Opinion

Letter To The Editor: Endorsing Joseph Sanchez For CD3

by

By MARK LAUSEN
Los Alamos

My family and I will be voting for Joseph Sanchez in the Democratic primary for Congressional District #3.

I have known Joseph Sanchez for approximately 25 years. I first met Joseph when he was hired on as a student at LANL. We worked on the same team for a few years and have been friends ever since. 

During that time, I was privileged to meet and spend time both personally and professionally with members of the Sanchez family. My family considers them part of our New Mexico family. They are a fantastic family and do so much for Northern New Mexico through their charitable Read More

Letter To The Editor: Can We As A County Stand Up For Aspen Ridge Residents?

by

By ANN RUTHERFORD
Los Alamos

This is a letter I sent to the County Council members. I realize that the decisions made at Aspen Ridge are being made by the New Mexico Department of Health in Santa Fe as a response to the situation in Albuquerque.

However Los Alamos is not Albuquerque and I hope our County Council will stand up for the Los Alamos citizens living at Aspen Ridge.

Dear Council Members,

The Covid-19 shut down has been difficult on everyone in our county. However, I am especially concerned with our elderly in Aspen Ridge. They are currently confined to their rooms, which is taking a real and Read More

Harris: The PRC Needs Professionals, Not Politicians

by

By BRIAN HARRIS
Santa Fe

The light switch in the room where you’re reading this is part of the world’s largest machine, the electric grid.

In New Mexico, this grid is owned by three investor-owned utilities and 16 electric co-ops.

Our telecommunications networks are similarly structured. In both cases, the big firms operate along the more populated Rio Grande corridor, while the coops handle the more sparsely populated areas.

There are two inescapable laws of networks – 1) profitability is a function of population density, and 2) only one company will build these systems because these networks Read More

Letter To The Editor: Reply To Mr. White On COVID-19

by

By DAVID REAGOR
Republican Candidate
Los Alamos County Council

The important point in Mr. White’s comment (link) is that he does not present a solution. 

The state government has entered a dead end and they do not have a sensible way forward. There is not path forward in Mr. White’s letter, he is just arguing for a path further into a dead end. 

He talks about Trump, The Bible, and how we should obey authorities. There is no science presented that argues that this epidemic is much different than normal epidemics. The point of all the information collected is that the New York case number is just the people Read More

Letter To The Editor: Endorsing District Attorney Candidate Mary Carmack-Altwies

by

By ELIZABETH A. COUNCE
Los Alamos

As a nine-year resident of Los Alamos County and a nearly 16 year member of the New Mexico Bar Association, I am endorsing Mary Carmack-Altwies in the 2020 Democratic primary for the First Judicial District Attorney position.

There will be no other primary race for District Attorney, seeing as no other party has a candidate running.

I worked with Mary for six years in Albuquerque when I was an Assistant District Attorney. As someone who has handled high profile and complex cases, both as a defense attorney and as a Deputy District Attorney, Mary is the only candidate Read More

Letter To The Editor: Voting For Valerie Plame

by

By BARNEY MAGRATH
Santa Fe

Ben Ray Lujan, Democrat, Congressional District 3, is giving up his seat in the US House for a run at a Senate seat in November. Therefore his US House seat is up for grabs.

There are seven candidates from the Democratic party vying for this seat. The primary election on June 2, 2020 will decide who will be on the ballot for the general election in November.

Plutonium pit production is my issue. Of the seven candidates, four of them support pit production and three of them oppose.

I am voting for a candidate that opposes pit production. I’m voting for Valerie Plame.  

Ms. Plame Read More

Letter To The Editor: Observations From The “Caravan”

by

By PAUL DOWDEN
Los Alamos

I was curious about the caravan protest yesterday.

I took my dog and spent a couple of hours walking around downtown and the gathering site at the municipal building.

I saw the few “caravan” members yelling to each other about the governor, but the only audience was their own people.

I saw someone taking the pictures that were published last night (link).

I walked back to a spot in front of CB Fox to observe. I was curious to see if there were supporters or counter protestors.

Much to my surprise, I think I was the only person paying attention.

It seemed like it took them an hour

Read More

Letter To The Editor: Thank You To Service Workers

by

By ANN BEYER
Los Alamos

I would like to thank the unrecognized service workers who help our community so much.

These include County utilities (water, sewage, electricity, gas and garbage handlers), postal workers, plumbers and electricians.

And those in communications (print, radio, TV, telephone and computer services) deserve the same credit, too.

  Read More

Letter To The Editor: Open Up?

by

By ANDREW DELOREY
Los Alamos

This is in response to David Reagor’s recent letter (link).

Two statistics that Reagor mentions, that many people who are infected with COVID-19 do not show symptoms, and that most of the deaths associated with the virus are with people who have underlying conditions, are backed up by the media reports I’ve read.

However, he later recommends that people with COVID-19 should be quarantined as the rest of us get back to our normal activities. Unless everyone gets tested, there will be a lot of infected people that don’t know it, so I’m not sure this Read More

Letter To The Editor: U.S. Foreign Service – Serving Americans, Advancing America’s Interests

by

By BRIAN L. GOLDBECK
Senior Foreign Service Officer Retired
Santa Fe

As a former Foreign Service Officer, I was proud to advance American interests during my 32 years of service to our nation.

I write this as Foreign Service Day approaches on May 1. Foreign Service members are dedicated, hardworking public servants assigned to some 250 posts in 180 nations. Invariably they live far away, often serving under dangerous, trying conditions. 

My colleagues are proud to serve their country. This global pandemic struck at a time when the Foreign Service was already overstretched and understaffed. Read More