Volume V, Issue IV *********ECRWSSEDDM**** PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE APRIL (FOOLS') 2021 PAID PERMIT NO.3 The Newspaper ECRWSS CUESTA • REY RIVER • CERRA • COSTILA • AMALLIA • LLAMA • SAN CISTOBAL IN THIS State-of-the-Art Questa Outlet Mall ISSUE Breaks Ground in Summer 2021 COMMUNITY NEWS The Dalai Lama coming to El Rito! Spring of 2022 Page 56 BUSINESS Questa Business Park next location for Amazon Fulfillment Center, announces Jeff Bazos. Page 64 FISHING, RECREATION & WILDLIFE Ute Mountain Shocker! Tourist climbs through snow to top of Ute Mountain, finds hundreds of giraffes. Page 41 SPORTS SECTION QUESTA HIGH BASKETBALL Takes State in Zoom Tournament! See Photo Essay in Sports Section Welcome to our XXL F. Otto Proposed interior design of the new outlet mall shows the latest in interior design trends. With a large allotment of interior space for early morning mall Earth Day, Easter, and walkers and mid-afternoon entertainment from modern pop icons like Menudo and New Edition. (Actual photo is from the set of the third season of Netflix show April Fools' Edition. Stranger Things) After a lengthy debate about the We hope you find it proposed construction during their last meeting, some objections were noted. EXTRA EXTRA The Chamber agreed to proceed with informative. By GABRIELLA GUCCI, construction of the mall in the belief FASHION CORRESPONDENT that the hundreds of shoppers expected The Questa Chamber of Commerce to frequent the mall on a weekly basis So that we don't has announced an exciting new develop- will provide a much-needed economic ment for the area! This summer, construc- boost to Questa. cause excess tion will begin on a premium outlet mall Community members with any con- adjacent to the Industrial Park. The park- cerns or questions about the construction confusion, the ing lot will accommodate up to 250 cars, of the outlet mall can contact the Cham- April Fools' and will include premium stores such as ber to voice their opinion. However, F. Otto Eddie Bauer, Guess, Le Creuset, Samsonite please keep in mind that if you do call, articles/ads will Chamber members will have to fess up Blazing new modern movie theater will show the Luggage, Banana Republic, Coach, and have a little joker newest releases like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Robo Brooks Brothers for Men. In total, fifty that they know nothing about it, since the Cop in Dolby Stereo SR. (Actual photo is from the set stores will be part of this new high-end outlet mall plan is just a figment of this hat icon near them. of the third season of Netflix show Stranger Things) shopping experience! writer’s imagination. APRIL FOOLS! LEDITOR FROM THE EDITOR Questa Del Rio News NOTICIAS QUESTA DEL RIO "What we are doing here is so important, we better not take it too seriously." Published Monthly by the QUESTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND Publicación mensual por — Shunryu Suzuki Roshi EL FONDO PARA EL DESARROLLO ECONOMICO DE QUESTA LOU McCALL Editor MARTHA SHEPP Assistant Editor/Editor asistente Welcome to our Fourth Annual April Fools’ edition! People still talk about some EMILY WILDE Graphic Design & Pagination/Diseño gráfico y paginación of the crazy stories we have published in previous years. This is really fun for us, a ROBYN BLACK Food Editor/Editor de comida nice way to get over the winter doldrums and lighten up. April Fools’ is an opportu- SARA MARTINEZ Costilla Correspondant/Corresponsal de Costilla y Amalia nity for us not to take ourselves too seriously, as Zen Masters such as Suzuki Roshi CAROLINE YEZER San Cristobal Correspondant/Corresponsal de San Cristobal and Uncle Henry remind us. TERESA DOVALPAGE Translator/Traductora Only once (that I know of) have we seriously offended anyone with an April MARTA GLOVER MARIA GONZALEZ Fools’ story. And since we offend people occasionally, if not regularly, that is not CHARLENE R. JOHNSON TOO terrible. Our advisors tell us that hearing from readers, whether they are TONER MITCHELL DONNA MITCHELL-MONIAK pleased or not, is a good thing. It means that people actually read what we write, DEBORAH ARCHULETA-MORENO think about what they read, and that we are doing our job. Some might argue that CYNTHIA NAJIM SHARON NICHOLSON pushing buttons is what journalism does. True journalism reports the facts, which MANDY STAPLEFORD isn’t always comfortable. BARBARA TRACY ELLEN WOOD Maybe we see something in this newspaper or on national news that upsets MICHAEL YOUNG Columnists/Columnistas us. It can be helpful to observe what bothers us and why. Being naturally aware of Monthly Features/Presentaciones Mensuales suffering is the hallmark of sensitive souls. When we witness the suffering of others CHUCK KROON Distribution Manager/Gerente de distribución (think Easter and the crucifixion of Christ), or the destruction of our planet, (think [email protected] (575) 586-2360 Earth Day) it means that we are seeking clarity, a process that leads to greater and VANETTE HARRIS Subscription Manager/Gerente de subcripciones FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS VIA EMAIL sometimes profound sensitivity.When we want to be more clear, we will notice SUBCRIPCIONES POR CORREO ELECTRONICO more suffering than others, both in the world out there, as well as our own interior PAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS VIA USPS $60 per year SUBSCRIPCIONES EN PAPEL POR CORREO USPS $60 por año landscapes. The past year has brought a wake-up call, hopefully for the whole world, and at Contact us to subscribe/Pónganse en contacto para subscribir [email protected] least to many people. As if from a dream, much of the world realized they have been TO VIEW PAST ISSUES OF THIS PUBLICATION sleepwalking. Going about a life on autopilot, with habitual behaviors that can be PARA REVISAR PUBLICACIONES ANTERIORES https://www.facebook.com/QuestaNews destructive or at least not helpful, can suddenly be viewed for what they are– some- https://www.facebook.com/VisitQuesta thing that needs to change. This has been happening on a national and international www.Questa–nm.com scale, as well, with governments striving for more transparency to offer real solu- QUESTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND DE LA COMUNIDAD DE QUESTA tions to real problems. It has been a year of transformation, sometimes painful. Not FONDO PARA EL DESARROLLO DE QUESTA everyone can face their demons, or as I prefer to call them, angels in disguise. Some LYNN SKALL QEDF Director/Director individuals may not be able or want to slow down. It can take time and patience and BOARD OF DIRECTORS a lot of self-care. CONSEJO DE ADMINISTRACION DEL But I digress; we were talking about not taking ourselves too seriously! In addi- FONDO PARA EL DESARROLLO DE QUESTA Malaquias Rael Chairman/Presidente, tion to April Fools’ Day, this is also our annual Earth Day issue, and we are excited Mark Gallegos Secretary/Treasurer/Secretario y Tesorero, to offer you some great stories about creative and sustainable solutions with Earth Louis Herrera Christian Isely Day events going on right here at home. Brent Jaramillo We are celebrating Easter this month and in this paper we are not addressing Marcus Rael, Jr. commercialized aspects of the holiday like chocolate bunnies. We hope you and QUESTA DEL RIO NEWS your families have a wonderful Sagrada Semana (Holy Week). And congratulations PO Box 1072 1 Highway 38 to those lucky folks who received an Easter ham from the North Central Food Questa, NM 87556 Pantry—Enjoy! OUR MISSION To Inform, Inspire, Connect and Unite the Communities of Northern Taos County. AND April is National Poetry Month, so dust off your favorite old poetry books and spend time with your beloved poems and poets. Why not fire up your laptop NUESTRO OBJETIVO Es informar, inspirar, contactar, y unir a toda la comunidad del norte del condado de Taos. or pick up your pen and journal! There is no time like April to write down those Advertising/Anuncios powerful words that keep going through your head, sometimes over and over, until [email protected] you actually do something with them. There is something about springtime and [email protected] (575) 586-2258 flowers busting through the soil that inspires poetry, so we are featuring New Mex- www.questanews.com ico Poet Laureate Levi Romero in our Literary Locals section. We hope that April is Check out our donate button! ¡Mira nuestro botón para donar! Like us on FaceBook/Questa Del Rio News! your time to experience more poetics and gratitude in your life, no matter what that PLEASE SEND ALL COMMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS looks like. And remember, “What we are doing here is so important, we better not BY THE 12TH OF THE MONTH take it too seriously!” NOS PUEDEN CONTACTAR PARA INFORMACIÓN ENVÍE ANTES DEL DÍA 12 DEL MES [email protected] - Lou McCall and the Pulitzer Prize-winning poets (575) 586-2149 of the Questa Del Rio News - Happy April Fools’ Day! 2 April 2021 • Questa Del Rio News • QuestaNews.com THE REAL COVER STORY Successful Public Vaccination Day In Questa Daniel Hutchison Over 700 registered persons patiently stood in line to get vaccinated at Questa High School on Tuesday, March 2. Cars were lined up along Sage Brush Road all the way to Highway 522. The vaccine clinic was a cooperative effort of the New Mexico Department of Health and many local agencies, businesses, and individuals. By JONATHAN HUTCHISON health complications. Fortunately, caught up (masked and socially dis- community agencies that helped make The community came together for a enough vaccine was on hand to immu- tanced, of course) as they waited patient- this event possible: ly in line, while incoming cars stretched very effective vaccination event, thanks nize members of other age groups, too.