Today Sen. Jeff Bingaman backed New Mexico Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management State Director Tim Manning for the Deputy Administrator post in FEMA. To quote from the press release:

“Since his arrival at the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security Tim has met and exceeded expectations.  He is a true professional who has steeped himself in the needs of the state at all levels.  Because Tim has worked his way up through the state emergency preparedness system he understands the needs of communities of all sizes…Because Tim knows the importance of being prepared he has the best team possible and all the necessary information in place before a disaster hits.  Tim’s emphasis on planning and education will serve him and the nation well as he moves to take a national role at FEMA.  While the state is sorry to see him leave we know that the nation will benefit from his work.”

In SFR’s Halloween issue, “Things to Do in Santa Fe When You’re Undead,” Manning took control of the situation from the emergency management bureau HQ at the west end on I-24. Although the scenario was fictional, we had tried to be fairly realistic, conducting interviews with all levels of emergency response leadership, including Manning. You have to hand it to a civil servant who will take the time to answer far-fetched (or not) hypotheticals about a zombie apocalypse.

I’d also like to point out that under his leadership (as well as Mayor David Coss’ and Sheriff Greg Solano’s) Santa Fe survived.

Manning’s big scene after the jump.

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was named to one of People Magazine’s 100 Beautiful…. No! No! No! No! He’s That Yellow Bastard from Sin City!

One was a 1-year-old male in Santa Fe County, who has been hospitalized; the other was an 18-year-old homeschooled male in Valencia County. Samples have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control for testing; results due Friday.

“The state is prepared for any possible outbreak,” Gov. Bill Richardson is telling reporters. “We should not panic. We’re going to be fine.”

State health secretary Alfredo Vigil seconds that. “This is a time for concern. This is not a time for panic,” he says.

Anybody who thinks they have flu, he says, should stay home from work or school and call the doctor. That’ it, Vigil says.

And here’s the swine flu hotline: 866-850-5893.

Deputy Chief Aric Wheeler = Police Chief Aric Wheeler

Fire Marshal Barbara Salas = Fire Chief Barbara Salas

The Egyptians may be committing swine-o-cide, but the fact of the matter is you can’t get swine flu from eating pork (or licking Gwyneth Doland’s tattoos, for that matter). I mean, just listen to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is very much alive:

“This morning I had pork for breakfast. Last night I had pork. I’m going to continue to eat pork and I’m going to encourage American consumers to do the same.” (As told to CNN)

And yet, as New Mexico faces its first suspected case of H1N1 (a death of a six-year-old in Las Cruces), some folk are surely ignorant enough to toss out their bacon.

Over at Whole Hog Cafe on Cerrillos, manager Manuel Angon tells SFR he’s more worried about the recession.

“I think it’s the economy is the only thing,” Angon says. “No, we doing OK. We just slowed down a little bit in the business, but we are doing caterings for 125 people and 300 people this month.”

But Angon is glad to hear that SFR is going to spread the news that pork won’t kill you.

“We have a paper that explains what the flu comes from,” he says. “We got it in the store just explain to the people it’s not in the food, it’s in the air. Some people, they can get it confused… But we’re doing OK.”