When my wife and I planned to build a green home we were lucky enough to know who we were going to use. Mitchell Smith, a client of mine, was a green builder/designer. This was six years ago, so it was no easy matter to be as green as we wanted to be. From day one, Mitchell worked with us in a calm and professional manner to come up with the solutions we needed.

The end result: a home featured in July's Natural Home.

With all the horror stories surrounding contracting here and elsewhere, it's a sad moment to lose one of Santa Fe's great visionary builders.

Mitchell passed away recently at a young age, and Santa Fe is the poorer for it.

Richard Barr
Santa Fe

Scrap Sports

I am appalled that you would even consider removing the Nation & World section of The New Mexican! Keeping us informed not only about local news but the world should be a major priority of this newspaper. After this, there won't be much left in The New Mexican to read.

How about shortening the Sports and Comics, and do we really need a whole page of Weather?

You are doing Santa Fe a disservice by this move.

Nancy Kriebel
Santa Fe

Irrelevant news

I noted this morning that you have for "space reasons" eliminated the Religion section. Earlier this week you did away with the stock market listings and part of the Business section.

Then I read the Sports section and noted your usual format, e.g. listing the 139th place golfer in some obscure contest. Ordinarily I would pass over this bit of trivia with ease. But then, I saw with disbelief that you had listed the preseason NFL game results before the preseason has even begun! All results of course were 0-0-0.

If space is really a problem, try eliminating this irrelevant information and replace it with some real news!

Patrick Clement, MD
Eldorado

Sponsorships welcome

In regards to Mr. Vito Hemphill's and Mr. John Schoemer's letters alleging sale of the Plaza to corporate sponsors: Spanish Market was very fortunate to have Qwest as a corporate sponsor for their important cultural event.

Santa Fe is home to more than 100 nonprofits, all of whom are in competition for sponsors. Qwest's display was as unobtrusive and as tastefully constructed as could be.

Events such as Spanish Market, to continue to be free of charge, need sponsors to provide the quality experience that some seem to take for granted.

You don't like the tent and what is inside? Volunteer! All of our nonprofits need expert writers to solicit funds.

Kudos to Bud Redding, Kathy Madden and all of the volunteers who provide Santa Fe with an ever improving Spanish Market.

Brian McPartlon
Santa Fe

Keep 'em stupid

I don't see anything wrong with tapping the national reserve if it provides some immediate relief to the consumer.

We should also continue to work toward alternative fuel and energy sources. Barack Obama's reconsideration of some drilling is conditional upon incorporation of alternative fuel sources.

John "McSame" neglects to tell the people of this, and his answer to the gas price crisis is to grant more unconditional drilling to the oil companies.

That is like a death sentence for the national parks and wildlife refuge areas. Additionally, the people would not benefit from any more drilling for another 20 years to 22 years.

McSame also neglects to tell the people that oil extracted from the U.S. doesn't stay in the U.S. It goes into a giant pool to be distributed around the world and sold to the highest bidder.

McSame remains convinced that the people will remain as stupid and uninformed as they have been this past seven and a half years. This is exactly what the oil companies want.

Randy Nason
Santa Fe

Voices for quiet

The national forests' push for recreational all-terrain and off-road vehicle use on public lands is now in our neck of the woods — a one-square-mile site just west and north of the beautiful and sacred Aspen Ranch area off of Pacheco Canyon. Is this what we want? We need to express our opinions in the following ways:

• Attend the meeting from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe, 107 W. Barcelona Road.
• Send an e-mail to comments-southwestern-santafe@fs.fed.us (put "travel management" in subject line).
• Mail comments to National Forest,1474 Rodeo Road., Santa Fe, N.M., 87505.
• Contact state legislators regarding this most important issue; inform neighbors, friends and anyone else who should know.

The comment period is between now and Sept. 2. Let our voices be heard.

Charly Drobeck
Sam Berne
Tesuque