Today's News

Los Alamos County has issued a Request for  Qualifications (RFQ) to select a developer in the design and construction of a full-service convention center facility in the downtown district of Los Alamos.

The county is soliciting a developer for a  business conference facility (8,000-20,000-square feet), to include flexible meeting and event space combined with first-class dining and lodging facilities that will compete favorably with other “Class A” conference and lodging facilities in Northern New Mexico, and provide a local venue for special events-amenities for which there is significant demand in Los Alamos according to a recent market feasibility study conducted earlier this year by Atlanta-based Strategic Advisory Group.

Currently, Los Alamos is losing as much as $4 million in annual conference and lodging business nearby casino resorts as well as to Class A lodging and conference facilities in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, according to representatives from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and other federal agencies and businesses interviewed as part of the study.

The proposed project aims to recapture that business by providing a full-service facility that will serve LANL and its corporate clients and contractors, as well as other discerning short- and long-stay guests.

In the first year of an effort to accelerate shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), Los Alamos National Laboratory topped its own record with 59 more shipments than planned and it also became one of the largest shippers of this type of nuclear waste in the country.

“Our goal this fiscal year was to send 184 shipments to WIPP,” said Lee Bishop, TRU waste manager at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Los Alamos Site Office, “and we finished the fiscal year in September with 230 shipments, surpassing Los Alamos’ all-time record by nearly 60 shipments.”
Los Alamos’ previous record was 171 shipments, set last year.

In an agreement between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy, Los Alamos has committed to removing 3,706 cubic meters of TRU waste stored above ground by June 30, 2014.

The laboratory removed 916 cubic meters of waste from its stored inventory this year, more than its goal of 800 cubic meters. It plans to more than double that effort during fiscal year 2013, which began Oct. 1, with a goal of shipping 1,800 cubic meters by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2013. The final 1,106 cubic meters will be shipped by June 30, 2014.

The Los Alamos County council weighed the cost/benefits of reinstituting a monthly mailing of the “County Line” newsletter to every household and voted 5-1 against the idea.

The cost to re-institute the print newsletter is estimated to be $48,000 per year and rising as postal rates continue to escalate.

Public Information Officer Julie Habiger will instead increase efforts to have citizens subscribe to the weekly online newsletter and work with local organizations to reach those who lack computer access.

The debate centered around the issues of an informed public versus cost and demands on staff time.  

Council first debated whether to finance an extension of the printed newsletter during budget hearings in April. The project had been funded for two years to establish it within the community, with the original intention of moving to an online-only version.

Council voted not to include the newsletter in the FY 13 budget, but asked for a re-evaluation of the online “County Line” in six months.

Rental agreements for specialized equipment to apply address labels and labeling software expired in March and the equipment was returned. No space was allotted in the new Municipal Building’s media services space for the 8-foot-by-3-foot piece of equipment.

Art exhibits

The fourth biennial Taos Art Glass Invitational and Walking on Glass Tour will be through Sunday. They are both featured events in Taos’ “Grand Fall Arts,” a series of art-related events in September and October. For more information, visit tiganm.org or call Delinda VanneBrightyn at 575-613-6484.

Art openings

Weyrich Gallery presents an opening for “Copper Red Porcelain,” new porcelain work by Kathryne Cyman, from 5-8:30 p.m. Friday at 2935 D Louisiana Blvd. NE, Albuquerque. For more information, call 505-883-7410.

Zane Bennett Contemporary Art announces two exhibits, David Kapp’s “West/East Los Angeles/New York,” paintings; and Michael Petry’s “Joshua D’s wall and Recent Works,” glass sculpture. An opening reception for both exhibits will be from 5-7 p.m. at 435 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe.
Art tours

The Madrid and Cerrillos Studio Tour will start with a preview party and auction Friday at the Engine House Theater in Madrid. The tour will be from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 13-14. For more information, visit madridcerrillosstudiotour.com.