TAOS, N.M. — Hikers are heading back to their favorite trails in New Mexico after rain relieved the extreme fire danger that kept parks, forests and open-space destinations closed for five weeks.

Hiking is a great way to improve your health, but experts say there are some essentials you need to pack along to make the most of it. Cindy Brown is the author of “The Taos Hiking Guide,” and she said the most important thing you need to take is water, followed by food, protection from the sun and a rain jacket. She noted if you're a new hiker, you should start with a basic route.

"So my first advice is always do a flat hike, get acclimated,” Brown said. “We have a lot of beautiful hikes down near the Rio Grande land, and that's a great, great couple of great days of hiking down there, before you go up to the forest."

Water-wise, a half-gallon is typically recommended as a minimum for a day hike. Other hiking essentials Brown recommends include a flashlight, matches, a knife, bandana and a whistle.

Brown said hiking apps on your phone can be useful if you're not familiar with New Mexico's trails, but she also recommended packing the old fashioned navigation tools.

"I suggest that even if you have some kind of GPS function on your phone, that you bring a compass, because sometimes phones don't work, sometimes they run out of batteries,” she said. “So if you're going someplace new, I think a map and a compass is important to have."

New Mexico has many hiking areas that don't require dog owners to keep their pets leashed if they're under voice control, but Brown doesn't recommend it.

"Because the dog, if he chases a bighorn sheep, he could get kicked with a hoof, he could injure the bighorn sheep,” she warned. “So I'm a big fan of dogs on a leash, and really thinking about the kinds of circumstances you're going to encounter."

Hikers should also be aware of fire danger. Northern New Mexico is still categorized as being in "extreme" or "exceptional" drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.



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The New York State Legislature is considering a bill to allow the creation of public banks. The New York Public Banking Act would authorize municipal and other local governments to form and control public banks through ownership interests such as capital stock. The hope is these banks will invest in community endeavors rather than interests in line with making the bank profit. A report from the Rainforest Action Network said some of the largest banks in the nation are heavily invested in the fossil-fuel industry despite world policy shifts to renewable energies.

Mike Sandmel, senior campaign organizer with New Economy Project, said public banks present benefits to municipalities invested in them.

"Broadly speaking, it is a great tool for investing in infrastructure. This is a great tool for investing in affordable housing; for investing in small business creation," he said.

The recent turmoil following the failure of Signature Bank has influenced interest in public banking. Numerous organizations and elected officials across the state signed a letter
to the Majority Leader of the State Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly supporting the bill.

Primary opposition to the bill, currently under review by the Senate Banking Committee, has come from Wall Street banks trying to keep the business these cities bring, Sandmel said.

Previous versions of the bill were brought before the Legislature in the past two sessions, but never advanced beyond the Banking Committee. Sandmel is hopeful it will pass this year, but even if it does, work remains to outline local government's terms for a public bank, he said.

"We have to have conversations in local communities about is this something we want to do? Is this something we think we can pull off? What does our business plan look like? What does our application look like? You have to pass legislation, locally, right. Through city councils or county legislatures. To authorize actually doing that work of putting that business plan together," he said.

Other actions are being taken to make banks more accountable to the people whose money they hold, outside of this bill. New York City's Banking Commission
will include a public comment process for their public hearing to designate banks eligible for holding deposits of city funds.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed new regulations on credit card late fees, which could save Americans billions of dollars.

The bureau reported late fees cost cardholders about $12 billion a year. Congress attempted to ban excessive late fees in 2009, but the Federal Reserve still allowed companies to charge late fees up to $41. The new proposal would lower it to $8 and end an automatic yearly inflation adjustment for the fee amount.

Overall, the regulation would cap late fees at 25% of the minimum payment.

Daniel Rathfelder, vice president for card services for Coastal Federal Credit Union, said the new rules would help cardholders.

"I think overall, consumers are going to see some big pieces shift in their favor, if that gets adopted," Rathfelder observed.

Late fees are intended to cover collection costs, and some card issuers increase the fees with each additional missed payment. Under the proposal, companies would still be able to charge higher fees, if they can prove their collection costs are higher. The bureau estimated the new rule would save people as much as $9 billion a year. The agency is taking public comments until April 3.

The bureau also wants public comments on the possibility of a 15-day grace period beyond the due date before late fees can be assessed. Rathfelder noted in its public comment on the rule change, his credit union endorsed the idea.

"We pushed a little bit harder and said if consumers had a grace period, and the companies who could do automation around messaging and notification, getting people after the first day that it's due a notice saying, 'Hey, you missed this, but you have nine more days,' that would probably resolve a lot of the scenarios," Rathfelder explained.

Rathfelder added some enclaves of the financial services industry have already adopted grace periods, including for auto loans and mortgages.

New research shows Nevada's small-business owners say hospital consolidation in the state is exacerbating high health-care costs and want action to be taken.

More than one thousand business owners participated in Small Business for America's Future's most recent survey, and 94% of them reported hospital consolidation has made the overall availability and quality of health care in their communities worse.

Co-chair of the group Shaundell Newsome said they want to see more "fairness and equity" when it comes to accessible health care.

"When it goes from bad to worse, that is very tough on our small businesses," said Newsome. "And nearly half of the small-business owners say that hospital consolidation leads to a lack of competition, and makes hospital services more expensive for our employees."

According to the report, almost half of small-business owners say the lack of competition has made hospital services more expensive, while eating away at employees' pay.

Newsome - a small business owner himself - said he would love to be able to provide better health-care options to his employees, which he says cultivates a better workforce.

Newsome said Nevada is in need of more diverse providers, but not through consolidation.

He added that Nevada's recent progress in expanding access to health care is under threat - and said rather than reversing the progress that has been made, small business owners would like to see policy and lawmakers "double down" on making health care more affordable.

Newsome said this report reaffirms that sentiment.

"The rising cost of health care," said Newsome, "just basically limits an entrepreneur's ability to invest in the growth and the financial health of our businesses."

A majority of those surveyed in Nevada say it's time for the federal and state governments to intervene in the consolidation of health systems.




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