1) Fire Prevention Week
Reminders and Tips from Taos Volunteer Fire Department’s Eric Montoya, Administrative Fire Chief/Fire Marshal, Town of Taos:
This week is Fire Prevention week, the theme this year is "Prevent Home Fires". Your Fire Department wants to share some information we hope assists you to help us prevent the leading causes of home fires related to cooking, heating, electrical and smoking. The one that stands out with our recent temperature drop is heating -- more specifically fireplaces. Make sure you have cleaned your chimneys, and make sure you properly dispose of ashes. The Department recommends placing ashes in a metal ash can, and not in a trash can, dumpster or outside in the yard. Even if the ashes have been in the fireplace all night, they still have the potential of igniting paper, plastics and/or weeds/dry vegetation. You might think this is common sense, but this is the type of call we frequently have to respond to during this time of year -- and it is a fire that can be easily prevented with your help. Attached are some links -- Home Fire Inspection Checklist, Home Fire Escape Plan, and Quiz. The first two are things you can do at home as a family -- you might want to make a couple copies of the escape plan so your kids can draw a picture of your house too. Remember -- two ways out, pick a meeting place, and most importantly, “Get out, and Stay out”! Many of the fire related injuries or deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented by following this last rule. And, take the Quiz – see how much you know. Thanks, Eric Montoya, 758-3386.
http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files//FPW08/FPW08checklist.pdf
http://www.greatamericanfiredrill.org/pdfs/EscapePlanGrid.pdf
http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files//FPW08/fire_prevention_week_quiz_2008.html
2) Griffin Quarterly Marketing Meeting , 9 - 11 a.m., this Thursday, October 9, Town of Taos Council Chambers. Marketing reports can be found, along with other marketing documents, at http://www.taosgov.com/pr/community.php. The September 2008 report is attached.
3) Town of Taos Tax Revenue Update:
Gross Receipts Tax Revenues through September 2008, year over year, -1.68% (Based on approximately $11 million annually received. Just for the month of September, this number was up compared to September 2007 by $48,488 or 1.94%).
Lodgers Tax Revenues through August 2008, year over year, -3.62% (Based on approximately $980,000 annually received. Just for the month of August, this number was down by $2,447 or 2.31%).
3) October 15th – Town of Taos Planning & Zoning Department’s Special Chamisa Verde Smart Code Meeting, agenda attached.
4) Information from a Town of Taos Community Partner:
Peter Hassrick Lecture - Taos Transformations: The Art of Ernest L. Blumenschein
Contact: Virginia Couse Leavitt, 575.751-0369, leavitt@gainusa.com
Eminent Art Historian and Director of the Petrie Institute of The Denver Art Museum Speaks about the Taos Society of Artists
Santa Fe, New Mexico -- The Couse Foundation in cooperation with the New Mexico Museum of Art presents a lecture by Peter Hassrick, Art Historian and Director of the Petrie Institute of The Denver Art Museum. The lecture, titled “Taos Transformations: The Art of Ernest L. Blumenschein,” will be held at the St. Francis Auditorium, New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe on October 30, 2008 at 5:30 PM. Admission $15/person, $25/couple. Contact Foundation for more information.
5) Off Road Safety Program Launched by State of New Mexico
With so much of New Mexico designated as public land administered for recreational use, off-road vehicle terrain is never far away. And thanks to New Mexico’s new Off-Road Vehicle (OHV) Safety Act, one of the nation’s fastest-growing recreational pursuits has never been safer.
Governor Bill Richardson promoted passage of the Off-Road Vehicle Safety Act during the 2005 Legislative Session, which went into effect January 1, 2006. In 2007, the 26-member Off-Highway Safety Board, created as part of the legislation, established helmet and eyewear standards for children ages 18 and younger. The rule also establishes training criteria for organizations which are interested in training children to safely ride all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and dirt bikes on public lands, as well as establishing size-fit standards for children ages 18 and younger. Available certified training classes can be found at www.atvsafety.org.
Since the enactment of the OHV Safety Act, the New Mexico Tourism Department’s Off-Highway Vehicle Program has encouraged the safe use of all off-highway vehicles. To that end, the Department has recently initiated an in-state billboard campaign that directs all off-highway vehicle users to the Department’s web site, www.B4uRide.com, for additional information.
For additional information contact OHV Program Manager Mona Medina, 505-827-7605 or mona.medina@state.nm.us; or visit www.B4uRide.com.
6) October: Fair Trade Month – Town of Taos if Fifth Fair Trade Town in the Nation. For ‘local’ info, go to www.taosgov.com for Fair Trade links (half way down front index page).
Can't see the images below? Click here.
| The Fair Trade Beat is a monthly update from TransFair USA, a non-profit, and the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that products were produced and traded in an economically, socially, and environmentally responsible way. When you buy Fair Trade Certified products, you support the well-being of families, communities, and the earth. |
OCTOBER
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INSIDE THE BEAT
Get Involved --- October is Fair Trade Month, Global Exchange Reverse Trick-or-Treating
Tune in to Fair Trade --- Fair Trade Towns in Cooperative Grocer, Paul Rice on ABC News
New Products and Places --- Divine Halloween Foils and Mini Tubs
Winning Campaigns --- Fair Trade Concert, First Fair Trade University
Producer Spotlight --- El Ceibo, Bolivia
From TransFair USA --- Now Hiring, Donate Today!
GET INVOLVED!
October is Fair Trade Month
It's here! This October marks the Fifth Annual Fair Trade Month, and we're launching a brand new section of our website to help you and your communities get involved with TransFair USA and Fair Trade Certified!
We hope you'll enjoy our new look and sign up to host a Fair Trade event in your home, community, school, or place of worship. If you aren't able to host an event right now, you can search for an event to attend near you. And we hope you'll be inspired to donate to help expand the benefits of Fair Trade Certification to more farming communities around the globe.
Get involved today, visit our beautiful new action pages, and celebrate Fair Trade Month in a big way in 2008! And check back often - you'll soon find other new and creative ways to support Fair Tradeu.
Reverse Trick or Treating 
On Halloween night, thousands of children throughout North America will give a little something back to adults as part of their night of trick-or-treating. Join Global Exchange in reaching out to thousands of households this Halloween. Have fun and make a difference! Reverse Trick-or-Treating cards are available free-of-charge thanks to the generous donations of Fair Trade chocolate companies Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, Theo Chocolates and La Siembra.
Deadline to request reverse Trick-or-Treat cards is October 1st for groups and October 13th for individuals. Order supplies at reversetrickortreating.org or visit store.gxonlinestore.org to order Fair Trade Chocolate to hand out at the door!
Tune in to Fair Trade
Fair Trade Towns USA Featured in Cooperative Grocer
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| Fair Trade Towns USA was featured in the September / October edition of Cooperative Grocer a lively, colorful, bi-monthly trade magazine serving more than 350 food cooperatives across the U.S. and Canada.
Paul Rice on ABC News
TransFair's CEO, Paul Rice, was interviewed last week by ABC News during their show "News Now, Money Matters." We're thrilled that Fair Trade certification is receiving this level of attention during this worrisome and world-changing economic crisis. Click to view. |
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New Products and Places
Divine Chocolate Halloween Candy
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This year, Divine Chocolate is offering for a limited time Halloween Milk Chocolates: 21 oz of Divine Fair Trade Milk chocolate wrapped in decorative Halloween foils for $15 and 200 piece tubs of delicious Dark Chocolate mini-bars for only $35. These products are available while supplies last and only at divinechocolateusa.com.
And don't forget the other excellent Fair Trade Certified Halloween chocolate offerings from Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, Theo Chocolates and La Siembra. |
Winning Campaigns
Media, PA Hosts First Annual Fair Trade Concert 
Want to really brighten your day? Take a look at the pictures and slide show from the Septebmer 14 Fair Trade Concert in Media, PA. An estimated five thousand attended on a very hot, humid afternoon. The African Children’s Choir was the hit of the afternoon, with the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico a close second.
It was a grand festival and one that is likely to become an annual event. Over 70 booths selling Fair Trade food and handcrafts filled the streets alongside other “green” inspirations. Check the Fair Trade Live Passport for a complete list of event sponsors or visit Media’s Facebook page to see photos from the day’s events!
UWO First in U.S. to Become a Fair Trade University
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is the first university in the U.S. to become a Fair Trade University, making a stated commitment to do its part “toward ending trade injustices that result in millions of people living in poverty.” About 70 universities in Europe have Fair Trade University status, including the University of Birmingham and the University of Edinburgh, and UW Oshkosh is the first American university to do so.
To become a Fair Trade University, UW Oshkosh’s four governing bodies endorsed a resolution outlining the university’s commitment to: sell Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, and chocolate in dining establishments, at catered functions and in department offices whenever feasible and within the confines of its food service contract; offer Fair Trade Certified food products and handicrafts at University stores whenever possible; and identify and acknowledge Fair Trade Certified products and encourage their purchase by students, faculty, and staff. The Fair Trade program will be overseen by the newly formed Campus Sustainability Council.
WorldofGood.com and Ebay Launch People-Positive eCommerce Site
This month eBay and World of Good unveiled a new e-commerce site for shoppers of environmentally friendly and Fair Trade goods. The online auctioneer will add a new retail component to its fairly new community site, which targets people who care about healthy living and ethical treatment of workers. The site, which eBay built in partnership with Fair Trade company World of Good, will sell products ranging from Fair Trade Certified coffee from Costa Rica to toxin-free skin cream from London.
Producer Spotlight
El Ceibo, Bolivia 
El Ceibo is deeply committed to protecting the native Andean rainforest and in 1988 became the first certified organic cocoa cooperative in the world. El Ceibo was also the first cooperative to process its own cocoa into chocolate and powder. Today, El Ceibo farmers grow 70 percent of the total organic cocoa cultivated in Bolivia.
The Fair Trade price has enabled El Ceibo to provide an allowance for school fees of the members’ children, invest in trucks and improvements to their processing plant, create crop diversification programs to reduce farmers’ dependence on cocoa for export earnings, provide health and accident insurance, and even provide yearly bonuses to members aged 65 or older.
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