From soups to salads, savory sage is winter’s go-to herb
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Taste, C-1
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End of line for Lamy?
Amtrak considers rerouting Southwest Chief. LOcaL news, B-1
SPACEPORT AMERICA
Smooth blast-off for research rocket Payload manifest
Looted art now online
Nasa’s SL-8 commercial space research rocket, launched Tuesday, carried several payloads from universities, government agencies and a private firm.
Site crashes amid demand. Page a-5
NC-3: NMSU, free floating controls algorithm experiment
Typhoon aid arrives
PTS4-4: NMSU, free floating controls algorithm experiment
Desperation leads to tragedy in hard-hit Philippines. Page a-3
PTS4-5: SatWest, iridium telemetry experiment PTS4-6: NASA, power supply system
County’s drilling ban spurs lawsuit
PTS10-7: Universitat Politècnica de CatalunyaBarcelonaTech PTS10-8: New Mexico Tech, structural health monitoring for spacecraft
7-watt blade antenna PTS10-9: Embry-Riddle, FAA, GPS tracking system PTS10-10: Department of Defense, ORS, GPS and IMU (inertial measurement unit) experiment Image courtesy UP Aerospace
Mora commissioner says board is ‘ready for fight’
NASA’s SL-8 suborbital rocket launch Tuesday was the 20th vertical liftoff from Spaceport America in Southern New Mexico. The rocket rose 383,000 feet — or more than 72 miles.
By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
In a dispute being watched around the United States, a statewide oil and gas association and three Mora County landowners are suing the Mora County Commission over its ban on oil drilling. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, claims the county’s action in April violates the plaintiff’s civil rights and is unconstitutional. “What the Mora County Commission has done with this ordinance is an insult to the U.S. Constitution and every free citizen,” said Richard Gilliland, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, in a news release Tuesday. The group is one of the plaintiffs in the case. Mora County Commissioner John Olivas said Tuesday he had not seen the suit, so he declined to discuss the legal action itself. However, he defended the commission’s vote. “I was in a position to protect our resources in Mora County,” he said. “We’re ready for this fight.” The ban, which passed the commission on a 2-1 vote, says it “shall be unlawful for any corporation to engage in the extraction of oil, natural gas, or other hydrocarbons within Mora County.” Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are landowners Mary L. Vermillion, who, according to the suit, owns less than an acre of land and its mineral rights in Mora County, and the JAY Land Ltd. Co. and Yates Ranch Property, which together own 125,000 acres known as Ojo Feliz Ranch.
Please see DRILLIng, Page A-4
PHOTOS BY JANE PHILLIPS THE NEW MEXICAN
NASA offers space for science on $600,000 launch to help advance industry
Index
Calendar a-2
Classifieds c-3
ethanol policy fuels loss of prairies Scientists warn of dangers as 1.2M acres of grassland vanish in push for corn By Chet Brokaw and Jack Gillum
The Associated Press
ROSCOE, S.D. — Robert Malsam nearly went broke in the 1980s when corn was cheap. So now that prices are high and he can finally make a profit, he’s not about to apologize for ripping up prairie land to plant corn. Across the Dakotas and Nebraska, more than 1 million acres of the Great Plains are giving way to cornfields as farmers transform the wild expanse that once served as the backdrop for American pioneers. This expansion of the Corn Belt is fueled in part by America’s green energy policy, which requires oil companies to blend billions of gallons of corn ethanol into their gasoline. Ethanol has become the No. 1 use for corn in America, helping keep prices high. “It’s not hard to do the math there as to what’s profitable to have,” Malsam said. “I think an ethanol plant is a farmer’s friend.” What the green energy program has made profitable, however, is far from green. A policy intended to reduce global
Please see eTHanOL, Page A-4
The New Mexican
SPACEPORT AMERICA he temperature near the rocket launchpad dipped below 45 degrees Tuesday as the sun crawled over the San Andres Mountains in Southern New Mexico. A dozen college students, some firefighters, a hotel cook, a few news media personnel and people with a vested interest in the rocket’s successful launch at Spaceport America stood around shivering, waiting for the final countdown. New Mexico State University engineering students Gerardo Martinez, 25, and Armando Muñoz, 21, watched anxiously. They had an apple-sized plastic payload inside the rocket with a small camera attached. The battery life on the camera was good for a little more than two hours. They had been out at the pad at
T
From left, New Mexico State University engineering students Gerardo Martinez, 25, and Amando Muñoz, 21, rejoice as the rocket lifts off. The two were part of a three-person team with a research payload inside the rocket.
7 a.m. to make sure their payload was working. The launch already had been delayed once, and 9 a.m. was ticking up fast. Martinez, a graduate student in NMSU’s mechanical engineering program, and Muñoz, an undergrad who is studying aerospace engineering, were part of a three-man team testing an algorithm for free floating mass control within the walls of the rocket. “The microgravity lasts a couple of minutes,” Muñoz said, adding that the team was “trying
Obituaries
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Brazilian folk dance, 7 p.m., the Lensic, $25-$45, 988-1234, ticketssantafe.org. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo
DOUG DREYER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Staci Matlock
Pasapick Balé Folclórico da Bahia
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It’s not hard to do the math there as to what’s profitable. ... I think an ethanol plant is a farmer’s friend.” Robert Malsam
Today Partly cloudy. High 54, low 31. Page a-6
Comics a-8
Martha K. Iwaski, Sept. 29 Lineberry, Novella Avenell Stiles Jacques, Nov. 22 Michael Anthony “Elvis” Alvarez, 55, Santa Fe, Nov. 3 Angelina Delgado Martinez, Santa Fe, Nov. 10 Nila Jaramillo Haught
Lotteries a-2
Opinion a-7
Michael Ward Schaefer, 41, Santa Fe, Nov. 7 Ramon “Ray” E. Lujan, 85, Rio Rancho, Nov. 10 Mary Jo Chavez, 41, Nov. 9 Hugh Edward Hanagan, Nov. 10 Jeanette “Jen” Lisa Anaya, Santa Fe, Nov. 7 Robert Michael Sanchez, 52, Oct. 15 Page B-2, B-3
Police notes B-2
Editor: Ray Rivera, 986-3033, rrivera@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Cynthia Miller, cmiller@sfnewmexican.com
to find a way to determine mass, the location of the center of mass and mass distribution of an object [when it is weightless].” They also hoped to capture pictures from inside the rocket as their payload floated. If the camera battery died, they would lose a part of their experiment, though not all of it. The NASA SL-8 suborbital rocket launch was the 20th vertical liftoff from Spaceport America, said David Wilson,
Sports B-5
Please see ROcKeT, Page A-4
Hopes for Michigan St. Spartans hold off Wildcats. sPORTs, B-5
Time Out c-8
Travel c-2
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Report aims to fix gaps in tribal justice In some areas of Indian Country, violent crime is 20 times national average By Felicia Fonseca The Associated Press
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A national panel of judicial and law-enforcement experts traveled the country taking comment on public safety issues on American Indian reservations, where federal statistics show the violent crime rates can be 20 times the national average. In Palm Springs, Calif., the Law and Order Commission heard about the patchwork of legal systems imposed on tribal members. In Alaska, commissioners talked with a leader who told them each of the dozens of Native women they had met that day had been raped. In Phoenix, they heard from Navajo police who said drunken drivers often travel onto the vast reservation undetected because of a lack of communication between tribal officers and outside law enforcement. What the commission came up with is a 324-page report that seeks to close gaps in public safety in tribal communities.
Please see JUsTIce, Page A-4
Three sections, 24 pages 164th year, No. 317 Publication No. 596-440