October 22, 2014
Transcription
October 22, 2014
VOL I, Issue 14, October 22, 2014 Still FREE After All These Months DOJ Made Us Buy AR-15s, APD Says PAGE 5 Joe Monahan: Why Negative TV Ads Work PAGE 6 Judge Candidate Is Traffic Ticket Magnet PAGE 9 Will New Police Board Be Toothless? PAGE 10 VALERIE PLAME SPEAKS OUT ON SUSANA, GARY PAGE 7 NEWS PAGE 2 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS www.freeabq.com www.abqarts.com ABQ Free Press Pulp News compiled By abq free press staff Ebola’s threat Outside of West Africa, the United States, France and the United Kingdom are most at risk for the spread of the Ebola virus, but they also are best equipped to contain it. China and India are less likely to see infected persons because of lack of travel connections to West Africa, but if they do, their huge populations and poor health systems could leave them open to mass infection. “Doctors and nurses in India, too, often don’t wear protective gloves,” Peter Pot, who discovered and named the virus, told the Guardian newspaper. “They would immediately become infected and spread the virus.” Insuring risk Insurance companies are developing pandemic business disruption insurance products for the healthcare industry in response to the spread of Ebola out of Africa and the D68 Enterovirus across the United States. Since the SARS pandemic of 2009, the insurance industry has been crafting products to insure against business-disease-related disruption in the travel and hospitality industries. Pastor-B-Gone An Alabama church has sued its pastor to go away. The Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church of Montgomery filed suit against the Rev. Juan McFarland, who refused to step down despite having confessed to using drugs and having sex with church members after contracting AIDS, the New York Daily News reported. Church board members allege McFarland, who has not commented, changed the locks of the church and put bank accounts in his name. Spongebob The U.S. Army and civilian scientists are collaborating to develop new ways to stop the bleeding from battlefield wounds. Bandages now in use already are coated with anticoagulants designed to stop bleeding. A new product in development is a syringe that can inject tiny sponges into small wounds. When they come in contact with blood, the sponges swell to fill the wound space and stop bleeding. LOL The president of Clowns of America International has complained that through movies and TV shows, Hollywood has made clowns out to be psychotic killers. The latest example is “Twisty the Clown,” a killer clown on the FX show “American Horror Story.” “We do not support in any way, shape or form any medium that sensationalizes or adds to coulrophobia, or clown fear,” the group’s president, Glenn Kohlberger, told the Hollywood Reporter. Kohlberger’s 2,500-member organization may be fighting a losing battle. In the 1970s, Chicago mass murderer John Wayne Gacy, who dressed up as “Pogo the Clown” as a hobby, boasted, “Clowns can get away with murder.” Bypass cable HBO will offer stand-alone streaming of its programming in 2015 – meaning viewers can bypass cable and satellite channels. “All in, there are 80 million homes that do not have HBO, and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them,” HBO CEO Richard Plepler told an AOL Time Warner investor meeting. Another threat to cable and satellite looms in the form of a new TiVo-like device. Roamio’s OTA box allows users to collect over-the-air TV signals and record network shows, as well as plug in to Hulu, Netflix and the like via the Internet. The device will sell for $50 at Best Buy. Fusion to go Lockheed Martin has announced it has plans to test within a year a fusion reactor small enough to eventually fit onto the back of a truck. The company has determined it is feasible to build a 100-megawatt reactor measuring 7 feet by 10 feet, about 10 times smaller than current reactors, a company spokesman told Reuters. Lockheed Martin went public with the project in hopes of attracting a funding partner to offset a decline in military spending. It expects to market the device within five years. Banning breaks Researchers at the University of Arizona have found that a virus on an office doorknob can spread to up to 60 percent of the surfaces in a building within a few hours. The experiment, which used a harmless but traceable virus, found that the place viruses spread fastest is the office break room. When workers used a hand sanitizer when entering an office building and used cleaning wipes at their desks periodically during the day, the amount of surface contamination dropped by 80 percent. Editor: [email protected] Associate Editor, News: Dennis Domrzalski (505) 306-3260 Associate Editor, Arts: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] On Twitter: @freeabq Still FREE After All These Months VOL I, Issue 14, October 22, 2014 In This Issue NEWS ABQ Free Press Pulp News..............................................................................................................Page 2 Editor Dan Vukelich (505) 345-4080. Ext. 800 5 Ebola updates...................................................................................................................................Page 5 COVER STORY: Ex-spy Valerie Plame on the state of N.M. politics............................................... Page 7 Metro Court candidate already knows her way around courthouse .................................................Page 9 Free speech doubts follow UNM “Sex Week” apology...................................................................Page 10 Will new APD ‘s new oversight board be better than the last?.......................................................Page 10 Increasingly dry Rio Grande bodes ill for Valley’s future................................................................Page 11 APD’s AR-15 purchase called “borderline illegal”............................................................................. Page Associate Editor, News Dennis Domrzalski (505) 306-3260 Associate Editor, Arts Stephanie Hainsfurther (505) 301-0905 Design Terry Kocon, Hannah Reiter, Cathleen Tiefa Photography Mark Bralley, Mark Holm, Juan Antonio Labreche, Liz Lopez, Adria Malcolm Contributors this issue Sabrina Autry, Pat Davis, Dennis Domrzalski, Barry Gaines, Thomas Grover, Jeffry Gardner, Betsy Model, Joe Monahan, Richard Oyama, Laura Paskus, Peter St. Cyr Copy Editors Jim Wagner Wendy Fox Dial Advertising Greta Weiner, (505) 345-4080, Ext, 803 Sherri J. Barth (505) 261-5686 Donavan Mosley (505) 345-4080, ext. 806 Abby Feldman (505) 345-4080, Ext. 802 Published every other week by: Great Noggins LLC P.O. Box 6070 Albuquerque, NM 87197-6070 Publishers Will Ferguson and Dan Vukelich Corrections policy: It is the policy of ABQ Free Press to correct errors in a timely fashion. Contact the editors at the email addresses on this page. OPINION APD’s pattern of records denials will cost us all................................................................................Page 4 Joe Monahan on politics: The power of negative political ads..........................................................Page 6 Susana’s transparency? Yeah, right..................................................................................................Page 8 APD veteran on why mental-health question must pass...................................................................Page 8 Letters...............................................................................................................................................Page 8 What Gov. Martinez has done for N.M. ........................................................................................Page 15 ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT & MORE Calling All Pets...............................................................................................................................Page 15 Music: Pray for Brain tours the world.............................................................................................Page 18 Music: Spotlight on “Hamlet” opera................................................................................................Page 19 Music Briefs: Escort brings back the 70s, “We Are the In Crowd” comes to Sunshine..................Page 19 Theater: UNM’s spooky offering, “The Monkey’s Paw”..................................................................Page 20 Theater Briefs: Four picks for right now.........................................................................................Page 20 Arts & entertainment events................................................................................................... Page 21-23 Crossword Puzzle..........................................................................................................................Page 24 5 18 19 Where to find our paper? List of more than 400 locations at freeabq.com On the cover: Valerie Plame, a former CIA operative turned author, has been active in New Mexico politics since moving to Santa Fe with her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson. (All photos of Plame in this issue by Norah Levine.) 20 FROM THE EDITOR PAGE 4 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS APD Records Stonewalling Costs ABQ Big Money By Dan Vukelich B efore this newspaper published its first issue back in April, ABQ Free Press and Peter St. Cyr, an independent journalist who periodically writes for us, asked for the Albuquerque Police Department’s inventory of its military-style weapons. When we were refused, we sued APD under the provisions of the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. The case has been percolating along for months, but quite shortly, depositions will be taken – by both sides. The public records law, commonly called IPRA, has protections built in to protect the public from unreasonable denial of public records. If found by a judge or jury to have wrongly withheld records, a governmental entity – like the City of Albuquerque and APD – can be liable for payment of the requestors’ attorneys’ fees, costs, and up to $100 a day in damages. Since we filed our case, KRQE Channel 13 filed a broader case. The TV station’s suit alleges that APD has engaged in a pattern of wrongly withholding public records, including: lapel-camera video; records related to the James Boyd shooting; correspondence relating to the U.S. Department of Justice’s probe of APD; records regarding APD shootings since 1994; APD’s dealings with former APD Chief Ray Schultz and Taser; APD’s 2013 review of its use-of-force policy; SWAT team reports of various incidents; surveillance video of the Mayor’s Office during a protest and sit-in; crime-scene photos; dash-cam footage; and an inventory of APD weapons. The TV station asked for more records than I can list here – but you get the idea. In all cases, APD refused to release the requested information or was not fully responsive in what it did release. Some of the KRQE cases go back more than a year. When totaled up, should the city be found in violation of the records act, APD – or, more properly, Albuquerque taxpayers – could be on the hook for well over $100,000 for the KRQE case alone. This pattern of refusal to release public records is being used against the public, as well as the news media. Reports of settlements and case dispositions that the administration of Richard Berry is required to give the Albuquerque City Council shows the city paid more than $48,000 in damages in three citizens’ records cases between Oct. 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014. Colin Hunter, an attorney with the Barnett Law Firm, who is representing this newspaper in its IPRA case against APD, said the denials are part of a legal strategy by APD and the city. “They are making a PR and calculated risk assessment decision in denying these requests,” Hunter said, “hoping that the requestors go away and that only one in 10 will actually sue.” Hunter said he believes the city will seek to dismiss the newspaper as a plaintiff and cut its exposure under the bad-faith portion of the IPRA statute, which calls for damages to be paid to all plaintiffs wrongfully denied records. The records denials are the stick in APD’s carrot-and-stick strategy in dealing with the news media – which is play ball with us and we’ll spoon-feed you access, stories, video, mug shots and story leads; ask difficult questions and get the stick – no cooperation, no access and a big “no comment.” To be fair, other agencies do the same thing. The governor’s people don’t answer questions they don’t like. Hell, they don’t even return phone calls from media outlets they don’t like. But the APD records situation has become intolerable for a population that requires spin-free information to hold a troubled police department accountable. Case law is against APD and the civilians directing its policy. Taxpayers are paying the financial price, but eventually, someone’s going to pay a political price. This issue marks our sixth month of publication. Our readership is growing and, just as importantly, our advertising is picking up. People have told us they’ve been looking for another media voice in our community. We hope we’re providing that voice. We could use your help in identifying high-traffic business locations that would benefit both you and them if ABQ Free Press were allowed to place a wire rack inside or a weatherproof box outside their premises. We’ll gladly accept your suggestions. All you need to do is talk to the manager or owner and ask them if they’d be willing to let us to distribute there. Send us an email with the business name, address and the person you talked to and we’ll get it done. Dan Vukelich is the editor of ABQ Free Press. Reach him at [email protected]. NEWS ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 5 APD’s Purchase of Assault Rifles Called ‘Borderline Illegal’ BY PETER ST. CYR T he Albuquerque Police Department rushed through a questionable purchase of 350 militarystyle assault weapons within weeks of a U.S. Justice Department report criticizing APD’s fondness for such weapons. The police department justified the rifles’ purchase on the grounds that the Justice Department mandated that it buy the AR-15 semi-automatic weapons. An ABQ Free Press inquiry found no such federal mandate. The DOJ confirmed to this newspaper there is nothing in its report of its year-long investigation into APD’s record of civil rights violations that could reasonably be construed to be a federal mandate. In fact, the DOJ criticized the department’s culture of aggression and officers’ “fondness for powerful weaponry.” “The Department of Justice did not recommend that the Albuquerque Police Department acquire firearms of any kind as part of its April 2014 investigative findings letter,” DOJ spokeswoman Elizabeth Martinez wrote in mid-October in an email response to the newspaper’s inquiry. Instead of gun purchases, the DOJ’s initial recommendations were designed to provide greater controls and accountability by APD on its officers’ unconstitutional use of force, according to Martinez. The DOJ’s April 10 report recommended a review of APD’s use-of-force policy “to place more emphasis on de-escalation techniques and require officers to consider less-intrusive alternatives before employing force.” Initially reluctant to answer questions about how APD interpreted the DOJ findings, a police spokeswoman said the department placed the gun order to implement a standardized APD weapons policy. In May, Police Chief Gorden Eden prohibited officers from using personal weapons or adding to or modifying department-owned firearms. A Rapid Purchase Report form completed by APD fiscal manager Aubrey Thompson on May 16 and obtained by ABQ Free Press references the DOJ’s description of “systemic deficiencies” and “DOL [sic] federal mandates” as justification for the $350,000 weapons purchase. “APD wishes to purchase approximately 350 rifles to address this item,” Thompson wrote on the form, which requested immediate action and a shortened An AR-15 similar to the 350 that APD bought. bid process. Six days later, in another interoffice memo to the city of Albuquerque’s Purchasing Department, Thompson again attributed the need for the AR-15 purchase to the DOJ. “The department has tested different rifles and this particular item meets APDs [sic] needs while adhering to the suggestions made by the DOJ,” Thompson wrote. The high-powered rifles, according to Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union New Mexico, may send the wrong message to the community because the AR-15 originally was developed for use on the battlefield. “The deadly weapons officers carry while on duty should be viewed as a serious responsibility, not – as noted by the DOJ in its findings – a personal status symbol for officers,” Simonson said. The ACLU believes officers should have the tools they need for law enforcement, Simonson said, “but we may legitimately ask whether every officer on the street needs these high-power rifles to conduct ordinary law-enforcement activities.” The gun purchase raises questions about just how seriously cultural and use-of-force reforms are being considered at APD, Simonson said. City Councilor Rey Garduño said he doesn’t understand why APD considered the firearms purchase to be urgent. He and City Council President Ken Sanchez previously said they would have preferred Chief Eden wait until after the DOJ issued its negotiated reform plan or after the DOJ and city entered into a consent decree. Garduño said the rifle purchase may have violated city procurement rules. “It’s not only egregious, I think it’s borderline illegal based on our established procurement process,” he said. Garduño said if rules were violated, he’ll ask for the deal to be rescinded and the guns returned to Albuquerque gun dealer Walter Bracken at BMC Tactical, 2617 Coors Blvd. S.W., whose offer beat out that of the only other bidder, a dealer from Texas. APD’s initial purchase request said the department had identified as many as 60 dealers that had the weapon APD wanted. Sanchez – who previously asked State Auditor Hector Balderas to review APD’s sole-source contract with Taser for lapel video cameras – said the police department has an obligation to ensure taxpayers are getting the best price. ‘The Department of Justice did not recommend that the Albuquerque Police Department acquire firearms of any kind’ – DOJ Spokeswoman “They rushed and acted prematurely,” Sanchez said. Former city of Albuquerque senior buyer Charles “Chuck” McCoy, who worked for the city 18 years, requested the APD purchasing documents under the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act. McCoy shared them with ABQ Free Press. McCoy said the $1,000-per-weapon price tag wasn’t a bad price, but he said there are more than five dozen vendors with similar weapons that might have offered a better price had not APD’s gun specifications been so exact. “They didn’t care about the price, and they just wanted to get going on it before somebody figured out that mandate was bogus,” said McCoy, a certified purchasing expert. He also questioned the price the city paid for ammunition. Local gun dealers who talked to ABQ Free Press for background information also said they believe the city got a good price on the weapons. They said they decided not to bid on the deal themselves because the city takes months to pay its bills. To contact the reporter, email: [email protected] Ebola Fears Send Sales of Biohazard Suits Soaring BY JIM WAGNER Editor’s Note: Earlier this year ABQ Free Press reported on the “prepper” movement – people who stock up on supplies and make plans for apocalyptic events, including war, civil unrest, famine and plague. This is an update. S ome “preppers” – people who prepare for the apocalypse – are doing little more than yawning about the threat or fear of an Ebola epidemic, because they’ve already prepared for calamity. Food. Water. Matches. Bandages. Bullets, etc. You name it, it’s already been stashed. For the rest of America, the fear of Ebola is apparently turning regular folks into preppers. CNBC.com reports that some Americans are preparing for large-scale contagion. Figures from Amazon showed that by the first week of October, “sales of a type of full-body protective suits were up 131,000 percent and sales for one type of mask had risen 18,000 percent in 24 hours.” Biohazard suits sell online for less than $50 to more than $500. Businessweek.com reports that Lysol’s Facebook page is jammed with questions about the effectiveness of Lysol products in killing the Ebola virus. Lysol’s disinfectant sprays are EPA-approved for hospitals, the site says, but Lysol has not been formally tested on Ebola. The maker says that “based on their ability to kill similar as well as harder-to-kill viruses, these products are likely to be effective against the Ebola virus.” What about Clorox? The maker says its bleach and disinfectant wipes also meet hospital-grade criteria of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Businessweek.com reports. The company recently shipped 12,000 bottles of bleach to infected regions in West Africa, the site reports. cont. on page 11 POLITICS PAGE 6 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS The Secret to Negative TV Ads is They Work By JOE MONAHAN A politician relishes nothing more than to be able to control the message – and they get ultimate control when they produce TV spots that sprout up this time of year like weeds after a good rain. So what did the candidates come up with this time that will be remembered more than a day after the election results are final? Even Republicans admit that a “caught on tape” moment made into a 30-second spot by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall was a game-changer for the race. Not that the GOP’s Allen Weh has been a serious threat to Udall, but until this particular ad hit the airwaves, Udall could feel him breathing down his neck. In a spot reminiscent of the one that revealed a video recording of Mitt Romney saying 47 percent of the population doesn’t pay taxes and therefore won’t vote for him, Weh is caught on audio tape arguing that no one below the age of 26 should get a minimum wage. He declares in a voice dripping with derision: “So what if they’re making four bucks an hour? So what?” Like the Romney 47 percent remark, this one reinforces the worst fears about modern Republicanism – that it holds in contempt those who are not well off and does so with a bold and cold arrogance. Like Romney, Weh is a multimillionaire. He made his comments at the ABQ Economic Forum, a group heavily weighted with affluent business owners and executives. The circumstances were eerily similar to those of Romney, who made his 47 percent comment before a group of wealthy supporters. As with the Romney ad, the Udall spot has the feel of a campaign tipping point. Sometimes your campaign trackers strike gold. This may be one of those times. The video of a working woman mopping the floor as Weh’s comments are repeatedly aired drives the point home and may have put the nails in Weh’s political coffin. A series of memorable TV and radio ads also may be looked back upon as another campaign tipping point. This time it’s the race for governor. Dem hopeful Gary King, struggling financially in September and unable to have any TV on the air, was hammered relentlessly by Gov. Susana Martinez over the “Casanova Con Man.” This hit had as its centerpieces the perennial audience pleasers of sex and political intrigue. In a gripping narrative, viewers are told how the Casanova Con Man “preyed on women, stealing their live savings” and was sentenced to 34 years in prison. With menacing music in the background, the spot reveals how Casanova hired a lobbyist to help him get his sentence reduced to five years and how the lobbyist did so – with King’s help. Never mind that King’s campaign said Casanova had been released early by a judge, not by King. The die had been cast. “Gary King stands for the powerful few, not us,” the announcer declares with certainty. The timing of the spot was crucial, coming in mid-September when voters begin paying attention and when each side tries to define the other. The Casanova Con spots went unanswered by King. In politics, an unanswered charge is a charge believed. King had been polling in the low 40s, but after Casanova Con made his appearance, he fell into the 30s and even further out of contention. Not all ads have to be negative to help change or cement the course of a race. State Auditor Hector Balderas, running for attorney general, might have seemed too soft for the tough-on-crime crowd. He was last seen statewide in a primary race against Martin Heinrich for U.S. Senate – a race in which he often deferred to Heinrich and ultimately lost. Balderas reemerged this year with a much sharper edge. “In every corner of New Mexico, Auditor Hector Balderas is leading the fight against corruption,” an announcer intones with urgency. The ad gets credibility by using actual TV news clips about various Balderas investigations. The ad proceeds at a compelling pace, delivering these money lines: “Balderas cracked down on corrupt politicians from both parties” and “the independence to protect the people of New Mexico.” With that, Balderas separated himself from corruption charges that have haunted state Democrats in recent years and that were employed against them in the 2010 gubernatorial contest. The Balderas ad makes the viewer believe it should be a seamless and natural transition for Balderas to continue his battle against corruption as attorney general. That’s controlling the message. If you are offended that political ads manipulate your emotions and lead you to make false choices, consider this. Campaign professionals say a viewer needs about 10 exposures to a political ad for it to have maximum effect – so just call it quits after No. 9. Joe Monahan is a veteran of New Mexico politics whose daily blog can be found at joemonahan.com NEWS ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 7 Valerie Plame: On N.M., Susana, Gary, DWI, Schools BY BETSY MODEL “W eapons of Mass Distraction” became an oft-seen bumper sticker throughout New Mexico and the rest of the country in late 2003. In the following years it became a punch line for late night comedians and was picked up as a tag line by people around the world beginning to question the lives, money and resources being spent on the Iraq war. The obvious play on the words for the reason the Bush administration gave the world for the invasion of Iraq – that the US had credible evidence that Saddam Hussein had obtained access to weapons of mass [nuclear] destruction and was a threat to the West and to his neighboring countries – was a sign that many had come to doubt why we were in Iraq. Doubts grew in the months that followed the congressional hearings and media maelstrom surrounding “Plamegate” – the outing in the media of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. The media frenzy over Plame’s outing followed a June 6, 2003, op-ed published in The New York Times by her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson, who wrote it was highly unlikely that Saddam had ever had the resources or access to nuclear weapons. The congressional hearings and the global coverage of those hearings and the subsequent federal conviction of then-Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff Irving Lewis “Scooter” Libby – the Bush Administration official who outed Plame – cast further doubt on the Bush Administration’s justifications for what became an eight-year war. Plame acknowledges the rumor mill that had Joe Wilson being approached about running for Governor in 2014 on a Democrat ticket against Martinez was ‘true’ Plame, a covert CIA operative whose area of expertise was the determination of who had what nuclear technology and weapons within foreign governments, and Wilson, a career diplomat and outspoken former Ambassador to the African country of Gabon, spent the next couple of years writing books that shared with the world their versions of what happened. The books happened in quick succession – Wilson’s “The Politics of Truth: A Diplomat’s Memoir: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed my Wife’s CIA Identity,” came out in 2005, followed by Plame’s “Fair Game: How A Top CIA Agent Was Betrayed By Her Own Government” in 2007. Why They are Here Both Plame’s and Wilson’s books were bombshells in Washington, D.C., as George Bush struggled through his second term and the cost of the war in Iraq escalated. In 2007, they moved to New Mexico. Plame says she and her husband chose The Land of Enchantment in part because of her former career – she’d spent significant amount of time at Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory – and because, she says, New Plame Book Out Now It’s a classic Mark Twain quote Ex-spy Valerie Plame outside her Santa Fe home it all felt cleaner somehow – the weather, the skies and a fresh start for their twin children who, even at a young age, had witnessed how ugly it could become when sides are taken. Friendly with then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a former secretary of the U.S. Energy Department, the Plame/ Wilsons were welcomed into Santa Fe and found what Plame calls “that rare mixture of cultures and intelligence” that made them feel like they could not only exhale but dig in. And, over the last seven years, dig in they have. Wilson, a business consultant, has a reputation as a sharp – if intensely blunt – go-to person for those seeking advice on global affairs. Plame works at the Santa Fe Institute when she’s not speaking around the country on her personal passion, ending nuclear proliferation. ‘How can we pick up the paper so often and see stories about people being arrested for their sixth, seventh, eighth DWI violation? Are you kidding me?!’ In 2010, Plame saw “Fair Game,” turned into a big screen box office success starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Since then, in partnership with Santa Fe-based mystery writer Sarah Lovett, she has turned her attention to writing novels about – what cont. on page 16 that, even though penned a century earlier, could certainly be considered prescient to the life of New Mexico resident and author Valerie Plame: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” If using the word “implode” when talking about a CIA operative whose job was identifying and determining the threat level of nuclear weapons around the world feels a little smarmy, it’s bizarrely accurate. Plame’s life and career did, in fact, implode following the 2003 White House leak of her identity (see our cover story), and the global media tsunami that ensued was captured rather well in her 2007 account, “Fair Game: How a Top CIA Agent Was Betrayed by Her Own Government.” Plame’s publishing company, Simon and Schuster, had to sue to get “Fair Game,” part biography and part exposé, published and the manuscript featured so much redaction as a result of a mandatory CIA review – which Simon and Schuster chose to include as large swaths of blacked out lines – that it left many readers swearing they could detect the faint smell of a black marker. Just a few years later, Plame chose to try writing again – this time fiction. With a more-than-capable writing partner in Santa Fe mystery writer Sarah Lovett, the two turned out the 2013 spy thriller “Blowback.” Featuring a covert female CIA operative by the name of Vanessa Pierson who travels the globe tracking down dangerous nuclear arms dealers, the book was well received by critics and nicely endorsed by peer authors including Douglas Preston, David Baldacci and Lee New Mexico readers Child. can pick up a copy of The second title in “Burned” and meet the Vanessa Pierson the authors during series, “Burned,” (Blue readings and signings Rider Press/Penguin, hard at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 at cover, $26.95) is now hitting Santa Fe’s Collected bookstores. Readers will Works, 202 Galisteo once again get to follow the St.; and at 7 p.m. Nov. covert ops officer – this time 6 at Albuquerque’s from Paris to Amsterdam to Venice to Istanbul – as Bookworks, 4022 Rio she hunts down Bhoot, Grande Blvd. N.E. the world’s most notorious nuclear arms dealer. While Twain was right about truth often being stranger than fiction, Plame and Lovett have done enough skillful blending that readers may well be left wondering whether the world and the world’s safety really is in the hands of the few as opposed to the many, as well as where fiction and the truth merge. An author and speaker who loves engaging with her readers and her audience, Plame grins when asked if there’s a wink-wink, nudge-nudge component to the Vanessa Pierson series that allows those who attend her readings and book signings not only to ask questions but to feel as if they’re privy to an inside joke. – Betsy Model OPINION PAGE 8 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS Martinez Administration Is as Transparent as Mud APD Veteran Calls for ‘Yes’ On Mental Health Question BY PAT DAVIS, ProgressNowNM.org BY THOMAS GROVER S usana Martinez came into office promising to run “the most transparent administration in history.” If you ask her staff, they’ll tell you she’s done just that. Maybe she has, but she sure has a funny way of showing it. Just weeks into her administration, a New Mexico Supreme Court battle erupted over her administration’s use of private emails to let dairy industry lobbyists write orders turning back pollution rules designed to protect air and water. Lobbyist Pat Rogers set up meetings with the governor’s chief of staff to discuss his clients’ contract managing lottery games – using those same “off the record” email accounts. They got Rogers in trouble, too, after his emails to the governor’s staff denounced planned meetings with Native Americans as “disrespectful” to the memory of notorious Indian-killer Gen. Custer. Martinez’s official staff was included on them all, as was Martinez on a few. Since then, Martinez’s appointed secretary of the Department of Corrections told the press that she was directed to use personal emails to avoid public records requests for communications. Want to know how the administration spent millions of dollars on an “audit” of behavioral health providers that supposedly uncovered fraud? Nope. The administration says that’s private, even after the New Mexico attorney general checked the math and found no fraud in the first few cases he’d checked. Want to know whether the governor stays in the presidential suite of the Four Seasons or in the corner room of the Motel 6 when she travels on our dime? No, thank you. The governor won’t give that up, even after newspapers sued her to get it. To be fair, the governor has had the chance to make new law when it comes to transparency. So far, I’ve counted almost a halfdozen times that newspapers and reporters have sued the governor or her administration for failing to give up public records that show how her administration is working. The Las Cruces Sun-News, New Mexico In Depth, even the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, have gone to court to get public records she squirreled away. When reporters seeking her travel records asked the state Supreme Court to step in, her lawyer made the audacious claim that the governor is exempt from public records laws and that the court has no jurisdiction over her unilateral decision to grant herself this new status. Add all of this to new revelations that, weeks before a nonpublic audit was even complete, members of her administration secretly traveled to Arizona to meet with firms they later would appoint to take over behavioral health firms targeted by their audit. Not to mention new allegations that hard drives full of emails from the governor and her staff were “intentionally destroyed” after she left the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office. Like I said, if this is transparency, Susana Martinez sure has a funny way of showing it. Pat Davis is the executive director of ProgressNowNM, a nonpartisan progressive group that has been critical of the Martinez administration. To the Editor (via voicemail) My name is Chris. I’d really like to know how come out here in Albuquerque (I’m from out east, I’m in Georgia) you say you’re a free press, but I read stuff in your paper, and you are clearly liberal. You are clearly a homo and you like homos, and that’s fine, if that’s what you want. But a lot of us Americans, we don’t go for that sort of thing. If you put out a free press, why don’t you put out everyone’s opinion instead of citing those on your side. Thank you very nice. I would actually respect you for the opposite opinion. I have no respect for you now. — Chris Editor’s note: We received Chris’ voicemail after we ran a cover image of Neil Patrick Harris in drag following his Tony award win for his role in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” F or eight years, I patrolled the streets in the Valley as an Albuquerque police officer. For me, interacting with people in various states of mental health disorders was not a daily or weekly incident but truly was an hourly occurrence. And as I look back over the past decade, most of the high-profile incidents involving our community’s law enforcement agencies involved persons with mental health issues. Nearly 10 years ago, John Hyde went on a killing spree and killed five people, including two Albuquerque police officers. This past spring, we had the incident involving James Boyd up in the foothills, which brought national attention to our city and the state’s largest police force. I was on duty the day Hyde went on his rampage, and I know first-hand the effect it had on APD as an institution. As a street officer, I often wondered how many could-be “John Hydes” I encountered – whether it was the woman running around naked in Civic Plaza; the disoriented man lost in the library at Fifth and Copper; or the catatonic male who continued to walk up Eighth Street refusing to talk or stop for officers as he continued on his deliberate path that led to an elementary school. Sadly in the Albuquerque area, when law enforcement officers encounter people with mental health disorders, our options are limited. We either transport them to UNM’s mental health hospital or they get booked into the jail. Today, Bernalillo County’s Metropolitan Detention Center is overcrowded. Half the people there are receiving psychiatric services. Now, as a lawyer, I realize there is no easy solution. As a community, our goal Dear Editor: In your article entitled “Susana, Dianna Believe Less is More,” in the Sept. 24 issue by Dan Vukelich, it was stated that it was an unreasonable request to expect generation upon generation upon generation of welfare and food stamp recipients to work. Well, as a taxpayer, I am fed up with having to pay for uneducated [people], having welfare mentalities and not wanting to do more than keep having babies that they cannot afford to take care of just to get additional food stamps and welfare. This has gone on too long. New Mexico is like a “leech state” sucking the blood from others to maintain a status of “mañana,” not wanting to work nor educate themselves, just counting the number of welfare babies that they have introduced into society. I am not a big fan of Susana Martinez but it is about time that someone does something with the bloodsuckers who prey on the system while working people pay for them to do absolutely nothing. If you don’t have anyone to watch your children stop having children. should be to reduce law enforcement’s encounters with the mentally ill. The existing policy of not having any policy has been painfully expensive, as we’ve seen with the Hyde and Boyd incidents. In contrast, San Antonio and Bexar County, Texas, have become a model for addressing underlying issues of mental illness. Their “smart justice” program diverts people with serious mental illness out of jail and into treatment. City and county agencies and nonprofits there came together and created a “Restoration Center,” which offers a 48hour inpatient psychiatric unit, outpatient services, detox and substance abuse treatment, and assistance with housing. The results have been telling. Jails are less full, people are getting the help they need, and the community has saved more than $50 million in the past five years. On Nov. 4, Bernalillo County has an opportunity to vote in support of a 1/8 cent gross receipts tax advisory question that would promote a similar mental-health triage center here. If the advisory question passes, the Bernalillo County Commission is committed to moving forward on legislation in 2015. Increased mental health funding will make our community safer for individuals, families and, in turn, will help law enforcement do their job. It will result in taxpayer savings by reducing the high costs of incarceration and hospitalization and also get those in crisis the treatment they need. I ask you to join me and vote “yes.” Thomas Grover is an attorney and a former APD sergeant. Both my parents had to work, pay for their education, get jobs and raise their children, all without welfare assistance. There are options and solutions to consistently being on welfare, i.e., go back to school. There are programs where they will watch your children, etc., so at least make an attempt. Why should the working public pay for others to have children and care for them when we have our own families to support. I do not feel sympathy for these individuals who are living off of welfare and food stamps at the taxpayer’s expense. New Mexico is almost No. 1 in the nation with people receiving welfare and getting social security disability. The majority of these individuals have never worked a day in their lives. So why should we, the individuals that have been working for years, support these individuals financially all while depleting our social security funds from those who have worked to earn these benefits. Food stamps and welfare was first established as emergency funding, not a way of life. — Sherrie Lynn Sanderson NEWS ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 9 Metro Court Candidate Knows the System – Maybe Too Well BY DENNIS DOMRZALSKI W 21, 1996, when she was 19. She hile it’s almost impossible was charged with driving on to get through life witha suspended license, no auto out getting parking or traffic insurance, no vehicle registration tickets, one candidate for and improper use of evidence Bernalillo County Magistrate of registration. She failed to Court judgeship has racked up appear for a court hearing and a decent string of tickets since a warrant was issued in the case 1996. by Judge Theresa Gomez. Vidalia Chavez, the Chavez and her ex-husband, Democratic candidate for Encinias, were sued on Dec. the Division 14 Metro Court 4, 2013, in Bernalillo County seat, has been ticketed on 14 District Court for allegedly faildifferent dates, sometimes for ing to repay $36,000 in student multiple offenses, over the last loans. The attorney who filed 18 years, Metro Court records the suit, Darren Tallman, did show. not return several phone calls While most of the tickets inquiring about the case. were routine parking violaGruber said his wife didn’t tions, other charges included know about the lawsuit because parking on a sidewalk, runshe had not been served with paning a stop sign, driving pers regarding it. “Perhaps they without insurance and driving discovered they were Mario’s on a suspended license. And Vidalia Chavez for Metro Court Facebook page loans and not hers,” Gruber said. in several cases, judges had to Vidalia Chavez, a candidate for Metro Court, leads her campaign contingent in the Mario Encinias could not be issue warrants for Chavez’s State Fair Parade last month. reached for comment. failure to appear in court or pay the tickets, records show. the 14 instances in which Chavez was Dennis Domrzalski is an associate editor Chavez eventually paid all fines in ticketed came after her graduation at ABQ Free Press. Reach him at connection with all the tickets. from law school, with three occurring [email protected] In addition, Chavez and her exin 2013 and 2014. husband, Mario Encinias, have been Chavez didn’t respond to several sued in state District Court for their inquiries about her string of tickets. alleged failure to repay more than Her husband, Chad Gruber, also an $36,000 in student loans. attorney, said parking tickets weren’t Chavez’s tickets include parking on a sidewalk, driving on a suspended license, driving without insurance, running a stop sign and no vehicle registration. In several cases she failed to appear in court Chavez, 38, graduated from the University of New Mexico’s School of Law in 2006 and is a former member of the Albuquerque Police Oversight Commission. “My dedication to the Law and to the people of New Mexico is why I am running for Metropolitan Court Judge,” Chavez’s campaign website says. “After years of work as an attorney at the Metropolitan Court, handling jury trials, bench trials, hearings and years of working on the Metropolitan Court Rules Committee, I hope to bring my experience to the position of Metropolitan Court Judge.” Despite that dedication, eight of that big of a deal. “Ms. Chavez is a very well-qualified candidate. She is in the middle of a very busy campaign and I would think that a number of parking tickets is not a very pressing matter,” Gruber said. Chavez’s opponent, Metro Court Judge Peg Holguin, former executive director of the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission, was ticketed on Jan. 27, 2006, for not having proof of insurance, Metro Court records show. ‘Ms. Chavez is a very well-qualified candidate. She is in the middle of a very busy campaign and I would think that a number of parking tickets is not a very pressing matter’ – candidate’s husband Holguin said she had no knowledge of Chavez’s ticket history and wouldn’t comment other than to say, “That’s something the voters would have to make a decision about.” Chavez got her first tickets on June Albuquerque’s Premier Facility - for - Mock Trials & Focus Groups • Trial planning and issue spotting, in-house facilitators • Mock jury services • Witness preparation • Simulated court and deliberation venues • Political polling Call 505-263-8425 or email [email protected] 6608 Gulton Court NE, Alb. 87109 trialmetrixnm.com NEWS PAGE 10 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS UNM ‘Sex Week’ Apology Will New Police Board Be More Effective than Old One? Raises Free Speech Doubts BY DENNIS DOMRZALSKI A lbuquerque’s new police oversight agency has the potential to be as toothless and ineffective as its discredited predecessor, the Police Oversight Commission (POC). It also has the opportunity to bring a new and higher level of oversight to the Albuquerque Police Department. We won’t know what will happen until early next year when the new Police Oversight Board (POB) and the Civilian Police Oversight Agency begin operating, but we can look at the new agency’s structure and how it might do business. First, the downside. The POB and its staff will have the authority to investigate civilian complaints against the police department, make recommendations for disciplinary action against cops, as well as recommend policy changes for APD. But no one — not the mayor, not the police chief and not individual police officers — has to listen to or do what the board recommends. It’s all voluntary, just as it was under the POC. That concerns activist Danny Hernandez, who says the oversight process should be stronger. “It’s kind of halfway between what was going on and what those of us who would like to see real reform would like. It is still advisory and has no teeth,” Hernandez said. “It can investigate more than the previous one did, but I would like to see an oversight committee that has the ability to subpoena, investigate and indict, completely separate from city government and without city government having any oversight over its decisions.” The upside, according to City Council President Ken Sanchez, is that the POB will be somewhat isolated from political influence from the mayor’s office and the City Council. It also has a mandate that the POC lacked. “One of the things we recommended was that 51 percent of their duties would be to look at policies within the APD,” Sanchez said. “Their focus will no longer be to listen to cases but to set new policies and directions, which is not being done now.” And while the POB is charged with setting new policies for APD, the department isn’t required to implement those recommendations. Here’s a look at some differences between the new police oversight effort and what was previously in place: BY SABRINA AUTRY The board selection process Under the old system, each city councilor appointed a member from his or her district to the board. While that ensured citywide representation on the nine-member board, it left open the idea that councilors could appoint friends and favorites who basically would be representing individual councilors and not city residents. Under the new process, the City Council staff will screen applicants for the ninemember POB. Council staff will send a list of up to 18 candidates to the council, which then will choose the board members. While the new selection process removes some power from city councilors, it gives lots more authority to the council staff. Dedicated funding source The old POC’s budget could change from year to year, depending on the desire to properly fund it. One way to ensure that a police oversight system doesn’t oversee anything is simply to not fund it. Now, the POB and its staff will have a dedicated funding source of one half of 1 percent of APD’s operating budget, which for the POB will amount to about $750,000 a year. That makes it immune from politics. Policy role The ordinance that created the POB says that 51 percent of the agency’s time and resources must be devoted to examining APD policies and to making recommendations to change them. The former POC had no such authority. APD brass won’t have to listen or act on those policy recommendations, but it won’t be able to silently ignore them. “The chief of police shall respond in writing within 45 days to any such policy recommendations by the [Police Oversight Board] and indicate whether they will be followed through standard operating procedures or should be adopted as policy by the City Council, or explain any reasons why such policy recommendations will not be followed or should not be adopted,” the ordinance creating the agency reads. City Councilor Brad Winter said that while the new oversight process isn’t perfect, it’s far better than what had been in place. “What we had before did not work at all,” Winter said. Dennis Domrzalski is an associate editor at ABQ Free Press. Reach him at [email protected] W ithin a period of two days, UNM defended Sex Week, then after coverage by the news media and pressure from a conservative group, expressed regret and issued a public apology. The episode has students and organizers wondering about the future of free speech at the university. Sex Week was a voluntary event Sept. 29-Oct. 2 hosted by UNM’s Women Resource Center at the Student Union Building. Summer Little, director of the WRC, was quoted on UNM’s news site prior to the event as saying, “Sex Week is part of the Women’s Resource Center’s strategy to prevent sexual violence from occurring on campus.” On Oct. 1, the UNM administration renounced support for the event. The apology made headlines around the United States. Hunter Riley, a Sex Week coordinator who works as a manager at Self-Serve Sexuality, a Nob Hill sex accessories shop, criticized the university for apologizing and for calling topics of the event “sensational and controversial.” Riley has started a petition in support of Sex Week that has garnered more than 1,000 signatures. “If you look at any Sex Week that has happened at universities elsewhere, it is really typical to see some sort of negative backlash, and that is how we know it is important to have these conversations,” Riley said. “However, I was not prepared for UNM’s administration to apologize for it.” The petition’s purpose is to give students a way to support Sex Week going forward and to show the UNM administration that its apology did a “disservice to survivors of sexual assault” by undermining the teaching of honest and vital sex education. “By calling topics of normal adult sexuality ‘sensational and controversial,’” UNM administrators and officials promote fear, shame, and judgment, the petition says. “The prevalence of shame and silence has led directly to the alarming frequency of sexual assault in our society at large and New Mexico especially,” it says. Riley said most opposition to the event came from people who didn’t attend Sex Week. She noted that she didn’t see any UNM administrators at any of the workshops. Sex Week was a four-day seminar hosted by the Women’s Resource Center that offered information about consensual safe sex through a series of seminars. Seminar titles included: “How to be a Gentleman and Get Laid,” “Sexy Mamas,” “I Heart Orgasms,” and “O-Face Oral.” Reid Mihalko, a relationship and sex expert who has appeared on Oprah, VH1 and CBS, spoke at the UNM event. “It used to be where students were encouraged to have controversial discussions,” he said of the UNM apology. Official UNM policy does encourage controversial discussions. UNM’s Business Policies and Procedures Manual Policy 2220 states: “The exchange of diverse viewpoints may expose people to ideas some find offensive, even abhorrent. The way that ideas are expressed may cause discomfort to those who disagree with them. The appropriate response to such speech is speech expressing opposing ideas and continued dialogue, not curtailment of speech.” On Sept. 29, in the “Inside UNM” section of the university’s website, Mara Kerkez, a UNM publicist, acknowledged: “The provocative nature of the titles of the workshops has spurred a lot of conversations about the appropriateness of sex education on campus. “UNM’s policy on free speech describes why a college campus is a correct venue for debate and controversial topics,” Kerkez wrote. But on Oct. 1, Eliseo “Cheo” Torres, vice president of UNM student affairs, wrote in the school’s official apology, “The initiative did not have clear oversight or close enough supervision to prevent the inclusion of topics that are sensational and controversial.” The UNM Students for Life group led opposition to the event when it posted a flier with the Sex Week event schedule on Facebook with the caption, “We cannot believe that UNM is hosting an event like this! We have already sent a letter to the Dean and the President expressing our concern, and we encourage you to do the same.” Katherine Schweizer, president of Students for Life, attended the Sex Week seminar titled, “O-Face Oral.” “I was disappointed that they didn’t really address how to prevent sexual assault,” she said. In response to UNM’s apology, UNM student Shelby Page said, “I think that the university should go into the next year with pride and confidence and understand that there are some students that don’t see the positivity in the event.” Sabrina Autry is a Central New Mexico Community College student and journalism intern at ABQ Free Press. ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 11 NEWS Silvery Minnow is Rio Grande’s Canary in the Coal Mine By Laura Paskus E ven if most people living in Albuquerque backwaters, the tiny fish steers clear of the main don’t make it to the banks of the Rio Grande channel. As a fact sheet from the New Mexico all that often – peering over the Montaño bridge Department of Game and Fish points out, “the while struck in traffic doesn’t quite count, nor species does not need a large quantity of water does walking your dog along the irrigation but it does need continuous flow.” ditches – the river’s role here is critical. In recent years, however, not enough water has Some of the city’s water comes from the Rio been left in the river to ensure survival of the Grande, via the Albuquerque Drinking Water three-inch long fish. Each year, when the river Project, which came online in 2008. The river also dries, biologists survey the channel, seining provides sustenance for fields and orchards and puddles for minnows. The live ones are scooped habitat for wildlife. It’s the reason humans have out, dropped into makeshift tanks on the backs lived in this valley for thousands of years. of ATVs and trucked to a section of the river According to an environmental history of the that’s flowing. Middle Rio Grande, the riparian cottonwood So few minnows survive in the Middle Rio forest – the bosque – along the river has existed Grande today that biologists also collect eggs here for about two million years. in the spring for hatcheries and then stock the It wasn’t surprising then, that when Mayor young fish in the river each fall. Last fall, when Richard Berry came out with his “Rio Grande biologists sampled for minnows at 20 sites from Vision” – a plan to boost recreational use of the north of Bernalillo south to Elephant Butte they bosque – response from the local chapter of the found the species at only three sites. Sierra Club and valley neighborhood associa This summer, things were a bit better: They tions was swift: many people don’t want to see found one or two minnows at about half the sites. any development, commercial projects, paved Despite its mandate to enforce the Endangered trails or boat ramps. They worried the mayor’s Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan didn’t protect wildlife or prevent nonlegally allows the Rio Grande to dry from the native plants from continuing to overtake the Pueblo of Isleta all the way to Elephant Butte cottonwood groves. Reservoir. Gensler points out that cooperative Lively debate over the health of the bosque – efforts among agencies prevented that sort of and how to spend taxpayer money maintaining drying from occurring this year. it – is well and proper. But both sides left the This spring, the minnow is doing better than most pressing problem out of the discussion – in 2012 or 2013. But Thomas Archdeacon, a fish U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that is, that the Rio Grande itself is imperiled. biologist with the New Mexico Fish and Wildlife When biologists rescue endangered silvery minnows from the dry Rio Grande riverbed and Legally, water managers must ensure the Conservation Office, points out that its popularelocate them to other wet stretches of the river, other species – including carp, red shiners, river flows year-round through Albuquerque. tion is nowhere close to its pre-drought status. mosquito fish, and catfish – are left to die. But south of the city, the state’s largest river is Last year, biologists stocked almost 300,000 miles of the river in southern New Mexico are allowed to run dry during irrigation season, silvery minnows in the river; this year, they’ll sandy almost 9 months out of the year – if not for a as the river’s waters are siphoned into the valley’s stock another 271,000. Despite hopes for a decent rare fish that’s been protected since 1994 under the canals and ditches for farmers. snowpack and spring runoff to boost the river’s federal Endangered Species Act. Summer rains helped keep the river wet this year, flows, Archdeacon isn’t overly optimistic: “It’s a Habitat for the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow used said David Gensler, hydrologist with the Middle pretty horrible situation out there,” he said. to include about 3,000 miles of the Rio Grande and Rio Grande Conservancy District. So, too, did the Say what you will about the fish – that they don’t its tributary, the Pecos River. Today, the minnow is release of supplemental water by the U.S. Bureau of matter, they’re not good eatin’– but their low numconfined in the Middle Rio Grande to a 173-mile Reclamation from upstream reservoirs. bers do say something about the health of the river. stretch of river that’s divided by dams and diver And yet, more than 20 miles of the Rio Grande And perhaps the three-inch-long fish even says sions into three separate sections. (A few years ago, south of Albuquerque still dried this season. Last something about our own future in the valley. the fish was also reintroduced in a stretch of the year, about 30 miles dried. In 2012, it was more than river in Big Bend National Park in Texas.) 50 miles. Laura Paskus is an independent journalist who lives Living in shallow eddies, oxbows, and silty The drying wouldn’t be a big deal – some 200 in Albuquerque. Ebola Fears, Page 5 Some advice: Be more sanitary than you’ve ever been. Wash your hands. Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer handy. Wipe down doorknobs and toilet seats and anything else we typically touch. Of course, avoid direct contact with an infected person or animal; it’s their blood, bodily fluids, and tissue transmission that infects. An extreme option would be locking yourself in your home so that you don’t come into contact with anyone. Of course, that option could be a lifesaver, but only if you’ve “prepped” sufficiently to outlast the pandemic that sent you indoors in the first place. Jim Wagner is a freelance reporter who lives in Albuquerque. Reach him at daddywagsediting.com Here’s an update on Ebola from Steven Bradfute, an Ebola vaccine researcher with UNM Department of Internal Medicine and Center for Global Health: W hen people are infected with Ebola virus and survive, they develop proteins that specifically bind to and neutralize Ebola. These antibodies – as well as T cells, which can kill virus-infected cells – are what give the survivors immunity to future infection. The antibodies are found in the blood, and are present in plasma or serum isolated from the blood of Ebola virus survivors. In monkey studies, transfer of antibodies isolated from the blood of animals that have survived infection is very effective in protecting other monkeys infected with Ebola virus. This treatment is more efficient the sooner it is given, but has been remarkably protective in most studies. So it’s an experimental yet very promising approach to treating sick patients. There are several vaccines that have been effective in protecting monkeys from Ebola virus. Two of these are now in early Phase I clinical trials in humans. There has been some talk of using experimental vaccines in populations that are at high risk for Ebola infection, but it’s too early to tell if that will occur. M Y PAGE 12 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS Retention Report to Voters Statewide 2nd Judicial District: Bernalillo County (page 1) Statewide 2nd Judicial District: Bernalillo County (page 2) The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission makes the following summary recommendations to voters: Honorable Edward L. Chavez New Mexico Supreme Court 100 Of those surveyed, 87% of attorneys, 97% of court staff, 100% of appellate judges and 98% of district judges recommended retaining Justice Chavez. 80 60 87% Honorable Christina P. Argyres 2nd Judicial District Court 0 Insufficent time in current position to evaluate. Honorable Shannon Bacon 2nd Judicial District Court 60 81% 97% 92% 96% 40 20 0 Of those surveyed, 80% of attorneys and 79% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Bacon. Honorable Linda M. Vanzi New Mexico Court of Appeals Of those surveyed, 79% of attorneys, 92% of court staff, 100% of appellate judges and 93% of district judges recommended retaining Judge Vanzi. 80 60 79% 92% 100% 93% 20 Of those surveyed, 79% of attorneys, 39% of court staff and 78% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Barela-Shepherd . Attorneys Court Appellate District Staff Judges Judges Honorable Jim Wechsler New Mexico Court of Appeals 100 Of those surveyed, 85% of attorneys, 89% of court staff, 100% of appellate judges and 96% of district judges recommended retaining JudgeWechsler. 80 60 85% 89% 40 20 0 79% 40 20 20 40 39% 20 0 78% Attorneys Court Appellate District Staff Judges Judges Of those surveyed, 74% of attorneys and 86% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Campbell. CM 0 MY 60 40 71% 70% 74% 86% DON’T VOTE WITHOUT THE INFORMATION YOU NEED 80 60 74% 40 20 80 92% 97% 40% 20 60 40 80 60 80 60 40 20 0 72% 80% 75% 20 0 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff Honorable Elizabeth Whitefield 2nd Judicial District Court 65% Of those surveyed, 88% of attorneys, 96% of court staff and 80% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Romero. Attorneys Court Staff Of those surveyed, 90% of attorneys and 91% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Whitefield. 20 100 80 60 80 90% 91% 60 40 20 0 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 88% 96% 80% 40 20 0 81% 40 100 40 0 Attorneys Court Staff 92% 98% 60 Attorneys Court Staff Honorable John J. Romero, Jr. 2nd Judicial District Court 100 97% 80 100 Honorable Gerard J. Lavelle 2nd Judicial District Court Of those surveyed, 92% of attorneys and 98% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Lavelle. 40 0 Of those surveyed, 80% of attorneys, 75% of court staff and 65% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Parnall. Attorneys Court Staff 100 Of those surveyed, 72% of attorneys, 97% of court staff and 81% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Whitaker. Honorable William E. Parnall 2nd Judicial District Court 0 Attorneys Court Staff JPEC Rules allow for an evaluation only if a judge has served at least two years in the current position or has sufficient data to achieve a statistically valid sample. Judge Chavez has served on the Second Judicial Court since January 2013. 40 0 100% 60 Attorneys Court Staff Honorable Valerie A. Huling 2nd Judicial District Court Of those surveyed, 92% of attorneys and 97% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Huling. 88% 80 Of those surveyed, 88% of attorneys and 100% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Nash. 88% Honorable Stan Whitaker 2nd Judicial District Court 100 84% 78% 60 Attorneys Court Staff Honorable Nan G. Nash 2nd Judicial District Court 20 ABOUT JPEC AND OUR REPORT TO VOTERS have contact with each judge to make our recommendations to voters. We rely on personal interviews with each justice or judge standing for retention along with select courtroom observations. Of those surveyed, 74% of attorneys and 84% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Hadfield. 20 Honorable Benjamin Chavez 2nd Judicial Distrcit Court 80 20 0 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 100 Attorneys Court Staff The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) is a nonpartisan commission that surveys groups that 40 Of those surveyed, 78% of attorneys and 88% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Walker. 20 0 K 40 0 47% 20 CY CMY Insufficent time in current position to evaluate. 20 0 Attorneys Court Staff 60 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 80 M 20 80 79% C Y 80 60 75% 86% 40 100 61% 87% 88% 60 100 60 100 40 71% 100 80 Of those surveyed, 87% of attorneys and 88% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Malott. Honorable Alisa Ann Hadfield 2nd Judicial District Court Honorable Clay Pace Campbell 2nd Judicial District Court 100 Of those surveyed, 71% of attorneys and 70% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Brickhouse. Of those surveyed, 75% of attorneys and 86% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Butkus. 60 Honorable Deborah Davis Walker 2nd Judicial District Court 100 80 0 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff Attorneys Court Staff Honorable Beatrice J. Brickhouse 2nd Judicial District Court 100% 96% 40 80 Honorable Denise Barela-Shepherd 2nd Judicial District Court 40 0 80% 60 0 68% 60 Of those surveyed, 61% of attorneys, 71% of court staff and 47% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Flores. 84% 81% 100 80 Attorneys Court Appellate District Staff Judges Judges 100 100 Honorable Carl J. Butkus 2nd Judicial District Court 100 Honorable Alan M. Malott 2nd Judicial District Court Honorable Jacquline Dolores Flores 2nd Judicial District Court 80 0 100 Of those surveyed, 81% of attorneys, 97% of court staff, 92% of appellate judges and 96% of district judges recommended retaining Judge Fry. Of those surveyed, 68% of attorneys, 84% of court staff and 81% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Brown. Attorneys Court Appellate District Staff Judges Judges Honorable Cynthia A. Fry New Mexico Supreme Court 80 Honorable Charles W. Brown 2nd Judicial District Court JPEC Rules allow for an evaluation only if a judge has served at least two years in the current position or has sufficient data to achieve a statistically valid sample. Judge Argyres has served on the Second Judicial Court since January 2013. 20 The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission makes the following summary recommendations to voters: 100 97% 100% 98% 40 Y Y Retention Report to Voters ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 13 Attorneys Court Staff Honorable Briana H. Zamora 2nd Judicial District Court Insufficent time in current position to evaluate. JPEC Rules allow for an evaluation only if a judge has served at least two years in the current position or has sufficient data to achieve a statistically valid sample. Judge Zamora has served on the Second Judicial Court since January 2013. Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff ABOUT JPEC AND OUR REPORT TO VOTERS www.nmjpec.org 1-800-687-3417 The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) is a nonpartisan commission that surveys groups that have contact with each judge to make our recommendations to voters. We rely on personal interviews with each justice or judge standing for retention along with select courtroom observations. DON’T VOTE WITHOUT THE INFORMATION YOU NEED www.nmjpec.org 1-800-687-3417 C M Y PAGE 14 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 15 Come on, Libs, Give Susana Her Due on Taxes, Education BY JEFFRY GARDNER The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission makes the following summary recommendations to voters: Honorable Henry A. Alaniz Metropolitan Court Honorable Kevin L. Fitzwater Metropolitan Court 100 Of those surveyed, 84% of attorneys, 90% of court staff and 73% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Alaniz. 100 84% 90% 80 60 73% 40 20 0 Honorable Rosie Lazcano Allred Metropolitan Court 100 86% 80 Of those surveyed, 86% of attorneys and 97% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Allred. 97% 40 20 100 82% 84% 76% 80 60 40 20 0 60 40 20 60 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 92% 80 60 40 63% 80 60 79% Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 84% 94% 83% 40 20 0 76% 80% 87% Of those surveyed, 61% of attorneys, 89% of court staff and 64% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Rogers. Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 40 20 0 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 90% 73% 81% 81% 80 Of those surveyed, 40% of attorneys, 60 81% of court staff and 81% 40 of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Walton. Under JPEC 20 rules, eight members must agree in order to make a recommendation of 0 Attorneys Court Resource either Retain or Do Not Retain. Eight Staff Staff members did not agree on either recommendation; therefore, the JPEC makes no recommendation as to Judge Walton. ABOUT JPEC AND OUR REPORT TO VOTERS The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) is a nonpartisan commission that surveys groups that have contact with each judge to make our recommendations to voters. We rely on personal interviews with each justice or judge standing for retention along with select courtroom observations. 89% 80 60 40 64% 61% 20 0 89% 84% Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 90% 20 Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff 80 Of those surveyed, 86% of attorneys and 73% of court staff recommended retaining Judge Sedillo. 89% 40% 100 Of those surveyed, 84% of attorneys, 94% of court staff and 83% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Ramczyk. 60 100 20 0 80 Honorable Sharon D. Walton Metropolitan Court www.nmjpec.org 100 40 0 0 Honorable Frank A. Sedillo Metropolitan Court 100 Of those surveyed, 76% of attorneys, 89% of court staff and 84% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Engel. 20 Honorable Daniel E. Ramczyk Metropolitan Court Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff Honorable Sandra Engel Metropolitan Court 80 40 Of those surveyed, 80% of attorneys, 87% of court staff and 89% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Valdez. 100 84% 90% 78% 80 94% 91% 100 Honorable Linda S. Rogers Metropolitan Court 100 0 Of those surveyed, 63% of attorneys, 92% of court staff and 79% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Gonzales. Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff Honorable Maria I. Dominguez Metropolitan Court Of those surveyed, 84% of attorneys, 90% of court staff and 78% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Dominguez. 60 81% 100 Attorneys Court Staff Honorable Edward L. Benavidez Metropolitan Court Of those surveyed, 82% of attorneys, 84% of court staff and 76% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Benavidez. 80 A Honorable Victor E. Valdez Metropolitan Court Honorable Yvette K. Gonzales Metropolitan Court 60 0 K Of those surveyed, 81% of attorneys, 94% of court staff and 91% of resource staff recommended retaining Judge Fitzwater. Attorneys Court Resource Staff Staff Y Y Retention Report to Voters Metropolitan Court (Bernalillo County) M MY OPINION 60 86% 73% 1-800-687-3417 40 20 0 Attorneys Court Staff DON’T VOTE WITHOUT THE INFORMATION YOU NEED friend’s biggest complaint with Susana Martinez is “she really hasn’t done anything.” That’s not entirely accurate. It’s just that what she has done hasn’t come with a shiny new train attached to it, or a big Star Wars-looking creation in the desert. One thing she truly hasn’t done – left state taxpayers holding the bag trying to pay for the shiny train or Richard Branson’s playpen. Forgotten over the last four years were the 500 million pieces of misery Bill Richardson left as his legacy. $500 million in red ink. Debt. And, and, to put us $500 mil in the hole, Richardson had to blow through the $1 billion surplus his predecessor, Gary Johnson, left behind. So when considering the merits of giving Susana Martinez another four years as governor, perhaps we should heed the words of billionaire Mark Cuban: “I vote for the candidate who I think will do the least.” Perhaps it doesn’t seem like much to some, but pulling the state out of debt has to count for something. Martinez pulled it off. Doing it with a Democratrun legislature makes it even more noteworthy. In 2013, Martinez and same-said Democrat-controlled legislature came to terms on a tax package that included a reduction in the state’s corporate tax rate. That made the state a tad more competitive with our neighbors (though Texas has ZERO corporate tax and, to be fair, it also has a minimal profitsbased franchise tax). Will this corporate tax thing make a difference in New Mexico? Well, it made no difference during the attempt to woo Tesla. One expects, however, that whatever the state offered the carmaker came with enough ribbons and bows to make the corporate tax negligible. But cutting the state’s corporate tax should help small businesses, and, perhaps that will help create jobs. Martinez has been knocked by King for the state’s poor job growth. It may be that King is unfamiliar with the disastrous economic policies – in the broadest sense of the term – fashioned by Barack Obama. Nearly seven years into Obama’s tenure and Democrats are still blaming Bush for their failings. More than 55 million able-bodied Americans are out of work. And while the unemployment figure has curiously dipped below 6 percent just in time for the elections, it’s worth noting that a good part of this “decline” is from people simply giving up. King has also attacked Martinez on education, with a TV ad that says in the vaguest way possible – typical of campaign ads – that New Mexico students have “some of the lowest test scores in the nation.” I’ll bet they do. Probably some of the highest, as well. Martinez touts higher graduation rates, particularly among minorities, as a feather in her cap. New Mexico high schools have a 70 percent graduation rate in 2012-2013, up from 63 percent the year prior. Improvement, yes, but far from stellar, of course. Professional education associations –which see dollar signs in everything – claims, yawn, that Martinez’ “cuts” in education funding have damaged our schools. But New Mexico’s per student average of $11,073 is just a touch above the national average of $10,938. At the low end of the scale is Utah at $7,852, yet it graduates 81 percent of its students. The District of Columbia spends nearly $30,000 – yes, $30,000 – per head and graduates about 60 percent of its students. At the end of the day, the education unions’ mantra has been and always will be, “Mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money.” It’s like an old Wayans Brothers routine. And along with the bottomless promise that more money will yield better results comes the caveat – “And please don’t hold us accountable.” Martinez has butted heads with state teachers unions. But what if she hadn’t? What if she’d just rolled over and gave the unions all they wanted? Do you think for one minute they would not side with the Democrat nominee, no matter who it was? That, sadly, is a rhetorical question. Ultimately, the governor’s doing a fine job. She’s not going to win the praise of the usual suspects; in fact, one expects more Mother Jones-like attacks over the next two years leading up to the presidential election. Martinez is a Hispanic female Republican, and that has her in the national spotlight. The first female Hispanic governor in the country is – a Republican. That’s like fingernails on a blackboard to liberals. Jeffry Gardner is a Republican political consultant. CALLING ALL PETS Toby the cat lounges on a bed, says Jose Lopez, who brought Toby, a one-and-a-half-year-old male, to Albuquerque from Kansas City recently. “He’s actually pretty active and doesn’t lie around sleeping all day,” Jose says. Send it to [email protected] Include your name, phone number, and your pet’s name, and we’ll try to reserve their spot in the pet parade. NEWS PAGE 16 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS PLAME INTERVIEW, Page 7 else – a female CIA operative who tracks nuclear arms dealers across the globe. Her first novel, “Blowback” came out last year and the second, titled “Burned,” is hitting bookstores now. Over a number of difficult years, hounded by a press sometimes welcomed, sometimes not, Plame developed a media aplomb that, together with her startling good looks, has made her a popular interview subject on topics as diverse as post-partum depression and the role of the American people in holding their leaders and their government accountable. 30 Years w Mexico For Over Proudly Serving Ne Specializing in Custom Driveshafts A+ Rating (505) 247-0736 417 Summer Avenue NW albuquerquedriveshaft.com ‘Our state is so wonderful but we need so many things and my deepest disappointment with our current governor is her lack of action on anything that’s truly meaningful’ Which includes the leaders and the government of the state she now proudly calls home. While Plame has an edit button – and based on her former career skills, one suspects she has the ability to redirect a conversation should she choose to – she is disarmingly direct even when she fully realizes she’s going to whip up some nasty dust with a particular response or a question of her own. Adjusting to New Mexico Plame admits that while she and her family are truly committed to their adopted home in New Mexico, there were a few culture shocks. A biggie for her, having two children, was the education system. “The biggest shock, for Santa Fe being such a caring and progressive community in so many ways, is that the education we provide our children is so substandard. When you step back and look at this picture it’s nothing short of depressing. I like [Santa Fe Public Schools Supt.] Joe Boyd, I think he’s making progress, but there’s a deep-seated culture of the whole education system being run as a jobs program for the adults as opposed to actually attempting to educate the children,” she says. The other big culture shock? The state’s drunken driving problem. “How can we pick up the paper so often and see stories about people being arrested for their sixth, seventh, eighth DWI violation? Are you kidding me?! “Our state is so wonderful but we need so many things and my deepest disappointment with our current governor is her lack of action on anything that’s truly meaningful. I believe that government can be a force, the force, for social good. What I see in the current administration is New Mexico’s very own Sarah Palin. She’s attractive, she’s Latina, she has a great back story of being a tough DA. “I’m a newcomer but what I’ve gathered is that (New Mexico) is not an intensely partisan state. It’s very western, very practical-minded, very problem-solving except that under this administration we’ve demonstrated, well, absolutely nothing! And how we handled our behavioral health issue is immoral. Absolutely immoral. No one likes the idea of Medicare fraud but how we proceeded was to shut down clinics and leave New Mexicans in desperate need. How dare they!” What Needs to Be Done With the Nov. 4 election nearing, Plame bursts out laughing when asked if she wants to place any bets on an outcome. “It always surprises me when people have different opinions than I do,” she jokes. “Isn’t that the way of the world?!? Gary King is a man of integrity but – and I think he would agree with me on this – isn’t a strong candidate this time around. It’s unfortunate because we, most likely, have four more years of a do-nothing administration.” What does she want to see changed? ‘Gary King is a man of integrity but – and I think he would agree with me on this – isn’t a strong candidate this time around. It’s unfortunate because we, most likely, have four more years of a do-nothing administration’ “Off the top of my head? Look into using the Permanent Land Grant Fund to fund pre-K (pre-kindergarten) but do it prudently. Exactly what rainy day fund are we waiting for to use that $15 to $20 million dollars for our kids? You know, every politician says ‘children are our future’ but, well, that includes educating them! cont. on page 17 NEWS PLAME INTERVIEW, Page 16 “I’d like to see us tackle (drunk driving) and the state has to, of course, tackle the creation of jobs. I wasn’t happy with the corporate tax cut passed by the Legislature last year but then … it goes back to education again! If you have good education then people will stay here. We want people to stay here – not leave – and create lives here. There are so many people, very talented people, who might want to come work here in New Mexico but then they hear about the schools and say ‘yeah, not so much.’” ‘There are so many people, very talented people, who might want to come work here in New Mexico but then they hear about the schools and say ‘yeah, not so much’’ Plame is passionate about ending nuclear proliferation and is a primary speaker for Global Zero, the non-profit organization that advocates eliminating, globally, all nuclear weapons by 2030. She readily admits that the irony of living miles away from Los Alamos and in the state that was home to The Manhattan Project isn’t lost on her. Neither, she jokes, is the irony that Karl Rove and the Koch brothers are frequent visitors to Santa Fe. “I mean, I get it. They’re here in support of the current administration. The outside money coming in, in support of the administration, is just an example of how flimsy it really is. If you have to rely on that amount of outside money and political support ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 17 as opposed to your people – the people of New Mexico – doesn’t that tell you something?” A Future in Politics? Plame acknowledges the rumor mill that had Joe being approached about running for Governor in 2014 on a Democrat ticket against Martinez – “true,” she says – but laughs when asked if, together with her growing profile in the media and media savviness, politics is a course of action that might be next up for her. “You know, never say never. I’m not going to say it will never, ever, happen but I think it’s more likely for Joe. He’s not your typical diplomat but the way his mind works on foreign policy and politics is really astonishing. He’s politically very astute and grasps politics better than I do. “And I so don’t think of myself as media savvy! When the leak of my name happened in 2003 I really felt like a deer in the headlights ... like I’d fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole. I was still working for the CIA, and so of course I couldn’t even respond. Joe had to carry the water for both of us.” Thank goodness, Plame says, Joe knows how to carry water pretty well. “Joe is smart. He’s belligerent (laughs) when need be, but it all fell on him for some time. But when my book (“Fair Game”) came out in 2007, well, there’s nothing like learning to swim after being dumped into the deep end of the pool! My first interview was live on “Good Morning America” and ... you learn. You have to.” New Mexico resident and former NPR/ BBC correspondent Betsy Model has written and produced for more than 40 international outlets including Forbes, Marketwatch, Playboy, Details, Biography and the International Herald Tribune. Antiques Roadshow Spoiler Alert B ack in July, Antiques Roadshow came to Albuquerque. More than 5,000 people assembled downtown at the Albuquerque Convention Center to have their treasured items assessed. Some of them made it onto one of the three Albuquerque episodes, which will be aired next fall. For a preview of the 2015 season, go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/ video/promo_season_19.html The new season starts at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 5, on Ch.5.1, New Mexico PBS. Watch for updates in ABQ Free Press. In the meantime, here’s a preview of a few high-priced appraisals to be shown on the local episodes, according to KNME-TV/New Mexico PBS: Jane Peterson oil painting, bought for $150, appraised by Debra Force for $300,000 at retail. Chinese Snuff Bottles, appraised by James Callahan for $50,400 to $60,400 at auction; just one of them is worth the bulk of that amount. Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster, owned by a guitar player for 52 years, appraised by Richard Johnston for $45,000 at auction. A new senior lifestyle is coming to Rio Rancho with apartment styles and amenities not offered in other area communities. The Neighborhood is scheduled to open in 2015, giving you time to consider how beautiful your future can be. But you must act now. A new information center is now open at 4500 Arrowhead Ridge Drive SE in Rio Rancho (one block west of the intersection of Highway 528 on Ridgecrest Drive SE). Reservations are now being taken for when the apartments become available for occupancy. To arrange for your visit, please call Ashley Trujillo at (505) 994-2296. MUSIC PAGE 18 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS Oxy-View Eyewear These attractive eyeglass frames not only hold your prescription lenses, they also deliver the oxygen you need in a way that others will hardly notice ...they’ll see only your smiling face. Call MULLER OPTICAL Today for your FREE Consultation 9000 Menaul NE (505) 296-8187 Take Five: Mustafa Stefan Dill of Pray For Brain BY Richard Oyama A: Jefferson and I worked as Sama Duo for about 10 years, which is where we developed that synergistic telepathy. The Duo evolved to a point where we were putting more structure around the improvisations, writing “songs,” if you will. Still, we weren’t actively seeking or auditioning a bass player. Over the years, we had invited other bass players in before, but none of them quite jelled. So we weren’t committed to bringing anyone in. But along comes Chris. She met Jefferson on a pickup gig; he was intrigued. He calls me and says, “There’s an interesting bass player. … Let’s invite her to do a session, just for fun.” She blew me out the first note, literally. She plays with such depth and conviction – and keep in mind, she’d never heard us, never played that improvisationally before, but she was perfect. PERFECT. I looked at him after she left that first night and said, “This changes everything. Everything we’ve done for 10 years was just in prep for this.” Q: You’ve described your music as a hybridizing of Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, Isaac Hayes, Tagore and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I hear John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra in there too. Could you talk about the South Asian and Middle Eastern influences, including your performance on fretless guitar and oud? Q: Pray for Brain’s CD “None of the Above” (7D Media) is an excellent representation of the band’s fervent, complex sound. Can you talk about the band’s composing process? How much of the music is improvised, and how much is “through-composed?” A: There’s only one piece in the repertoire that’s entirely through-composed, and it didn’t make it on the CD. We’ll see where that goes. I have to have some improvisation in what we do, that telepathy, that dialogue. It’s a crucial element; Paid for by John Ingram ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 19 Spotlight on Opera Southwest: ‘Hamlet (Amleto)’ by Franco Faccio T Q: I immediately noticed the close interplay between you and drummer Jefferson Voorhees at the Roost concert. How did Pray for Brain come together with the addition of bassist Christine Nelson? A: It is quite a mash-up, isn’t it? I was attracted to Indian music when I was young, delved into it, played sarod for many years with Sama Duo, till my tinnitus got the better of it and made it untenable. That’s when I migrated to fretless guitar. Oud has been in my life since 2001 or so. I feel quite connected to it as well. I grew up in a fairly cross-cultural environment – Mexican mother with Lebanese-Syrian family ties on that end, [a] childhood in France, which exposed me to some Middle Eastern and gypsy flamenco environments. But on the other hand, I was a rock ‘n’ roll kid, too. Got into jazz and fusion, later went deep for free jazz in my college days; that informed the work as well. It all seems to be integrating now, these past few years, in what’s hopefully a very organic and honest process. There’s a certain perspective with age. I’m 51. At a certain point, you stop trying and start simply being, start allowing yourself to be, rather than working at being something or idea or concept of who you are or an agenda or ideology you want to embody. You let go and give yourself permission. I’m not trying to be an Indian classical musician or force a world-music agenda, because Amjad Ali Khan is just as much a part of me as Jimmy Page or Cecil or Miles. To deny any part of what shaped me is to be inauthentic to who I am, so I just play how I hear and feel it, and it all comes out in the wash. MUSIC Courtesy of Mustafa Stefan Dill that’s where music lives and magic happens, for me. Composing varies. ... Sometimes we’ll just be improvising, and something happens, and we latch on to it and build a structure around that. Sometimes someone will bring in a line or rhythm or just a feel, and we develop it together. It’s a very collaborative process, which is a joy to work in. Q: Pray for Brain’s Outpost concert Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m., is a send-off of sorts before your December tour of India. How did that concert tour happen? A: Somehow what we do goes over very well in India. We have 10,000 Facebook followers, and about 90% of that base is in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Middle East. Not many in the U.S. So a fellow who organizes things in India friended us on Facebook, and the conversations to bring us over started there. We’re looking forward to going. Jefferson and I scored an independent art film from India in 2006, a very cool project. I met a lot of people in Kolkata on that trip, so we’ll end the tour there. Q: What are the group’s plans and dreams for 2015? A: Work, work, work! I’m already in the process of setting up European dates for the spring. We may be back in India in March. We have to keep the machine turning, and I want to work hard at keeping as busy as we can. I believe music is about activating hearts – that’s our job – so the mission is to activate as many hearts as possible, bring the love out. Richard Oyama is a poet and novelist. his production is the relationship with every American premiere other character in the of “Hamlet (Amleto).” play, for that matter) Over the past 10 years, has been analyzed OSW’s Music Director more than Hamlet Anthony Barrese himself!” recreated the score From Scenic Designer of Franco Faccio’s Carey Wong: “David masterpiece, not Bartholomew wanted a performed since 1871. scenic environment for Barrese will conduct. “Amleto” that could The plot is faithful to appear to be spacious Shakespeare’s play. with a few people on From Stage Director stage, but also someDavid Bartholomew: what claustrophobic “It is a thrill to be and smothering when Dennis Chamberlain working with such larger groups apAlex Richardson sings the role of a fine group of singpeared. … To that end, Hamlet in “Amleto.” ers. ‘Amleto’ is the the scenic design for biggest challenge that the opera consists of Oct. 26 – Nov. 2 OSW has ever faced. a two-level, semicircular As you know, there cast iron structure that Hamlet (Amleto) are critics coming from sits atop a floor on National Hispanic around the globe to see which a marble pattern Cultural Center, 1701 this opera that Anthony suggesting a compass 4th Street SW Barrese has discovered, rose and details of an Sunday, October 26, 2 and we certainly old map are painted. … p.m.; Friday, October want to make a strong 31, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Hamlet attempts to find November 2, 2 p.m. impression. out the truth in order to Tickets: $12-82; “I set the production follow the right course operasouthwest.org, in the period of time of action, but the world 243-0591; when Freudian analysis of the Danish court is off nhccnm.org, 724-4771, was at a peak – around course – adrift in a sea vendini.com 1912. After all, what of criminality – its moral character (and his compass compromised.” Music Briefs BY Sabrina AUTRY How Deep Is Your Love for the ‘70s? Escort awakens the flickering disco ball inside us. Based out of New York, they are the reincarnated sassy version of the Bee Gees with a fusion of modern pop that’s so perfectly arranged, you’re going to want to get out those dusty dancing shoes. Capturing the feel-good funk of the ‘70s, paired with a flawless ensemble of trumpets, strings, keys, bass and the sax, their new single, “If You Say So,” has hit the ground running. Eugene Cho and Dan Balis met in college and founded the band in 2006. It gained notoriety when they released “Starlight” and “All Through the Night,” upbeat expressions complimented by synths and a tasteful lineup of horns and strings. The band was featured in Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Albums of 2012 and gained a huge following because of its unblemished live performances. At these shows, they can have up to 12 seasoned band members on stage. With lead vocalist Adeline Michèle leading the pack, things are hot, dancing is infectious, and you’ll find yourself seriously considering a feathered look. Having grown up with KC and the Sunshine Band, Earth Wind and Fire, and Stevie Nicks, I’d be the first to chew up and spit out any band that fails to duplicate that ‘70s essence. Yet I find myself scrambling to describe the sensation of this unique blend of eras. There’s nothing quite like it. In Crowd at Sunshine We Are The In Crowd’s new hit single, “Manners,” has been featured on iTunes “Single of the Week.” Led by vocalist Taylor Jardine, the band has quickly gained popularity since the release of its 2010 debut EP, “Guaranteed To Disagree.” The band just released its new album, “Weird Kids,” placing 29 on The Billboard 200 Chart. With Jardine and Jordan Eckes singing verses, Robert Chianelli impressively banging the drums, and Mike Ferri and Cameron Hurley icing over with the bass and electric guitar, this band has found the formula for epic sound. They have developed a unique style by incorporating hard-hitting On the Air Watch our arts segment on The Morning Brew with Larry Ahrens, Tuesday mornings at 7:32 on Public Access Channel 27 and later on YouTube. Clan Tynker Renaissance Fair performers and Amanda Crocker from El Rancho de las Golondrinas. lyrics with heavy rock, and they have an incredible repertoire of hit after hit. It’s no surprise they’ve been asked to tour with Mayday Parade or to perform at major music festivals such as Leeds and Warped Tour. Halfway through their worldwide tour, the band’s going to be at the Sunshine Theater on Oct. 30 with New Found Glory and Fireworks. Sabrina Autry is an editorial intern for ABQ Free Press. THEATER PAGE 20 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS Wishes Lead to Macabre Twists of Fate Theater Briefs M usical Theatre Southwest is staging the 1993 Tony Award-winning Best Musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman” at its Center for Theatre under the direction of Eric Trujillo Bill Potenziani. This unusual musical, set in a Latin American prison, has a book by Terrence McNally based on the novel by Argentine Manuel Puig. Music and lyrics are by Kander and Ebb. Through Nov. 2. MTS Center for Theatre, 6320 Domingo Road NE, Suite B. Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m. Tickets: $20-22. Box office: 265-9119 (musicaltheatresw.com). T he original ’50s rock ’n’ roll musical, “Grease,” had a record-breaking Broadway run in the 1970s. Henry Avery is directing a young, energetic cast on the Albuquerque Little Theatre stage. Shelly Andes is musical director, and the choreography is by Edye and Erin Allen. Enough said. Through Nov. 2. Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW. Thursday, Oct. 23, Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 1 and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets: $12-24. Box office: 242-4750 (albuquerquelittletheatre.org). Photo courtesy of UNM Department of Theatre and Dance. BY Barry Gaines E very year, some Albuquerque theaters join in the “I have been to Fulham a couple of times so I terror-fest surrounding Halloween. I wonder, can help everyone with background knowledge,” however, what it will take to frighten an audience Earle says. She also is able to give her fellow actors accustomed to daily threats from Ebola, ISIS, global “insight on what certain English words mean” and warming, hurricanes, school shootings and midis looking forward to being “the only British person term elections. in a British play.” SCRAP Productions, a UNM student organization “The Monkey’s Paw” has become an iconic that works in association with the Department of demonstration of the maxim “Be careful of what Theatre and Dance to create all-student theater, is you wish for.” This tale has been filmed at least five trying a different approach. SCRAP times (the latest, last year) and has is staging “The Monkey’s Paw,” a been adapted by such TV programs 1902 short story by W. W. Jacobs as “The Twilight Zone,” “Tales from OCT. 24 – NOV. 2 dramatized by Louis N. Parker the the Crypt,” “Are You Afraid of the THE MONKEY’S PAW following year. Dark?,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” SCRAP Productions at the Director Caedmon Holland and a Halloween episode of “The UNM Experimental Theater, explains: “In a modern world filled Simpsons.” An operatic version Center for the Arts, lower level , with movies and stories of serial premiered in 2011. UNM Campus Oct. 24, 25, 30, 31, Nov. 1 at killers, monsters, etc., that create You can see what all the fuss is 7:30 and 9 p.m.; and Oct. 26, bloodbaths and have body counts about by attending “The Monkey’s Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. of victims, it was refreshing to see Paw” in the intimate setting of Tickets: $10, $7 seniors, UNM a horror story breaking the modern UNM’s Experimental Theater. faculty, staff, students; conventions of horror and still “Creating an uncomfortable mood 925-5858, unmtickets.com remaining a horror story.” and a heavy atmosphere mixed in “The Monkey’s Paw” is a simple with very creepy visuals and sounds story of a rural English family, Mr. and Mrs. White may not have an audience member jumping from and their son, Herbert, whose contact with the their seat but it will have the audience avoiding dark supernatural unexpectedly costs them dearly. alleys and feeling chills up their spines when they The director is fortunate to have found Sophie leave the theater,” promises director Holland. Louise Earle to play Mrs. White. Earle is a visiting student from the small town of Virginia Water, Barry Gaines has covered Albuquerque theater for the past outside of London. 13 years. He is a professor emeritus at UNM and adminisThe play is set in Fulham, in southwest London a trator of the American Theater Critics Association. half hour away. M asterful director James Cady is staging a production of “The Member of the Wedding,” Carson McCuller’s 1950 dramatization of her 1946 novel. The play illuminates the juncture of childhood and adolescence against the intersection of the lives of Blacks and Whites in the American South. Adobe Theater, 9813 4th St. NW, Oct. 24 through Nov. 16, Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 p.m., Sundays 2 p.m. Tickets: $13-15. Box office: 898-9222 (adobetheater.org). E dmond Rostand’s 1897 French classic “Cyrano de Bergerac” is being presented by Mother Road Theatre Company in a new, small-cast adaptation and translation by Michael Hollinger and Aaron Posner. This is the immortal story of Cyrano—swordsman and poet, soldier and would-be lover, with an enormous nose and even bigger heart—who helps a younger, more handsome suitor court his own beloved. While I have not yet seen this adaptation, the play is almost perfect in its construction and is among my very favorites. Tricklock Performance Lab, 110 Gold Ave. SW, Oct. 24 through Nov. 9, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p. m. Tickets: $20-22. Box office: 243-0596 or [email protected] — Barry Gaines EVENTS ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 21 CALENDAr CASINOS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22 FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Santa Ana Star Center, 3001 Civic Center Cir NE, Rio Rancho, Touring with Volbeat, Hellyeah and Nothing More. 6:10 pm, $40-45, 891-7300, santaanastarcenter.com FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 JAY LENO: THE HOUSE JACKS Route 66 Casino Hotel, Legends Theater, 14500 Central Ave SW The man just can’t stop working and that’s OK with the audience. 8 pm, $42-95, rt66casino.com CLUBS & PUBS OCTOBER 22-NOVEMBER 30 BLACKBIRD BUVETTE 509 Central Ave SW, 243-0878, blackbirdbuvette.com Never a cover; no minimum. October 22, 7 pm, Open Mic Night with Felix Peralta October 23, 10 pm, Fractal Frequencies w/ Kate Star Cherry October 24, 6 pm, Low Life Happy Hour w/ DJ Caterwaul October 24, 10 pm, “Leftover Soul” w/ DJ Leftovers, Vinyl Only Rare Groove & Soul Dance Party October 25, 7 pm, Billy Crooze and The Dinglehoppers October 25, 10 pm, _Hash¡sh¡n _Soundclash: Left_Handed_Electrønics 1.0 featuring: Dj Imeh El Yonquero Hosomi no otoko VHS TEA October 26, 7 pm, Sexy Sunday featuring Wae Fonkey October 27, 9 pm, Whiskey Business Karaoke! at The Blackbird - Happy Hour All Night! October 28, 10 pm, Try vs. Try – Bi-weekly Open Mic October 29, 7 pm, Open Mic Night with Felix Peralta October 30, 9:30 pm, Hello Dollface (Colo. soul) October 31, 7 pm, Quietly Kept October 31, 10 pm, Planet Rock – Funky Dance Party November 1, 7 pm, Russell Turek Classical Guitar...Electrified November 1, 10 pm, The Goldsteins (cabaret) November 2, 6 pm, Stephanie Wilson Art Opening November 3, 9 pm, Whiskey Business Karaoke! at The Blackbird – Happy Hour All Night! November 4, 10 pm, Groove the Dig w/ Old School John November 5, 7 pm, Poetry ‘n Beer Open Mic Poetry Slam November 6, 10 pm, KGB Club November 7, 10 pm, Zealous Grooves CD Release + guests November 8, 10 pm, Live, Local Music Showcase November 9, 7 pm, The Weeksend w/ Wae Fonkey & guests November 10, 9 pm, Whiskey Business Karaoke! at The Blackbird – Happy Hour All Night! November 11, 10 pm, Try vs. Try – Bi-weekly Open Mic November 12, 7 pm, Open Mic Night with Felix Peralta November 14, 6 pm, Happy Hour with Carlos The Tall November 15, 6 pm, “It Wasn’t Me” hosted by Jim Phillips, A Music Showcase November 16, 8 pm, 10 Drink Minimum Podcast w/ Chris Burnett, Bill Bellmont & guests November 17, 9 pm, Whiskey Business Karaoke! at The Blackbird – Happy Hour All Night! November 18, 10 pm, Groove the Dig w/ Old School John November 19, 7 pm, Open Mic Night with Felix Peralta November 21, 7 pm, Michael Weaver Live Jukebox November 21, 10 pm, Fresh Fridays with Dj Cello & Guests November 23, 7 pm, Sexy Sunday featuring Wae Fonkey November 24, 9 pm, Whiskey Business Karaoke! at The Blackbird – Happy Hour All Night! November 25, 10 pm, Try vs. Try – Bi-weekly Open Mic November 26, 7 pm, Open Mic Night with Felix Peralta November 27, 10 pm, Fractal Frequencies w/ Kate Star Cherry November 28, 6 pm, Low Life Happy Hour w/ DJ Caterwaul November 28, 10 pm, “Leftover Soul” w/ DJ Leftovers November 30, 8 pm, 10 Drink Minimum Podcast w/ Chris Burnett, Bill Bellmont & guests OCTOBER 22-DECEMBER 3 SISTER THE BAR 407 Central Ave NW, 242-4900, sisterthebar.com October 22, 9 pm, $10, Macabre, Ringworm, Panzerfaust October 23, 9 pm, $5, Decker, Sad Baby Wolf, St. Petersburg October 29, 9 pm, $10, Tera Melos November 5, 9 pm, $7, Iceage November 11, 9 pm, $12, Dum Dum Girls & Ex Cops December 3, 9 pm, $10, Pallbearer OCTOBER 23-31 LIZARD RODEO LOUNGE The Range Café, 925 Camino Del Pueblo, Bernalillo October 23,Open Mic/Jam hosted by DeRangers October 24, Quality Retreads, Irish Deltabilly October 25, Breaking Blue, folk October 31, Redlight Ramblers, folk OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 1 SNEAKERZ SPORTS BAR & GRILLE, 4100 San Mateo Blvd NE, 837-1708, sneakerzsportsbar.com October 24, 6-9 pm, Ravinswood Band, Happy Hour October 25, 6 pm, UFC 179 October 31, 9 pm, Karaoke Halloween Party Specials and prizes November 1, 9 am, Brendan’s Cause Fundraising Volleyball Tournament November 1, 9 pm, Third Element Band OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 18 LOW SPIRITS 2823 2nd St NW, lowspiritslive.com, prices subject to change October 24, 9 pm, Night of the Living Cover Bands October 25, 8 pm, $5, Dia de los Grateful Muertos featuring Top Dead Center, 600 Pounds of Sin October 30, 9 pm, Run Boy Run October 31, 9 pm, $12, il sogno del marinaio (with Mike Watt) November 1, 9 pm, $10, Halloween Hoedown: Paris A Gogo Burlesque, The MLC, Blame it on Rebekkah, Kimo November 4, 9:30 pm, $8, O’Death, Lonesome Leash, Human Behavior November 5, 9 pm, Cahalen Morrison and Country Hammer, The Gregg Daigle Band November 11, 9 pm, $15, Horse Feathers November 18, 9 pm, Water Liars OCTOBER 24-DECEMBER 12 LAUNCHPAD 618 Central Ave SW, 764-8887, launchpadrocks.com October 24, 9 pm, Thee Sanctuary: Bloodsuckers Bazaar October 25, 9 pm, $5, Night of the Living Cover Bands! The Coma Recovery as Depeche Mode, distances as Garbage, Double Plow as Queen October 26, 8 pm, $18, Hold It In Tour: Melvins, Le Butcherettes October 28, 7:30 pm, $12, Being As An Ocean, Gideon, Wolves At The Gate, Incarnate, Seconds To End November 1, 9 pm, $12, Secret Chiefs 3, Atomic Ape November 2, 8 pm, $13, MC Chris, MC Lars, Spose November 6, 7:30 pm, $10, Rotting Out, Nomads, Homewrecker, Pharoah, Loathe November 7, 9:30 pm, $5, The Lymbs, Red Light Cameras, Great States November 8, 9:30 pm, $8, Koffin Kats, Russian Girlfriends November 9, 7:30 pm, EYEHATEGOD, Today Is The Day, Black Maria, Econarchy November 15, 9 pm, Stoic Frame Reunion Show!, Reviva November 18, 8 pm, $10, 10th Anniversary Tour: Intronaut, Anciients, Bathhouse, Distances November 23, 8 pm, The Reckoning Tour: Blood On The Dance Floor, Whitney Peyton, Sweet Ascent November 29, 9 pm, mr. Gnome, Young Tongue December 8, 7:30, $13, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mustard Plug, Dan Potthast December 12, 8:30, $20, Swamp Leper Stomp 2014: Death DTA, Torture Victim, Suspended, Impaled Offering OCTOBER 25-DECEMBER 15 SUNSHINE THEATER 120 Central Ave SW, Info & Tickets: sunshinetheaterlive.com October 25, 7:30 pm, Carnifex, Inhuman Hands, A Malicious Plague, Vale Of Miscreation October 27, 6 pm, $25, Too Zany welcomes GEAZY w/ IAMSU & Jay Ant, Bay To Universe Tour October 28, 7 pm, $17, New Politics, Bad Suns, SomeKindaWonderful October 29, 7 pm, $30, Matisyahu, Radical Something, Cisco October 30, 7:30 pm, $18, Glamour Kills Tour presents New Found Glory, We Are The In Crowd, Fireworks, Better Off November 1, 8 pm $20, Eternal Tour 2014: Gwar, Decapitated, American Sharks November 3, 7 pm, $21-75, YELAWOLF + RITTZ + Big Henry + DJ Klever November 9, 7 pm, $27.50, Rockstar Energy Drink Presents Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens , Beartooth, This Wild Life November 10, 8 pm, $20, Check Yo Ponytail Anniversary Tour: The Presets, Le1f, Chela, Franki Chan November 11, 7 pm, $20, These Days Tour: AB Soul November 12, 6:30 pm, $16, The Word Alive, The Color Morale, Our Last Night, Dead Rabbits, Miss Fortune November 13, 8 pm, $29, Dropkick Murphys, Blood Or Whiskey November 15, 8 pm, $23, Arch Enemy, Kreator, Huntress November 20, 7 pm, $29.50, People Keep Talking Tour: Hoodie Allen, Chiddy Bang, Taylor Bennett November 23, 6:30 pm, $17, The Ghost Inside, Every Time I Die, Architects (UK), Hundredth, Backtrack November 25, 7 pm, $20, Monster Energy Outbreak Tour presents Attila, Crown The Empire, Like Moths To Flames, Sworn In December 9, 6:30 pm, $18, Eternal Enemies Tour: Emmure, The Acacia Strain, Stray From The Path, Fit For A King, Kublai Khan December 14, 8 pm, $18, Toontrack presents Abstract Reality Tour: Devin Townsend Project and Animals As Leaders, Monuments December 15, 7 pm, $28, Hot Topic presents Black Veil Brides, Falling In Reverse, Set It Off, Drama Club MUSIC THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 BASSEKOU KOUYATE & THE NGONI BLUES BAND Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE Bassekou Kouyate is one of the true masters of the ngoni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa. 7:30 pm, $15-20, 268-0044, outpostspace.org FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 JACKY TERRASSON TRIO Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE Pianist Jacky Terrasson, a significant figure in jazz for over 20 years, will be joined by Dave Robaire, bass; and Jamire Williams, drums. 7:30 pm, $20-25, 268-0044, outpostspace.org SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 BIRDS OF CHICAGO Music in Corrales, Old San Isidro Church, 966 Old Church Rd, Corrales Popular American Roots music group. 7:30 pm, $22-25, brownpapertickets.com, musicincorrales.org SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 FROM INDIAN LAKES The Gasworks, 2429 Quincy St NE The band just released their new album, “Absent Sounds,” on Oct. 7 via Triple Crown Records. 7 pm, $10, fromindianlakes.com ABBA MANIA Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus, 203 Cornell Dr NE Celebrating the music of ABBA, reviving memories of when the band ruled the airwaves. 3 pm, 925-5858, unmtickets.com, popejoypresents.com CARAVAN OF THIEVES The Cooperage, 7220 Lomas Blvd NE Gypsy jazz, vocal harmony, theater and a really good time. 7:30 pm, $17-20, ampconcerts.org, Hold My Ticket, 505-886-1251 CHATTER SUNDAY: HONORING FELIX WURMAN Kosmos Performance Space at the Factory on 5th, 1715 Fifth St NW Chatter Sunday remembers cellist and teacher Felix Wurman, who founded Church of Beethoven. Chamber music, poetry and coffee, in an informal, acoustically excellent setting. Doors open 9:30 am, $15 at the door, chatterchamber.org EVENTS PAGE 22 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS CALENDAr EVENTS CALENDAr TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 THROUGH MARCH 15 NOVEMBER 22-23 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29 HOME FREE TIME FOR THREE PANDAS: THE JOURNEY HOME CHRISTMAS AT CLEAR LIGHT LIFE-SIZE MONSTERS KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave NW Award-winning a cappella country group on their Crazy Life Tour. 8 pm, $20-30, holdmyticket.com JIM MALCOLM The Cooperage, 7220 Lomas NE Traditional songs of Scotland and his own music by a fine singer. 7:30 pm, $17-22, ampconcerts.org, or Hold My Ticket, 505-886-1251 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30 LATIN DIVA SERIES, ANI CORDERO’S “RECORDAR” National Hispanic Cultural Center, Bank of America Theatre, 1701 4th St SW Cordero is a well-known Latin alternative singer, drummer, and bandleader. 7:30 pm, $17, 724-4771, nhccnm.org RALPH ALESSI’S BAIDA QUARTET Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE Trumpeter Ralph Alessi’s latest project features pianist Gary Versace; bassist Mark Helias; and drummer Nasheet Waits. 7:30 pm, $15-20, 268-0044, outpostspace.org SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1 ONEBEAT ALBUQUERQUE AT THE RAIL YARDS Albuquerque Rail Yards, 777 1st St SW, Music & art: 25 musical artists from 17 countries, visual artists from Albuquerque curated by Billy Joe Miller, food trucks and activities for the whole family. A collaboration between 516 Arts and Found Sound Nation. $5 donation, 5-9 pm, 516arts.org NEW MEXICO PHILHARMONIC POPEJOY CLASSICAL SERIES Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus, 203 Cornell Dr NE November 1, Rodrigo’s Guitar Concierto de Aranjuez 6 pm, 925-5858, unmtickets.com, nmphil.org SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus, 203 Cornell Dr NE The concert celebrates the full spectrum of their remarkable 40-year musical career. 3 pm, 925-5858, unmtickets.com, popejoypresents.com ORCHID ENSEMBLE Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE A cultural exchange between Asian and Western musicians. 3 pm, $22-27, ampconcerts.org, holdmyticket.com NOVEMBER 8-9 TRANSFIGURED NIGHT St. Francis Auditorium (New Mexico Museum of Art), 107 W Palace Ave, Santa Fe Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra, Thomas O’Connor, conductor, with Deborah Domanski, mezzo-soprano. Saturday, 4 pm, Sunday 3 pm, $20-65, (505) 988-4640, The Lensic (505) 988-1234, santafepromusica.com SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9 CHATTER CABARET: COMPOSERS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD Hotel Andaluz, Casablanca Room, 125 2nd St NW, Downtown Only five Sundays per year; tickets available 8 weeks in advance. 5 pm, $25, appetizers and drinks additional, ChatterABQ.org KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave NW Bach, Brahms, The Beatles and current pop. 3 pm, $28-42, ampconcerts.org, holdmyticket. com, kimotickets.com, 768-3544 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21 LA SANTA CECILIA La Fonda Hotel Ballroom, 100 E San Francisco St, Santa Fe 2014 Grammy winners for Best Latin Rock, Urban, or Alternative Album. 8 pm, $22-27, ampconcerts.org, holdmyticket.com SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22 NEW MEXICO PHILHARMONIC POPEJOY CLASSICAL SERIES Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus, 203 Cornell Dr NE Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. 6 pm, 925-5858, unmtickets.com, nmphil.org SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 NETSKY El Rey Theatre, 622 Central Ave SW Band from Europe with a blend of heavy dance floor bass + beats. 8:30 pm, $15-20, 18+, 510-2582, holdmyticket. com, elreyabq.com NOVEMBER 29-30 DE PROFUNDIS St. Therese Catholic Church, 4th & Mildred NW Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 114 Carlisle SE The 14-voice a cappella men’s ensemble greets the holiday season with Conrad Susa’s enchanting “Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest.” Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 3 pm, $10-15, 266-4240, depro.org MONDAY, DECEMBER 1 DAKHABRAKHA The Dirty Bourbon, 9800 Montgomery Blvd NE Presented by ¡Globalquerque!, “ethno-chaos” in Eastern European roots music. 7:30 pm, $17-22, ampconcerts.org, holdmyticket.com, 296-2726 Look for our interview with the band in the November 19 issue. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4 LEO KOTTKE KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave NW Coffeehouse folk-rock guitarist and singer/songwriter of “Twelve String Blues” and “Mudlark.” 7:30 pm, $25-35, ampconcerts.org, holdmyticket.com, kimotickets.com, 768-3544 FILM THROUGH NOVEMBER 9 FILMS AT THE GUILD The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave NE $5-10 unless otherwise listed, 255-1848, for more movies: guildcinema.com October 24-29, 3 pm and 7:30 pm, 1,000 Times Goodnight October 24-29, 5:30 pm, Alive Inside October 25-26, 1 pm, Awake: The Life of Yogananda October 30-31, check website for times, Double Feature: A Voice in the Dark: Svengali (1931) and Phantom of the Opera (1925) October 31-November 1, 10:15 pm, Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead November 7-9, 4 pm and 8:15 pm, Bjork: Biophilia Live Lockheed Martin Dyna Theater, New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Old Town About the efforts made all over the world to save the Giant Panda. 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm; times will change in December; 841-2800, nmnaturalhistory.org, ngpandas.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 A BETTER LIFE National Hispanic Cultural Center, Bank of America Theatre, 1701 4th Street SW Starring Demián Bichir (“The Bridge”), this film portrays the struggles of an undocumented immigrant who wants to give his son a better life in the United States. 7 pm, Free ticketed event; tickets available one hour before show, 246-2261, nhccnm.org OCTOBER 25 and NOVEMBER 2 MADE IN NEW MEXICO FILM CLIP SERIES October 25, East Mountain Library, 1 Old Tijeras Rd, Tijeras, 2 pm November 2, Placitas Library, 453 Highway 165 Placitas, 2 pm A compilation of clips from movies that have been partially shot within New Mexico, presented by film historian Jeff Berg. $5, 466-1634 NOVEMBER 22-23 FIRST ANNUAL PUEBLO FILM FESTIVAL Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St NW 843-7270, indianpueblo.org FESTIVALS, FIESTAS & FAMILY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 BIRTHDAY BASH AND HARVEST FESTIVAL La Montañita Westside Co-op, 3601 Old Airport Ave NW Music, Local foods, Grilling on the patio, Free birthday cake, and Costume contest. 11-4 pm, Free, 503-2550, lamontanita.coop/ ws-birthday-bash SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 24th ANNUAL ALBUQUERQUE EQUESTRIAN CUP EXPO New Mexico, State Fairgrounds Dairy Barn, 300 San Pedro Dr NE Horse jumping competition, auctions, artists, food and beer, vendors, along with a kids’ corral and a Dude Room. 11:30 am-6 pm, $35-$75, 298-1700 ext. 31, abqec.org NOVEMBER 11-16 HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! THE MUSICAL Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus, 203 Cornell Dr NE Inspired by Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations, audiences are transported to the world of Whoville. 925-5858, unmtickets.com, For times: www.popejoypresents.com SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22 MY NAME IS RUMPELSTILTSKIN North 4th Theater, 4904 4th St NW A classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale about an irascible wizard who, in order to gain power, must possess a child of royal birth 6 pm and 7:30 pm, $5, 821-8055, nmyoungactors.org Clear Light • The Cedar Company, 7 miles east of Placitas Village on Highway 165, look for the red signs. A juried art show and sale. Admission and parking are free, and refreshments will be available.10-5 pm, Free, 867-2381, clcedar.com SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20 GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL Juan Tabo Library, 3407 Juan Tabo NE Kids and tweens, we’re making life-size monsters (or whatever else you can imagine). We’ll trace your shape and then you create a painting of the creature you’ve always wanted to be! Ages 6+, 3-4:30 pm, 291-6260 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 University Stadium, University Blvd SE & Avenida Cesar Chavez It’s Mountain West Conference vs. Conference USA at this 9th annual New Mexico college football bowl, which will be broadcast on ESPN. Kickoff: 12:20 pm MT, $25-400+, 925-5999, unmtickets.com, gildannewmexicobowl.com STORYSPACE: SPOOKY STORY NIGHT WITH THE SPOOKULELE BAND DAY OF THE DEAD/HALLOWEEN KIDS’ HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARADE THROUGH NOVEMBER 1 QUARANTINE: COLLAPSE (HAUNTED HOUSE) Rio Grande Community Farm, 1701 Montaño Dr. NW Blackout Theatre Company presents a haunted house that puts the audience in the story. 6:30 pm, $20, 672-8648, quarantineabq.com THROUGH NOVEMBER 9 BEWITCHING IV Stranger Factory, 109 Carlisle Blvd NE Opening reception, Friday, October 10, 6-9 pm. Halloween group show of all things dark and spooky. Free, 508-3049, strangerfactory.com Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE An evening of well-loved children’s stories transformed into song by the Spookulele Band. 7:30 pm, Free for kids 12 and under and anyone wearing a costume (glitter-free, please!) $5 for others; 268-0044, outpostspace.org Ernie Pyle Library, 900 Girard SE Come to Ernie Pyle and show off your Halloween costume! We will read a couple of spooky stories and march around the library in our costumes. For kids 0-8 years old. No registration required. 10:30-11 am, 256-2065 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2 DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION South Broadway Cultural Center, 1025 Broadway SE Live music and dance, art, ofrendas honoring loved ones, and more. Wear your costumes! 12 noon-6 pm, Free, more info: call 311, cabq.gov/sbcc THEATER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 CLOSING OCTOBER 25 SALUD Y SABOR: DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS THE TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS MURDERS National Hispanic Cultural Center, Domenici Education Bldg, 1701 4th Street SW An evening of food, art, and entertainment aimed at providing families with an opportunity to connect around nutrition, cooking, healthy lifestyles, and culture, with a Day of the Dead theme. 5:30 pm, Free, 246-2261, nhccnm.org OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 2 THE MONKEY’S PAW UNM’s Experimental Theatre, Center for the Arts, UNM Campus Presented by SCRAP Productions and The UNM Department of Theatre and Dance, the classic horror story that has taught generations the meaning of “Be careful what you wish for.” Runs 45 minutes, two shows per date, times vary. $10, 925-5858, unmtickets.com SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 ALBUQUERQUE’S THRILL THE WORLD Keshet Center for the Arts, 4121 Cutler Ave NE Thrill The World Albuquerque is looking for dancing zombies to participate in the 6th annual world-wide simultaneous Thriller dance for charity. Zombies will rise up on Oct 25 at exactly 4 pm at Keshet Center for the Arts parking lot. No dance experience is necessary. All ages and skill levels are welcome. 1-4 pm for rehearsal, costuming and performance, Free, donations to Keshet are accepted; Eventbrite registration: TTWABQ2014. eventbrite.com HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR: BREAKING BOO! Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus Put on your best costumes and bring the kids. Bryon Herrington conducts the NM Philharmonic, with movie scores from Beetlejuice to Psycho. 6 pm, $20-68, unmtickets.com, nmphil.org ABQ FREE PRESS • October 22, 2014 • PAGE 23 Vista Grande Community Center, 15 La Madera Road, Sandia Park Murder mystery musical comedy that takes place in 1941. Dinner theatre Fri-Sat 6:30 pm, show only 7 pm, $15-$35, 286-1950, emct.org CLOSING OCTOBER 26 THE BOXCAR NHCC’s Wells Fargo Auditorium, 1701 4th St SW Part of the Siembra Latino festival. In 1987, a group of men set out in search of a better life by entering into the United States as undocumented immigrants looking to make a dollar or two. Thurs- Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, $18, 724-4771, nhccnm.org CLOSING OCTOBER 31 THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP Vortex Theatre, 2900 Carlisle NE The play is a hilarious and chilling satire of several theatrical, literacy, and film genres. Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, $22, 247-8600, vortexabq.org THROUGH NOVEMBER 2 KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN Musical Theatre Southwest, 6320-B Domingo NE In a Latin American prison, Molina shares his fantasies about an actress who, in one of her roles, is a Spider Woman who kills with a kiss. Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sunday 4 pm, $20-$22, 265-9119, musicaltheatresw.com GREASE Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW Popular musical inspired by the 1978 film. The “Pink Ladies” are back. Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, $24, 242-4750, albuquerquelittletheatre.org THROUGH NOVEMBER 29 SPIRITS OF SUSPICION Foul Play Café, Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown, 2600 Louisiana Blvd NE Fun and mystery, with dinner. Friday-Saturday 7 pm, $56.50, $35 for children, 377-9593, foulplaycafe.com FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 MINDS INTERRUPTED KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave NW Stories of lives affected by mental illness. 7 pm, $15, kimotickets.com OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 16 THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING The Adobe Theater, 9813 4th St NW Friday-Saturday 7:30 pm, Sundays 2 pm, Thursday November 13, 7:30 pm; $15, 898-9222, adobetheater.org Read Theater Briefs on Page 20 in this issue. OCTOBER 30-NOVEMBER 1 THE CHILDREN’S HOUR Warehouse 21, 1614 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe Two women who run a school are brought down by a student’s rumor. 7 pm, $10, (505) 310-4194, nmschoolforthearts.org OCTOBER 30-NOVEMBER 16 DEATH AND THE MAIDEN 3205 Calle Marie, Santa Fe Directed by Rick Vargas. Preview Thursday, October 30. Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, $12-15, (505) 424-1601, TEATROPARAGUAS.ORG NOVEMBER 7-16 ¡BOCÓN! Working Classroom, 423 Atlantic Avenue SW One-act adventure story about a boy who flees his home country for L.A. Along the way, he meets La Llorona. Various times and deals, $10-25, 242-9267, workingclassroom.org NOVEMBER 22-DECEMBER 7 GYPSY The Rodey Theatre, UNM Main Campus The memoirs of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee by Landmark Musicals, starring the indomitable stage mother, Rose. Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, $20-24, 925-5858, unmtickets.com, landmarkmusicals.org COMEDY THROUGH NOVEMBER 4 OH, SUSANA! The Box Performance Space, 100 Gold Ave SW This original satire takes a look at what it truly means to be a citizen of the 47th state (which also happens to be our national ranking in education). Conceived and directed by Cody Dove, an alumnus of Second City. Through Election Tuesday; check show times. 9 pm, $17.50, 404-1578, theboxabq.com DANCE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 PILOBOLUS Popejoy Hall, UNM Main Campus, 203 Cornell Dr NE Molding bodies into poetry, amazing shapes and beautiful movement. 8 pm, 925-5858, unmtickets.com, www.popejoypresents.com NOVEMBER 7-9 OTHER WORLDS AirDance ArtSpace, 3030 Isleta Blvd SW Aerial dance in a new production with 12 aerialists, 4 musicians and stunning choreography. Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, $10-15, 842-9418, airdanceartspace.com FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 SACRED BODY Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St, Santa Fe A benefit performance of music and dance, with art exhibit, for a young adult scholarship. Lobby opens at 6 pm, performance 7:30-9:30 pm, $25-60, (505) 988-1234, ticketssantafe.org, sacredbodysantafe.com NOVEMBER 7-23 BOOKS & POETRY 26 MILES SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th Street SW A new play by Quiara Alegría Hudes, part of the Siembra Latin Theatre Festival. Also will be shown December 4-14 at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe. Thurs-Sat, 7:30 pm, Saturday 2 pm, $15-18, 724-4771, nhccnm.org NOVEMBER 7-30 THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER The Vortex Theatre, 2900 Carlisle NE The classic comedy tells the story of a small Ohio household forced to house a larger-thanlife personality as he recuperates after an accident. Fri- Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, $22, 247-8600, vortexabq.org Read Barry Gaines’s Theater Feature in the November 5 issue of ABQ Free Press. ESTEVAN ARELLANO BOOK LAUNCH National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th Street SW The author and traditional farmer signs “Enduring Acequias,” about irrigation and sustainable farming practices. 2 pm, Free, nhccnm.org OCTOBER 27-DECEMBER 2 COMMUNITY LECTURES Albuquerque Academy, Simms Center for the Performing Arts, Bldg 13, 6400 Wyoming Blvd NE, 828-3200; All talks are 6:30-8 pm, and free, but you must register to attend at: aa.edu/communityacademy October 27, Alvin Townley, “Defiant: America’s Elite Vietnam POWs and the Extraordinary Women Who Fought for Them” November 5, “Old Time Music with Alan Jabbour” November 19, Brad Yablonsky, “Savvy Social Security” December 2, Debbie Millman, “Why We Brand, Why We Buy” ARTSPREE THROUGH OCTOBER 31 FACE THE MUSIC and LYRICAL LANDSCAPES New Mexico Art League, 3409 Juan Tabo Blvd NE Music and musicians by Portrait Society of America artists; 40 Maggie Price landscapes and florals presented in her memory by the League. Free, hours: newmexicoartleague.org THROUGH DECEMBER 30 LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED Jewish Community Center, 5520 Wyoming Blvd NE Opening Reception, October 16, 5-7 pm. Mark M. Feldman Stone Sculpture Showcase. Free, jccabq.org for open hours, markmfeldmansculptor.wix.com OCTOBER 24-25 13TH ANNUAL EL DORADO ARTS & CRAFTS FALL SHOW St. John’s United Methodist Church, 1200 Old Pecos Trail at Cordova Rd, Santa Fe A variety of work on sale by 46 artists. Friday 3-7 pm, Saturday 9-5 pm, Free, eldoart.org TOURS THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS, YEAR ROUND ALBUCREEPY DOWNTOWN GHOST WALK By ABQ Trolley Co., start at Hotel Andaluz, 125 2nd St NW Led by an experienced paranormal investigator, Albucreepy features historic (and reportedly haunted) sites, including the KiMo Theater, Kiva Auditorium, old Bernalillo County Courthouse, Wool Warehouse, and the former red light district known as “Hell’s Half Acre.” Rated PG13. 8 pm, 90 minutes, $25 with valet parking and free appetizers at Ibiza or MAS, albucreepy.com Reach ABQ’s most informed audience To Advertise: Contact Donavan Mosley (505) 345-4080, ext. 806 [email protected] Crossword Puzzle appears on page 24 CROSSWORD PAGE 24 • October 22, 2014 • ABQ FREE PRESS Tricolored By Myles Mellor Across 1. Driven transport 5. Jewish teacher 53. Big laugh 19. Old weapon 58. Choker 24. Taste, e.g. 55. Astronomer 10. Kind of instrument 62. Destination of the 15. Betelgeuse’s 65. Dirty coat 14. “By yesterday!” constellation disgruntled? 32. “South Pacific” hero 69. 1980’s-90’s ring 22. Annexes 70. Cut down 26. Chop (off) 29. Piques 31. Can’t stand 35. “The ___ Daba Honeymoon” 36. Andrea Doria’s domain 38. Arabic for “commander” 39. Fab Four film 43. Otherwise 44. Character champ Down 1. Golden Triangle country 34. Foot the bill 37. Dislike intensely 40. Flyers 41. Like old recordings 42. Obliquely 47. Slay 4. “La Bohème,” e.g. 54. Licks 3. Disabling spray 52. Compassion 5. Howard of “Happy 55. Cultivate Days” 56. Long, long time (var.) 6. Victorian, for one 57. Sonata, e.g. 8. Dense mass 60. “Buona ___” (Italian 7. Food collectors? 9. Accustomed 49. Goose speech 12. These may be inflated 51. Froth 33. Trig functions 48. Most healthy 10. Learn again 50. Time zone 30. Pole position? 2. “___ She Lovely?” 45. Poetic meadow 46. Mideast capital marks 68. Barley beards 20. Back 25. Dates 27. Ancient editorial 28. Buddy-buddy 67. Ball field covering 21. Outdo 26. Cake part 66. Sea gear 16. “Cogito, ___ sum” 17. Rarely 23. Attracted 59. Daunting exam greeting) 61. Glimpse 11. “Aeneid” figure 62. Fed. construction 13. Family head 63. Blood group system 18. Deep blue overseer 64. Gabriel, for one