McQuiston: Smart Devices That Lower Your Home Insurance … And The Ones That Don’t
By ALLEN MCQUISTON
Jemez Insurance Agency
Serving Los Alamos Since 1963
What’s Worth Installing — and What’s Just Hype
Smart home technology has changed how we live — and in some cases, it’s also changing how much we pay for home insurance.
But not every gadget guarantees a discount, and not every insurer treats them the same way.
Here’s a breakdown of which smart devices can actually lower your premium — and which ones are just nice-to-haves when it comes to insurance.
Devices That Typically Help Lower Your Insurance Rates
Smart Smoke Detectors
Upgraded smoke alarms that automatically alert Read More
An Open Book: Cerro Grande Fire And Today
By DAVID IZRAELEVITZ
Los Alamos
How is one to honor an event that marked one generation amid another event that will be equally sealed in the memory of the next generation? Maybe, it is to remember that while time does not heal all wounds, it is also true that painful memories gain, in time, the blessing of distance and perspective. As the Cerro Grande Fire was a defining moment in my life in Los Alamos, now, twenty-five years later, we look back and remember and learn, so let us hope that the same will be for our children who see, in these times, their own defining crisis.
Unlike many friends, our loss in Read More
Best Of Liddie’s Recipes: Apricot Pie
Apricot pie. Photo by Liddie Martinez
By LIDDIE MARTINEZ
Española Valley
Apricots have always been revered in Northern New Mexico, and on the rare occasions when blossoms don’t freeze with the late frost, we rejoice in their arrival.
Apricots were introduced to New Mexico during Spanish Colonization in the late 1500s and have remained a beloved but elusive fruit. In my youth, green apricots were often the weapon of choice for our mischievous neighbor boys who pelted my sister and me from hidden posts as we wandered through the neighborhood acequia to gather the jewels in the orchards.
We would Read More
Home Country: Supreme Court Of All Things Mechanical
Home Country
By SLIM RANDLES
It was like buzzards circling the body. The Jones kid, Randy, was out in the Mule Barn coffee shop parking lot with the hood up on his car. He was staring down into it the way a first-time parachutist would look out the airplane door. You never quite knew for sure what lay ahead.
“Looks like Randy’s got problems,” Steve said.
“Let’s have a look,” Dud said.
So coffee was left to get cold and the entire Supreme Court of All Things Mechanical – Steve, Dud, Doc, Herb and Dewey – trooped out to see what was going on.
They formed a powerful semi-circle of wisdom around the youth and his Read More
Weekly Fishing Report: April 29, 2025
By GEORGE MORSE
Sports and Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post
The State Department of Game & Fish stocked several lakes with kokanee salmon last week. Kokanee are a land-locked species of sockeye salmon that spend their entire lives in fresh water and do not migrate to the ocean. The fish are stocked as small fry just 1.5 inches long. They are hatched at Los Ojos Fish Hatchery from eggs gathered at Heron Lake and Navajo Lake.
They live 3-4 years, then spawn in the fall and die like other Pacific salmon. During their spawning there is a special snagging season. The best fishing is at Navajo Lake. Read More
Robinson: Social Security And The DOGE Kids
By SHERRY ROBINSON
All She Wrote
© 2025 New Mexico News Services
At packed town halls held recently by New Mexico’s three U.S. House members, the defining feature of attendees was grey hair, and one of their most urgent worries was Social Security.
In New Mexico, 468,000 people get a Social Security check. Another 55,000 receive Supplemental Security Income. For a great many of them, missing even one check wouldn’t just be inconvenient, it would be disastrous – the difference between housed and unhoused, fed and hungry, as U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez learned when he surveyed constituents.
No recipient, Read More
Dannemann: A Little Help For Small Business
By MERILEE DANNEMANN
© 2025 by Merilee Dannemann
You probably have never heard of the New Mexico Small Business Regulatory Advisory Commission. That’s okay. Nobody else has heard of it either.
In 20 years, this commission hasn’t done much – maybe nothing. The statute says its job is to identify regulations proposed by state agencies that might be harmful to small business and recommend possible changes. A worthwhile mission, don’t you think?
Ever since this commission was created by statute in 2005 (§14-4A-5 NMSA), I have checked periodically to see how it was doing and have not been surprised Read More
