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New Mexico pharmacists to prescribe anti-overdose drug
APD shoots, kills man The shooting comes hours after hundreds protested a fatal police shooting 10 days earlier. LOCAL NEWS, A-6
By Bruce Krasnow
Study links autism, brain abnormalities
The New Mexican
Pharmacists in New Mexico have become the first in the United States certified to prescribe a lifesaving anti-overdose drug directly to patients. The first 60 pharmacists have been trained by the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy on the use of naloxone, which has the brand name Narcan.
Research suggests a prenatal origin of the disease. PAGE A-3
Casino revenue rises Indian gaming in 2012 generates $864 million, up 7 percent. PAGE A-6
The medicine is administered by attaching a nasal-tip inhaler to a small vial, which is used to spray a mist into the nose membrane. The drug flows directly to the brain, blocking opioids and restoring breathing. For New Mexico pharmacists, the issue is really one of a public health emergency, as the state is always at the top for per capita overdose deaths from prescription drugs and heroin, said Dale Tinker, executive
director of the New Mexico Pharmacists Association. “Pharmacists have a chance to change that statistic,” Tinkler said. “In our state, pharmacists can write prescriptions. No other state is structured like that.” It is friends and family members of addicts who often use Narcan on a loved one and credit it for reversing overdoses and saving lives. For years, Narcan has been used
Enforcement of bag ban begins, paper fee optional
Developers: Railyard building not sinking Firm behind Market Station says Bushee’s comments ‘reckless’ By Daniel J. Chacón
The developers of Market Station at the Santa Fe Railyard on Wednesday downplayed concerns raised by city officials about subsidence around the structure, saying the building isn’t sinking but that some of the sidewalks are settling because of drainage problems. “There’s been subsidence in sidewalk areas, but the underground parking garage and Market Station is not sinking whatsoever,” Rick Jaramillo, one of the principals in Railyard Co. LLC, said Wednesday. “I’m not an engineer … but our take is that we have some negative elevation grades in the entire drainage of the North Railyard, so there’s some water ponding. Of course, water finds its way in, and probably some of the dirt that was engineered and compacted has settled a couple of inches in various spots,” he said. The city of Santa Fe, which purchased part of the building at 500 Market St. for $3.6 million in 2012 as part of a settlement to avoid a lawsuit with the developer, proposes to spend $68,710 on a study to determine the extent of the problem and how to fix it. Assistant City Attorney Judith Amer told the City Council’s Public Works Committee on Monday that the city was on the hook for the costs of the engineering study and construction fixes, estimated to be as much a $400,000. “Subsidence is evident on all four sides of the building,” Robert Siqueiros, the city’s Railyard projects administrator, wrote to the commit-
BRUSSELS — President Barack Obama has spent much of his presidency mired in the challenges of a world well outside the borders of Europe — the turmoil of the Middle East, the power struggles in Asia and the terrorist threats percolating in northern Africa, Pakistan and elsewhere. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its stunningly fast annexa-
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Credit union: Data stolen The New Mexican
the fee would help offset the higher costs of paper bags. And employees with Wal-Mart, which has two locations in the city, said those stores will start charging 11 cents for paper bags on Tuesday. Iturralde is among those who say a fee would provide more incentive for shoppers to use reusable bags. Even without it, she supports the ban on plastic bags. “A lot of people just ask for plastic bags [at grocery stores] because they want to use them for something else,” Iturralde said. Lawrence Garcia, acting director of city’s Environmental Services Department, said the city will enforce the ordinance by issuing warnings and then fines. If a complaint is received, the city will send
A small, electronic device that skims data was used to steal financial information from hundreds of people who used Del Norte Credit Union debit cards to purchase gas at a Giant Service Station in Santa Fe, Del Norte said Wednesday. The credit union reported to city police that up to 700 members might have had their debit cards compromised at the Giant on Sawmill Road between March 20 and March 24. Of those, 20 found their cards had been used for fraudulent purchases or cash withdrawals before the credit union shut down their accounts and issued new ones, said Del Norte President and CEO Chuck Valenti. “We reissued debit cards instantly. They were able to come in the next morning and get new cards and new bank numbers,” Valenti said, adding that the fraud reports began Friday. Most of the charges came from Henderson and Las Vegas, Nev., said Celina Westervelt, a spokeswoman with the Santa Fe Police Department. She said it’s likely that customers from other banks also had debit cards compromised and that Giant might not be the only station in the city where scofflaws are skimming bank card information, PIN numbers and ZIP codes from gas pumps. Police do not believe Giant was
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Bret Pipper carries a paper bag to his car Wednesday after shopping at an Albertsons store. Today, the city begins enforcing its plastic-bag ban, which went into effect Feb. 27. Pipper says the paper bags are ‘a pain in the rear,’ but he finds reusable bags just as inconvenient. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
Wal-Mart will begin charging for paper bags Tuesday, employees say By Uriel J. Garcia The New Mexican
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renda Iturralde was carrying her groceries from Albertsons in brown paper bags Wednesday and loading them into her car. She had forgotten to bring her reusable tote bags. “If stores started charging [for the paper bags], I definitely wouldn’t forget my [reusable] bags,” Iturralde said. The city will begin enforcing its ban on most plastic grocery bags today. The goal of the new law is to use fewer non-degradable plastic
bags, which accumulate in landfills. But for people like Iturralde, who forget to bring their own bags from home, the new law will be fairly harmless. That’s because the City Council voted last month to drop the 10-cent fee for paper bags originally proposed in the ordinance. The fee was intended to provide an incentive for shoppers to bring reusable bags. While some residents agree with the ordinance, others say it’s counterproductive because shoppers will opt to take paper bags rather than buy reusable bags. Critics also say that more paper bag consumption would be just as damaging to the environment. The ordinance gives retailers an option to charge for paper bags, but some have decided not to do so. Some business leaders have said
Obama pledges more forces for NATO
The New York Times
in emergency rooms and by first responders. Massachusetts was one of the first states to make it available
By Staci Matlock
Please see RAILYARD, Page A-4
By Michael D. Shear and Peter Baker
NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTO
Del Norte says hundreds of members’ debit card info taken at gas station
The New Mexican
Amid Russia’s ‘brute force,’ president renews commitment to Europe
The Narcan nasal spray, which flows directly to the brain, reverses overdoses by blocking opioids and restoring breathing.
tion of Crimea have demanded a renewed focus on a part of the world that dominated U.S. attention in the 20th century. Often accused of neglecting Europe President in his first five years Barack Obama in office, Obama is using his trip here to recommit to the NATO alliance, rally the continent against Russian “brute force” and cast the showdown as a test of common values. To show resolve, Obama decided on Wednesday to modestly increase military deployments in Eastern
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Europe and aides said he would intensify efforts to broaden energy security, negotiate a trade agreement with Europe and upgrade military capabilities. Yet it will be hard to back up words with resources. The U.S. has only a fraction of the force it once had in Europe, expanded energy ties will take years and his own party leaders oppose quick action on a new trade pact. Moreover, Obama next month will head back to Asia, where aides said he will again promote his policy of pivoting toward the region he believes represents the future. One
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60th anniversary of ‘Salt of the Earth’ Santa Fe Community College continues its celebration of the once-controversial 1954 drama; 3 p.m. panel discussion; 5 p.m. screening of the 1982 documentary A Crime to Fit the Punishment; West Wing Board Room; 7 p.m. screening of Salt of the Earth, followed by a Q&A session, Room 216, 6401 Richards Ave., no charge, 428-1000.
Santa Fe High’s Grand sets the pace Senior distance runner wins 3,200-meter event at Golden Spikes Classic. SPORTS, B-1
Obituaries
Today Partly sunny and breezy. High 57, low 32.
Karl J. Schaffner, 83, Santa Fe, March 22 William Zeckendorf Jr., Feb. 12 PAGE A-10
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Two sections, 24 pages 165th year, No. 86 Publication No. 596-440