New Mexico

CBS should be ashamed of itself. Taking 40 kids to a New Mexico desert for 40 days of "nation" building, promoting the pint-sized pioneers as the stars of a new reality TV show, and then likening it to summer camp when concerns about child-labor-law violations are raised? Someone at CBS needs a dose of reality. Campers don't sign contracts, and they don't get paid $5,000 stipends. And they aren't prohibited from talking about their "camp experience." The dust-up over the production of CBS' Kid Nation again unmasks the reality of reality shows, which is that all is not what it seems.

Let me get this straight: CBS launches a new reality series that plops 40 kids between the ages of 8 and 15 in a New Mexico "ghost town" for 40 days with no adult supervision - and some people have a problem with this? Just because the kids put in longer hours (the filming goes on 14 hours a day, seven days a week) than a factory worker in Singapore, and one got burned in a cooking accident, and a few others accidentally drank bleach? And because the parents reportedly had to sign waivers saying they wouldn't have any contact with their kids during filming, and wouldn't sue if their little dears were hurt or freaked out from the stress or died or became pregnant or contracted a sexually transmitted disease?

A Western drought that began in 1999 has continued after the respite of a couple of wet years that now feel like a cruel tease. But this time people in the driest states are not just scanning the skies and hoping for meteorological rescue. About $2.5 billion in water projects are planned or under way in four states, the biggest expansion in the West's quest for water in decades. Among them is a proposed 280-mile pipeline that would direct water to Las Vegas from northern Nevada. A proposed reservoir just north of the California-Mexico border would correct an inefficient delivery system that lets excess water pass to Mexico.

The temperatures in New Mexico were in the 30s and 40s recently when Dennis Ferguson was visiting. But somehow those temperatures didn't feel as cold out there as they do back home in Easton. "Could this be the difference in humidity? Altitude?" he asks. I'd say humidity and latitude. Damp air feels colder because moisture conducts heat away from our skin more easily. New Mexico is also farther south than Maryland, so sun angles are higher, delivering more solar heat per square inch of skin.

Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening endorsed New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for president yesterday, citing the fellow Democrat's commitment to environmental protection and fighting global climate change. "As secretary of energy, he was a leader on mass transit and smart growth issues," Glendening said in a statement released by the Richardson campaign. "As governor of New Mexico, he has turned around an economy while also protecting the environment." A former two-term Democratic governor, Glendening is best known as a champion of anti-sprawl development policies.

WASHINGTON -- Bill Richardson, the avuncular governor of New Mexico, an internationalist with a gold-plated resume, announced yesterday his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination, making history as the first Latino to have a credible chance to lead a national ticket. On paper, Richardson's credentials are unassailable. He has served as a member of Congress, ambassador to the United Nations, energy secretary and, since, 2002, the governor of a state in the heart of the rapidly growing Sun Belt.

Baltimore BayRunnersOwner: LeagueCoach: Herb BrownOutlook: Brown will invest much of his hope to be an up-tempo team in rookie point guard Shawnta Rogers. Rogers is the only pro rookie on a team that includes former Maryland stars Keith Booth and Rodney Elliott and Towson State's Kurk Lee. Former Washington Bullets first-round pick LaBradford Smith also should be a force.The name: Cal Ripken. Ripken has a minority share of the BayRunners, although the league still is the majority owner. Ripken's name and image have been in numerous ads promoting the BayRunners throughout the city.

Yesterday's resultsSouthAt Orlando, Fla.Maryland 82, Valparaiso 60Creighton 62, Louisville 58 St. John's 69, Samford 43Indiana 108, GW 88At IndianapolisOkla. State 69, Syracuse 61Auburn 80, Winthrop 41Ohio St. 72, Murray St. 58Detroit 56, UCLA 53WestAt DenverIowa 77, UAB 64Arkansas 94, Siena 80New Mexico 61, Missouri 59UConn 91, Texas-S. Ant. 66At SeattleGonzaga 75, Minnesota 63Stanford 69, Alcorn St. 57Florida 75, Pennsylvania 61Weber St. 76, N. Carolina 74Today's gamesEastAt BostonCincinnati vs. George Mason, 12: 15 p.m., Ch. 9Temple vs. Kent, 2: 45 p.m.*, Ch. 13Miami vs. Lafayette, 7: 40 p.m.Texas vs. Purdue, 10: 10 p.m.*At Charlotte, N.C.Tennessee vs. Delaware, 12: 25 p.m., Ch. 13Wisconsin vs.SW Missouri St., 2: 55 p.m.*Duke vs. Florida A&M, 7: 40 p.m.Coll.

"Cities of The Plain: A Novel," by Cormac McCarthy. Knopf. 416 pages. $25.Cormac McCarthy's work began in a best-selling way with the first book in his trilogy on life in the rural regions of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. "Cities of the Plain," the tale of a tragic love affair between a cowboy and a Mexican girl, is the final installment of that three-volume set.There is much to like, really like, in "Cities." Even so, the book takes a little getting used to. Written largely in dialogue, the book is interspersed with a considerable quantity of talk in Spanish.

A Baltimore man was charged yesterday with traveling to New Mexico to have sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl he met over the Internet, according to the FBI.Carl My-Xuan Weigel, 25, was arrested in front of his home in the 200 block of Chancery Road yesterday after he allegedly flew to Albuquerque to meet the girl Sept. 11 and had sexual relations with her over a three-day period, the FBI said.The two met by communicating over the Internet and by phone for an undisclosed period of time, agents said.

Incoming New Mexico coach Mike Locksley is picking up where his predecessor left off, saying the program is in good shape and he's ready to make things even better. "This isn't a rebuilding project. I look at it as a renovation," said Locksley, a former Towson State defensive back and assistant coach, who was introduced yesterday. "I'll be putting my personal touches on the great foundation that's already been laid." New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs said Locksley, who also served as Maryland's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1997 to 2002, was the only candidate offered the job. He agreed to a six-year contract worth $750,000 annually.

As a rule, it's a bad idea to let pedophiles baby-sit, to hire embezzlers as tax collectors, or to give a pyromaniac a key to the fireworks factory. We generally try to avoid inviting dangerous people into situations that encourage them to repeat their destructive behavior. So why do we allow drunken drivers unfettered access to their cars? That's a good question, for which New Mexico authorities had no good answer. For years, the state ranked among the worst in the nation in alcohol-related fatalities.

Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening endorsed New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for president yesterday, citing the fellow Democrat's commitment to environmental protection and fighting global climate change. "As secretary of energy, he was a leader on mass transit and smart growth issues," Glendening said in a statement released by the Richardson campaign. "As governor of New Mexico, he has turned around an economy while also protecting the environment." A former two-term Democratic governor, Glendening is best known as a champion of anti-sprawl development policies.

Dave Jaffe won my friends' annual guys-only vacation competition this year. The five of us each pitch a destination, cajoling, using brochures -- and rarely common sense -- to persuade the others to vote our way. Frankly, the rest of us would have preferred to sail in the Virgin Islands, feet up, sipping Sam Adams and cracking open lobsters. But Jaffe was persuasive. And, how bad could it be, we figured, hiking for three days in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico? And with a string of llamas carrying our loads, no less.

Let me get this straight: CBS launches a new reality series that plops 40 kids between the ages of 8 and 15 in a New Mexico "ghost town" for 40 days with no adult supervision - and some people have a problem with this? Just because the kids put in longer hours (the filming goes on 14 hours a day, seven days a week) than a factory worker in Singapore, and one got burned in a cooking accident, and a few others accidentally drank bleach? And because the parents reportedly had to sign waivers saying they wouldn't have any contact with their kids during filming, and wouldn't sue if their little dears were hurt or freaked out from the stress or died or became pregnant or contracted a sexually transmitted disease?

CBS should be ashamed of itself. Taking 40 kids to a New Mexico desert for 40 days of "nation" building, promoting the pint-sized pioneers as the stars of a new reality TV show, and then likening it to summer camp when concerns about child-labor-law violations are raised? Someone at CBS needs a dose of reality. Campers don't sign contracts, and they don't get paid $5,000 stipends. And they aren't prohibited from talking about their "camp experience." The dust-up over the production of CBS' Kid Nation again unmasks the reality of reality shows, which is that all is not what it seems.

Flanked by local Latino leaders and a large contingent of politicians from his home state, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson formally entered the 2008 presidential campaign yesterday, saying that his thick resume offered him an ability unmatched by others in the race to tackle the country's problems at home and abroad. The Democratic candidate, who has been running for months and has already aired campaign ads, made his announcement in downtown Los Angeles' Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The official entry of Richardson expands what is becoming the most diverse field of mainstream presidential candidates in U.S. history.

This is the hammer that sat in the house that DreamBuilders fixed. This is Lime Kiln Middle School student Will Swygert, 14, who picked up the hammer that sat in the house that DreamBuilders fixed. These are the adult leaders who taught Will and about 20 other middle school students to pick up the hammers, T-squares and paintbrushes to work on the house that DreamBuilders fixed. These are the individuals from the Arc of Howard County who are thrilled to be living in the beautifully renovated house in Columbia that DreamBuilders fixed.

WASHINGTON -- The seat of federal justice in Albuquerque is named for Sen. Pete V. Domenici, a former mayor and native son who showered New Mexico with federal money during his decades in Washington and was rewarded by having his name adorn the U.S. courthouse. "He does extraordinary things for this state," said Kate Nelson, managing editor of The Albuquerque Tribune and a political commentator, who dubbed Domenici, a Republican, "St. Pete" in recognition of the federal benefits he shipped west, leavened with a bit of sass for the outsized reverence in which he is held at home.

A Western drought that began in 1999 has continued after the respite of a couple of wet years that now feel like a cruel tease. But this time people in the driest states are not just scanning the skies and hoping for meteorological rescue. About $2.5 billion in water projects are planned or under way in four states, the biggest expansion in the West's quest for water in decades. Among them is a proposed 280-mile pipeline that would direct water to Las Vegas from northern Nevada. A proposed reservoir just north of the California-Mexico border would correct an inefficient delivery system that lets excess water pass to Mexico.