Columns

O’Leary: Time For $30 Million In Recreation Development

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Los Alamos County Council Vice Chair Susan O’Leary during an interview at the Los Alamos Daily Post. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

 

By Susan O’Leary, Vice Chair
Los Alamos County Council

Over the past several weeks, the County Council advertised and held seven listening sessions to hear from the community about ideas for Capital Improvement Project spending. 

The sessions were very well attended, and we heard ideas from citizens ranging from elementary school students to seniors. Most what we heard was passion; passion for our community and for the activities Read More

Food On The Hill: Bacon Brownies

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Bacon Brownies. Photo by Felicia Orth
 
Food On The Hill
By FELICIA ORTH

Bacon Brownies

You can blame or credit Janice Muir of Los Alamos and Facebook for this one, even though she did not send me the recipe directly. Janice is a friend on Facebook and IRL (in real life), and my Facebook newsfeed informed me that she liked, or “liked,” King Arthur Flour. Clicking on the item meant that I saw several subsequent posts from his highness’ flour company, each of which featured a recipe. I tried the bacon brownie recipe, modified it to reduce sugar and served it at the monthly Los Alamos Mountaineers Club Read More

Chandler: The Council Must Exercise Oversight

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By CHRIS CHANDLER
Los Alamos Attorney

Los Alamos County, through the Municipal’s League’s Self-Insurer’s Fund, has settled several employment cases totaling about $4.5 million in the last four years. Consider the following:                   

2012: A Recreation Department Senior Office Specialist received a $175,000 settlement. Her complaint alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, and prima facie tort against the County Read More

Roger This: The Good News About The Environmental Management Budget At LANL

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By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post
 
The good news about the Environmental Management Budget at LANL.

But first the bad news:

It’s all about the number.

Anybody interested in environmental issues at Los Alamos National Laboratorywas waiting for thenumber. The number this year is 189.

That’s $189 million, of course, and it’s the amount of money in the President’s request to Congress for funding environmental programs at LANL for next year. (The number is actually $189.6, but I’m rounding down because it’s the millions part of the number that counts, not the rounding.). The number Read More

Cinema Cindy Reviews ’45 Years’

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By CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB
Los Alamos

“45 Years” is a quietly emotional film about British couple living near Norfolk, England, about to celebrate their 45th anniversary. Shocking news comes in the mail a week before the party, forcing a revelation about a central piece of personal history not previously shared.

The film is based on the short story, “In Another Country” by David Constantine, and adapted for the screen by the Director, Andrew Haigh (Gladiator).

Movie poster for ’45 Years.’ Courtesy photo

Charlotte Rampling (1966’s Georgy Girl), who inhabits the character of Kate Read More

How The Hen House Turns: What Does Wild Mean?

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Khaki Campbell duck. Courtesy photo
 
By CAROLYN A. NEEPER, Ph.D
Los Alamos

What do we mean when we call an animal wild? Are cats wilder than dogs? How are the wild ones different from domesticated animals? Is a wild horse no longer wild when broken? According to Katherine Blocksdorf, broke or broken means a horse has been trained, either to saddle or to harness. “Many people don’t like the term ‘broke’ because it suggests training done by force,” she said. Hence the interest in whispering, as we mentioned in a previous article.

These questions came up while editing books for the Archives Read More

Pastor Raul Granillo: Confronting Reality

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By Pastor RAUL GRANILLO
Los Alamos

The love of Christ should always compel the true Christian to serve, to nurture, and otherwise to give of themselves for the sake of others. John Wesley once wrote, “The Gospel of CHRIST knows of no Religion, but Social; no Holiness but Social Holiness. Faith, working by Love, is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian Perfection.”

There is hardly a person who would argue the benefits to mankind when we feed, clothe, or give water to our neighbor; but what can be done to make a long term, or even an eternal difference in the life of others? This is the Read More

Cinema Cindy Reviews ‘Room’

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By CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB
Los Alamos

“Room” is told from the perspective of a little boy named Jack (Jacob Tremblay). All he has known in the five years of his life is his “Ma” and the room in which they live. What is “real” is what he sees in “Room”. (What is on their TV is deemed “not real”.)

Movie poster for ‘Room’. Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater

Joy Newsome (Brie Larson), we learn, was abducted at the age of 17 and has lived seven years in this shed behind the house of “Old Nick”. The metal door is secured with a numerical code lock. She and Jack are given the food and supplies they need to survive and Read More

Analysis Of Law; Policy Governing Office Of Sheriff

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By GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos Attorney

I will give you my best analysis of the law and policy considerations governing the existence and duties of the office of Sheriff of Los Alamos County and its relationship to the Police Department, and how these are affected by legislation pending in the New Mexico Legislature. 

I will make informal citations to the constitution and statutes of the State of New Mexico, The charter and a resolution of Los Alamos County, and two pending proposed constitutional amendments. The analysis is straightforward; however there are a number of authorities that Read More

Yang: The Art Of Communication, The Science Of Persuasion

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By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos

Can organizations be persuasive? 

Why not? But let me start at the individual level. 

Do you remember the last time you changed your mind because of someone’s powerful persuasion? And in what ways was that persuasion powerful? Further, if you were wrong in the first place, how easy was it for you to admit that you were wrong? 

On issues for which one has little preference, like a movie a person is ambivalent about, a friend’s recommendation may suffice. On issues that are complicated and evoke strong feelings, it would take time and several presentations Read More