Opinion

Yang: Spend On A Dress Or A Dresser?

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Spend On A Dress Or A Dresser? — A story of near-sighted and far-sighted
By ELENA YANG

One man’s ego and antics are finally catching up with him and causing his own company to struggle and decline in a “complicated” industry.  Another man’s strong will and principles are keeping his company afloat in a declining yet highly competitive industry. 

It took more than a decade for the board of directors to take note of Dov Charney’s  (founder and former CEO of American Apparel) misbehavior and mismanagement. In contrast, John Bassett III has spent more than a decade fighting Read More

Letter to the Editor: Take Time To Check Out Local Merchandise

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STEPHANIE SYDORIAK
Los Alamos

I have felt compelled to shop in Santa Fe over the years because I was sure that certain items or services didn’t exist in our stores. But, the other day, I realized that I haven’t really made the effort to find out what is actually in our stores.

While at the Village Arts store down on DP Road for some framing supplies, I wandered into their store section. I was totally surprised to see the huge selection of goods beyond the paint, brushes and art supplies that I had expected to see. Items fell into categories like ‘office,’ ‘hobbies,’ Read More

Letter to the Editor: Smith’s Marketplace Will Be The ‘Wal-Mart Effect’ On Main Street

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By LISA SHIN, Optometrist
Los Alamos Family Eyecare, P.C.

Many thanks for the recent editorials urging all to support our local businesses. Indeed, Smith’s Marketplace offers a beautiful place for “one-stop” shopping. Enjoy coffee and a bagel in the morning, a made to order dinner in the evening with a delicious selection of chocolate, ice-cream and cake for dessert. Afterwards, shop from an impressive selection of gourmet and organic foods, clothes, toys, pet supplies, electronics, and household goods. Keep people from driving to Santa Fe? How about keep people from driving down Read More

Letter to the Editor: Competition Key Element of Healthy Business Environment

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By NANCY PARTRIDGE, Chamber Manager
Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce

I would like to thank Don Krier and Kelly Gallagher for their July 14 Letter to the Editor, “Don’t Let Los Alamos Become a One Mall Town.” 

It is true the new Smith’s Marketplace will introduce competition into the Los Alamos retail market. Competition is a key element of a healthy business environment. The ultimate winner in business competition is the consumer.

Los Alamos has a variety of small, local businesses that have brick-and-mortar locations along the walkable downtown area. Equally important are all the home-based

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Yang: From Hurricanes To Academics … I Am Not Prejudiced, But Others Are

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From Hurricanes To Academics … I Am Not Prejudiced, But Others Are

By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos

When it comes to prejudice, or discrimination, especially about race and gender, our heads spin and our emotions explode. It’s easier to spot outright discrimination, but the subtle types? It’s also much easier to assign prejudice in others, much less so in ourselves. What we do about it is another, vastly different — and difficult — topic.

Let’s start with some light-hearted quandaries. Q: Do you find a category 4 hurricane Cruella as scary as the same category hurricane named Voldemort? Read More

Letter to the Editor: End Licenses to Steal

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By BILL SOULES
State Senator D-37 Dona Ana

Getting a small loan license in New Mexico is a cinch. Just pay a $1,500 fee to the Department of Regulation and Licensing, show you have $30,000 in capital and a reasonably clean criminal record, and you are in. There were 656 small loan operators in the state at the close of 2013.

The powers that come with a license are astonishing. Outside of a very narrow product area technically defined as Payday Loans, licensees can charge any interest rate over any period of time with almost any loan terms they choose on amounts of $2,500 or less. Small lenders routinely Read More

Letter to the Editor: Don’t Let Los Alamos Become a One Mall Town

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By DON KRIER and KELLY GALLAGHER
Los Alamos

Many folks are glad to have the opening of a larger Smith’s Marketplace, and others, perhaps not so much. In any case, It will be a new, interesting phase for people in Los Alamos and White Rock and the many others who pass through town.

The Marketplace wants to be many things to many people. As good as this may or may not be, we would like to encourage everyone to keep in mind – and to continue to support – the many local businesses that absolutely rely on our daily commerce to stay open. Those stores are run by brave folks selling goods and services that we need, and

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Letter to the Editor: Save the Blue Spruces!

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By L. FOSTER
Los Alamos

I’ve noticed that many Blue Spruce trees in White Rock are being eaten, and killed, by caterpillars. Perhaps same is occurring to other trees, and perhaps in Los Alamos too.

Per the LA County Extension website (https:////losalamosextension.nmsu.edu/problems.html), under “Plant Problems of Los Alamos” à”Conifer Pests” à”Douglas Fir Tussock Moth” link

(https:////www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05542.pdf):

Caterpillars of the Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata (McDunnough), chew the needles of spruces, Douglas fir and true firs. During

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Letter to the Editor: What About Plastic Bags?

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By Pajarito Group of the Sierra Club
Los Alamos

Los Alamos County Public Works Director Philo Shelton contracted with a new recycler, Friedman Recycling, a state-of-the-art facility in Albuquerque that recycles items previously prohibited such as #1 through #7 plastic containers, rigid plastic toys, and cereal/cracker boxes.

 
The information circular distributed with your utility bill also states that you can Blue-Bin single-use plastic grocery bags. This recycling, however, comes with a caveat: you can recycle the bags, but unless Friedman Recycling has a market for them, the
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Letter to the Editor: Lujan Grisham Wrongly Interjects Personal Beliefs in Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby Statement

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By DAREN SAVAGE
Los Alamos

I was disappointed, but not surprised to read Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby. Rep. Lujan Grisham attempts to interject her personal beliefs, but she has it backwards. Privately held companies are owned by people, and these people have rights under our Constitution.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court affirmed our First Amendment Rights by limiting the power of government to tell us how we can practice our religious beliefs. Since Rep. Lujan Grisham seems to have forgotten the First Amendment

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