Politics

Letter To The Editor: Confused About Sheriff?

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By ROBERT GIBSON
Former Los Alamos County Councilor
Charter Review Committee Chair 1994-95
 

Here are the basics on the sheriff issue, Question 1 on the ballot.

Unique in New Mexico, Los Alamos is a combined city-county under a charter (analogous to a constitution) approved by voters.

In accord with our charter, we have a police department responsible for law enforcement. For historical reasons, we also have a sheriff who’s ONLY, repeat, ONLY current duty is to register sex offenders. Like all other traditional sheriff’s duties, that could also be transferred to the police department. Read More

How The U.S. Failed In Excess Weapons Plutonium Disposition … A Nuclear Sputnik Moment?

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By CHARLES D. BOWMAN
Los Alamos

Putin’s withdrawal from the U.S./Russia agreement for each nation to destroy 34 tons of excess weapons plutonium, (W-Pu) enough for 17,000 nuclear weapons, is more the consequence of U.S. technical failure than the deterioration of an international relationship. Both nations agreed that the plutonium be either destroyed by fission or converted to a plutonium isotopic form that was not useful for weapons. Russia chose to build a fast-spectrum nuclear reactor in hopes of launching a new breeder technology. The U. S. chose to combine the plutonium with uranium

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Tourism Secretary Shares Good News With Los Alamos

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N.M. Tourism Department Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Latham shares good news about the growth of tourism in Los Alamos and around the state Thursday during a gathering at Fuller Lodge. Tourism in the County grew 10.6 percent in 2015, one of the highest growth rates in the state. Tourists spent  $34.2 million in Los Alamos County last year, Latham said. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
Members of the Los Alamos County Council, from left, Kristin Henderson, Steven Girrens, James Chrobocinski and Council Vice Chair Susan O’Leary (Council Chair Rick Reiss not pictured
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Letter To The Editor: Doing One’s Job And Voting Should Never Be Considered A Conflict Of Interest

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By JOHN PUCKETT
Los Alamos

Sharon and Naomi are doing their jobs.

I must take exception to the last paragraph in Reid Priedhorsky’s letter of Oct. 13 (here) wherein he accused the county clerk and deputy county clerk of being unethical and in conflict of interest for doing the job they were elected to do and hired to do. 

Sharon Stover is the county clerk and along with her deputy, Naomi Maestas, they are responsible for the entire election process in Los Alamos County. 

Yes, they are candidates for other offices in this election but they still have to do their current job. Let me note that Read More

Letter To The Editor: Keep Justice Judy

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By VERNON N. KERR
Former Representative, Dist. 43, 1971-1986
Los Alamos
 
I have known Judy Nakamura for over 30 years and have followed her career as a member of the judiciary.
 
I first met Judy as a member of the Young Republicans where Judy worked hard to encourage young talented people to run for public office. She was enthusiastic and tireless. She impressed me and we became fast friends. I remember she was encouraged to go to law school and she entered the UNM School of Law. After law school I did not hear much of her, but when she ran for office and won, I was proud
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Dist. 43 Candidate Sharon Stover Meets With Small Business Owners

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Dist. 43 candidate Sharon Stover, center, meets with small business owners at a recent listening session, including from left, local businesswoman Emily McGay, and local businessman Roger Waterman. Courtesy photo

POLITICAL News:

Sharon Stover, Republican candidate for House Dist. 43, recently met with representatives and owners from several Los Alamos small businesses. Roger Waterman and Emily McGay hosted the discussion in which topics included taxation, banking and business liability.

Stover has been visiting with residents throughout District 43 to gain their insight on the Read More

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto Takes New Mexico To National Conversation Surrounding Public Safety

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Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto at the White House Thursday to discuss 21st Century Policing. Courtesy photo

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto discusing 21st Century Policing Thursday at the White House. Courtesy photo

 

STATE News:

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto was at the White House Thursday, Oct. 13 to discuss 21st Century Policing, including community policing strategies, body camera standards and civilian oversight models.

Ivey-Soto was one of six people invited to the policy discussion at the White House, and was the only person from the southwest region of the United States.

“This is an incredible

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Letter To The Editor: Chris Chandler’s Experience, Expertise, Excellent Track Record Deserves Our Vote

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By KYLE WHEELER and JOHN HOPKINS
Los Alamos

We are writing in support of Chris Chandler for County Council. The two of us have known and worked with Chris for many years, and we admire her dedication to the community and her willingness to work hard to improve its future. She has devoted countless hours to past service on the County Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the two Charter Review Committees, one in the 1990s and the other in the past 10 years. She served as our Probate Judge, only recently stepping down from that position to run for County Council.

Chris worked at the Laboratory Read More

Letter To The Editor: Don’t Let Trump Near Oval Office

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By SHERRY LEWIS
Albuquerque

Obviously there is much anger and pain dividing the country, with many citizens not experiencing the benefits of the last eight years when unemployment was reduced from 10 percent to 5 percent, the monthly hemorrhaging of lost jobs was halted and millions of new jobs created. But to blindly go for “change” should not mean throwing away every moral and ethical standard that America has always prided itself on exemplifying.

Donald Trump is a congenital liar, a bully, a sexual predator, a deliberately uninformed policy maker and a man who has spent the last 18 months stirring

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Letter To The Editor: Sheriff’s Office Is Now Vestigial

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By A Concerned Citizen
Los Alamos

Oh boy, now we learn from George Chandler’s informative and thoughtful letter (here) that Sheriff Marco Lucero seeks to sue Los Alamos County to preserve the Office of the Sheriff.

It seems that the role of the sheriff is like that of the human appendix: formerly more useful than today. A current theory of the role of the appendix is to act as a reservoir for desirable intestinal

flora, to help prevent e.g. Clostridium difficile infections following a bout of cholera or dysentery.

Having clean food and water and a highly effective police force, the existence Read More