GENERAL INTEREST
Happy New Year
By the Mirehaven News Staff
Mirehaven News is nine months old, and the staff wants to thank you, our subscribers, for reading and enjoying our community’s online news magazine. We are an outstanding community filled with friendly neighbors, but you, our readers, may not know some of our reporters. Here is who they are, and why they like volunteering for Mirehaven News.
Daniel Garcia
I enjoy being a reporter for Mirehaven News because it allows me to contribute to a community that values connection, curiosity, and shared experience. My background as a photographer helps me see stories in everyday moments, whether they appear in a neighbor’s project, a local event, or the subtle changes that shape life in Mirehaven. Reporting gives me the chance to document these pieces of our community with accuracy, care, and a sense of place.
I appreciate that our publication highlights the voices of residents who might not otherwise be heard. Each assignment gives me a reason to listen more closely, ask thoughtful questions, and create work that strengthens the bonds among our neighbors. Being part of the Mirehaven News team aligns with my belief that strong communities are built through shared stories. I look forward to continuing to help tell those stories with integrity and craft.I enjoy being a reporter for Mirehaven News because it allows me to contribute to a community that values connection, curiosity, and shared experience. My background as a photographer helps me see stories in everyday moments, whether they appear in a neighbor’s project, a local event, or the subtle changes that shape life in Mirehaven. Reporting gives me the chance to document these pieces of our community with accuracy, care, and a sense of place.
Karin Garcia
When I was asked to become part of the new Mirehaven News as an official press restaurant reviewer I was delighted. I enjoy being part of this news magazine because it gives me a chance to share something I have appreciated throughout my life, which is the experience of a good meal and the community that forms around it. My background in Navy hospitality and later as the Ashore Navy Galley Program Manager gave me years of exposure to professional kitchens, culinary training, and food evaluation. Although I never set out to become a “foodie,” those experiences taught me how to recognize quality, care, and consistency in various dining settings.
What I enjoy most about being a restaurant reviewer is connecting neighbors with places they may not have tried and helping to support the local establishments that give our area its character. Writing these reviews lets me combine my curiosity of local cuisine with my passion of exploring new restaurants. I hope readers find the column useful, and I always welcome suggestions for new places to visit.
KIM HAFERMALZ
May 2025. Mirehaven News came into being because of a few casual conversations between friends, Catherine Carter and myself. The goal was to put together stories about Mirehaven specifically and the wider communities of Albuquerque and New Mexico that may be of interest to our neighbors.
The joy of Mirehaven News for me is getting out and talking with my neighbors about their interest groups, attending the parties and lectures hosted by the Amenity Center, and sharing my experiences with my neighbors through short articles and photographs.
The challenge which is important to me is learning to write like a reporter and take half-decent photographs. Learning new things is essential to me for living an active retired life.
Theresa Reinhard
My involvement with Mirehaven News has been incredibly rewarding. I enjoy writing and taking photos for the publication because it provides valuable opportunities to get to know my neighbors and the broader community. Through these activities, I have gained a deeper appreciation for the people who make Mirehaven special.
PAUL TANENBAUM
Over fifty years ago, while a student at Northeastern University, in the Co-operative education program, my Co-op job was with the Boston Globe. I also wrote for the Northeastern News. I loved going to special events and meeting interesting people for work.
Now, I have the opportunity to relive some of those fun experiences once again in my life. As a reporter for the Mirehaven Newspaper, I can pick and choose the activities and events that interest me and get to write an article about them. I get to meet new people and experience new and fun happenings. I also enjoy informing residents about the great activities available to them.
CHUCK WEBSTER
I’m not a reporter or a journalist, just someone who enjoys writing about the things I experience and the science-and-technology topics I love, especially artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Every so often, those experiences, curiosities, and opinions seem to interest Mirehaven News readers.
Working with the Mirehaven News gives me an excellent excuse to get out of the house, ask questions I otherwise wouldn’t, stretch my brain, and try to write a little better each time. It also lets me join our monthly staff meetings, an energetic meeting of minds.
While I’m not a journalist in the traditional sense, I’m fascinated by immersive journalism: storytelling and technologies that help a reader feel as if they were truly present inside a vivid, fact-based moment, whether in Mirehaven, Albuquerque, New Mexico, or anywhere in the wider world whose events ripple into our lives.
To paraphrase Walter Cronkite, I aim to experience, write about, and share whatever alters and illuminates our Mirehaven days.
More of Chuck, his writing, audio, and even 360-degree video, can be found at:
If you are interested in joining the staff of Mirehaven News, contact njsteffens19@yahoo.com.
Substack: A Free and Friendly Publishing Platform for Mirehaven
by Chuck Webster
Substack is a free, easy-to-use platform for blogging and email Newsletters. It’s an ideal way for Mirehaven residents to share writing, photos, audio, and video with one another, and just as importantly, a great way to follow writers, journalists, and thinkers beyond Mirehaven.
I joined Substack last January to subscribe to The Jim Acosta Show after Jim Acosta left CNN. That small decision opened a much larger door.
The name Substack comes from “subscription” and “stack,” as in a stack of subscriptions. I currently subscribe to about 80 Substacks, most based right here in New Mexico. All of mine are free, although many writers also offer paid subscriptions. There is a remarkable amount of excellent writing available at no cost.
How does Substack make money?
Refreshingly, it doesn’t sell your data, and it doesn’t clutter your screen with ads. Instead, Substack takes 10 percent of paid subscription revenue, leaving 90 percent for the writer. In effect, that 10 percent from popular paid newsletters subsidizes a vast ecosystem of free ones. As business models go, it strikes me as relatively non-pernicious.
So far, I’ve identified over a dozen Mirehaven residents on Substack and have subscribed to them; many have subscribed back. I also follow several writers whom I suspect live in Mirehaven, though I can’t prove it and they haven’t outed themselves yet. The mystery continues.
Substack works particularly well for sharing reflections, observations, poems, photos, audio, video, and, yes, even traditional reporting. After a day or two of learning the basics, writing and editing posts become easy and even enjoyable. You can mix text with images, embed audio or video, or go live. One could easily imagine live broadcasts from events at the Amenity Center.
So far, I’ve written 34 posts (take a peek!), mainly about Mirehaven, Albuquerque, and New Mexico. Several include audio and video. Substack also supports short “notes,” which are perfect for quick posts with images. Lately, I’ve been sharing photos of Sandia sunrises and have received some very kind comments.
The best way to understand Substack is to try it. Creating an account is fast and straightforward. All you need is an email address.
(https://substack.com/signup) You can add a bio and photo, but it is not necessary.
One of the things I like most (beyond the interface, the community, the affordability, and the availability on Web, Android, and iOS) is how polished Substack emails look when they arrive in your inbox. You don’t just get a bare link you might ignore. The email itself looks almost identical to the original post.
Visit Chuck at chuckwebstermd@substack.com