Opinion

Column: Requiem For A Canyon

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By Chick Keller
 
Recently we walked up what’s left of Valle Canyon.
 
In my memory there are three Valle Canyons – the lovely one pre-Cerro Grande – ever changing, ever beautiful, every diverse; the post Cerro Grande one, still intact at least in the lower part, and now the post Las Conchas one, which has lost its entire forest and most of the canyon bottom.
It’s hard to describe the difference. Although Cerro Grande left the cathedral-like trees and the riparian shrubs and plants, few trees are left now, and the canyon bottom has been almost totally rearranged by the
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Column: Medicaid, New Mexico, and the PPACA

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By Representative Jim Hall
House District 43
  • Medicaid, New Mexico, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

I attended a Medicaid conference in Washington, D.C., June 27 and 28. 

The non-partisan Council of State Governments organized the conference for state legislators to address ongoing growth in Medicaid costs and expected changes in Medicaid programs. 

This is the first of two columns on Medicaid. This column discusses the current program.  The next column will discuss Medicaid’s future in New Mexico. 

The June 28 PPACA decision by Read More

Column: Open Meeting Called Into Question

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By Gene Schmidt
Los Alamos Superintendent of Schools

The Los Alamos School Board strives with great diligence to comply with the statutory rules for conduct of its open meetings in order to ensure transparency in government.

A Special Board meeting was held on May 24, 2012 to approve the 2012-13 Operating Budget.

At that meeting, the Board acted to amend the salary provisions of two collective bargaining agreements with existing school employee bargaining units in order to assure that employee contracts drafted at the end of the school year properly reflected the salaries authorized Read More

Letter to the Editor: YMCA Says Thanks

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Thank You to everyone who helped make The Family YMCA’s Independence Day Firecracker 5K Family Fun Run a success.
 
The event was sponsored by Los Alamos Medical Center, Los Alamos National Bank, and Southwest Safety Services of Santa Fe. Businesses that donated prizes for top finishers and random drawings were Ruby K’s, Otowi Station Bookstore, Pet Pangaea, Connie’s Over Your Head Salon, Ten Thousand Waves, The Co-op Market, The Flower Shop, Bob’s Bodacious BBQ, CB Fox, Aspen Copies, El Parasol, Fabulous 50’s Diner, Home Run Pizza, Pajarito Ski Area, Reel Deal Theater, The Coffee Booth,
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Letter to the Editor: Kiwanis Says Thanks

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Dear Editor,

Despite the damper of dry weather and fireworks show cancellation, the 2012 Fourth of July Celebration at Overlook Park was a great success.

After a few months of dangerous drought, the big rain was even welcome.

Though we canceled the festivities earlier than planned, the fun picnic setting, yummy food, wonderful music, and very cool skydiving display by the Habanero Skydiving Club made for a great afternoon and evening.

We missed the fireworks, but we still celebrate living in the United States of America – the very best country in the world to be from!

The Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos Read More

The Taming of the Shrew (Aspen)

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Column by Carlos Valdez
Cooperative Extension Horticulture Agent
 
-The Taming of the Shrew (Aspen) … this consummate white barked beauty is difficult to grow in Los Alamos landscapes.

Aspen (Populus tremuloides) are trees with admirable beauty, and it naturally follows that we want our landscapes filled with what we find beautiful.

Unfortunately, try as we might, aspen are not well adapted to domestic landscapes, even here in Los Alamos.

They are short-lived, as expected from their role in forest ecology, and even properly cared-for trees may not reach 20 years.

Aspen

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Day Journeys to the Middle of Nowhere

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Travel Column by Kirsten Laskey

Discovering Tierra Amarillo

Driving down N.M. 84, we watched Los Alamos, Espanola and even the scatterings of roadside businesses in Abiquiu just slip past the windows.

Soon, there was nothing filling the windows but a gray strip of asphalt and huge, scenic landscapes.

This is when the adventure began.

My traveling partner (my mother) and I picked Tierra Amarillo to visit at random.

Photo: Tierra Amarillo Municipal Complex. By Kirsten Laskey

It was just a faint spot on the map and an oddball collection of photos on a website.

It was declared an “almost” ghost town Read More

Why Afghanistan?

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Dr. Bob Fuselier of Los Alamos with friend Blake Batten, Dr. Mohammad Khan Kharoti and graduating students in Afghanistan. Courtesy photo

Column by Dr. Bob Fuselier

The main purpose of our Afghanistan trip last month was to visit the graduation ceremonies for Green Village Schools’ Advanced Education Center (GVS-AEC) in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province.

My organization (the Afghan Sister Village Project) and Blake’s organization (Project PeacePal founded by Sarah Wilkinson of Albuquerque) acted as support players for Green Village Schools, the organization that runs the Read More

The Girls I Left Behind

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Column by Bonnie J. Gordon

I’m grateful to my friends — my new friends for giving me a chance and my old friends for hanging in there with me all this time.

I’ve done things like lose touch for 30 years until rediscovering someone of Facebook and low and behold, most of these people still want to be friends with me.

Maybe that’s less surprising than that people right here in Los Alamos put up with me on a daily basis.

You don’t get another chance with everyone. 

Some people are gone for good, whether by choice or by mischance.  

I look back and think, how could this have happened? How could I have Read More

Letter to the Editor: Thanks For Your Support

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I would like to thank everyone in Los Alamos who took the time to meet with me over the past few weeks.

I truly enjoyed getting to know my neighbors on the hill, and will continue to work with you to address issues of mutual concern as a Rio Arriba County Commissioner.

I anticipate many opportunities to strengthen regional collaboration towards clean water, economic development, educational opportunities, health care and other issues we all care about over the next few years.

Thank you once again for your support and kindness to me, and to my supporters.
 
–Alfredo Montoya
Senate Dist. 5 Candidate
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