The most overused word in the recent primary was “bold.” Candidates were claiming they had bold solutions for New Mexico’s myriad problems and failings. Then we got the Kids Count report, reminding us that New Mexico is again 50 out of 50 in children’s wellbeing. The bare statistics in that report show that New Mexico […]
Commentary
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
Age, the Issue That Won’t Go Away
When I was covering the Legislature and watching our elected officials at work, I would sometimes say a silent prayer: “Help me know when it’s time to step aside and do it before I make a fool of myself.” Legislative sessions are grueling. While some lawmakers give in to age-related health issues or exhaustion, some […]
Posted inCommentary, Opinion
Letter to the Editor: We should grow the Valle de Oro
This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the authors. You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org We created the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge hand-in-hand with Albuquerque’sSouth Valley community. In just one decade, lands that were once home to a dairyoperation next to a heavy industrial zone have blossomed into one of New Mexico’s mosttreasured […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
A New Voting Bloc for 2024: The Double Haters
A Washington Post election feature this week identified the emergence of a new group of voters that may decide the 2024 election. More prevalent in swing states, their common thread is this: they are skeptical/patently disappointed/furious that out of more than 300 million people, the best two people we have to stand for the office […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
FEMA Revamps New Mexico Operations
As Ruidoso area residents return to their homes — or what’s left of their homes — we’ll be watching FEMA. For the past two years, since the disastrous Hermit’s Peak Calf Canyon Fire, we’ve heard more about what FEMA hasn’t done than what it has done. This year the agency began changing its New Mexico […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
What’s Next for Spaceport America?
It was glamour and glitz again as Virgin Galactic sent its last space tourists into the heavens this month. Now the company will fade away for two years to build the next generation ship – not here but in Mesa, Arizona. What’s next for Spaceport America? Maybe it’s time to go back to Plan A. […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
Who Wins, Who Loses
It’s hard to know who the biggest loser in the Hunter Biden trial might be. Hunter Biden, of course, who was convicted on three felony counts on June 11 by a jury of his Delaware peers, lost the legal case. Donald Trump lost something bigger; his complaints about two-tiered justice were stopped cold. During the […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
Let’s Not Even Call This a Debate
At 7 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time on June 27, more than four months before Election Day, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will spend 90 minutes on CNN airing rehearsed talking points in front of a moderator in two-minute soundbites in a studio empty but for the production crew and campaign staff. Happily, I will be […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
Another Non Event High-Profile Felony Conviction
The President’s son, Hunter Biden, was convicted this week on three federal charges stemming from a 2018 handgun purchase where he was found to have lied on his application to purchase the firearm. Pretty much what we learned from the trial and speedy verdict is that Hunter Biden is a mess. There was very little […]
Posted inColumnists, Commentary
Keeping Affordable Housing Affordable
I’m haunted by an online post I saw recently. A young woman said she’d been homeless for months and living in her car. She had lost her apartment because she couldn’t afford it. “Yes, I’m working,” she informed readers. A Good Samaritan had given her a camper shell, and she found a place to park […]