I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
So far this legislative session, we’ve seen several proposals to reinstate the gross receipts tax on food. The one that seems to have gained traction would apply the GRT to non-staple foods, using the WIC guidelines. That means that while soda and ketchup would be taxable, so would white flour tortillas, pasta and rice. But taxing food could bring in millions to fill a gaping budget hole. Should the state tax food?
First Lady Michelle Obama launch her campaign against child obesity, Let’s Move, Tuesday morning. The program aims to improve kids’ health by improving school lunches, increasing the number of farmers markets in the country and revamping the tried and true food pyramid. It also focuses on physical activity by partnering with professional athletes to encourage at least an hour of play away from TV’s computers and video games that take up an average of 7.5 hours of kids’ days. More …
A little bit overweight? Smoke a few now and then? It could cost you more for health insurance if you’re a New Mexico teacher. Many New Mexico teachers used to have what could be described as a “Cadillac” health insurance…
First Lady Michelle Obama’s decision to plant a garden on the White House grounds has been an international “teachable moment,” with impact that reaches far beyond her back yard. Garden vegetable seed packets are selling like hotcakes, canning cookbooks…
The obesity epidemic cannot be ignored by government or the private sector. Since doing nothing is not an option, what do we do? I’d start with education. When people are taught how to read food labels, buy lower cost, healthy food, and cook, they make lasting changes.
Despite U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s desire to see obesity prevention and treatment programs included in a health care reform bill, very few are in the drafts that have been released so far, notes Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic, who…
This week, as Congress wrestles with the issue of health care reform, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hosting what it says is its inaugural conference on obesity prevention and control, called “Weight of the Nation.”
Obesity costs Americans $147 billion per year and makes up about 10 percent of the total cost of health care, according to a study published this month in the journal Health Affairs and presented Monday at the conference. More …
Let’s be honest: Poor people know that green chile cheeseburgers will make them fatter than steamed salmon will, and they know that doing an hour of exercise will make them fitter than watching an hour of television.
This spring, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, introduced an ambitious bill targeting obesity, which is responsible for 20 to 30 percent of the increase in the cost of health care. With health care reform on the table now, Bingaman says he hopes to incorporate many of the elements of his bill into a larger health care reform bill, but as negotiations over various bills broke down last week, Bingaman told the Independent nothing was for sure.
