The Interfaith Community Shelter Group publicly acknowledges City Councilors Patti Bushee, Chris Calvert, Rosemary Romero, Rebecca Wurzburger, Miguel Chávez, Carmichael Domínguez, Matthew Ortiz and Ronald Trujillo for the $50,000 grant to fund the faith community's third year of providing a safe alternative for homeless individuals who otherwise would be on the street or camping in the hills in the coldest months of the year.

We are not competing with any other agency. Our mission differs from shelter programs with length-of-stay limitations. We are an emergency shelter in the truest sense: taking care of those with no place to go; providing wholesome meals, clothing, hygiene items, haircuts, foot care, and referrals to the excellent service providers in Santa Fe for guests seeking help with employment, health, and behavioral or other issues that prevent them from reaching their goals, realizing their dreams, and, ultimately, moving into supportive housing.



I work in the Joseph Montoya Building near the Manuel Luján Sr. Building on St. Francis Drive. I think it's a shame that the employees in the Luján Building have to endure such a problem. Are the toilets functional while "they" work on finding the leaky sewage pipes? Just having to be in a building with the problems the Luján Building has is extremely stressful. How can the employees work at their best and be productive in such an atmosphere? And what about their customers? Why do they need to endure the stink or wait to get business done?

It's a real shame that the people who are "in charge" have an attitude of "be patient, we're dealing with old infrastructure." Public employees get the short end of the stick in all the aging buildings. Poor ventilation, ineffective cooling and lousy heating, leaky plumbing; we are told "to be patient, work with it, nothing we can do." It's inexcusable. Some of the state's budget needs to be earmarked for new buildings!



I keep reading that we need new DUI laws to solve the DUI problem. No, we need to enforce the ones we already have, and to get drunken drivers off the street now. Driving home from community band practice recently, I came across a bad accident just north of the Tesuque exit at the bottom of the opera hill. The State Police were giving the driver a field sobriety test. Then, between Pojoaque and Española, there was another group of police cars with a car pulled over and someone being checked by the police. Drivers who are pulled over for speeding aren't asked to get out of their cars, unless they're suspected of alcohol or drug use. Enough is enough.

Let's get these dangerous people off the roads. I don't want to be the next victim.



Re: "Teen-license program may cut fatalities" (July 14) : The story citing statistics that the trend in deaths for 16-year-old drivers using provisional licenses seems to be improving struck a chord in me. It seems ludicrous to have a debate on how wonderful it is that only
23 irreplaceable teenagers died in 2008 behind the wheel. Isn't one preventable death too many?

Maybe it is time to scrap the provisional driving program altogether, or restrict it to daytime driving. Particularly after the accident that took the lives of four teenagers, the thought of my son getting behind the wheel at 16 after dark in New Mexico is terrifying.



I have been appalled by some of the letters to the editor concerning the deaths of local teens. One went so far as to blame the parents of the teens for their deaths. I don't believe it takes the sensitivities of a saint to realize the agony that those parents must be experiencing. To judge in this manner adds to their pain. Do the individuals who wrote these letters think they are immune from tragedy?

Whatever happened to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? My heart goes out to all family members — including the mother of the intoxicated driver. The law is one thing, but it does not preclude compassion and empathy.