Yes, I waited all night for this

I'm five years too late, I know, but I'm finally in the blogosphere. I'll try to handle stuff here that's hard to fit in the paper right away.

And how better to start than with a government meeting!

The City Council was busy last night, and I spent six hours in the "Janet Blair Media Center" — the press room in the basement of City Hall. Here's some stuff that I couldn't squeeze into the paper this morning:

•  Councilors voted in favor of establishing regulations for protecting and identifying archaeological sites in the city. Martin Heinrich sponsored the bill. It calls for ensuring that construction and other "ground-disturbing activities" are inspected for possible archaeological resources.
• Geraldine Amato, the hat-wearing activist, testified before the council several times to criticize government overlords and the "yellow" Journal, which I think means me.
• Councilors held a moment of silence for the late Bob Johnson, a fierce advocate for open government in New Mexico. They also approved two ordinances intended to make it easier for people to get public records. One bill says the city must provide electronic records to the public without charging for the time it takes to research or retrieve the records. The other ordinance outlines a host of open-records procedures and clarifies that city contractors must provide public records when asked. Both ordinances were sent to the council by Mayor Martin Chavez.
• Approved a proposal to increase the fines for illegally using a disabled parking space. Sally Mayer, at the request of the city administration, sponsored the proposal to increase the fines from their current level of $110. The fines would be $250 for a first offense, $350 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense.
• A junior from Amy Biehl High School waited all night for her chance to speak for two minutes on a proposal to allow smoking in certain areas of the airport and Isotopes Park. She got to testify about 11 p.m., but the bill was postponed for two weeks.