Columns

Column: The Tough Conversation All Couples Should Have

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The Tough Conversation All Couples Should Have
Column by ABE DISPENNETTE

If asked, most couples would say it’s important to protect the financial future of their families in the event of a spouse’s unexpected death.

Yet 74 percent of couples rarely or never discuss the topic of life insurance as part of their financial planning strategy, according to a 2010 State Farm® Life Insurance Study. A 2011 study from finance research firm LIMRA revealed that 41 percent of U.S. adults don’t even have life insurance.

That doesn’t mean it’s not on their minds. Sixty-two Read More

Column: Low Income Housing IS Available in Los Alamos

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Caballo Peak Apartments  facing Trinity Drive. Courtesy photo

Column by JULIE SMITH, Property Manager

TRK Management/Caballo Peak Apartments

Despite beliefs to the contrary, Los Alamos does have safe, low income rental housing options. 

The Caballo Peak Apartments opened in June 2000 under a Federal Low Income Housing Program. It comprises 40 apartments, 32 of which are designated for low income tenant. There are eight handicap accessible units, seven of which are designated for low income tenants. 

General rent is $800 per month, but for those who qualify under the low Read More

Yang: You See Banana, I See Potassium … Part II

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You See Banana, I See Potassium: Whose reality is more real? Part II
By ELENA YANG

We take on many roles simultaneously, and different people see us differently. I am a student of management, a watercolor painter, a gardener, a wife, a mother … I can be simultaneously smart and stupid (don’t say that you have never had such an experience), or I can be both compassionate and stingy. 

You get the drift. Most managers are complex people, yet, often, they are regarded in a unidimensional image. The 20 people under one manager most likely have at least 10 different images for this manager. An open-minded Read More

Hannemann’s Music Corner: What I Learned at LAPS

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Hannemann’s Music Corner: What I Learned at LAPS
By RICHARD HANNEMANN

This week we have been treated to some stellar performances of LAPS musicians at all age levels, from fourth graders to, well, our superintendent on trumpet with the fifth grade band, to our graduating seniors and we still have several concerts to go during the last week of school.

Try to make one of the performances if you can, even if, and particularly if, you don’t have a child or grandchild performing.

A few years back, a former Los Alamos band director asked me where I got my music education. I said, “Los Read More

Day Journeys to the Middle of Nowhere: Discovering Madrid

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Travel Column by KIRSTEN LASKEY

It’s been said that the most valuable experience while on travel isn’t actually arriving at the destination, but the journey to the destination.

However, while in a small gallery/gift store in Madrid, N.M., I was reminded about an equally important aspect of travel – the memories collected while traveling.

My recent tour of Madrid proved both these statements true. The road to Madrid starts with the bustle and traffic of Santa Fe, but the further my mother and I continued down U.S. 285, U.S. 84 and then N.M. 14, the more the houses and buildings dwindled before disappearing Read More

A View from the Stacks: Seven Rules of Reading

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Column by KATE GARDUÑO
Mesa Public Library Head of Circulation

One of the fun parts of working in a library is that we get to interact with books and people every day. Here are seven rules regarding books and reading that I have learned from my years in libraries.

Reader at Mesa Public Library. Photo by Kate Garduño

1. There’s no reason a perfectly brilliant person shouldn’t read a perfectly stupid book.

Avid readers read books of all flavors. Filet mignon is great, but sometimes what you really want is a green chile cheeseburger. Display with pride those dog-eared copies of Nabokov’s Pale Fire and Read More

How the Hen House Turns: Turkeys are not Chickens

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How the Hen House Turns: Turkeys are not Chickens
Column by Carolyn A. (Cary) Neeper, Ph. D.

I will attempt here to break an old myth. Turkeys are not as stupid as their reputation would have it. They’re simply not chickens.

Turkeys hunt by pointing and snatching flies sitting on chicken wire pens—then down the hatch. No grabbing and running and getting everyone else in the pen excited and into the chase, as chickens do. I guess hens like to play Keep Away. Even baby turkeys are as efficient as canine pointers—freezing, their beaks pointed with deadly accuracy, then inflicting sudden death on unsuspecting Read More

Column: Important Information on CalPERS Long Term Care

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Important Information on CalPERS Long Term Care
By SUE HOFMANN

For individuals who currently have CalPERS long term care (LTC) insurance, below is information distributed by Executive Director Jesse Slome of American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, regarding a scheduled rate hike in 2015. 

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance was established as a not-for-profit trade group and focuses on educating both consumers and insurance professionals. For additional information on long term care insurance costs, visit the organization’s website at

Read More

Help With The Hard Stuff: ‘The Goldilocks Principle’

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HELP WITH THE HARD STUFF:

Part 7 (of 10)–“The Goldilocks Principle”
By GINI NELSON, JD, MA

I ended my last column, promising that we’ll next consider some of the specific problems clients can have with selecting their attorney and the approach to solving their legal problem.

After this column, we’ll explore some of the newer experiments and alternatives that exist and are evolving in the provisioning of legal services.

We all know the story – a lost, hungry, tired little girl finds herself lost in the forest and stumbles upon a house whose inhabitants are absent. In the house she finds three chairs, Read More

Real Estate Round Table: Hidden Defects In Your Home

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Real Estate Round Table: Hidden Defects In Your Home
By LAUREN EARLES

This week’s real estate column will discuss some common hidden defects discovered in the course of inspecting homes for sale in Los Alamos County. 

Mold, termites, rodents, asbestos, and septic systems are some of the most common, although this list is not all encompassing. Mold has been discovered on a regular basis. Some varieties of mold can be harmful to one’s health, and buyers are wary of purchasing a home that has tested positive for mold.

The most common reasons for mold occurring in a residence are undetected leaks Read More