Unlock The Universe With James Webb Space Telescope At PEEC Tonight
Ant Nebula (jpl-NASA). Courtesy/PEEC
PEEC News:
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) invites the community to journey across space and time in a special planetarium program, The James Webb Space Telescope Unlocked Universe, from 7–8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Admission is $6 per child, $8 per adult or $20 per family (new!).
This immersive show highlights the groundbreaking discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has transformed our understanding of galaxies, planets, and the Read More
Canceled: County Personal Board Meeting Feb. 24
COUNTY News:
The Los Alamos County Personnel Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 24, has been canceled due to a lack of agenda items. Read More
It’s Snowing At Pajarito … Tickets Available Now
Pajarito Mountain Ski Area is open today, Saturday, and Sunday, Courtesy/Pajarito
PAJARITO News:
Just in time for reopening, Pajarito picked up a couple inches of snow this week and it’s snowing right now – check the live cams and see for yourself.
Pajarito Mountain Ski Area is open today, Saturday, and Sunday, and it’s shaping up to be a great weekend. Lift tickets are under $70 (while supplies last), and when purchased online by midnight the night before visiting, purchasers receive $10 in Bird Bucks to use on food, drinks, or gear.
UNITE’s Arrive Alive Tour® Coming To Los Alamos
COUNTY News:
UNITE’s Arrive Alive Tour®, the nation’s number one ranked drunk and distracted driving awareness event, and first-and-only marijuana driving simulator is coming to Los Alamos.
The community is invited to participate from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at the parking lot in Central Park Square off Main Street.
The Arrive Alive Tour® aims to empower drivers with the knowledge and tools needed to build lifelong safe driving habits by using a high-tech, state-of-the-art simulator that allows participants to drive while distracted, drunk, or drugged in a fully functioning Read More
Los Alamos County Invites Community To Listening Session On Urban Park Athletic Court Improvements
COUNTY News:
Los Alamos County is seeking community input on potential renovations to the athletic courts at Urban Park and invites residents to participate in an upcoming listening session focused on how the courts and surrounding spaces are used today.
The community meeting will provide an opportunity for participants to share feedback, identify needs, and explore ideas to improve athletic facilities and better serve the community. This project involves removing and replacing current assets within the same footprint, including the tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts.
Community Read More
Listen To The Stars: How Blind Astronomer ‘Hears’ The Cosmos At New Mexico Museum Of Space History Launch Pad Lecture March 2
NMDCA News:
ALAMOGORDO — The groundbreaking work of blind astronomer Wanda Díaz-Merced will be brought into focus at the New Mexico Museum of Space History Launch Pad Lecture 9-10 a.m., Friday, March 6.
Museum Curator Brianna Buller will introduce visitors to Díaz-Merced’s methods, demonstrate how data can be translated into audio patterns, and highlight how these approaches open doors for researchers with diverse abilities while enriching how all scientists interpret information from space.
Drawing from her lived experience with disability, Díaz-Merced has created new ways of engaging Read More
How Did New Mexico Housing Bills Fare In 30 Day Session? A Few Wins, Several Disappointments
The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By MIKE EASTERLING
The Santa Fe New Mexican
It took nearly every minute of the New Mexico Legislature’s 30-day session to get it done, but a measure that will make zero-interest loans available for qualified, first-time buyers of starter homes earned legislative approval Thursday morning.
The Senate’s last-minute passage of House Bill 200 gave affordable housing advocates a late victory at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe just before lawmakers adjourned and headed home.
HB 200, designed to create the New Homes for New Mexico Program, was Read More
Flanged Tritium Waste Container Final Report, Volume 2, Published
LANL News:
The Flanged Tritium Waste Container Radioactive Air Emissions Summary, Volume 2, Environmental Sampling and Expanded Plume Modeling is complete and available to the public.
This second volume to the FTWC final report examines downwind air and soil sampling measurements that were conducted to support the FTWC depressurization operation and presents expanded plume modeling scenarios, looking at different time frames of evaluation, different plume modes, and different age range scenarios.
Volume 1 of the report discussed in detail the execution of the FTWC pressure mitigation Read More
Los Alamos Mountaineers Meeting To Feature Talk On Kilimanjaro And Beyond With Toni Taylor Feb. 24
Stuart Trugman in February 2025 heading to Crater Camp (18,000 ft.) on Kilimanjaro. Courtesy/Mountaineers
By WILLIAM PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos Mountaineers
The Feb. 24 meeting of Los Alamos Mountaineers will feature a talk by Toni Taylor on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with her husband, Stuart Trugman, as part of a supported group in February 2025.
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, rising to 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level and about 4,900 m (16,100 ft) above its plateau base. Their nine-day journey via the Northern Read More
Home Country: Golf Tournament
Home Country
By SLIM RANDLES
It was Doc’s idea, of course. That’s what made it sing. That’s why it took off in gales of laughter and fun.
He knew we needed the money for the children in our area who might be without warm clothes this winter, so he brainstormed among himself and came up with the golf tournament.
He went to Delbert McLain, who is our local chamber of commerce. Delbert’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, but then suddenly clouded over with doubt.
“But Doc,” Delbert said, “we don’t have a golf course.”
“Leave that to me, Delbert me lad. Leave that entirely to me.”
And so our medical leprechaun talked Read More
NMSA’s Theatre Department Presents: All Night Diner– The NMSA One Acts Festival
NMSA News:
Join NMSA’s Theatre Department for All-Night Diner: The NMSA One Acts Festival running March 19-21 at NMSA’s Bluedio Theatre. The lights never go off at this 24-hour diner. Over the course of a single day and night, strangers cross paths, conversations collide, and lives quietly (and not so quietly) change.
All-Night Diner serves up a collection of original one-act plays written by Creative Writing students and brought to life by Theatre students—each story unfolding in the same diner, each revealing a different slice of humanity. From late-night confessions to early-morning Read More
Community Invited To Take County Tourism Survey
COUNTY News:
Los Alamos County is inviting community members to participate in an online tourism survey open through Feb. 28, 2026. The survey is intended to gather community feedback to help inform future tourism planning, marketing, and management efforts across the county.
Community members are encouraged to share their perspectives by completing the survey online at lacnm.com/TourismSurvey.
Those interested in current tourism initiatives can visit lacnm.com/Tourism.
Los Alamos County values community input and encourages broad participation to ensure tourism efforts Read More
Daily Postcard: Curious Weasel At Valles Caldera
Daily Postcard: A long-tailed weasel camouflaged by its white winter coat in the snow scans its surroundings, shown on Tuesday at Valles Caldera National Preserve. During the Valles Caldera Winter Fest this Saturday, Feb. 21, Ranger Jordan will lead a hike for little ones to learn about winter wildlife adaptations. Meet at the Volcano Discovery Center a few minutes before 11 a.m. to participate. No registration required. As you hike, try your best to insulate a gelatin creature from freezing in the cruel winter of Valles Caldera. On a cold winter day, there can be upwards of a 40-degree difference Read More
Office Of The State Engineer Enforcement Bill Heads To Governor’s Desk After Strong Bipartisan Support
State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson
STATE News:
SANTA FE – A bill raising the maximum penalty for illegal water use from $100 to $3,400 per day—the first major update to New Mexico’s water enforcement authority in more than a century—is headed to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk after passing the legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support.
House Bill 111 modernizes the Office of the State Engineer’s (OSE) enforcement tools against illegal water use at a moment when scarcity is intensifying across New Mexico. Once signed, the measure will mark one of the most significant updates Read More
New Mexico Legislature Wraps Up 30-Day Session After Busy Final Week
State House Speaker Javíer Martinez, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, embrace following a Democratic news conference at the Capitol after the 2026 legislative session ended Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham laughs while listening to final comments made by members of the House of Representatives during her final news conference to conclude the 2026 legislative session on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
By DANIEL J. CHACÓN and CLARA BATES
The Santa Fe New Mexican
In years past, Gov. Read More
Ringside Seat: Saints & Sinners At The Statehouse
By MILAN SIMONICH
The Santa Fe New Mexican
The great Damon Runyon said he preferred writing about losers because they were more entertaining than winners.
His premise doesn’t hold up in modern-day New Mexico.
Two big losers from the state’s 30-day legislative session are Democratic Sens. Peter Wirth of Santa Fe and Joe Cervantes of Las Cruces. They are lawyers who represent plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases.
Both senators should have excused themselves from every debate and all votes on a bill to cap punitive damages that juries can award in malpractice cases.
Cervantes introduced a Read More
Artists Sought For 2026 Dog Jog Logo Contest
Scene from a previous dog jog with some runners sporting the winning design. Courtesy/FOSCA
FOSCA News:
Tails are wagging all over Los Alamos in anticipation of the 2026 Los Alamos Dog Jog, to be held Saturday, April 25.
The Dog Jog is an annual fundraiser for the Friends of Shelter and Companion Animals (FOSCA), an all-volunteer organization that uses this money to provide funding for spay/neuter programs and veterinary care for ill and injured dogs and cats whose owners cannot afford expensive care for their beloved pets.
The Dog Jog Committee is calling on all creative young artists to put Read More
New Mexico Secretary Of State Highlights Passage Of Critical Election Bills In 2026 Legislative Session
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver
STATE News:
The 2026 New Mexico legislative session saw the passage of multiple bills that fortify the existing accessibility, stability and security of New Mexico’s elections.
“New Mexico currently ranks first in the nation for election administration, and I commend the legislature on helping ensure we remain at the top of that list. With the passage of SJR 1, eligible voters will have the opportunity in November to eliminate discriminatory provisions in our Constitution that date back to when women could only vote in school elections Read More
Los Alamos County Council Recognizes Finance And Procurement Divisions For Excellence In Fiscal Stewardship
Members of the Los Alamos County Financial and Procurement teams with Council members and the County manager during the Feb. 17 regular council meeting. Front row from left, Councilor Melanee Hand, County Manager Anne Laurent, Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Beatrice Odezulu, Budget Manager Erika Thomas, CFO Melissa Dadzie, ASD Director Helen Perraglio, Management Analyst Nicholle Cordova, and Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Annalisa Miranda. Back row from left, Councilor David Reagor, Councilor Rynn Herrmann, Chair Randal Ryti, Senior Financial Budget Analyst Tara Mariano, Read More
Bill To Ensure New Mexico Students Receive High-Quality Research-based Literacy Instruction Heads To Governor
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
STATE News:
SANTA FE — A bill that would ensure New Mexico students receive high-quality, research-based literacy instruction aligned with the science of reading has cleared both chambers of the legislature, and the governor plans to sign it into law.
The New Mexico House of Representatives unanimously approved Senate Bill 37—the High-Quality Literacy Instruction Act—last night following the Senate’s unanimous vote in favor of the bill Jan. 29.
“SB 37 builds on my administration’s long-term strategy to give every New Mexico child a solid foundation for educational Read More
