Catalytic convertor theft is costly and increasing | Letters To Editor | santafenewmexican.com – Santa Fe New Mexican

After having a catalytic converter stolen from my vehicle a couple of months ago, one sentence in a recent article about drug-related arrests (Police: Drug trafficking arrest surge a collaboration by agencies, Jan. 30) caught my eye: The drug trade is constantly evolving with many crimes inspired by or connected to it. When we talked to the Santa Fe County Sheriffs deputy who investigated this theft, he told my wife and me thefts of this nature have increased significantly across the county and city of Santa Fe over the past few months.

This is an expensive problem (more than $1,600 in our case) that has affected many people in our community, and I do believe that this whole business of drug trafficking and the fencing of catalytic converters for the precious metals they contain are part of the same underworld syndicates. Hopefully, our law enforcement agencies can expand their collaborative efforts to crack these rings.

While many may know that February is Heart Month, they might not know many people in the United States also commemorate Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week from Feb. 7-14. And Feb. 14 is not just Valentines Day it also is Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Day. For the more than 2.5 million Americans who were born with a congenital heart defect, this day and week are a crucial time to spread awareness about the importance of congenital heard disease care throughout the entire lifespan.

As a parent of a son navigating adulthood with congenital heard disease in New Mexico and as a doctor who specializes in treating adults with congenital heard disease, we want everyone to know that heart defects are the most common type of birth defect in the United States, affecting approximately 1 in 100 births. As most children receive congenital heard disease treatment and live to adulthood, a growing population of adults with heart defects need ongoing specialized cardiac care.

While this is great news, the sobering fact is that despite the recent increase in the number of adult congenital heard disease clinics in the United States, only a fraction of patients are seen in specialized centers fewer than 10 percent of the nearly 2 million adults with congenital heard disease. The Adult Congenital Heart Association is a nonprofit whose mission is to empower the congenital heard disease community by advancing access to resources and specialized care. This month, join us and our association in spreading awareness about adults living with congenital heard disease and the specialized treatment they need to live a full life.

ACHA medical advisory board chair

The public has constitutional rights, through the Fifth Amendment and 14th Amendment due-process rights to maintain the existing locations of Galisteo Road north and south of Zia Road. The preliminary development plan from Zia Station LLC approved in April of 2021 and city Resolution 21-089 propose to donate Galisteo Road to developers to build on. They propose and approve doing this because the development requires a new location of the road to solve traffic volume increase, and the developer requires land to build high-density commercial and residential architecture to make money. I believe the city cannot move the road to serve private interests, which is exactly what they have approved doing.

One would think after two years of the coronavirus pandemic and reams of data available, the governor would be better informed and journalists more critical of her recent decision to continue the mask mandate. Only nine states remain with a mask mandate, and in the most recent seven-day average of new cases (as reported and found easily in the New York Times), they rank as follows (the lower the ranking, the higher the case counts): Washington, 14; California, 15; New Mexico, 17; Oregon, 18; Hawaii, 21; Nevada, 35; Illinois, 42; Delaware, 44; and New York, 46. If mask wearing helped, you would expect these states to be clumped in the 35-50 rank level.

I believe data suggests there is no evidence of the mitigating benefit of wearing masks. While the harm for us adults is marginal, we shouldnt ignore the negative effects on childhood development, as is now beginning to be seen. As anyone who has dined out recently knows, the Kabuki restaurant mask dance is comical and amusing but obviously not effective.

Read the original post:
Catalytic convertor theft is costly and increasing | Letters To Editor | santafenewmexican.com - Santa Fe New Mexican