OP/ED

Devolder: Electrical Safety

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By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

When a house burns down and the exact cause cannot be determined, it is usually attributed to an electrical problem. There are a variety of older and newer homes in Los Alamos County, which are provided with lighting fixtures and lamps of various types. For example, some fixtures or lamps utilize 110-volt bulbs, and some fixtures or lamps utilize light-emitting diodes (LEDs).  With age and use, lighting fixtures and lamps can present some electrical safety problems.

Some time ago, I was changing out a bulb in a lighting fixture. I happened to look at the base of the 110-volt Read More

Op-Ed: Suggestion For LAPS Calendar Solution

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By SHARON SEITZ
Los Alamos

Dear School Board Members, LAPS Staff and Los Alamos Community,

Please accept the following HB130 solution for LAPS:

  1. MINIMAL 23-24 Calendar changes approved by April 18, 2023 that won’t bear additional costs.
  • HB130 requires 1140 Hours of student instructional time.
    • Add 78 hours (1140 – 1062 current) for Elementary
      • Use 2 hours on Wednesday afternoons (currently Professional Development, no students) and rest continues as Professional Development.
    • Add 25 hours (1140 – 1125 current) to High School
    • NO CHANGES to Middle School (1170 current hours, which is well
Read More

Williams: Transparency In Government

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By GREGORY WILLIAMS
FOG Board Member & Past President

Public officials and employees love transparency in the abstract. In reality: not so much.

Transparency in government is a crowd-pleasing election promise that gets set aside in practice. It happens in part because openness takes effort. It takes a daily commitment by public entities to provide access to records, to inform the public as to what is going on, and to allow participation. Transparency also invites scrutiny, and not all public officials and employees want that.

Open government also suffers because public officials often Read More

Op Ed: Revamp New Mexico’s Colleges Of Education

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By MANDI TORREZ
Think New Mexico
(2020 New Mexico Teacher of the Year)

Quality teachers not only raise student performance through skilled instruction and engagement practices, but the best teachers are also capable of transforming lives.

Developing such excellent teachers requires exemplary foundational training that is hands-on, practical and that addresses the many challenges teachers will face daily in their classrooms.

This is why we must enact House Bill 460, to ensure that new teachers are equipped with the best research-based practices throughout their preparation. The bill Read More

Op-Ed: Concern With Limited Access To Valles Caldera

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By SETH GAYNER
Los Alamos

I am writing to you about access to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. I have lived in neighboring Los Alamos, NM since 1999 and am concerned about the very limited access to the preserve, even as a local. The Preserve does not operate as an NPS unit, rather it continues to operate as it did when it was a Trust. Furthermore, management does not listen to safety and access concerns when raised by visitors or staff, and is working to limit access to the preserve even more rather than expand it.

There is a management plan in place to provide more access to the cabin district. While Read More

Op-Ed: ‘Prairie Wolves 101’

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By Terry DuBois
Los Alamos

We are fast approaching early summer when the coyotes in our area will be having pups. Their mating season runs from January to March and the pups seem to emerge from the den around the beginning of July. 

I have spent several years noting their habits and behaviors and would like to share some of what I’ve learned. I will concentrate on spring and summer as that is the time most people find them problematic. During the mating season, they become more territorial, which some erroneously call “aggressive”. They become more interested in escorting people through their territories Read More

Op/Ed: Paid Family & Medical Leave – Pro-Business, Pro-Worker

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By President Pro Tem Sen. Mimi Stewart and
House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Christine Chandler

Hindsight is undefeated, and the best way to view the Paid Family and Medical Leave proposal in the Legislature is to look at what similar policies in the past caused—or more importantly, did not cause—today.

If you believe the rhetoric from some Senate Republicans during the Floor debate last Saturday, Paid Family and Medical Leave will cause hundreds of small businesses to immediately layoff employees, shut their doors, or leave the state for the greener pastures of Texas or Arizona (but not Read More

Carson: New Mexico’s Bars & Restaurants Need Support, Not Higher Taxes

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By KEN CARSON
Owner
Nexus Brewery + Restaurant

As the owner of Nexus Brewery in Albuquerque, I can tell you that newly proposed alcohol tax increases are not what New Mexico’s bars and restaurants need right now.

I realize that our state lawmakers have good intentions and I commend them for this effort. But there are other ways to achieve the goal; this tax increase will further burden an industry that has already been through so much. Establishments like mine are struggling to cope with the continued economic impacts of inflation, supply chain woes and the remnants of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’ve Read More

Perls: On Open Primaries

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By BOB PERLS
Registered declined-to-state voter
Former State Representative and former U.S. Diplomat
Founder of New Mexico Open Elections

Currently in Los Alamos, 28% of registered voters are independent (declined to state/DTS). While everyone has different reasons to register as such, a majority of this population is employed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and leans toward neutrality regarding politics in the workplace.

Our current primary elections exclude nearly a third of Los Alamos voters from participating by forcing them to change their voter registration in order to Read More

Op-Ed: High School Requirements Argument

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By MALIA WEISNER
Student
Los Alamos High School

As a student in the New Mexico public school system, I think it is important to speak on behalf of the students whom it will concern and voice my opinion regarding House Bill 126-A.

If passed, the bill would eliminate the requirement of Algebra 2, two electives, a class in career and technical education (CTE), and a language, lowering state-required credits from twenty-four to twenty-two. While some may argue that this would encourage students towards graduation and provide more freedom, there is a lot of evidence that it will have the opposite effect.

Read More