Columns

Op-Ed: National Park People … May I Salute You?

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By Steve Scarano
Vista, Calif.

Dear National Park People,

May I salute you? I know that this is a particularly challenging season of service for you, and while mine is certainly not the only voice crying in the wilderness to acknowledge that and may even ring a bit hollow in the short view, the option of silence is just not viable to me. So here we are.

I’m a card-carrying property owner and cherish our parks, monuments, historic sites and recreation areas. Thank you for making them available to us. In fact, for decades it has been my practice to express my gratitude when I’ve either coincidentally met Read More

Amateur Naturalist: Yucca, A different Kind Of Plant

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By ROBERT DRYJA
Los Alamos

Certain kinds of plants may dominate an area. Trees and bushes typically have trunks with bark and leaves at the ends of small stems. A leaf spreads out from each stem. A leaf is flat with while out its outer edge may have a complicated design.

These plants are categorized as being deciduous if they shed their leaves in the autumn and grow a new generation in the spring. Pine trees in contrast grow needle-like leaves on branches that extend from the trunk. The needles may live for several years.

However, a completely different kind of plant may be spread out among dominating Read More

All Shall Be Well: Feed My Sheep

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Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Deacon Cynthia Z. Biddlecomb, M.Div.
ELCA retired

The lessons for this Third Sunday in Easter include the conversion of Paul in Acts 9, and the restitution of Peter to grace in John 21. A bit from the Book of Revelation 5 helps to remind us of who this Jesus is. And Psalm 30, a text Saul would have known well, cries out for God’s Grace.

First we go to the Road to Damascus, where the chief persecutor of Jesus’ followers, a learned scribe by Read More

Pages Of Our History: Antonio Jefferson Taylor Of Los Alamos Ranch School

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An unidentified teacher works with the first five boys at the school. From left, the students were ‘Connie’ Wetherill, Lance Pelly, ‘Jiggs’ Bates, Ashley Pond, the founder’s son, and Antonio Taylor. Courtesy/family albums of Fermor and Peggy Pond Church

By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos

Antonio Jefferson Taylor was born in 1904 in Karnack, Texas.

“Tony” was one of the first students to register at the Los Alamos Ranch School. It isn’t known how Tony or his family knew about the fledgling school, but he attended for two years. He was then sent to a New York boarding school, but it wasn’t long before he returned Read More

McQuiston: Smart Devices That Lower Your Home Insurance … And The Ones That Don’t

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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

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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

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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

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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 

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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

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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