Craft Fair, Sat, May 12 10-3

The Octopus and the Fox will be hosting another craft fair, right here in The Artichoke Cafe parking lot. Here's a little more info.

The hours of the craft fair will be 10am-3pm on Saturday May 12th.

There will be lots of crafts, a raffle and a bake sale to benefit New Day (a local organization that provides assistance to at risk youths). A lot of local businesses have donated gift certificates to the raffle including The Octopus and The Fox, The Grove, The Daily Grind, Farina, Evolution Piercing, Gemini Massage, Java Joe's, and more! I've included a flier in this email. Would you mind spreading the word? Thanks so much and if you have any questions let us know!

Craft Fair Flyer

Maddox Realty in for a Retro Re-design

Take a look at what Maddox Realty's redesign will look like. The style is a return to the 1950's and Route 66.

Maddox Realty Redesign

Easter Egg Hunt Saturday April 7

Please join in the neighborhood easter egg hunt this Saturday, April 7, at Highland Park. Start time for the hunt is 10:30 am. Lots of eggs to hunt, prizes, and treats.

Highland Park Design—Please Comment

Click here to view the city's design for renovating Highland Park. Take a look and tell us what you think by clicking on the Post a Comment option beneath this text.

The association board meeting will be talking about this project at their next meeting, this Wednesday, April 4, 6:30 at Preservation Station.

Easter Egg Hunt & Earth Day at Highland Park

We will be holding our annual Easter Egg Hunt at the park. Stay tuned for details.

Earth Day Birth Day celebration will also be held at the park on April 20th from around 10-12. The Language Academy, a new preschool located directly west of the Hotel Parq, will be hosting the event. Children will sing songs, there will be a slack line to practice tightrope walking, and there will be locally made items for sale. Buy some items, bring a picnic lunch, or stop by to say hi to your neighbors. If you would like to sell items, make donations, or participate in any way, please call me for more details.

Join Highland Park Clean up Sat Mar 31

We're gathering at the park this Saturday at 10 am to do some much needed spring cleaning. Please bring gloves, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, and other gardening equipment. The city is delivering mulch and gravel for us to spread out in dirt patches. We'll also be picking up trash, pulling weeds, and generally sprucing up the park, so please join us and lend a hand!

Same Same But Different

Moises Gonzalez

Deryle Perryman and I launched a Kickstarter campaign last night for our film Same Same But Different—a documentary about Vietnam Veterans healing the wounds of war. Kickstarter is a way to fund creative projects through grassroots fundraising.  So the short answer is, Yes, we are asking you to help out by clicking here and contributing. You can pledge as little as a dollar or as much as you got. And when you donate you receive our heartfelt thanks and special rewards related to the film. These range from updates on the project for a dollar pledge to really incredible stuff for larger pledges, like Same Same But Different T-shirts (from Vietnam!), large limited edition photographic prints (Vietnam images shot by me and Deryle) from two shows—MOTOFOTO and SAMESAMEFOTO—hanging around Albuquerque, special edition DVDs of the film (that you helped make) on up to travel and accommodations to the World Premiere and a Producer credit--including a chance to give feedback on the film before the final cut. You're going to love being a part of getting this film made! After you've made your pledge, please help me out by letting everyone in your world know about the campaign.  (Oh great, not only does he want my money but he wants me to work for him, too.)  As you may know, either we hit the mark we've set ($25K in 25 Days) or we get nothing, nada, squat  The clock is running. 

A little excerpt from the website (feel free to cut and paste at will):

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Long after that last helicopter lifted off from the American Embassy in Saigon, Veterans of that War have quietly returned to their former battlegrounds to clear unexploded ordnance, work with victims of Agent Orange, and build schools and orphanages.  Same Same But Different is their story.  (Go to samesamebutdifferentfilm.com.)

Love and thanks--Moises

PS  If you haven't been, check out my company's website, marabiproductions.com. The opening video clip is of the street in front of the house where my cousins live in Baracoa, Cuba.

EDo Stop for Rapid Ride?

EDo Neighborhood Association, Board of Directors

With a growing concentration of housing and employment in the East Downtown (EDo) area and the Huning Highland Neighborhood, ABQ Ride is considering adding a Rapid Ride stop on a trial basis near Central & Edith for the Red and Green Lines.

To help inform ABQ Ride's decision, click here to complete their survey.

HH Neighborhood Walkabout Exercise March 27, 2012

In conjunction with the 2012 Arid LID Conference there will be a Huning Highlands Neighborhood walkabout exercise, March 27, 1 pm to 3:30 pm led by Joanne McEntire, Arid-Lid Albuquerque Planning Committee, and HH resident David Day, Terra Designs, LLC.

The 2012 Arid LID (Low Impact Development) Conference will be held March 27-29, 2012 in Tucson, AZ.  In conjunction with the conference, a group in Albuquerque will host a one-day satellite workshop March 27 at the South Broadway Cultural Center in Albuquerque, including a live video link with Tucson for the initial conference presentations beginning at 8:30 am. 

Click to read more ...

We Are Poised to Lose our City Council Ditrict

From Diane Dolan and Amberley Pyles

As you may know, council will most likely vote to eliminate our council district. This may prove to be a devastating loss for our neighborhood as it creates a super-district that includes most of the city's pockets of poverty as well as most of the areas that need major infrastructure improvements.

If we are no longer part of a distinct district, we will lose a great deal of bargaining power as well as access to funds for parks, roads, and other infrastructure improvements.

If you have not yet spoken at a council meeting, please attend the meeting this Wednesday and speak about why you feel it is important to maintain fair representation. Our association is in favor of plan V, or a variation, not plan L, which creates a super-sized district with extensive economic needs. Strong turn out in favor of plan V (or opposed to plan L) may actually make a difference! You do not need to compose a long speech but simply go on record with your opinion.

Thanks,
Amberley
———————————————————

Council will vote on Redistricting at the meeting on Wednesday, February 22.  
Once the Council has acted, the Mayor has the right to sign or to veto what has been passed.

What you can do —

• Write to the Council to be placed in the public record:  http://www.cabq.gov/council/councilors/contact-all-councilors .  Select ALL of the Councilors and send a copy the Clerk of Council, Crystal Ortega at COrtega@cabq.gov.
• Attend the February 22 City Council meeting and speak during public comment.  Council will vote on a redistricting plan at the meeting Wednesday, February 22 at 5:00 pm in the Vincent Griego Chambers in the basement of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Building (1 Civic Plaza).  Parking is free in the underground garage or on the street.
• Contact the Mayor:  http://www.cabq.gov/mayor/mayor-email or mayor@cabq.gov.
• Talk to your neighbors and forward this information.  Encourage them to inform themselves, contact City Council, the Mayor and/or attend the February 22 meeting.
• Write letters to the editors of our newspapers:  http://www.abqjournal.com/letters/new (include name, address, daytime phone number); letters@alibi.com

Diane Dolan, Policy Analyst - City Councilor Isaac Benton, District 3, Albuquerque City Council
P.O. Box 1293, Albuquerque, NM 87103  (505) 768-3186
ddolan@cabq.gov

Redistricting Update