By SANDY CHARLES
Los Alamos

In addition to recent complaints regarding aisles full of boxes and empty shelves, the bathroom by the pharmacy is always filthy and often unusable, the only paper products being those that are already on the floor.

There is usually only one cashier to check people out, and more than once there were none. Long lines for self-checkout are standard activity, always expected.

How did Smith’s manage to gain a stranglehold on the Los Alamos cash cow? What conditions were agreed on by the county government that allowed Smith’s to take over almost all the grocery business in town and almost all the gas sales, putting many other merchants out of business? How about the blighted embarrassment of Mari-Mac Shopping Center and the former Metzger’s gas station?

Should we change the town’s name to Smith’s, New Mexico?