Letters to the Editor

By REID PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos

I write regarding the proposed mountain biking projects in Pueblo Canyon.

I hope this disagreement does not cause too much of a schism between user communities that share 99 percent of the same goals.

Name calling certainly does not help, and I’m seeing a fair amount of that from mountain bikers in favor of the projects. For example, Chris Collord, president of the Tuff Riders local mountain bike club, recently published a letter to the editor in which he called the petitioners a “vocal minority” with arguments “so specious it’s difficult to even begin to dissect Read More

By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Back in the 1970’s, I worked in Houston during the summer. There was an ice-skating rink in a shopping mall on the northwest side of Houston, which I visited sometimes to cool off and get some exercise.

For fun, I began to experiment with a few simple jumps, spins, and other maneuvers. (Note: Later I began to experiment with ski ballet, but that is another story.) A few people began watching me. They started to clap whenever I performed some skating trick. Then I fell on the ice and cut my chin. The crowd drifted away from the skating rink, and I went to the doctor to get Read More

By KATIE BRUELL
Los Alamos

Dear Councilors,

I’m writing to address the three proposed bicycle projects from Community Services. I believe it’s important to consider each one of these separately, as they raise different issues. 

The 7-mile trail seems like basically doing a little trail work on existing trails and then advertising them as a continuous mountain bike trail. I’m all in favor of improving trails, so this seems like a good project, as long as signage, advertisements, etc. make it clear that this is a multi-use trail, not just for mountain bikers. The trail user community was very pleased Read More

By ARLENE MANSFIELD
Concern Citizen
Los Alamos

To Los Alamos County Parks and Recreation Department,

I am against the proposal for Los Alamos County to fund or build a mountain bike trail in Pueblo Canyon for a number of reasons.

Pueblo Canyon is a historical place. In the beginning the canyon was used by the Pueblo Indian and by early settlers.

I am concerned about the damage caused by the mountain bikes to the wildlife and the historical sites.

The mountain bikes do not travel alone. They ride in groups. There is a greater risk for a wildfire in our dry season because of the bike chains. Read More

By RICHARD SKOLNIK
Los Alamos

The public discussion around the golf course, bike trails, and the conference center/hotel highlight the need for Los Alamos County to change the way it makes decisions on publicly funded investments.

The County should aim for its investments to be doable, sustainable, cost-effective, and fair.

• First, the investment has to be able to be carried out as planned.
• Second, the County should base its investments on a comparison of the costs and benefits or cost-effectiveness of alternative investment proposals.
• Third, the county must examine the environmental costs

Read More

By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

I have been doing some thinking about America.

The following is my attempt to begin working toward a better America.

It is clear to me that American Government (that is, Federal, State, and Municipal Governments), American Industry, and the American Public are broken. Specifically, the working relationship between government, industry, and the Public (including environmentalists) is broken.

There was a movie starring Randolph Scott made in 1943, “‘Gung Ho!’: The Story of Carlson’s Makin Island Raiders”. “Gung Ho”, a Chinese term, was introduced in the movie Read More

By Ken Hanson
Los Alamos

LANL is again offering a summer program aimed at giving young women the opportunity to learn about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

In this program, involving over a hundred volunteer teachers/mentors, around 40 young women between 14 and 17 years old, will be immersed in a free, two-week intensive session covering physics, computer science, astrophysics, robotics, and machine learning. They will learn about the excitement of doing science and how to prepare for scientific careers.

What a wonderful experience for those young Read More

Please accept this response to Ganapathy Subramaniam Gopinathan’s Letter to the Editor, As Humane Gesture Make Street Level Mailboxes Mandatory At Every Home (link).

Since Gopinathan is new to town, they may not be aware that the county has a mandate when it snows to plow the sidewalks on residential streets that serve as primary access to our schools. Having street level mailboxes would make the county’s job of plowing these sidewalks either very difficult, or impossible. 

I prefer to see our children have a safe path to school rather than worry whether a postal Read More

By ROBERT BOURQUE
Los Alamos

I’m an 81-year-old cancer patient. No way I can wait in that line (link).

How about a take a number system, which is used at Tricore, the USPS, etc.

Also add more chairs.

People can take a number ticket when entering, go shop, and return to the pharmacy as there number comes up.

Not exactly rocket science. Read More