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Laura Warden

It's all Greek to me-- and you!

10-02-09
Laura Warden

When you're done watching the balloons this weekend in Albuquerque, come on over to the Grecian Festival for some great food and entertainment!

Greek music and danceLive traditional music and dance provide the background for your enjoyment of such great Greek delicacies as gyros, souvlaki, and baklava. And, by way of liquid libations, check out the Greek ouzo!

The Grecian Festival will be running today from 11:00 a.m. to 10 p.m., and will continue tomorrow, Saturday the 3rd, also from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and wind up on Sunday, Oct. 4th with hours from noon to 4:00 p.m. Location? Right downtown, at St. George's Greek Orthodox Curch at 308 High Street. Admission is $4, and there is a park-and-ride service available from the parking lot at Lomas and University.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

10-02-09
Laura Warden

It's that time of year again, when the skies around Albuquerque are filled with thousands of colorful, inspiring, and sometimes downright amusing lighter-than-air craft wafting on our October breezes:

 

Here Comes Balloon Fiesta!

Beginning tomorrow, Saturday, October 3rd, thousands of ballonists from all over the world will be taking to the New Mexico skies in the cool mornings for races, competitions, and general mass ascensions, and lighting up at night for "balloon-glow" magic, to the delight of many thousands of visitors and residents alike.

Here's the schedule:

Day

Time

Event

Saturday, Oct. 3 6:45 a.m. Opening Ceremonies
  7:00 a.m. Mass Ascension
  2:00 p.m. America's Challenge Gas Balloon Inflation
  6:00 p.m. Twilight Twinkle Glow
  6:00 p.m. America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race Launch
  8:00 p.m. AfterGlow Fireworks Show
Sunday, Oct. 4 7:00 a.m. Mass Ascension
  11:00 a.m. Balloon Fiesta Pin Trading
  5:45 p.m. Balloon Glow
  8:00 p.m. AfterGlow Firworks Show
Monday, Oct. 5 7:00 a.m. Flying competition: Balloon Fiesta Hold 'Em
Tuesday, Oct. 6 7:00 a.m. Flying competition: Balloon Fiesta Hold 'Em
Wednesday, Oct.  7 7:00 a.m. Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension and Flying competition
Thursday, Oct. 8 7:00 a.m. Special Shape Rodeo
  7:00 a.m. Flying competition and Prize Grab
  5:45 p.m. Special Shape Glowdeo
  8:00 p.m. AfterGlow Fireworks Show
Friday, Oct. 9 7:00 a.m. Special Shape Rodeo & Key Grab Competition
  5:45 p.m. Special Shape Glowdeo
  8:00 p.m. AfterGlow Fireworks
Saturday, Oct. 10 7:00 a.m. Mass Ascension
  5:45 p.m. Night Magic Glow
8:00 p.m. AfterGlow Fireworks Show
Sunday, Oct. 11 7:00 a.m. Farewell Mass Ascension
In addition to the varying daily schedule above, each morning of Balloon Fiesta starts with a 5:45 Dawn Patrol Show, and features morning and evening Chainsaw Wood Carving Contests.
Come on out and join the fun!

New Corrales Ordinance Angers Local Brokers

07-15-09
Laura Warden

At last month's Village Council meeting in Corrales, NM, councillors voted unanimously to adopt a new ordinance regarding sales tax impositions on real estate sales and construction and home improvements, despite vociferous opposition from many well-known local real estate brokers.

According to an article in the Corrales Comment, the measure imposes a gross receipts tax reporting requirement meant to insure that the Village of Corrales receives sales tax revenues on homes and imporvements made in the village, rather than having such sales tax revenues be inadvertently misdirected to Albuquerque or Rio Rancho, where real estate brokers and contractors often have their offices.

The new measure calls for Village permit signs to be posted on home sales, home construction, and remodeling projects so that all sub-contractors and other parties doing business at the site will be notified that the gross receipts taxes they charge on their invoices need to be coded correctly on their CRS forms (from the Taxation and Revenue Department), so that the village receives the revenues. The permit fee will cost $35. On the motion of councillor Gerar Gagliano, the measure was amended to provide that real estate brokers offering a home for sale did not have to pay for the permit at the time of listing, but rather would have to pay the fee at the time the property actually sold. This was in recognition of the fact that, particularly in the current market, brokers might otherwise have to pay the fee only to have the home fail to sell during the course of the listing. The council refused the suggestion from local broker Peter Parnegg that that the $35 permit fee be collected by the title company at closing. Although real estate brokers turned out in force to oppose the measure, indicating their feeling that this was not what was needed now, with the state of the economy, the council heeded few of their objections or suggestions, and voted 6-0 to approve the measure.

A similar measure was enacted in recent years in the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, and it was reported that the measure resulted in an additional $400,000 in revenue for that village. The village staff indicated that their research showed that Corrales had probably lost $150,000 in revenues over the past five years due to misdirected gross receipts tax on home sales, leading the council to consider the measure appropriate.

Interested in more information about Corrales? Take a virtual tour of Corrales here: