Economic injuruy loan

Notice: New Eligibility for Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance Applications - Can Apply Now

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories were able to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000. This advance is designed to provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. This loan advance will not have to be repaid.
SBA has resumed processing EIDL applications that were submitted before the portal stopped accepting new applications on April 15 and will be processing these applications on a first-come, first-served basis. SBA will begin accepting new Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance applications on a limited basis only to provide relief to U.S. agricultural businesses.
The new eligibility is made possible as a result of the latest round of funds appropriated by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Agricultural businesses includes those businesses engaged in the production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries (as defined by section 18(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 647(b)).
• SBA is encouraging all eligible agricultural businesses with 500 or fewer employees wishing to apply to begin preparing their business financial information needed for their application.

At this time, only agricultural business applications will be accepted due to limitations in funding availability and the unprecedented submission of applications already received. Applicants who have already submitted their applications will continue to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. For agricultural businesses that submitted an EIDL application through the streamlined application portal prior to the legislative change, SBA will process these applications without the need for re-applying.

Eligible agricultural businesses may apply for the Loan Advance here.

squirrels

TREE SQUIRRELS IN THE ATTIC

Tree squirrels, in an urban environment.  Eddy County Extension often receives calls about tree squirrels in attic or damaging trees.  The most common species I have seen are Fox squirrels.  They were introduced throughout most of their range in New Mexico, except in the north where they likely dispersed in from Colorado. They are primarily found in urban areas in the eastern part of the state, but have expanded their range some since their introduction. They prefer upland hardwood forests containing nut producing trees. The fox squirrel is a gray with tints of orange, and has a buffy orangish-belly, New Mexico Game and Fish).  They like our pecans and do quite well here.  Squirrels are a game animal in New Mexico. See, http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/download/publications/rib/2019/small-game/2019_2020-New-Mexico-Small-Game-Rules-and-Info.pdf   Contact NM Game and Fish before using lethal means for control. 

Most callers are disturbed by scrabbling, squeaking or chewing sounds in their attic caused by an uninvited animal guest. They’ve heard of using mothballs or cloths soaked in or pans filled with every stinky liquid imaginable. They’ve heard of putting a radio in the attic and turning it up as loud as it can go, and even turning on lights to illuminate the area as brightly as possible. Some of these can be dangerous; radios and lights could cause a fire, and mothballs and foul liquid fumes can settle into the living area of the house. After trying all these timewasters, they are now calling for another quick fix. Sadly, there are no quick, permanent fixes. It all comes down to repairing the entrances and exits so the animal parade cannot go on. 

Let’s take a look at some of the ways mammals can get into an attic. Trees that have branches overhanging or are within 6 feet of the house are vertical expressways. Squirrels and raccoons can easily climb the tree and run out on a branch and jump onto the roof. If a tree trunk is 6 feet or closer to a house, animals will just climb the trunk and jump, but a tree this close to a house will eventually damage the foundation, walls or roof. A close tree shading the roof shingles can cause the shingles to dry slowly, failing sooner than they should. Vines, either on or off a trellis, can provide a ladder to happiness, too. Don’t forget the little guys either. Mice and possibly chipmunks can climb a rough brick or block chimney.  Also we see them running up and down power lines, cinderblock fencing etc.  If you have pruned your trees and the only way to the roof is the power line  you can take a 3 foot section of PVC pipe of the smallest dimeter that will fit around your service drop, usually ¾ or 1 inch and split the length of the pipe with a table saw or have someone do that for you.  Call the power company and tell them your problem and your solution.  They will send a qualified person to install this on your service drop.  The squirrel runs down the service line the pipe roll and dumps them on the ground. 

However, all of these depend on having an opening once the animals reach the roof.  This opening might be a torn or missing screen in a gable-end vent. It could be a ripped or missing screen in a square roof ventilation unit referred to as cans. If the animal can push past a torn screen, they are in. This includes bats.  I have turned on light in the attic at night and look where the light comes out, then investigate those areas in daylight.  It is possible to use a very bright flashlight at night inside the attic and shine it on walls and corners to see if a person outside can see the light.

Bats can squeeze into a crack not much bigger than the tip of your little finger. A bat could get into a crack between the brick or block chimney and the roof. As the house ages, the chimney settles in one direction and the house settles in the other. The top surface of the roof is protected by roof flashing and tar, but the underside where the under-hang and chimney meet has a crack. If bats have been regular visitors to this area, there will be a grayish smudge where the bat squeezed into the crack. Oil rubs off their fur onto the under-hang and dirt accumulates on the oil.

In the roof area, it is possible to have fascia boards pop loose at the corners and leave small cracks or have damaged soffits. Everything must be inspected. It is possible to use a very bright flashlight at night inside the attic and shine it on walls and corners to see if a person outside can see the light.

There is no “quick and easy” when talking about getting rid of animals looking for free rent. They have plenty of time to do a thorough house inspection every year, even if you don’t. Repair damage correctly to make sure you are not hearing the pattering of little feet over your head.  I would like to thank Gretchen Voyle, Michigan State University Extension Agent. For some of the information in this article.

NMSU Library to create COVID-19 archive, seeking community submissions

NMSU Library to create COVID-19 archive, seeking community submissions
DATE: 05/04/2020
WRITER: Tiffany Acosta, 575-646-3929, tfrank@nmsu.edu
CONTACT: Dennis Daily, 575-646-4756, ddaily@nmsu.edu
CONTACT: Dylan McDonald, 575-646-7711, dylanmcd@nmsu.edu
COVID-19 has impacted people’s lives worldwide, and New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections is interested in documenting those changes for the local community in real time.

The Archives and Special Collections staff has established a COVID-19 archive to collect and record responses from not only the NMSU community but also Las Cruces and southern New Mexico residents.

“While the traditional archival collecting model waits for events to run their course before documentary evidence is acquired, archivists around the country are creating rapid response collections to document this historic event,” said Dylan McDonald, political papers archivist and special collections librarian. “Future scholars, historians, scientists, health experts and students will want to understand how we in 2020 reacted and experienced this pandemic.”

Archives and Special Collections is focused on collecting digital materials such as emails, journal or diary entries, photographs, videos, voice memos, audio recordings, digital art or other documents that highlight the impact of COVID-19. Staff members urge contributors to be creative. Contributors can make submissions online at https://openstacks.nmsu.edu/covid19/.

Dennis Daily, Archives and Special Collections department head, encourages contributors to document current experiences now because reflections in a few months may look different. He added that collecting archival materials on contemporary events has become increasingly more common during the last 20 years.

“Events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina led to some groundbreaking collecting efforts in archival repositories. We see the same thing happening in the current crisis,” he said.

“One challenge for historians is that you can find facts about the past,” Daily said. “There are plenty of government records, court records and newspaper accounts that provide facts, but often historians are interested in knowing about how these events affected people, how people felt about what was going on. And that’s often more difficult to find in the archival record.”

The Archives and Special Collections staff has developed a questionnaire with prompts to help contributors, which is available at https://openstacks.nmsu.edu/files/2020/04/COVID-19-Questions.pdf.

McDonald said he would like to work with professors who are interested in including the project in classroom instruction.

“The hope is to be able to collect enough contributions, submissions and stories that allow researchers in the future to better understand what was happening here at NMSU, in Las Cruces and southern New Mexico, because those stories are very powerful things,” McDonald said. “We see that all the time in our work as archivists. People come in and they discover or rediscover stories and are really taken by them. It allows users to bridge this gap in time where they see real human stories and allow themselves to see that people in the past had a lot of the same feelings and fears that they do.”

If contributors have physical items to be considered, email Archives and Special Collections at archives@nmsu.edu for instructions. Once submitted material has been cataloged, the archive will be available at NMSU’s Library digital collection at https://lib.nmsu.edu/digitalcollections/.