Rick Battered but Reborn! And More…
There will be a benefit for Rick Klein on Oct 13th, from 7 pm til closing at Taos Mesa Brewing Co. Rick had a very serious car accident on August 21st while on his way to work at Shadow Mountain Academy in Canon.
Pat McCabe will offer the opening blessing. There will be sets from Jenny Bird, Jimmy Stadler, The John Carey Blues Band, and a special late night with DJ Sablazo and friends.
There will be a silent auction and donations of either items or services are being handled by Kathy Lyons, 613-8087.
Admission will be $15 at the door. We appreciate your support.
Rick Klein has lived in Taos for 50 years! He has been a landscaper, a musician, and a bed and breakfast owner. Most recently he has been working with at-risk young men at a treatment center near Taos.
Rick is most famous for founding New Buffalo, the commune in Arroyo Hondo, that had its heyday in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Rick has played in numerous bands, including 11 years with the Jenny Vincent Trio. He also played with the Taos Jazz Quartet with Tom Brownell, The Oriental Blue Streaks, TZ Wright Band, Dolly and the Lama Mountain Boys, and the Bop Quartet. His latest Cd features indigenous and sacred medicine songs that he collected in South America, and will be available at the benefit.
Taos has been so terrific and supportive! We are very grateful to live in Taos, and for the help we have received. Including this article! Thanks very much.
Terry Klein/ 586-0206
808-283-4216 (cell)
e-fax 866-286-8889
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Applications to Be Taken for Home Repairs Caused by
Rain Damage and Flooding in Rural New Mexico
USDA RD Prepared to take applications from qualified very low income homeowners
(September 17, 2013 Albuquerque, NM) USDA Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner announced today his staff is prepared to provide information and take applications to help fix homes damaged in rural communities devastated from the recent rain storms.
In making the announcement Brunner said, “I’ve directed my staff to be prepared to provide as much service as possible to help qualified homeowners fix their homes damaged by the rain fall and flooding.” Brunner added, “We will do everything we can to help those homeowners that need the most help to fix their homes.”
The funding is through USDA Rural Development’s Section 504 housing loan and grant program which provides financial help to very low income home owners living in a rural community to rehabilitate their home. The program can provide a $7,500 grant to rural residents who are 62 years old or older who own their home and have a very low income. The money can be used to fix a roof and other types of repairs including window repair and other needed necessities. The 504 loan program is also available to all very low income homeowners also living in a rural community. It provides up to a $20-thousand loan for one percent interest to repair or refurbish a home.
“This program will be especially helpful to those low income residents that need additional financial support because they don’t have the insurance to cover the damage that was done to their home because of the recent rains,” said Brunner.
Those wanting to apply for the Section 504 housing repair program should contact one of USDA Rural Development’s offices to see if they qualify for a loan or a grant and to set up an appointment to make an application.
USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, has a portfolio of programs designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. USDA has made a concerted effort to deliver results for the American people, even as the Department implements sequestration – the across-the-board budget reductions mandated under terms of the Budget Control Act.
USDA has already undertaken historic efforts since 2009 to save more than $828 million in taxpayer funds through targeted, common-sense budget reductions. These reductions have put USDA in a better position to carry out its mission, while implementing sequester budget reductions in a fair manner that causes as little disruption as possible.
Kelly J. Hamilton
Director, Office of Agricultural Biosecurity
Co-Director, Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center
New Mexico Department of Agriculture
MSC 3189
New Mexico State University
P.O. Box 30005
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8005
Cell – 307-630-2398
Advice from Northrup
To: Taos County Commissioners and administrative staff:
The citizens of Taos county are thankful that our county commissioners were not bullied by the corrupt and incompetent mayor of Taos and his four mindless councilmen on the issue of the E911 dispatch move to the Regional Command Center. The town’s “our way or the highway” attitude has quickly become very conciliatory as they lost public support and realized the precarious financial position their mismanagement of funds has yielded.
As the MOU, signed on or about 9-24-13, moves forward over the next few months into a JPA, I would like to make a few points:
*** Seriously consider returning the E911 dispatch to its decades-long home on Civic Plaza Drive. This empty building serves as the home of the E911 dispatch tower. The town spent many thousands of dollars on a bogus study by Bud Lake’s “9-1-1 Solutions, LLC” to portray the Civic Plaza Drive in the most unfavorable way possible, even stretching to multiple exaggerations and lies; at the same time the report had glowing praise for the Command Center location, ignoring serious deficiencies and the wisdom of the move in general.
I’m guessing a $200,000 remodel job will bring this old location up to snuff in every way, including providing space and equipment to serve as a central location for emergency personnel to meet and react in times of local emergencies, such as the 2011 natural gas outage, or the three recent internet/cell phone disruptions. Citizens need to know what’s happening in these trying circumstances, and our local radio stations (what should be the most reliable news source as other fragile systems fail) continue to disappoint– emergency personnel must have radio available to inform the public; we can always receive messages on our car radios. (Note: While the Lake report was a whitewash, it did include a brief study by Los Alamos Labs, showing the Civic Plaza Drive location in a favorable light, with its shortcomings easily remedied).
*** Section 7 of the MOU makes it clear the the town will be solely responsible for many of the costs at the Regional Command Center. It is not clear to me if the town will be paying for utilities. The electric heating bills will be enormous for this basically uninsulated building– I hope the JPA lays this cost on the town and/or Kit Carson Electric. KCE, the owner of the building, through cost-cutting construction, has thrown a curve ball at renters.
*** The Lake report decried the lack of training of our dozen or so dispatch personnel. Training will allow the dispatchers to provide immediate medical and safety suggestions to distressed callers while emergency responders are on their way. Additionally, with the town out of the leadership role, it is now possible to address the repair and protection of the repeater transmission towers.
Taos residents are very fortunate to have a new county government team. Thank you for your service.
Jeff Northrup 770-7555
Presentation by Thomas Alan Linzey, Esq.
Sunday, November 3rd, 2013
6:00 to 8:00 PM
Taos County AG Center
202 Chamisa Rd., Ste. B (behind the Comfort Suites)
Thomas Linzey, an attorney and the Executive Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) will speak about a new community rights movement which is emerging across the United States. CELDF is a nonprofit law firm which has assisted over three hundred community groups and municipal governments across the country.
This movement consists of local communities which are beginning to use municipal lawmaking power to transition towards economic and environmental sustainability. Linzey will talk about how communities in eight states across the country are using the law to move towards sustainability, and to elevate the rights of people, communities, and nature above powers claimed by corporations and other governments.
Suggested donation: $5, students free, no one turned away for lack of funds
For more information, please call Kathleen Dudley, NMCCR, chair, kathleendudley@nmccr.org, 575 666 2529 or visit www.nmccr.org www.renewabletaos.org
(Sponsored by Renewable Taos, PP Solar, and New Mexico Coalition for Community Rights)