Letters to the Editor

By SARA ANN MASON
Los Alamos

When I heard about the Los Alamos High School Eco Club’s recent climate strike, I felt a surge of pride. These young people are organizing a public demonstration to demand meaningful action on climate change, not to mention other important changes like increasing what students are taught about climate change in school. You can’t help but be impressed by their maturity and clear sightedness.

However, I also felt a twinge of guilt. They’re in this situation because adults like me haven’t been able to face this problem yet. Like many others, I’ve gone from feeling like Read More

By BECKY SHANKLAND
LWVLA co-president

The League of Women Voters has found that our Voter Guides for the coming election are in great demand. We’re happy for the interest in the election, but disappointed that the extra 300 copies we ordered, in addition to the ones inserted in the Los Alamos Daily Post on October 7, have run short. 

We’re trying to keep one copy at each polling place, and we’ll also put a notice with our website at the libraries and senior centers that you can take home. 

Luckily, it’s simple to find the whole guide on our website: lwvlosalamos.org

Remember that you can only vote for Read More

By JAMES J. KUROPATWINSKI
Los Alamos

As I come to the end of my first week of vacation, I have used this time as an opportunity to calm down with regards to the LANL vaccine mandate. I want to express my gratitude to various individuals, make a few observations and statements, and put forth a challenge.

First, I would first like to thank Triad management for recognizing my sincerely held religious belief and granting me a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate based on my belief that it is immoral to use cells from aborted human babies in the research, development, testing, or manufacturing of Read More

By KARYL ANN ARMBRUSTER
Former Dist. Public Education Commissioner
Former LAMS Teacher
and
KENNETH ARMBRUSTER

We voted for two candidates who stand out in this election. One is Melanie Colgan for LAPS School Board and the other is David Hanson for UNM LA Advisory Board.

We are impressed by Melanie’s focus on the urgent issues facing the school board … keeping the students safe and IN school during a pandemic, knowing the qualifications for hiring a new superintendent, supporting our diverse students and staff, and validating teachers who are educating children with the traditional rigorous Read More

By JODY BENSON
Los Alamos

We have some good candidates running for the UNM-LA Advisory Board Position 5, and top among them is David Hampton.

Through engagement in the community and listening to people, he synthesizes good ideas, and represents those ideas in whatever organization he’s involved with. He’s also really good with budget.

Pre-COVID, I would see David Hampton at the County Council meetings, and although we’re not the same political party, we share many of the same values including commitment to community service.

It could’ve been at one of those Council meetings that we started Read More

By KURT ANAST
Los Alamos

My name is Kurt Anast, I am a Process Engineer and have lived in Los Alamos since 1994 after relocating to the “city on the hill” from Denver, Colo.

I have been involved with youth baseball, golf and hockey, coached the girls high school golf team, served as president of LAHA and LAGA, on the Parks and Rec board etc. During this time I have encountered a lot of different people who are dedicated to volunteering and making Los Alamos the special place it is. Over the last year it has been my pleasure to get to know David Hampton through issues related to recreation, as David is Vice Read More

By MARLANE HAMILTON
Interim Executive Director
Los Alamos Arts Council

The hard work of many dedicated volunteers resulted in a successful Fall Arts and Crafts Fair Saturday, Oct. 16.

This was our second fair with COVID restrictions (masks) and we are pleased that so many people attended.

As always, a big thank you goes to our board members and volunteers who spent many hours in preparation, as well as time staffing the fair. LAAC is fortunate to have a wonderful group of volunteers who assist us with this and other events. We could not manage these events without their help.

LAAC thanks the staff Read More

By JAMES RICKMAN
Los Alamos

As a product of the Los Alamos Schools system, I have been reading with some sadness the many recent letters related to our school board election and the schools themselves.

Admittedly, I grew up in a far different age—one that was probably not as “sophisticated”, by today’s standards, but one in which I received a very good education that helped launch me into a successful and productive life. I strongly believe that this success was predicated by an educational system that taught me to think, reason, and question. We were exposed to many diverse ideas and principles. Read More

By STEPHANIE NAKHLEH
Los Alamos

In light of a recent unfortunate letter to the editor, we want to make it clear to the LGBTQ+ students of Los Alamos that you are respected, supported, loved, and that your lives matter.

To the LAPS staff members who are feeling unsafe, we offer you our support as well. The person who wrote that hateful letter, and the follow-up to it, does not represent this community. You don’t need us to tell you that LGBTQ+ kids face disproportionate discrimination, bullying, and subsequent mental-health problems—that letter is just one example of the sort of intolerance that Read More

By MELANIE COLGAN
President
Los Alamos Public School Board

Campaigning for election to the Los Alamos Public School Board in District 4 (Barranca) has been an interesting and informative experience. As I go door to door to meet my constituents or when I talk to parents and teachers at a school event, I typically get asked two big questions…”How are you going to keep our kids safe?” and “What will you do to keep our schools open?”

My short answer is that I support our current LAPS mask mandate. As a medical professional, I also strongly encourage all who are eligible for the COVID vaccine to get one. Masking Read More