[Nfb-editors] New Mexico's affiliate newsletter

Sat Mar 5 12:14:00 UTC 2016

FYI, Jim Babb Forwarded message:

From: "Tonia Trapp" <tonialeigh513 at earthlink.net
<mailto:tonialeigh513 at earthlink.net> >

to: <Tonialeigh513 at earthlink.net <mailto:Tonialeigh513 at earthlink.net> >

Subject: NFB of NM Newsletter: Que Pasa, March 2016

Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2016 21:01:15 -0700

QUE PASA

March 2016

Quarterly newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico

(Published in March, June, September, and December)

Adelmo Vigil, President

E-mail: Avigil74 at gmail.com <mailto:Avigil74 at gmail.com>
<mailto:Avigil74 at gmail.com>

(575) 921-5422

James Babb, Editor

E-mail: jim.babb at samobile.net <mailto:jim.babb at samobile.net>
<mailto:jim.babb at samobile.net>

(505) 291-3112

Tonia Trapp, Assistant Editor

E-mail: Tonialeigh513 at earthlink.net <mailto:Tonialeigh513 at earthlink.net> 

(505) 856-5346

ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS

To submit an article or recipe for possible inclusion in this newsletter,
please email it to jim.babb at samobile.net <mailto:jim.babb at samobile.net> . By
submitting your article or other material, you are agreeing to the
following:

*You assert that your article does not violate any confidentiality,
copyright, or other laws, and that it is not intended to slander, defame, or
mislead.

*The NFB of New Mexico (NFBNM) has the discretion to publish and distribute
the article either in whole or in part.

*NFBNM is authorized to edit the article for formatting, length and content.

*NFBNM reserves the right to not publish submissions for any reason.

Contents

PREAMBLE. 2

EDITOR'S NOTE. 3

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. 3

STATE LEGISLATURE RECOGNIZES NFBNM 60th ANNIVERSARY. 4

A TOUGH LEGISLATIVE SESSION.. 4

A HISTORIC LEGISLATIVE SESSION.. 6

ALBUQUERQUE CHAPTER BRAILLE READERS ARE LEADERS CONTEST 2016. 8

DAY OF THE DOWNLOAD.. 8

MOTHER NATURE MIXES IT UP. 12

NEW MEXICO LAUNCHES ACCESSIBLE ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION SERVICE. 13

ALBUQUERQUE PARATRANSIT ADVISORY BOARD.. 14

NFB CAR DONATION PROGRAM... 15

GOOD EATING.. 16

The Most Excellent Hard Boiled Eggs in the World. 16

Egg Salad Sandwiches. 17

Bobby Flay Mango-Yogurt-White Rum Smoothie. 18

USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND WEBSITES. 19

MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. 19

PREAMBLE

The National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico (NFBNM) is a 501 (c)

3 consumer organization comprised of blind and sighted people committed to
changing what it means to be blind. Though blindness is still all too often
a tragedy to those who face it, we know from our own personal experience
that with training and opportunity, it can be reduced to the level of a
physical nuisance. We work to see that blind people receive services and
training to which they are entitled and that parents of blind children
receive the advice and support they need to help their youngsters grow up to
be happy, productive adults. We believe that first-class citizenship means
that people have both rights and responsibilities, and we are determined to
see that blind people become first-class citizens of these United States,
enjoying their rights and fulfilling their responsibilities. The most
serious problems we face have less to do with our lack of vision than with
discrimination based on the public's ignorance and misinformation about
blindness. Join us in educating New Mexicans about the abilities and
aspirations of New Mexico's blind citizens.

(Adapted from NFB of Ohio newsletter.)

EDITOR'S NOTE

by Jim Babb, Editor

Hello fellow Federationists and other interested readers,

We have many articles, announcements, recipes, etc. in this issue. 

Without these articles, there would be no Que Pasa Newsletter. This year is
very special since it marks the 60th anniversary of the National Federation
of the Blind of New Mexico; the annual convention in April promises to be
very special indeed. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the
creation by the state legislature of the New Mexico Commission for the
Blind. I Wish to thank Assistant Editor Tonia Trapp who, among other things,
organizes the articles, corrects spelling and grammar, and reads the
finished version onto New Mexico Newsline for the Blind.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

by Adelmo Vigil, President, NFB of New Mexico

Greetings Federation Family:

We are now planning our 60th-Anniversary, National Federation of the Blind
of New Mexico State Convention, coming up on April 8 through 10, 2016. We
invite everyone to join us at our Board of Directors meeting on Thursday,
April 7, from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Our agenda committee has planned an agenda
full of fun activities and plenty of great and interesting topics. We are
looking forward to a great convention. We are honored to have our National
Federation of the Blind President Mr. 

Mark Riccobono as our National Representative this year. We are excited
about the convention and look forward to seeing everyone there. Several past
NFBNM presidents are planning to attend the convention. The convention is a
great place to be with old friends and meet new ones. 

You will have the opportunity to meet Federationists from throughout the
state of New Mexico. Don't miss out on the largest gathering of blind
individuals in the state.

We call on members of each local chapter and division to help spread the
National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico's vision: together we can
change what it means to be blind for children, youth and adults of all ages
in New Mexico.

The National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico knows that blindness is
not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

STATE LEGISLATURE RECOGNIZES NFBNM 60th ANNIVERSARY

by Don Burns

On February 4th, 2016, the New Mexico state legislature read and voted
unanimously on a Memorial recognizing the 60th anniversary of the NFBNM and
the accomplishments of this organization. Curtis Chong created the wording
for the Memorial, for which I am very grateful. After the reading of the
Memorial, the author, Jane Powdrell-Culbert, requested that the legislature
work with the NFBNM in their future endeavors.

On the House floor, Representative Powdrell-Culbert introduced 7 NFB
members. Those present were as follows: Art Schreiber, Adelmo and Soli
Vigil, Pat and Jack Munson, and Don and Nancy Burns. The author escorted us
from the floor to an area where photos were taken. During the photo op, the
NFB members present were introduced to the acting Secretary of State, Brad
Winter, who assured us that he will work with the NFBNM to provide
accessible voting for blind citizens.

A TOUGH LEGISLATIVE SESSION

by Greg Trapp, Executive Director, New Mexico Commission for the Blind

There is a debate as to who first said, "Laws are like sausages, better not
to see them being made." Otto von Bismarck is generally credited with this
famous quote, but more recent research has found a much earlier quote from
John Godfrey Saxe, an American lawyer and poet, that is likely the actual
source of the quote. On March 29, 1869, the Daily Cleveland Herald quoted
Saxe as saying, "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion
as we know how they are made." Regardless of who actually first said these
famous words, they have rarely been more true than was the case during the
2016 session of the New Mexico state legislature.

Because this was a short 30-day session, there was less time for the
legislature to consider the many difficult matters that needed to be
addressed. Shrinking state revenues and the urgent need for the state to
come into compliance with the federal Real ID Act promised to make the
session especially difficult. Once the session got underway, reduced oil and
natural gas prices resulted in new revenue projections that predicted
significantly reduced revenues and a large state budget deficit,
exacerbating the underlining challenges. Finally, the House is controlled by
Republicans and the Senate is controlled by Democrats, making for increased
partisan friction and conflict. It was against this backdrop that the
legislature considered a variety of bills that had the potential to
dramatically impact on the Commission for the Blind.

One of the first bills to impact on the Commission was the budget bill,
which is House Bill 2. HB 2 is actually the final stage of a long process
that began with the submission of the Commission's Request Budget in
September of last year, and continued when the budget was heard by the
Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) on October 29, and by the House
Appropriations and Finance Committee (HAFC) on January 11. 

The recommendation that came out of the HAFC hearing was for a flat budget,
meaning the same as the prior year. Unfortunately, as the state revenue
picture worsened, the Commission's budget was changed to a

$55,000 cut in state General Funds, and ultimately to a $97,000 cut in
General Funds.

One of the bills that was determined to not be germane to the fiscal
requirements of the short session was House Bill 21, introduced by
Representative Jimmie Hall. HB 21 sought to modify the Commission for the
Blind Act to authorize optometrists to determine an individual as qualifying
for Commission for the Blind services. While the Commission for the Blind
concurred with the goal of HB 21 in terms of expanding the types of medical
information that can be considered, the language of the bill conflicted with
the Rehabilitation Act which specifies that eligibility determinations must
be made by a qualified "vocational rehabilitation counselor employed by" the
Commission for the Blind. HB

21 would also have interfered with the judgment of the vocational
rehabilitation counselor as to the types of medical information needed,
would have inappropriately delegated decisions to persons not employed by
the Commission, and would have been contrary to provisions that allow for
presumptive eligibility for persons receiving SSI or SSDI due to blindness.
The Commission submitted a bill analysis that pointed out these concerns,
and set forth the Commission's plan to address the concerns through a future
rule adopted by the Commission. The problem arose because of language
contained in the original Commission for the Blind Act that was passed in
1986 that stated that blindness would be determined by an eye examination
from a licensed ophthalmologist. 

However, since 1986, the practice of optometry has expanded greatly in New
Mexico, and federal regulations have been adopted that allow information
provided by "qualified personnel" to be considered when making eligibility
determinations.

The rules of the short session allow for the Governor to place some bills on
a "call" so that they will be considered even though they do not involve
fiscal matters. One of the bills placed on the Governor's call was House
Bill 205, introduced by Representative Candy Spence Ezzell. The bill was
intended to move the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation from the Public
Education Department to the Workforce Solutions Department. Unfortunately,
the initial version of HB 205 included language that stated that the
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation "administer any state plan or federal
aid funds relating to vocational rehabilitation." This was old statutory
language that was adopted before the passage of the Commission for the Blind
Act in 1986. 

The Commission for the Blind Act created the Commission for the Blind as the
sole state agency to administer the part of the plan under which vocational
rehabilitation services are provided for individuals who are blind. This
created an obvious conflict with the proposed language of HB 205 which said
that the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation would "administer any state
plan or federal aid funds relating to vocational rehabilitation." In
addition to this conflict, HB 205 also included language that transferred
from the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI)
"powers, fiscal responsibilities, duties, records, equipment, lands,
buildings and personnel" pertaining to the "training, rehabilitating and
employing of blind persons over the age of eighteen years" to the Workforce
Solutions Department. This language was again taken from an old version of
the statute, and related to the transfer of property that took place over 40
years ago, and that is currently operated by the Commission for the Blind.
The Commission was able to work with Linda Lyle, NMSBVI Superintendent, with
Representative Ezzell, and with the Interim Director of the Division of
Vocational Rehabilitation to introduce amendments to the bill that addressed
the concerns raised by the Commission and NMSBVI. However, while HB 205
passed the House, it was not passed by the Senate.

In the end, the legislature accomplished more than was expected, including
passage of a bill that brought New Mexico into compliance with The Real ID
Act, passage of a budget bill that cut overall state spending by about $7
million, and passage of HB 61, that allows for the creation of ABLE saving
accounts for persons on SSI. If signed by Governor Martinez, HB 61 will
allow SSI recipients to have tax-free savings accounts of up to $100,000.
The Governor has until March 9 to sign or veto HB 61 and the other bills
that were passed during the session. For those bills that did not make it,
it is likely that many will be brought back during the 60-day session that
will take place in 2017.

A HISTORIC LEGISLATIVE SESSION

by Greg Trapp, Executive Director, Commission for the Blind

The 1986 legislative session was a watershed event for blind persons in New
Mexico. It was on the last day of the session, February 18, 1986, that The
Commission for the Blind Act was passed by the New Mexico legislature.
Signed by Governor Toney Anaya on March 5, 1986, the law was the culmination
of a long effort by the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico to
create a separate state agency for the blind. It was, in the words of Fred
Schroeder, the first Director of the Commission for the Blind, a "day of
triumph for blind people throughout New Mexico." The triumph was due to Fred
Schroeder who provided the leadership as state NFB President, Ermalinda
Miller who found a Senator to sponsor the bill, Pauline Gomez who was able
to open doors by virtue of having taught the children of many of Santa Fe's
most important families, Joe Cordova who worked on the bill on a daily
basis, Art Schreiber who was able to get an appointment with the Speaker of
the House that revived the bill after it had stalled, and many other NFB
members who made calls and traveled to Santa Fe to support the bill. 

Under the leadership of Fred Schroeder as the first director and Art
Schreiber as the first Commission Chair, the Commission quickly became a
national leader in the provision of services to the blind.

Prior to the creation of the Commission, totally blind persons were often
determined too disabled to benefit from services, and many other blind
persons were routed into work that was not consistent with their interests
and real abilities. Some of those blind persons were even directed to a
"sheltered workshop" where they were paid far below the national minimum
wage: sometimes just pennies an hour. A significant portion of "blind"
persons who were "rehabilitated" were placed in professions that required
sight, such as truck drivers. In other words, the persons that were served
were not real blind persons, but temporarily blinded individuals who needed
cataract surgery or some other form of "physical restoration" service.

Today, The Commission serves real blind persons, and it supports vocational
rehabilitation consumers to set and attain employment goals that are
consistent with their true strengths and abilities. The Commission provides
consumers with computers and other assistive technology starting in high
school, and eagerly supports blind persons to attend college and graduate
school. The average starting wage of Commission consumers is above the
average New Mexico state wage, and remains near the top in the nation. The
Commission's Orientation Center is now a Structured Discovery center that is
certified by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board. It is
also accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation
Facilities, making it the only center in the nation to be NBPBC certified
and CARF accredited. Thirty years ago there was no way for blind New
Mexicans to independently access newspapers. Today the Commission
administers Newsline for the Blind and sponsors NFB-Newsline, enabling blind
persons in New Mexico to independently access nearly 400 newspapers and
other publications. These services, along with services such as the
Commission's Business Enterprise Program, the Skills Center, the Technology
Unit, and the Technology for Children program, make the Commission a
national leader in the provision of vocational rehabilitation services to
blind persons.

Thirty years ago there were only four independent living teachers serving
the entire state of New Mexico. Today, the Commission has nine independent
living teachers who serve the state. Today the Commission augments the
relatively small amount of federal independent living and Older Blind funds
with close to a million dollars in other revenue sources. This enables the
Commission's independent living teachers to provide consumers with quality
assistive technology and with greater levels of instructional services. This
likewise makes the Commission a national leader in the provision of
Independent Living services.

The creation of the Commission for the Blind was indeed a day of triumph for
blind persons in New Mexico. However, the triumph would have quickly faded
were it not for the efforts of the many persons, blind and sighted, who have
worked diligently to make the dream of 30 years ago a reality.

ALBUQUERQUE CHAPTER BRAILLE READERS ARE LEADERS CONTEST 2016

by Tara Chavez, Secretary, Albuquerque Chapter

Do you enjoy reading Braille? Do you want to practice reading Braille?

Do you want to raise funds for the National Federation of the Blind of New
Mexico and the Albuquerque Chapter? If you said yes to any of the above
questions, then please read on for the following information:

The New Mexico Braille Runners Braille Readers are Leaders contest is back!
The contest will run from July 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016. Winners
will be announced during the 2016 White Cane Banquet in October. This is a
fundraiser for the Albuquerque Chapter. Invite your friends and family to
sponsor you for $.01 per Braille page read during the contest or pledge a
flat donation at their own discretion for your efforts. More details will
follow. If you have questions, please contact Tara Chavez at
tmatzick06 at hotmail.com <mailto:tmatzick06 at hotmail.com>
<mailto:tmatzick06 at hotmail.com> or 505-328-3349. This will be a chapter and
division contest. The chapter/division who raises the most money wins the
contest. Start warming up your fingers and let's get reading!

DAY OF THE DOWNLOAD

by Peggy Chong and Urja Lansing

On Saturday, January 30, the NFB of New Mexico held a Download Clinic along
with the New Mexico Library for the Blind to help blind New Mexicans learn
how to download from the BARD website of the Library of Congress. The event
was held at the Albuquerque Public Library, which graciously provided us
free meeting space as well as free access to the Internet. Many members
participated in the preparation for the day.

There are many individuals who believe that they are not tech-savvy enough
to learn how to download books from the Library for the Blind's collection
on BARD. Our goal was to dispel that idea. We felt the best way to do this
was to have blind people show other blind people just how to do it. A date
was set, and notices were sent out in many different ways to reach as many
as we could. We encouraged the blind person to bring a family member if that
is who would do most of the downloading for the library patron, and most
everyone came with a family member.

Our event was scheduled to run from noon till 4. However, our first
participant came just before eleven, and we were off and running. Six
Federationists helped individuals walk through the process of downloading a
book. Our guys brought their own laptop computers, and with their adaptive
software, demonstrated just how easy it was to access and navigate the BARD
website. All in all, ten people were assisted that day.

Many others had pre-register. Most of them were iPhone users. After
registering and talking with Peggy Chong and Amy Boggess over the phone to
be sure everyone was signed up for BARD and had their BARD password, about
ten of our registrants found out just how easy it was to download the iPhone
app for BARD, enter their password, search the collection and download a
book. So, they did not need to attend the event that day. Yet, we still
accomplished our task after all.

Other Federationists assisted that day with the clinic by helping
participants sign the petition to President Obama, asking that he honor his
promise to put in place guidelines to make websites accessible. 

They also passed out literature and answered other questions about
blindness.

Our download clinic was a success that we can easily duplicate across the
state for other blind persons in those areas. We are willing to help other
areas set up a similar event. Urja prepared a handout for those she worked
with on the computer. We thought we would include it in this article so
others can also take the leap into downloading books to their Library of
Congress machine, Bbookport, Victor Reader Stream or iPhone.

Directions for Downloading BARD Books Via Computer Using Window-Eyes or
JAWS.

These directions show two ways to download a book: by author, or by book
title.

There are many different approaches to downloading and much more to learn.
This is very basic.

1. Log into BARD:

https://nlsbard.loc.gov/

2. Sign in with your email address and password.

3. On the main page, go to "search the collection:" by going to the top of
the main page with control-home, then type the letter e followed by enter."

4. To search by author or book title, follow these instructions.

To search by author: Place in quotation marks the author's last name
followed by a comma, followed by a space then first name. Example: 

"Hillerman, Tony"

To search by title: Place the name of the book in quotation marks. 

Example: "the borrowers"

5. Tab to "go" followed by enter.

After a minute to search the collection, you will be told there are no items
found or you will be given a list of book titles by the author or a list of
book titles you searched.

6. You can move through the choices by pressing the letter h.

To go back a title, use shift-h.

7. To hear about the book and the reader, arrow down on the title you have
selected.

8. To download the book, arrow down to the "download" link followed by
enter.

9. You will hear a notification request, so press alt-n.

10. Tab to "save split button" followed by enter. You will hear the progress
of the book being downloaded. After the download has finished, the zipped
file ending in .zip will be in your download folder unless you have chosen a
different folder.

11. Log out of BARD: go back to the main page with alt-left arrow, go to the
bottom of the page with control-end, and press enter on log out.

12. Close the BARD window with altF4.

13. Go to the folder where the title has been saved.

Find the title and select it. It will be in zipped form with .zip at the end
of the title.

15. Go to the file menu with alt-f, down arrow to "extract all" and press
enter. This will place the book in your download folder and name it for you.

16. Tab to "extract button." Important: on your way tabbing, be sure that
"show extracted files" is NOT checked. Now press enter. You will hear the
progress of extracting the book. The title should now be at the top of your
list without .zip after the title.

17. Find and select the book and copy to clipboard with control-c.

18. Close the window.

19. Insert your storage device, then open file explorer with enter. If you
are using an SD card, open VRDTB with enter.

20. Paste the copied book onto the storage device with control-v.

21. Close all windows with alt-f4.

22. Remove your storage device safely by going to the system tray with
insert-f11,

arrow to "safely remove hardware and eject media" then press enter. 

Arrow down to "eject SD card" and press enter. You will get a message saying
"it is safe to remove storage device."

23. Enjoy Reading!

MOTHER NATURE MIXES IT UP

by Don Burns

Just as six New Mexicans prepared to leave for the Washington Seminar, a
huge storm was taking aim at Washington, D.C. Adelmo and Soli Vigil, Don and
Nancy Burns, and Curtis and Peggy Chong were packed and ready to go. I was
to leave on Saturday, January 23rd for Baltimore to attend a training for
legislative directors from throughout the U.S. That flight was canceled, but
I was able to change reservations and fly to D.C. with Nancy, Curtis, and
Peggy. Adelmo and Soli were to fly out of El Paso, but that never happened
due to flight cancelations.

Federationists from around the country were experiencing similar flight
cancelations. Instead of the 500 Federationists anticipated, only 200 were
able to attend. Even though our numbers were small, we still outnumbered
congressmen and staff. The Gathering In meeting, normally held on Monday
evening, was moved to Tuesday morning. Four bold New Mexicans braved snow,
ice, and slush for a 9:30 appointment with Congresswoman Grisham just to
learn that the Longworth building was shut down. We did manage to meet with
Congressman Ben Ray Lujan later that day. On Wednesday, we were able to meet
with aids for Congresswoman Grisham and Senator Heinrich. We met with
Senator Udall in person.

The four issues discussed were as follows:

1. The Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act. 

(HR188, S. 2001)

2. The Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education (AIM HE) Act

3. Equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans (HR 2264)

4. The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons
who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan co-sponsored HR 188 and HR 2264.

Even with obstacles such as snow, ice, and slush, the spirit and dedication
of Federation members throughout the country was evident.

NEW MEXICO LAUNCHES ACCESSIBLE ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION SERVICE by Curtis
Chong

In a December 30, 2015 press release entitled, "Ahead of Schedule, Online
Voter Registration Makes Registration Easier," it was announced that on
January 1, 2016 (two days after the release), New Mexico would join 26 other
states to provide online voter registration. The release also went on to say
that "... special consideration has also been made to make the registration
system accessible to the visually impaired."

This announcement was a surprise to the National Federation of the Blind of
New Mexico. No one from the Secretary of State's office had contacted the
organization ahead of time to let us know that the announcement was
forthcoming. Nor were we given an advance opportunity to learn for ourselves
whether or not, in fact, the new service would truly be accessible to blind
New Mexicans.

Federationists will remember that in a resolution passed unanimously at our
2014 convention, we expressed "extreme disappointment" with the Secretary of
State for failing to "involve and consult with the blind community during
the evaluation and certification of the Dominion Image Capture Evolution
(ICE) voting machine." This failure of the Secretary of State, then Dianna
Duran, to involve the blind community before choosing a voting machine has
resulted in a system which, at best, requires extra determination, time, and
persistence by the blind voter to mark and cast a truly secret ballot; and
at worst, it discourages the blind voter who doesn't have time to struggle
with complicated technology for marking his/her ballot without relying on
the help of a person who can read print visually. Consequently, we were
naturally skeptical that the new online voter registration system would work
well, as it were, out of the box. Remember also that the Secretary of
State's press release was issued on December 30, 2015, and the new system
was scheduled to go live on January 1, 2016, giving the public just two days
advanced warning.

Readers of Que Pasa will be happy to learn that the new online voter
registration system is accessible to and usable by the blind. It went live
on January 4 of this year. As far as we can determine, there are no
convoluted work-arounds or complicated procedures required to use the new
online system with nonvisual access technology, a significant departure from
what we have observed with respect to other websites operated by the State
of New Mexico.

The Secretary of State's website states the following:

"The Secretary of State is pleased to announce the launch of online voter
registration. Eligible New Mexico citizens can now update their existing
registration or register for the first time anywhere they can get online.
All you need is a state-issued I.D. Visit our Voter Services page to get
started."

In case this little blurb disappears from the Secretary of State's home
page, here is a link to the Voter Services page:

https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/OVR/WebPages/InstructionsStep1.aspx

<https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/OVR/WebPages/InstructionsStep1.aspx>

New Mexico has a new Secretary of State in the person of Brad Winter, who
succeeds Dianna Duran. It was during Ms. Duran's tenure that the undesirable
Dominion Image Capture voting machines were implemented. Is it possible that
the apparent turn-around in terms of positive results from the Secretary of
State are related to the fact that Brad Winter now leads that office? Only
time will tell.

ALBUQUERQUE PARATRANSIT ADVISORY BOARD

The purpose of the Paratransit Advisory Board is to offer recommendations to
the Director and ABQ RIDE regarding the SunVan service. The current
committee meets from 10:30 a.m. to noon on the third Tuesday of the month,
every other month. The meetings are open to the public, and members of the
blind community are strongly encouraged to attend a meeting and give their
input and feedback regarding SunVan. 

These meetings are held on the second floor of the Alvarado Transportation
Center, located at 100 1st Street, SW. The meeting dates for 2016 are as
follows: March 15, May 17, July 19, September 20, and November 15.

NFB CAR DONATION PROGRAM

by Brianne Kotschwar

I am the Coordinator for the Car Donation Program for the NFB of New Mexico.
The Car Donation program accepts any vehicle from cars and motorcycles to
boats, in any condition. Someone will pick up the vehicle being donated.
Depending on the condition of the vehicle, it will be sold at an auction or
sold to a salvage yard. The NFB gets the money, and the person donating the
vehicle will be able to get a tax deduction for their donation. The
beautiful thing is, we are not asking for money, just going to different
businesses and asking them if they'd help us spread the word.

I thought each month, we could go to a different place, for example a
restaurant or even church and ask if they can hand out fliers or even post a
sticker on their cash register. I really need everyone's help with this. My
thought for this month would be for us to go to a public library and see if
they could help us out. If anyone has any suggestions of places to go,
please let me know. Here is a link where you can find materials to hand out:

https://nfb.org/vehicle-donation-materials

Thanks so much everyone for your help and

support! Please let me know if you have any questions.

GOOD EATING

The Most Excellent Hard Boiled Eggs in the World

by Scott Bray, Ph.D.

Hard boiled eggs pack a wallop as a snack that enables us to engage more
fully in our lives, careers, and activities. Instead of a candy bar, a quick
hamburger, or an ice cream shake, a hard-boiled egg contains just seventy
calories and is a pretty decent substitute for a donut. (What--substitute an
egg for a donut? Heaven forbid!)

The following method for hard-boiling eggs never fails. Eggs never crack
during boiling! The eggs are delicious!

Step 1: Use only Mountain Spring or store-bought water. Never use the

water from your sink, because it can add its own flavor to your eggs. Also

use Mountain Spring water for your soups, coffee, tea, and any other

food which requires added water, including spaghetti.

Step 2: Place the eggs on the bottom of a pan with a safe handle on it.

Step 3: Cover the eggs with water at least an inch over the top of the eggs.

Step 4: Place the lid on the pan.

Step 5: Place the pan on the stove.

Step 6: Turn on the stovetop and set it to boil.

Step 7: Allow eggs to reach boiling point.

Step 8: Listen as eggs start to boil for exactly sixty-seconds,

counting 1001, 1002, 1003 until you reach 1060, then stop.

Step 9: Immediately after reaching one-thousand-and-sixty, reduce heat from
boil to low.

Step 10: Let eggs sit on stove top for exactly twenty-one minutes.

Step 11: Take eggs off stovetop, remove lid, and run cold water over them.

Step 12: Give the eggs three-minutes in cold water then remove and

place in egg carton or use to make egg salad sandwiches.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

by Scott Bray, Ph.D.

Step 1: Cook eggs as described above. Then chop eggs into small pieces.

Step 2: Mix low-fat or fat-free mayo, slices of green olives, slices of

black olives, bacon chips, onions, and eggs in a bowl.

Step 3: Mix vigorously and make sandwiches on healthy multigrain bread.

Step 4: Store in Ziploc sandwich bags and place these in Ziploc

gallon bags.

Step 5: Place in refrigerator for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Step 6: Supplement with plain soy milk and low-fat or fat-free yogurt and
nuts for nutritious meal.

You guys and gals are probably laughing hysterically at the above

recipe, but by gosh it works.

Bobby Flay Mango-Yogurt-White Rum Smoothie

(Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay, 2008)

Submitted by Veronica Smith

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped

2 cups Greek yogurt

1/2 cup mango nectar

1/2 cup white rum

Crushed ice

2 to 4 tablespoons simple syrup, depending on sweetness of mangoes

Combine mango, yogurt, nectar, rum and a few cups of crushed ice in a
blender and blend until smooth and frothy. Sweeten with simple syrup if
needed (I used Splenda). Divide among 4 glasses and serve.

USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND WEBSITES

www.seedlings.org <http://www.seedlings.org>  or call 1-734-427-8552, ext.
301

Contact Seedlings to get free Braille books for children ages 0 to 21.

www.nfb.org/scholarships <http://www.nfb.org/scholarships> 

Time is short: March 31, 2016 is the deadline to submit your application for
NFB scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $12,000. The scholarships will be
awarded at the National Convention in July in Orlando, Florida. Go to this
website for details.

MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 31: National NFB Scholarship applications due by this date. 

Scholarships range in amounts from $3,000 to $12,000 and will be awarded at
the National Convention. For more information, go to
www.nfb.org/scholarships <http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>
<http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>

April 8-10: NFB of New Mexico Annual Convention in Albuquerque. This is our
60th anniversary. See you there!

June 30 to July 5: NFB National Convention at the Rosen Shingle Creek,
Orlando, Florida

September 10: New Mexico State Fair Parade. Let's all proudly march
together!