Greg In The Desert

HGTV’s Gardening By The Yard with Paul James will be showing an episode filmed at Sandoval County’s Waterwise Garden in Rio Rancho. The episode number is GBY-1807 and is entitled “Xeriscaping, Drought-Tolerant Plants, Wise Water Practices“. It will be shown in New Mexico on HGTV which airs Sunday June 7th at 5:30am.

Gardening By The Yard is one of my favorite gardening shows and it’s too bad I didn’t know they were here filming. I will add video of the episode here if it becomes available.

• Artist In Residence Programs – Did you know that most of our National Parks have an "Artist In Residence" program? Each park has different stipulations as to what it entails, but all you need do is to type in a search for your favorite National Park and look for the program within their site. Even if there is none listed on the website, you might want to contact the park directly since information posted to these sites rarely happens in real time.
• CL Sues SC AG For Declaratory Relief – craigslist has filed suit against SC AG Henry McMaster in federal court in South Carolina, seeking declaratory relief and a restraining order with respect to criminal charges he has repeatedly threatened against craigslist and its executives.
• American Thinker Blog: Letter from a Dodge dealer – On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.
• The cactus bees are here! « mistress beek – At least in Albuquerque, the docile European honeybee hasn’t totally edged out our natives. The prickly pear cactus in my yard has just started blooming which attracts bees from the genus Diadasia, also known as cactus bees.
• The 7 Hotdogs of the Apocalypse – Instead, doom will come stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon, fried in oil, stuffed in a bun and topped with sauerkraut, mayonnaise and lard.

  The streets will run pink with hotdog.

• Project MKULTRA – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – In 1973, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MK-ULTRA files destroyed. Pursuant to this order, most CIA documents regarding the project were destroyed, making a full investigation of MK-ULTRA impossible.
  In December 1974, The New York Times reported that the CIA had conducted illegal domestic activities, including experiments on U.S. citizens, during the 1960s. That report prompted investigations by the U.S. Congress, in the form of the Church Committee, and by a presidential commission known as the Rockefeller Commission that looked into domestic activities of the CIA, the FBI, and intelligence-related agencies of the military.
• News : New movie to be filmed in Rio Rancho – Rio Rancho Observer – Shooting is set to begin June 10 on “I was a 7th Grade Dragonslayer,”

  Included in the shooting will be scenes at Rio Rancho Mid-High and on some Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Administration land, she said. A warehouse in Albuquerque will have additional sets used in the filming, which is expected to be completed by July 10.

  Wendie Malick (“Just Shoot Me,” “Dream On”) and Leah Thompson (“Back to the Future,” “Space Camp”) have starring roles. The children’s roles were being cast this weekend; there will be opportunities for local extras.

• Meet My Chickens: the continuing story of Chickenzilla – Homegrown Neighbor here. My chicken Whitey, a.k.a. Chickenzilla, has been laying some wonderful eggs lately. Of course, she is a meat chicken, not a layer. I think of her as a "rescue" chicken.
• Muzi Software – Main – Torrent feature to be removed from latest version – Apple has asked to have all features related to torrent queuing be removed from the next version of Trackr, or have the app pulled from the app store. Unfortunately, the next release of Trackr, which will be submitted to the app store tomorrow will no longer be able to work with torrent RSS feeds.

• News : Master Gardeners win national honor – Rio Rancho Observer – The garden has received the International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Award, which is a cooperative effort of the Sandoval County Master Gardeners through New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension program and several City of Rio Rancho departments, partnering with the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, local businesses and community volunteers.

  The award was presented on March 23 to Master Gardener Linda Poe, project coordinator, at the International Master Gardener Conference in Las Vegas, Nev.

• The Consumerist Hive Helps You Buy A Diamond [Jewelry] – What are the things you should know when going diamond shopping? Our reader Justin needs to buy one.
• Realtors: Existing-home sales in West up 19% in March from last year – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The West, including New Mexico, was the only part of the country to see sales of existing homes increase in March from the same month of 2008, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
• Electronista | EU steps toward fining Intel in antitrust case – The European Union has prepared a draft decision in an ongoing antitrust case against Intel that appears to be approaching completion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter claim the EU will seek a fine against the company, although the draft can be modified as it continues through the process.
• Thirteen year-old revealed as winner of Apple’s billion app contest | Software | Macworld – Apple on Friday revealed the name of the winner of its billion app countdown contest. It’s Connor Mulcahey, a 13 year-old who hails from Weston, Conn.
• The Simple Dollar » Thoughts on Work, Personal Life, and Frugality – If you hate your job, today’s the day to start going frugal. Don’t go home tonight and follow the same old routine. Your future doesn’t have to be like this. Here are 100 ways to get started. Most important: when you’re tempted to spend on something unnecessary, think twice about it. Make the choice not to spend until it becomes familiar and comfortable – then use that money you’re saving to get out of debt and build yourself a future you can be happy with.
• The GOP: divorced from reality – Los Angeles Times – By Bill Maher

  If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments.

• Advanced Composite Structures: Flying high – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Rio Rancho company, which makes thermoplastic air cargo boxes, reorganized operations through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the past two years.

  Now, it has emerged from the process with $16 million in new capital from a New York-based investment firm and a $6 million contract with Northwest Airlines.

• Spider "Resurrections" Take Scientists by Surprise – rs in a lab twitched back to life hours after "drowning"—and the scientists were as surprised as anyone.

  The bugs, it seems, enter comas to survive for hours underwater, according to a new study.

• Chrysler unveils new electric minivan for U.S. Postal Service duty – Chrysler is celebrating Earth Day today by unveiling the first four of what will be a fleet of 250 battery powered minivans for the US Postal Service. The U.S.P.S. will be using the vans for variety of duties at locations around the country – including daily home delivery.

• News : Intel to host ribbon-cutting ceremony for new solar photovoltaic project – Rio Rancho Observer
  Intel New Mexico will host a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Thursday to unveil its first solar photovoltaic array to be used as a demonstration project highlighting PV use and benefits for powering data centers. Representatives from the NM Solar Energy Association, PNM Resources, the state’s Public Regulations Commission, Sandoval County and the City of Rio Rancho will be present for the ceremony. The presentation is at the Intel campus in Rio Rancho at 4100 Sara Road in Parking Lot B.

Good news if you live in Sandoval County, crime is down 30% according to KOB TV. Sandoval county is where Rio Rancho resides. Albuquerque resides in Bernalillo County. In a unrelated note, the Town of Bernalillo is also in Sandoval county.

Speaking of crime, areaconnect.com has a nifty city crime rate comparison tool. Holy crap if Albuquerque doesn’t have a severely high crime rate. It’s not just higher than Rio Rancho but higher than just about every city I compare it to.

Rio Rancho man accused of illegally dumping coyote carcasses (Via Free New Mexican).

A Rio Rancho man faces charges of illegally dumping about 20 skinned coyote carcasses in an arroyo west of the city.Coyotes are not a protected species in New Mexico, and it is legal to hunt the animals. However, Undersheriff Tim Lucero said it is illegal to dump carcasses in that part of Sandoval County. County ordinance makes violators liable to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 for dumping.

Rio Rancho rises on list of best places to live

Rio Rancho ranks No. 56 on Money magazine’s list of the 100 best small cities to live.The Sandoval County city improved on its ranking of No. 83 in 2005.Money magazine’s Web site said it was looking for small, livable cities with a mix of good jobs and schools, low crime, open space and “rational home prices.”Rio Rancho’s median annual family income is $57,562 and its median home price is $150,024, the magazine said. It ranked the city’s property crime risk as 33 and its personal crime risk at 50 out of national averages of 100.The rankings released Monday gave the top spot to Fort Collins, Colo.

Link

Fun stuff happening around these parts. Here are some choice bits from the article.

A loud party last month led to the citation of nine minors for underage drinking and possible charges for the “passed out” mother who allowed it. Marcus Riggs, 18, whose mother rented the apartment, let police in. Riggs told officer Chris French that “he and some of his friends got together and had a few beers”. It is unclear if Riggs’ mother Lynda, 36, would have objected to the party, as she was in no condition to break it up. “Lynda Riggs was found passed out in one of the back rooms”. Still, the officers suspected that Mrs. Riggs facilitated the party, leading to the possible charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The district attorney’s office will decide whether or not to file that charge. This arrest was part of a Sandoval County DWI Task Force underage-drinking sweep run by the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Department.