OP/ED

Op-Ed: I Am Not Antisemitic

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By JODY BENSON
Los Alamos

I am not antisemitic.

No, I am not antisemitic even though I stand against Israel’s decimation of Gaza.

I attest to the fact that Hamas, elected in 2006, is a totalitarian regime whose military wing the US has designated a terrorist organization.

I attest Hamas does not recognize Israel, and that since 1993, it has committed suicide bombings on Israel in retribution against the Israeli 1967 occupation of both Gaza and the West Bank.

I attest that on October 7, 2023, Hamas led other Palestinian militant nationalist groups in a terrorist attack in the Gaza Envelope that killed Read More

Op-Ed: We Need Doctors. Texas Has Them.

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By ELIZABETH HELLER ALLEN
Santa Fe

          • They need a safe place to practice medicine. We just need to get ‘em here.

For years, New Mexico has been seriously short of virtually all doctors: primary care, pediatricians, dentists, eye doctors, and other specialists … and all the people who help them take care of patients. It can take months to see a specialist and weeks to see a primary care physician, if you can find one. We are short almost 13,000 health care workers to serve our 2.1 million residents. That includes every kind of healthcare worker like EMTs, pharmacists and physical therapists as well as Read More

Op-Ed: The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Shape It

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By SUZIE HAVEMANN
Los Alamos County Councilor

My friend Sharon Stover, who is a former and esteemed County Councilor, used to say, “There is always more to the story”. And I used to add “There are almost always two sides to every story”.

I thought about these sentiments during Tuesday night’s Council meeting as we heard presentations, questions, public comment, and staff’s answers on two important topics:  community wide broadband and the purchase of real property on Diamond Drive, across from the high school. The former ultimately passed on a 6-0 vote and while we must do better in giving reasonable Read More

Op-Ed: Education And Enforcement, Not Bag Ban Will Address Litter Problem

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By Española City Councilor Sam LeDoux
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Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing

The City of Española, at the behest of Mayor John Ramon Vigil, will soon consider adopting a ban on plastic bags like those used at grocery stores. While proponents of such bans typically support them on environmental grounds (cut down on plastic waste etc.) the Mayor seems to believe that banning plastic grocery bags will have a positive impact on the City’s litter problems.

According to the website Plastics Paradox, “A compilation of all of the statistically-based, scientific studies of litter in the U.S. Read More

Chief Justice Thomson: Make An Informed Decision About Judges On The Ballot

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By DAVID K. THOMSON
Chief Justice
New Mexico Supreme Court

Assessing how state court judges perform on the job is difficult, particularly for New Mexico voters in today’s divisive political environment. But information from the state’s Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) can assist New Mexicans in deciding whether to vote “yes” or “no” to retain judges and justices on the general election ballot.

JPEC was established to specifically help voters carry out their role in ensuring competent, professional judges in New Mexico. The commission’s evaluations also provide feedback Read More

Lentini: City Managers Are Not Elected Officials

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By CYNTHIA P. LENTINI
Española Resident/Community Activist

The Unsheltered Committee of the City of Española met Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. It’s sad when City representatives spend more time in denials and retaliation than on the business at hand: What to do for the unsheltered in the community.

The highlights of the meeting were not presentations of data, facts, reasonable arguments, and planning. Instead, the meeting spent an inordinate amount of time complaining about the alleged BS of social media and the City Manager’s verbal attacks against City Councilor Samuel LeDoux. Sitting back Read More

Skolnik: What ‘Else’ We Need In Our Elected Officials

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By RICHARD SKOLNIK
White Rock

I thank Kevin Holsapple for his recent letter: “What I Wish For in Our County Councilors” (link).

All of the points Mr. Holsapple raised are fundamental.

However, they are not sufficient to ensure effective public service. For this, we need people who possess one additional trait:

The ability to focus unrelentingly on solving problems, in sustainable, cost-effective, and fair ways, despite the constraints to doing so.

This is in stark contrast, of course, to people who focus on telling us, often over and over again, “why problems can’t be solved”.

As someone who Read More

Holsapple: What I Wish For In Our County Councilors

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By KEVIN HOLSAPPLE
Los Alamos

With an election coming up, I am thinking about who to vote for, for the open County Council seats. I encourage every voter to have some criteria in mind when choosing who to vote for. It isn’t clear to me how the available candidates (or our current Councilors) match up to what I wish for in our County Council, but I would sure welcome hearing from them all on the following criteria as I decide who to vote for and talk to other people who ask what I think. All of the current councilors and candidates are good, nice, community-minded people who mean well, but voting for friends Read More

Mead: Our Election System Is Biased

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By WILLIAM C. MEAD
Los Alamos

The 2024 Presidential election is a critical one in the life of our country, for several reasons: the outcome will lead to considerable chaos and possibly violence, no matter who wins. For example, if Trump wins, he has promised mass deportations of illegal aliens and severe punishments for election workers that he considers to have “cheated”. If Harris wins, Trump has already planted seeds for contesting the election and his rhetoric might inspire violence from “MAGA” supporters—possibly worse than January 6th.

Sadly, this election will occur under the rules Read More

Werley: Legality Of Feeding Deer In Los Alamos

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By Dr. Ken Werley
Los Alamos

To: State Representative Christine Chandler, Los Alamos Daily Post, and NM Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF),

Re: feeding deer in Los Alamos:

BACKGROUND:

I have lived at my residence for 40 years.  For 25 years, when I notice an interested deer, I have fed it a small cup of birdseed that takes a deer 2-3 minutes of their day to consume. My house backs onto the golf course and it has the only unfenced yard on the east side of 35th St on my block. Some deer daily pass though my yard on the way between the golf course and the many fruit trees across the street (and to get to the canyon Read More