 would ban PFAS and require increased disclosure of chemicals used in fracking or other downhole oil and gas operations.

The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee discussed HB 222 on Saturday, but ultimately chose not to vote on it to allow the sponsors to make changes to strengthen the legislation.

Oil and gas companies disclose some of their chemicals on the website FracFocus, but they are able to avoid making some of the formula public by claiming it is a trade secret.
New Mexico would not be the first state to ban PFAS in oil and gas operations. Colorado passed legislation in 2022 banning PFAS in oil and gas operations.

“This is a really important…foundational bill for where we’re at in the development of oil and gas and the development of considering use of produced water,” Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, said. Steinborn is among the bill sponsors, along with Reps. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, and G. Andrés Romero, D-Albuquerque.

Produced water is a byproduct of oil and gas production and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last year proposed using treated produced water in industrial processes.

Steinborn said the bill provides the public with important information.

“We have a right to know fundamentally what chemicals are being put into the earth. We have a right to protect ourselves as well,” Steinborn said.

The state’s Oil Conservation Commission is currently going through a rulemaking process that could result in similar prohibitions and requirements. In the HB 222 fiscal impact report, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department warned the bill could impact the ongoing rulemaking.

Ashley Wagner, vice president of government affairs for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, cited the rulemaking while expressing opposition to HB 222.

“Enacting this bill bypasses a very democratic process that included a great deal of public participation on both sides of the aisle, which should not be ignored by the Legislature,” she said.

Andrea Romero said the rulemaking process does not create a law.

“What we’re trying to do here is ensure this is in statute,” she said.

Steinborn said the state has had rules overturned when administrations change. He gave the example of a rule enacted under Gov. Bill Richardson regarding the storage and disposal of waste — often referred to as the pit rule — that was then relaxed by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration.
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Some of the advocates pushing for HB 222 are also behind the current OCC rulemaking.
WildEarth Guardians petitioned for the OCC rulemaking. The group is also pushing for HB 222 and has petitioned Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to ban PFAS in oil and gas operations through an executive order. Tim Davis, a staff attorney at WildEarth Guardians, served as an expert witness during the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee discussion.

Rep. Mark Murphy, R-Roswell, argued that PFAS use is not widespread in New Mexico’s oil and gas operations and the documented PFAS water contamination in New Mexico is primarily linked to operations at Air Force bases. Murphy is president of Strata Production Company, which is an oil and gas exploration and production company based out of Roswell.
“I think that this is a solution in search of a problem,” Murphy said.

By Felicia Fredd

Note: Since 2002, Felicia Fredd, owner of Enchanted Garden Productions, has specialized in residential landscape and garden design complementing both traditional and contemporary Santa Fe architectural styles while developing an ecologically and aesthetically rich design ethic.
Visit Enchanted Garden Productions online
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​For all the great press native plants have received, they are still hard to find relative to traditional ornamental nursery stock - particularly in terms of species diversity. The muddling of the very definition of a native plant is also problematic. We see more and more native cultivars, or 'nativars', casually represented as native plants. This is tricky because while they may be fundamentally native, they may not function normally as part of an ecosystem.

If at least one of the reasons we want to use naturally occurring natives in the garden is as an important part of a specific local ecosystem, what exactly is the point of a modified 'nativar'? Why not just use another hardy ornamental? There are increasing studies indicating that alterations in host plant forms (flower patterns & colors, leaf arrangements, plant size, etc.) can have a profound effect on wildlife feeding and reproductive behavior.

So, I want to cut to some things to consider if you're interested in cultivating truly local native plants, but maybe aren't sure which ones, or how to get them into your garden. I fear that some of these suggestions may seem a little madcap, but they are at least a few ways 'plant people' get good stuff.

1. Get your own information: The most useful and meaningful native plants live right near us - usually in the most neglected places. I know that getting correct information with regard to plant identification is challenging (Google Images is not a reliable way to do this) but if you can get a plant's precise scientific name, you can open up a world of important information about native range, history, compatible plant communities, cultivation requirements, etc. Knowledge of plants makes them more interesting and endearing. Fingers crossed, but I am planning on posting some solid leads on community resources for plant ID. It's important to approach sellers with exact scientific names.

2. Try what some are calling 'slow gardening'. For my own personal gardening, I get most of what I need by finding local native plants that need to be rescued from road beds, or from drainage swales that will eventually dry up on newly emerged plants, or by transplanting volunteers within my own property. I also ask for pups, cuttings, and collect seeds, etc. This kind of 'shopping' may not be for everyone - transplanting desert plants is a delicate business, seed collection, storage, and germination techniques are complicated, and making a spectacle of yourself collecting on the side of the road is uncomfortable (legal for seed only) - but it can work. Slow gardening could also include encouraging volunteers by setting up conditions for plants to germinate and grow themselves while you focus on something else. I've even used existing 'weeds' to function as seed traps, or 'connectivity modifiers' (https://www.nps.gov/articles/cany-conmods.htm) that encourage potentially desired plants from seed that just blows in. I don't do these things because I think it's cool, but because I really do need not only broadly native, but endemic, plants that I will not find otherwise. Things can look pretty shabby at first, but oh well.

3. Think about shifting your thinking. Design thinking expands your options; it's what allows you to 'frame' something you do have, or can get, beautifully. Maybe your perception of that less than perfectly gorgeous native plant already on your property can be improved by placement, color contrasts, a little pruning, distance, interesting massing, complimentary companions, etc. You could topiary your snakeweed, play up beautiful fall backlighting effects on those native asters, or go uber minimalist with just one or two bigger things. I think one of the most photographed parts of the Georgia O'Keeffe Home in Abiquiu, NM is the 'salita doorway patio' containing just a few old gnarly big sage. That sage, by the way, is Artemesia tridentata, and it must be about 70 years old by now.
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All things considered, I would say that finding your own local native plants is no more difficult, or time consuming, than conventional planting. In many ways, it's actually much easier, but it does require more consistent interest, observation, flexibility, and creative cultivating. I have a client who calls spending time evaluating the garden doing "a walk-about". I don't know where she got that from, but it's the most pleasant time we spend together in the garden.
For anyone in the Abiquiu, NM area better convinced to just go and buy container plants this season, here are some local natives that ARE available as grown out container plants:

• Native Chokecherry; Prunus virginiana: Abiquiu is named for this plant. Abiquiú used to be a Tewa settlement called Ávé-shú', meaning Chokecherry Path. Native Chokecherry is a beautiful deciduous shrub that has a white bloom in Spring, followed by dangling clusters of deep red berries by late summer. It makes an excellent jam or jelly.
• Showy Milkweed; Asclepius speciosa: The Institute for Applied Ecology was here last summer planting milkweed (obligate larval host plant) in a series of ‘rest stops’ for endangered monarchs along the Rio Chama/Rio Grande River corridor. Showy milkweed has a very beautiful blooming phase, but the leafy parts can look a bit 'rangy'. Consider growing them among Yellow Indian Grass (described below), or Little Bluestem (described below) which obscures the less attractive lower leaves - triple gorgeous. Last year, I noticed Showy Milkweed growing along the ditch between the fire department and transfer station.
• Indian Grass; Sorghastrum nutans: Indian Grass is a tall and gorgeous warm season upright bunchgrass (about 5' ht.) that develops a flashy golden flower structure prior to seed set.
• Little Bluestem; Schizachyrium scoparium: Little Bluestem is another gorgeous local warm season bunchgrass (around 3' ht.) with fine-textured foliage, silvery seed heads, and a striking blue-mahogany purple fall and winter color.
• Colorado Four O’clock; Mirabilis multiflora: A non-stop flowering perennial with vibrant magenta colored flowers that open in late afternoon and close by morning. Four O'clock is very deeply rooted, and very xeric.

By Zach Hively

In which I dig myself deeper.
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To be clear: I am not one of those people who leave the Christmas tree up until February.Oh no, I’m far more insufferable. I’m one of those people who leave the solstice tree up until February.

In my own incriminating defense, I have, for years, put up living solstice trees. Not cut-down-and-slowly-drying-up living trees, but root-ball-in-really-heavy-dirt ones. And by “put up,” I mean, “drag to the front of my house.”

I can’t bring the tree inside. For one, I cannot lift it up the front steps. For two, staying outside keeps the tree from thinking it has retired somewhere like Phoenix or, based on my thermostat, Juno.

I have to keep the tree where it still, sometimes, at least traditionally, gets cold in winter. Or else it might put roots down through my living room floor.

Outside, though, is also windy. And it is where crows and ravens live. For these reasons, and not for laziness reasons, I do not put ornaments on the solstice tree. It’s mostly just a tree.
But I do add twinkle lights.

This process proved, in the end, to prolong my joy in planting the solstice tree in the solstice tree forest. I:

a) made tangible progress each day I remembered to dig;
b) never committed more than four minutes in a single go;
c) stopped when I realized these were rocks and not more frozen sand; and
d) received Mother Nature’s incoming-cold-front nudge to drag the big ol’ pot o’ dirt down to the hole before I became one of those absolute insufferables who leaves up the solstice tree until March.

Although I suppose—at the risk of digging myself deeper here—it could have become an equinox tree, had I left well enough alone.

Gratitude for one reader showing me I can do better.
​Zach Hively

A Follow-up to "Getting away with murder"

Hi all—I try hard not to bombard you, but this follow-up on today’s piece is worth it. Because now, as much as ever, it’s important that we all learn to do better, even when we have the best intentions.
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Today’s post, “Getting Away with Murder,” offered an important learning moment for me:
One reader wrote me privately to express disappointment in my reference to “the R-word” in this piece. I'd like to honor her privacy while thanking her. Suffice it to say that she is the proud parent of a child who, she pointed out to me, would be in that class on the other side of that hole in the wall.

The section in question begins:
I remember only one rule, strictly enforced: never use the R-word.

My impact with that section may not have lived up to my intent with it. Its purpose (for what it’s worth) was to show how my teacher, Ms. Galvin, taught us all to think about how our language affects other people. At the time, the R-word was in heavy use, and we students didn’t usually think about its origins or its hurtfulness.

I’ve revised that section to, I hope, convey more of what Ms. Galvin impressed upon us. I hope this also stops that part of this piece from inadvertently harming anyone.

We all need to learn to do better about making amends when we mess up. I'm open to continuing to improve this piece, and my writing, and my thinking in general, when it means treating others with more genuine respect. Especially those who have to work far harder to earn it.
Gratefully,
Zach

By: Patrick Lohmann 
Source NM​

Mayordomos and other acequia advocates from across New Mexico gathered at the Roundhouse on Tuesday, carrying shovels and signs calling on lawmakers to expand a recurring stream of funding for the historic waterways.

New Mexico has more than 700 of the vital irrigation channels, and recent wildfires and other disasters have caused millions of dollars of damage to them far beyond what lawmakers have approved so far. 

Specifically, acequias will need $68 million in the coming decades to fix damage caused by disasters or harden against future ones, according to a recent rough estimate. To that end, the New Mexico Acequia Association is pushing House Bill 330, which would create a recurring infrastructure fund for acequias and land grants. 

You can read more here about what acequia leaders are seeking this session.

Association Director Paula Garcia told Source New Mexico in a phone interview Tuesday that the extra funding is vital amid federal delays in funding acequia restoration and even freezes. Her association had a $200,000 “equity in conservation” grant from the National Resource Conservation Service it used to provide technical assistance to acequias in Lincoln and Rio Arriba counties, which were affected by fires and floods last year. 

The grant was frozen, Garcia said, probably due to some kind of “misunderstanding that it had to do with diversity.” It was a major source of funding for the small nonprofit, she said. 
In fact, “We used that funding to help everybody,” she said. “For under-served, rural areas.”

Approximately 75 acequias sustained damage in the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, and Garcia estimated that 10 of them, at most, had received the major construction they needed to repair from past damage or prepare for future floods. 

Around the time the acequia demonstration occurred Tuesday, lawmakers in the House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee were hearing a bill allowing the funding of the Strategic Water Supply. 

Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill, which would approve up to $75 million to be spent as the state creates a market for the sale of treated brackish and produced water.  

Garcia said her association has not taken a position on the strategic water supply, but she did share some concerns that she’s brought to the attention of the bill’s sponsors. For one, she’s concerned that brackish water more than 2,500 feet below the surface isn’t subject to the same water rights application process as water closer to the surface. 

She is also seeking assurances that no produced water will be granted a discharge permit that would allow it to flow into rivers or farmers’ fields via acequias. Proponents have repeatedly said no such permits would be allowed.

“It’s a very significant leap in the way water management is being handled in New Mexico, so it should be done very carefully,” she said.

Bill watch
The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation unanimously approved the Medical Psilocybin Act, which would create a program for New Mexicans to establish a program for medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms. 

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee in the afternoon voted unanimously in favor of Rep. Marian Matthews’ House Bill 111, which would require first responders in emergencies to make a “reasonable effort” to find qualified service animals if they are missing.
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The committee also approved a proposal that would strengthen New Mexico’s protections for journalists from unfair subpoenas by state government officials.

Interview with Mariaelena Jaramillo
By Jessica Rath

After talking to quite a number of  individuals from Abiquiú and around for the Abiquiú News, one thing stands out for me: the strong sense of community most of these people have. They want to serve and help others, they put time and energy into supporting those around them, more often than not on a purely voluntary basis. Less concerned with their own dreams, they assist those near them to lead fulfilling lives.

​Mariaelena Jaramillo is the perfect example. Besides being a mother and working a busy job, she’s involved with several groups which teach fun and useful skills to children and youth. Instructing traditional dances which honor Abiquiú’s forebears. A leader at the Rio Arriba County 4-H Youth Development Program. Coaching a group of cheerleaders at the elementary school.  Mari, as her friends call her, is passionate about her culture’s beautiful traditions and about passing them on to the younger folk.

I have known Mari and her family for over 20 years, from my time as a volunteer at the Fire Department, when her father, Ben Jaramillo, was Captain. There was only one other non-Spanish speaking member, but I was always treated with warmth and kindness. Recently, I saw some photos of her and some 4-H kids at the Roundhouse, meeting with State Senator Leo Jaramillo. What a great experience for the youngsters! I wanted to find out what else Mari is up to these days, and she kindly took some time out of her full agenda.

Mari’s family has lived in Abiquiú for many generations. She’s a Genizera,  as she tells me with a mix of pride and sadness. Her ancestors were descendants of Native American women and children who were captured by or sold into servitude to Spanish colonial families. They were converted to Catholicism, had to learn Spanish, and were forced to work as household servants or in the fields, not much different from slaves. During the second half of the 18th century, the Spanish offered land for settlement to Genizaros, in order to establish “buffer zones”  against attacks by nomadic tribes.
 
The third of such Genizaro settlements in the New Mexico province was Santo Tomás de Abiquiú, established in 1754. In exchange for a perilous existence in the face of raids by Ute, Comanche, and Navajo, for example, the Genizaro were granted land where they could build their village. This was the only way for them to obtain their own property.
 
“Our people were Native Americans,  ARE Native Americans,” Mari told me. “It's just that we don't know exactly which tribe we belong to, because when the Spanish came in and colonized this area, they converted everybody to Catholicism.”
 
She continued: “Being Genizaro is a tradition all of its own and a culture all of its own. Our kids should honor their culture, they should be able  to represent it,  to carry it on to the next generation. That's what I'm hoping to do: I put all these efforts into this, hoping  that it's going to encourage somebody else to do the same for the next upcoming group of kids.”
 
Here is a PBS documentary exploring the Genizaro Experience:

​One way Mari continues the Genizaro culture involves teaching the traditional dances with their gorgeous costumes, stunning headdresses, and beautiful face paint.

Mari explained: “Originally, we did our dances during Santo Tomás, in November right after Thanksgiving.  That's when we traditionally had them. That was the way of the Spanish incorporating the Native Americans and enticing them to come to Church. It was a way of conversion, and of inclusion.”

“Now we're doing it at different times of the year because we get asked out to dance, and I am very proud of the girls that I am dancing with right now. I'm honored to have them dancing,  because they're out there, they're doing it. They're not embarrassed, they're proud of who they are.” When I look at the pictures Mari shared with me, I understand why she is so enthusiastic. They’re simply exquisite!

Mari wants to revive the Matachines Dances which haven't been performed in Abiquiú for over 80 years. The dances have roots in medieval Spain with Moorish influences as well as in Southamerican legends and weave together both Christian and Indigenous religious beliefs.

I learned from Mari that there are still some descendants of those original families. “Recently  we had our first invite-meeting to see if any of these families would be interested in coming and representing their family,  honoring their family,” she told me. “These dances are tied to religion. When the Spaniards were conquering the world, paganism was bad. Anybody who wasn’t worshiping  God was bad. This was their way of making the people of these little pueblos come to church, because they let them do a performance, a dance.”

I found an article about the Matachines performance at the Santuario de Chimayó, and it looks fascinating – I hope that we’ll be able to see a performance in Abiquiú!

Mari pointed me to a video produced by the Smithsonian for their “Living Cultures” series, filmed in front of the Morada Del Alto.

​Mari commented: “If you look around, you'll find us. We danced in front of the Morada Del  Alto, up in the village. Delilah, Chavela, Dexter, Virgil, a few of the girls that I'm dancing with, like Audrey, – she still dances, and  Juliette, she's still dancing. Angel danced, but now that she’s older she wants to drum, and she's good at it.”  Take a look, you may recognize a lot of people!

Next, I wanted to learn about Mari’s involvement with the 4-H program, where she’s a leader at the Rio Arriba County 4-H. She had exciting news, actually: she will be taking a group of six 4-H  kids to Washington, DC! If they’re able to collect enough funds, that is. 4-H is a nonprofit organization and they don’t have the money to finance projects such as this one. SO: if any of you Abiquiú News readers feel motivated to support Mari and her endeavor, please call the Rio Arriba County Extension Office at 505-685-4523 and ask for Lucinda, the new 4-H agent. Mari spoke highly of her:
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“I'm giving her many high points and lots of credit. We haven't had a 4-H agent here in our county for almost five years now. We've had sit-in agents  like Joy and Donald, and they have done great, they've kept   our head above water with 4-H. But hopefully this lady will be able to take us a step further, and maybe she'll be able to unite 4-H again.”

​Mari continued to explain. “In our county, 4-H used to be very united. We used to have clubs all over and we'd have 100 kids that would show up to events, just from our county of Rio Arriba. They would come from Dulce, from down in Espanola, up in Mesa Vista, up in Ojo Caliente, and all the way from Gallina. Everybody would come, it didn't matter from where, because we were united. Now it's not like that. The only thing people come to 4-H for now is for the County Fair, to show their animals, to sell their animals. That’s ONE purpose of 4-H but  it goes way  beyond that. 4-H is  about the life lessons you'll be able to learn, the friendships you get to make, the relationships you get to make, the contacts you get to know.”

“We just had the privilege of going to the Round House”, Mari continued.  “We had the honor of meeting our State Senator Leo Jaramillo, who grew up in Rio Arriba and graduated from Espanola Valley High School. You know, it's nice to see that people can come from this area, from our county, from these small, little places, and make a big name for themselves, become something. And it's wonderful that they're able to come back and bring something back to our community.”
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What are some other skills that young people can learn from 4-H, I wanted to know.
Mari answered excitedly: “The sky's the limit with 4-H!  You tell me what you're interested in, and there's a project for you. We do Legos. We do horticulture, entomology, livestock, shooting sports, arts and crafts, sewing, cooking, baking, consumer decision making, and rocketry. I guarantee you there's a project for you to do. It's just a matter of people participating, being involved. COVID deprived us of that, especially the youth in our area. They don't know how to come together and be together,  to drop the phone, leave the phone aside.  They can't socialize any more. I hope things will improve, now that we have a 4-H agent again.” I hope so too; what a great way to find out what interests you as a young person.

As if teaching traditional dances and being a 4-H leader weren’t enough, Mari also is a cheerleading coach at  the Abiquiú Elementary School.
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I’m so impressed, listening to her: “I first started when Felisiana was in third or fourth grade, and then during her fifth and sixth grade year I think it was COVID why we stopped. I didn't do it for a couple of years. I started again when LilahRose (Mari’s second daughter, now nine years old)  entered first grade.  This will be my third year doing coaching with the Abiquiú Cheerleaders. Mr. Noble and Abiquiú Inn generously donated us money, and my girls were able to buy new uniforms. Because the old cheerleading uniforms were older than the kids, you know? So I asked Mr. Noble here at the Abiquiú Inn, and he kindly  donated money for these young ladies, so we were able to dress our girls. We had 12 cheerleaders that year. This last year, I had eight, and this coming year, let's see what happens!”

​“This last year my girls had  the honor of going to the high school and performing with the high school squad during one of their homecoming games. That was pretty cool and the girls liked that, for sure.” Mari went on:  “We need coaches. We need somebody who's willing to spend an hour of their day to help these kids. Because that's what normally happens: parents are there when their kids are there, but what happens the rest of the time? There has to be somebody who's willing to take that up. It's like that at church too.  During Christmas, we did the Posadas, the kids did the whole thing on Christmas Eve, which was beautiful and wonderful to see.”

“But it takes time. It takes somebody to go and look for the costumes. I did it, and I don’t want credit, but  it takes somebody's time and I just hope there's someone else somewhere down the line who's willing to carry that along. Especially when it comes to the traditions of our small communities.”

Mari made me think about what she said next: “I think a lot of us don't question that we’re Catholic, because we are. But when you stop and think about it, are we really, were we really supposed to have been? And maybe we weren't, because maybe our ancestors believed something else. They were forced to become Catholic, because sometimes  it's easier to go with it than to fight it.”

“It was easier to say, ‘Fine, I'll be a Spaniard. I'm Hispanic. Now I'm  converted. I get to stay here, and you're going to give me a little piece of property to live on, okay? I'm Spanish, and I won't use my Native language any longer, I'll speak Spanish.’ Then all of a sudden, they told us, now you can't speak Spanish, now you must speak English. Now you're white.. It's sad how it happens. But a lot of the time we don't realize it. We just take it for granted that we are white, that we are Hispanic, that we are this or that, and in reality, we're not.”

Well, I think Mari deserves a lot of credit for everything she does for the community, and  maybe she’ll  inspire somebody else to follow her example and keep the customs and traditions alive. Thank you, Mari, I’m so impressed by everything you do, and I wish you and all the kids you interact with a great deal of success!

By Zach Hively
Images Courtesy of Zach Hively

Here's to Tom Robbins, Ms. Galvin, and the books that shape us.

​I want to tell you about the first two times I was murdered.

But first, you need to know about Paige Galvin.

Ms. Galvin taught me in sophomore year of high school. I have no idea what she taught me, as far as my transcript was concerned—it wasn’t any of the core subjects. It also wasn’t any of the elective subjects. She taught a practical class, though; a practical class on getting away with murder.

Take, for instance, how she got the school administration to approve a class that had some undefinable yet sanctionable course title, something like “Communication Skills” or “Proficiency Seminar” or “Algebra II.”

We had, I recall, six or eight students enrolled in that class. That’s the official tally. We actually had ten to fifteen students in the room during any given period. Ms. Galvin evangelized that it was better to ditch classes in her classroom than to ditch them, I don’t know, in a ditch somewhere.
​
Ditches are deadly—but the couches in Ms. Galvin’s room were comfy. Besides, why should we be allowed eleven absences per class each semester if not to use them when we pleased?

The syllabus for “Enhanced Dialogue,” or whatever it was called, existed merely as an alibi to cover all our butts. We never so much as referenced it.

One class, for instance, we had a lively group discussion about whether my classmate was dumb, or whether she was really dumb, for getting her nipples pierced. We could always bring in CDs but only if we could share insights about the music. A not-insignificant part of the class was troubleshooting how to deal with intolerable teachers in more traditional subject areas.

I remember only one rule, strictly enforced: never use the R-word. The wall had an actual hole, ten inches square, between our classroom and the next-door class for R-word students. It occurs to me now that Ms. Galvin quite possibly punched that hole herself (or asked a geography-ditching student to do it) in order to teach us with first-hand embarrassment. Tactical empathy: some murders are not worth getting away with.

Others, however, are.

We’d been reading Very Good Books in English class that year. They also happened to be Very Dull Books for 15- and 16-Year-Olds. Like, I mean, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is fine and all. Reading it made sure I get all the “ides” jokes every mid-March. But the play contains way fewer genitalia references than the bard’s best work.

This—the existence of good but unengaging books—might have been the flint that sparked the fire that got away with murder.

One day, Ms. Galvin sent me on a quest to the school library in the middle of the period. Here I was, ditching the class I was ditching class in, with an illicit bathroom pass in hand, strolling through the empty, echoing halls.

The book I had to find was a smaller paperback than I expected. I’d been reading bulkier books since elementary school—and what a strange title, Slaughterhouse-Five. A hyphen has never enticed me so, before or since.
​
“Read it.” That’s all Ms. Galvin said.

So I did—and it was better than getting away with murder. Better than the kissing I had yet to manage. Better than the drugs that other people, both cooler and less cool than me, were reportedly doing. Better than my classmate asking us if we wanted to see her nipple rings and ditching Spanish put together.

Were people allowed to feel colors the way this book made me? It didn’t matter what was allowed. I didn’t have to write any essays on the symbolism of the snowfall. I just got to read it, and to read it again, and it got to murder me, the me that existed before.

Ms. Galvin did it again when I graduated.

She gave me another book—all mine, no library due date, signed by the author and everything. Tom Robbins, the old rascal, died this week at the age of ninety-two, which is why I’m back to thinking about Ms. Galvin.

Another Roadside Attraction didn’t quite turn me inside out in four-color—that happened a couple years later when my dad gave me Even Cowgirls Get the Blues for my twentieth birthday, when I survived my second murder. RIP to yet another long-gone version of myself.

Yet this book is the only memorable one from my TBR stack that summer between high school and college. And so it is the book I link, for good, with the worst financial decision I have ever made in all my years so far: to circle my life around the soothing and unassuming tactile experience of getting away with murder.
​
AKA, books.

Every book is magical: ink on paper makes you imagine things, conveys knowledge, evokes emotions. Every book has the potential to destroy who you thought you were and show you who you could be. Forget shaping me as a writer; the works of Tom Robbins shape who I am as a human. (Ha ha ho ho and hee hee.)

I might be the worst-case result of such exposure. Most young people who dabble with dangerous texts don’t turn around to become at various points booksellers, publishers, and—to their families’ continued dismay—attempted professional writers.
But that’s not to say you, too, shouldn’t corrupt the youth. Doing so is not yet entirely illegal—and even if it gets there, it will only encourage the Ms. Galvins of the world. Even though she taught me so much about thinking, I still can’t think of a better misuse of adult responsibility and trustworthiness than to give a kid a book outside in the syllabus. Let them think they’re getting away with murder. Because they are.
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________________________________________
I’d love to know what books shaped your life, rearranged you from the inside out, changed who you are as a person. What book would you share with a young reader to change their existence?

Fuller Lodge,
Los Alamos, NM
4:00 PM, March 1, 2025

Espanola, NM – Prepare for an inspiring night of music and community! Moving Arts, in partnership with the Los Alamos Arts Council, invites you to a magical celebration featuring the breathtaking talent of world-renowned Russian pianist Katya Grineva. Fresh from her 22nd season at Carnegie Hall, Katya’s spellbinding performance will leave you in awe.

Enjoy delicious appetizers lovingly crafted by the Moving Arts Health Meals Program. Sip on refreshing mocktails. Get an exclusive first look at an upcoming documentary that showcases the transformative work of Moving Arts.

Come for the music. Stay for the vision. Learn how Moving Arts is shaping a brighter future for our children and families with a Community Hub of Family-Centered Services. This free event is your chance to be part of something truly special.

Mark your calendar and tell your friends about this community celebration of music. RSVP for this amazing evening at movingartsespanola.org/events. During her stay in New Mexico Katya, will also perform for local youth in Los Alamos to inspire a love of music and the arts. Giving youth the opportunity to engage in the arts is paramount to the nonprofit organization she created in New York.

​Moving Arts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to creative and experiential learning, offering a safe space where children and youth can explore their interests, expand their knowledge, and develop into confident contributors to their communities.

For more information, please contact: 📧 Email: [email protected]

By Nicole Maxwell
NM Political Report
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The measure would tie public funding to policies prohibiting removal of books

A bill aimed at protecting public libraries from politically charged book ban attempts is making its way through the Roundhouse.

HB 27, the Librarian Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Cates, D-Rio Rancho,  seeks to prohibit public libraries from getting state funding unless they adopt a policy prohibiting the removal of books or other materials based on partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

“I bring this bill to you today because I have concern about our public librarians throughout our state, and I believe that this is a bill that will help protect them,” Cates said during a committee hearing. “As you know, librarians have spent their careers in education and being able to serve their community, and they’re all about process, not about politics, and I want to be able to let them stay in that process-oriented manner of decision.”

The bill also does not allow a public library’s funding to be reduced for complying with the bill.
“The bill clarifies that it is not intended to curtail the right of individuals to challenge library materials. ‘Ban’ means the removal of library materials. ‘Challenge’ means the attempt to remove said materials,” the bill’s Fiscal Impact Report states.

From 2024: Legislators seek to stop libraries from banning books
“The Public Education Department notes that if the bill is not passed, public libraries in New Mexico may be subject to increasing numbers of challenges to books and other library materials, based upon partisan, political, or religious views, hampering their general mission of provision of information, books, and other resources to the public,” according to the report.

The process for challenging books and other materials would remain intact, however, blanket bans based on political or other ideological reasons.

The bill passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee 4-to-2 with Reps. Stefani  Lord, R-Sandia Park, and John Block, R-Alamogordo, voting against the bill.

Lord said she was against the bill because it does not directly prohibit children from accessing materials shelved in the adult section due to adult content potentially not being appropriate for children.

About a year ago, Estancia Public Library Director Angela Creamer set up Freedom to Read, a policy that includes how the library would handle someone coming in and asking for materials to be removed.
“I think a lot of politicians maybe forget that librarians are men and women that are also parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and we care about our community just as much as anybody else,” Creamer said. “Personally, I don’t think the government should be raising our children. I think parents and caregivers, guardians and grandparents and relatives raise the children. So I think it goes back to trust.”
The Rio Rancho City Council in 2023 passed legislation protecting public libraries and librarians from repeated, but ultimately unsuccessful book banning attempts.