Opinion

Nephesh: Nonprofits Are Not Loopholes

by

By Tsiporah Nephesh
Executive Director, New Mexico Thrives
 
Nonprofits are a crucial part of the fabric that strengthens our communities. Many provide vital services, while others add to the quality of life. But nonprofits will have a diminished role in New Mexico if Governor Martinez gets her way. She would like to end the tax exemption for nonprofits as part of a plan to close tax loopholes. But nonprofit tax exemptions are not loopholes.
 
Governor Martinez is talking about restructuring the tax system in such a way that it could have devastating impacts on how nonprofits operate.
Read More

Letter To The Editor: Public Safety Measure

by

By DAYMON ELY
House District 23
 
Crime is out of control in New Mexico. Property crimes in Albuquerque are the highest in the nation and violent crimes are increasing at an alarming rate. Crime, particularly related to drug abuse, is rampant in communities throughout the state.
 
It seems like every night brings news of some horrible crime in our communities. But, ironically, we know how to effectively fight this problem and we have the ability to fix it. The question is whether, in this next legislative session, we have the will to fix it.
 
Over the past several months I have talked
Read More

Obituary: Scott Wilkinson Jan. 16, 1958 – Jan. 9, 2018

by

SCOTT WILKINSON Jan. 16, 1958 – Jan. 9, 2018

Scott Wilkinson has gone home. He was born January 16, 1958 to Gerald (Jerry) Wilkinson and Betty Jane Christensen, and left this world on January 9, 2018.

Scott was many things in his life; a son, a brother, grandfather, an uncle and cousin, a husband and a father, and a friend and confidante. Most importantly, he was a kind and caring soul, and a selfless, simple kind of man. He was most in his element when he was giving, whether to those less fortunate or those who were hurt. Many of his fondest memories were having “his knees in the breeze” for Veterans and Read More

Sheehey: Fiscally Responsible vs. ‘Fiscally Conservative’

by

By PETE SHEEHEY
Los Alamos County Councilor

The recent letter “Save for the Lean Years” (link) is full of inaccuracies that demand a response. Of course during years of plenty, we should keep some funds in reserve. That is why I have always supported our county policy to maintain over $10 million (15 to 20 percent of general fund revenues) in an uncommitted reserve, above and beyond the 8 percent (for us ~$4.5 million) required of all counties. In my five years on County Council, when more funds have been available, I have worked to invest those funds in growing our local economy.

New or improved recreational Read More

Letter To The Editor: Cowboy Pancake Breakfast

by

By LINDA HULL
Los Alamos Rotary
 
Start the New Year with a Cowboy Pancake Breakfast!
 
The first breakfast of the year is 7-11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, at the Posse Lodge on North Mesa Road. The all-you-can-eat breakfast features a variety of pancakes plus eggs, sausage, bacon, coffee and juice.
 
Adult meals are $7 and children 10 and under eat for just $4.
 
This month the proceeds from breakfast will benefit the Rotary Club of Los Alamos. The Rotary Club, which has been serving the Los Alamos community for more than 50 years, plans to use the funds for
Read More

Letter To The Editor: My Last County Council Meeting

by

By BRUCE WARREN
Los Alamos
 
I attended last Friday’s Council meeting because the construction of a bicycle flow trail in Bayo Canyon was on the agenda. I have followed the progress of the flow trail proposal, have attended the public meetings sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department, and have voiced my opposition to the construction of a flow trail in any of our canyons in my letter to the LA Daily Post at https://ladailypost.comcontent/letter-editor-do-we-need-or-want-bicycle-flow-trail.
 
The original proposal for a bicycle flow trail came from a small
Read More

Nebel: LANL Bidders Please Respond To Questions

by

By RICHARD NEBEL
Los Alamos

The last time the lab management contract was put out on bid I remember thinking: “Oh great. Now we are going to have a whole new level of worthless managers sidling up to the trough to skim money out of the lab. Where am I going to find the money to cover the inevitable increase in the overhead?”

The money I was bringing in wasn’t weapons program money and there was no way that my customers were going to cover that increase.

So, what happened? My understanding is that right now a Phd Full Time Equivalent (FTE) costs about $600,000/year at LANL. At my present company, Read More

Pongratz: A Bit Of Nit Picking

by

By MORRIS PONGRATZ
Former Los Alamos County Councilor
 
I think that the term “windfall” is not appropriate to describe the gross receipts taxes paid by LANL contractors. Merriam-Webster defines “windfall” as:
1: something (such as a tree or fruit) blown down by the wind;
2: an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage.
 
The term is not correct for two reasons: first, the term refers to a “one-time” event. Once all the apples are off the tree you can expect no more apples to fall. The citizens of Los Alamos should expect that LANL contractors will continue paying gross receipts
Read More

Spencer: Tragedy In Aztec, Revisited

by

By KHAL SPENCER
Los Alamos

Stephanie Nakhleh asks some good questions in her letter regarding the Aztec school shooting and reflects a lot of our mutual frustration with not being able to stop these things from happening. But she may have missed the article in the Albuquerque Journal that stated that the FBI had investigated the shooter and reported him to the local police. The FBI did not have adequate justification to equate William Atchison’s obnoxious rants with a credible threat so they could not act on their information to arrest, interdict, or put the future shooter on a no-buy list. Read More

Letter To The Editor: Tragedy In Aztec

by

By STEPHANIE NAKHLEH
Los Alamos
 
Perhaps the saddest fact about the awful shooting at Aztec High School last week is that it won’t be the last in New Mexico or anywhere else in America.
 
Los Alamos High School, where my son is a student, has also faced credible shooting threats in recent years. So has Santa Fe High School. Everytown for Gun Safety research shows that the shooting in Aztec is at least the 62nd school shooting nationwide this year.
 
In 2016, the FBI had investigated the shooter after he made threatening comments
Read More