Nation

WIC: More Than Milk And Cheese

by

By ERICA ARCHULETA, MEd
Santa Fe WIC Supervisor
Los Alamos Breastfeeding Taskforce Member

WIC is an acronym visible throughout America including the aisles of the new Smith’s Marketplace, however it is an acronym that tends to be underestimated or thought of as the milk and cheese program. 

WIC is far more than milk and cheese, and as we celebrate World Breastfeeding Week it is important to recognize the contributions the WIC program has made over the years and continues to make every day to breastfeeding women throughout America, New Mexico and Los Alamos County. 

Formally established Read More

Senators: WIPP’s Missed Inspections ‘Unacceptable’

by

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced Monday that the Department of Labor has responded to their March request for an explanation detailing why the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) failed to conduct legally required regular safety inspections at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

The senators asked for the information after an investigation into a February truck fire at WIPP revealed that MSHA had done only two inspections during the three years before the accident.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich

A specialized Read More

Sen. Al Franken Attends Democratic Campaign Headquarters Opening Event in Santa Fe Saturday

by

Dist. 43 Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard of Los Alamos introduces Sen. Tom Udall to a crowd of several hundred at Saturday’s opening of the Democratic Campaign Headquarters in Santa Fe. Photo by Brad Storey
 
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., addresses the crowd at the opening of Democratic Campaign Headquarters office Saturday in Santa Fe office. Photo by Brad Storey

Sen. Tom Udall speaks to the crowd at Saturday’s event in Santa Fe. Photo by Brad Storey

Sen. Al Franken with Public Education Commission candidate Karyl Ann Armbruster of Los Alamos at the opening of  the Democratic

Read More

Heinrich on CIA’s Redactions in Interrogation Study

by

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement on the CIA’s redactions to the executive summary of the Committee’s study of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program.

“I was disappointed to learn of the CIA’s extensive use of redactions on the Committee’s executive summary. Redactions are supposed to remove names or anything that could compromise sources and methods, not to undermine the source material so that

Read More

Heinrich Votes to Reform VA System

by

Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. released the following statement Thursday after voting to pass the Conference Report for the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act.

The proposal, cosponsored by Heinrich, will improve veterans’ access to health care services and address serious systemic problems facing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

“I’m pleased we were able to work together and pass a bipartisan compromise that addresses the chronic mismanagement and systemic Read More

Anti-Nuke Group Gathers To Remember Hiroshima

by

Father John Dear of Santa Fe Pax Christi speaks to the group of about 40 people gathered at Ashley Pond Saturday to remember Hiroshima. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

 

By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post

Father John Dear and members of Pax Christi spent 30 minutes sitting in silence Saturday on the grass at Ashley Pond Park in remembrance of the Aug. 6 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 69 years ago.

“We gathered to remember Hiroshima and to repent for the sins of nuclear weapons and beg the Read More

LAMC ‘Bans the Bag’ in Support of Breastfeeding

by

By CATHLEEN HEWLETT-MASSER, RNC-OB, IBCLC, CCE,
Northern New Mexico Women’s Health, Obstetrical Nurse

In support of breastfeeding the nursing staff at Los Alamos Medical Center’s (LAMC) Women’s Health and Childbirth Center no longer distribute formula company diaper bags as discharge gifts to new families.

Numerous studies over the last 20 years demonstrate that distribution of free diaper discharge bags, gifted to hospitals at no cost by formula companies, decrease exclusive breastfeeding rates. These “gifts” of formula samples and coupons undermine maternal confidence Read More

Heinrich: It’s Irresponsible To Believe Refugee Crisis Will Fix Itself

by

Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

 

 U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a leading voice in addressing the current Central American refugee crisis on the southern border and staunch advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, voted Thursday in favor of S.2648, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act.

 

The bill failed on a procedural vote that would have allowed it to get a final up or down vote. 

“Inaction is not a viable solution to this incredibly serious problem. It is absolutely irresponsible to believe that this humanitarian crisis will Read More

Udall: VA Reform Bill Improves NM Veterans Care

by

Sen. Tom Udall

U.S. SENATE News:

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall joined the Senate Thursday in approving a bipartisan measure to reform veterans’ care and begin to restore accountability and transparency at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in New Mexico and across the country.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill, which passed by a vote of 91-3, earlier this week. It now goes to the president, who is expected to sign it into law. 

The bill will address barriers that have led to long wait times for doctors’ appointments by allowing veterans to get care outside the VA Read More

NIST: Hazard Lurks Beneath Many Gas Stations

by

Optical micrographs of severe corrosion on steel alloy samples exposed to ethanol and acetic acid vapors – conditions typical of underground gas storage tanks – after 355 hours, 643 hours and 932 hours. Courtesy/NIST

NIST News:

A hidden hazard lurks beneath many of the roughly 156,000 gas stations across the United States.

The hazard is corrosion in parts of underground gas storage tanks—corrosion that could result in failures, leaks and contamination of groundwater, a source of drinking water. In recent years, field inspectors in nine states have reported many rapidly corroding Read More