SANTA FE — New Mexico households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits will receive the maximum amount for their household size for the month of December as the state continues its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Mexico Human Services Department announced Dec. 2.

“We are especially grateful to provide additional food assistance for New Mexicans as we head into the holiday season,” Karmela Martinez, director of the Income Support Division which administers the SNAP program, formally known as food stamps said. “Many New Mexico families are struggling as the pandemic rages on and our low-income residents need all the support, they can get to...

Week ending Friday, November 27, 2020

Warming Bites

Warmer temperatures may be causing blood-sucking ticks to shift their feeding preference from dogs to humans in a potentially growing threat to public health. This finding is alarming  because ticks carry and can transmit deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Experiments conducted at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine placed a human in one box and a dog in an adjacent one. The researchers watched at various temperatures as the ticks sniffed out which mammal would bring their next blood meal. While at 75 degrees Fahrenheit the ticks showed a distinct preference for the dog, they became 2.5 times more...

More than 50 species of trees and shrubs available to order online

SANTA FE— The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Forestry Division spring seedling sale kicks off Dec. 7. The Conservation Seedling program will have approximately 30,000 trees and shrubs available for sale on the Forestry Division website. Uses include windbreaks, erosion control, supporting wildlife habitat, watershed restoration, reclamation projects, and reforestation.

“Now is the perfect time for landowners to begin making plans for spring planting season,” Carol Bada, conservation seedling program manager said. “We have more than 50 species of seedlings available for multiple...

RMCHCS has brought Samuel McDowell on as its new director of finance.

McDowell was born and raised on the East Coast of the United States, but has spent most of his working career at a variety of international postings that includes the Philippines, Micronesia, Indonesia, Sudan, Romania, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He most recently served as chief financial officer of a women and children’s hospital in Abu Dhabi.

McDowell has a unique hobby… flying sailplanes whenever he has the spare time.