McQuiston: Inflation On Commercial Property Insurance
By ALLEN MCQUISTON
Jemez Agency
Serving Los Alamos since 1963
From supply chain shortages to COVID-related shutdowns to worker shortages, 2021 brought the highest U.S. inflation rates of the past 40 years.
Inflation is affecting everything from the price of that (former) “dollar pizza” to the value of used cars to raw building materials, making these trends particularly relevant to commercial insureds with building and business income coverages.
The Impact
Commercial buildings are generally insured on a replacement cost basis which is the cost to replace the building with materials of Read More
Gessing: Time For New Mexico’s Democrats To Get Serious About Energy & Climate
By PAUL J. GESSING
President
Rio Grande Foundation
There are many things that make New Mexico unique, but one of the most noteworthy political nuances is the State’s deep and unusual relationship with energy.
New Mexico’s Democratic politicians love the money and jobs generated by the traditional energy industry, but also wish to be seen as pushing back against it to placate their environmentalist base.
Nonetheless, New Mexico, a state blessed with all sorts of energy resources (both traditional as well as wind and solar) has continued to embrace Democrat politicians despite the Party’s Read More
Amateur Naturalist: How Smart Is A Bird Brain?
A Black Chinned Hummingbird. Photo by Bob Walker, PEEC Nature Center
By ROBERT DRYJA
Los Alamos
Spring is approaching and birds will be migrating in a month.
This migration is not random flying but involves two considerations:
- Time; and
- Direction of a flight.
The first consideration is presented in Chart 1 (below). Black chinned hummingbirds arrive routinely in the first week of April and are gone by the end of October.
The second consideration relates to the the direction of migration. Hummingbirds know which way to fly as well as when to fly. They fly southward for the winter to Mexico Read More
An Open Letter To The State Senators Of New Mexico
Editor’s note: The letter below is being transmitted by Common Cause New Mexico on behalf of a group of eight organizations concerned about a toxic culture of sexual harassment, bullying and inappropriate behavior during New Mexico legislative sessions.
We write to follow up on our open letter to Senators Peter Wirth, Mimi Stewart, and Greg Baca on February 24, 2022. In that letter, we expressed our support for the brave public stand taken by Marianna Anaya, and urged the Senate leadership to initiate a formal investigation regarding Ms. Anaya’s allegations of sexual harassment against Senator Read More
Fr. Glenn: The Old And The New
By Fr. Glenn Jones:
“I know better than you.”
Few phrases so readily get us to raise our defenses than that one, especially when it comes to politics, religion and custom—the reason why it is often considered bad form to bring up those issues at social occasions. Perceived challenges to any of these can raise the hackles quicker than about anything else other than personal insult. We need only witness the incivility of public discourse in our day to see that.
These days we also often hear of those who are discontented with the current American political, economic and even religious systems advocating Read More
Justice Thomson: New Mexico Supreme Court Expands Educational Program On The Rule Of Law
By JUSTICE DAVID K. THOMSON
New Mexico Supreme Court
I am excited to announce the second year of a New Mexico Supreme Court civics education program about the judiciary’s role in our democracy and the development of the rule of law.
Last year’s program was a resounding success, reaching over 580 students in schools statewide. Students watched recordings of an oral argument before our Supreme Court and worked with learning materials about the case. I then visited classes virtually, accompanied by the prosecution and defense attorneys, to discuss the legal issues and judicial process.
As Justice Read More
McQuiston: Do Not Disturb – Distracted Driving Danger
By ALLEN MCQUISTON
Jemez Agency
Serving Los Alamos Since 1963
Nine. A relatively small number until you put it into context. Every day, nine lives are lost due to distracted driving. Driving is something that many of us do each day without putting in much thought or energy, almost like being on autopilot.
Instead of using driving as a time to unwind, focusing on the road and getting to our destination safely, we are now consumed by distractions. Fortunately, you have the power to turn those distractions off … but will you?
According to Teen Safe, “There are 3,287 deaths each day due to fatal car crashes. Read More
