Even when those in power are larding the agenda with vague, dense or surprise proposals, they will brag about how transparent they are.
UNM basketball
Wish list for new Lobos hoops coach
UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez is a Miami guy with deep roots in the Southeastern Conference.
Commentary Theresa Vargas
Walls are simple answers to complex problems
Five days after it was announced that a “7-foot non-scalable fence” was going up around the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump traveled to Texas and stood by his bor…
Commentary C. Jarrett Dieterle
State can modernize alcohol delivery
Former Gov. Susana Martinez became famous for touting that New Mexico was open for business. It may have taken a global pandemic to prove her right as state lawmakers …
My View Foster Hurley
Zeke's passing leaves a hole
Sadly, the vast majority of you reading this never had the honor — and gift — of spending time with my beloved back Lab, Zeke. Those fortunate enough to have done so c…
Building Santa Fe
Reflecting on a tragedy of need
Last week's column created a flood of calls to fill 50 vacancies for age- and income-restricted one-bedroom apartments.
Growing Up Spanglish
Canutito ‘quiere cambiar su’ middle name
Eran unos días after midwinter, and Canutito was sitting en el suelo de la cocina coloring en sus libro de colorear nuevo that he had received pa’ Crismes. He was stic…
Democratic Sens. Jacob Candelaria of Albuquerque and George Muñoz of Gallup have introduced a bill to prohibit Cabinet secretaries from living out of state.
Phill Casaus
A dream dies, and all that's left is brittle anxiety
When we last left Felicia Sanchez in the spring of 2020, she was under fire and overwrought — an out-of-work small-business owner pummeled by the pandemic and circumst…
Whole Hearted Parenting
Avoid 'the belt' and apply punishment alternatives
Growing up during an era in which punishment was the cultural mandate for most parents, my younger brother and I lived under the terror of “the belt.”
Commentary Dede Feldman
Reflections on redistricting: A former senator weighs in
As the 2021 Legislature prepares for its decennial redistricting task and debates a stronger call to reform the process than ever before, I am thrown back to the first…
Commentary Julian Brave NoiseCat
Here's why Senate Republicans fear Deb Haaland
Alexander Stuart, the third interior secretary, once declared that the United States’ mission was to “civilize or exterminate” Native people. The Interior Department h…
Ringside Seat
Mayor rebuffs pitches for controversial monuments
Webber said he and the City Council will hold onto controversial monuments — including pieces of the shattered obelisk — while trying to bring disagreeable people together in grassroots meetings.
Rescue Report
Foster cat surprises by having kittens
A year ago, as hints of the pandemic were starting to hit the United States, Abhi Bhattacharyya moved to Santa Fe for a new job. Bhattacharyya began fostering a fluffy…
Magic table
A soup to make your own
This recipe for parmesan potato and broccoli soup tastes more decadent than it actually is.
Ringside Seat
A modern lone ranger tries to clean up the town
While traveling Santa Fe's south side by bicycle, Dan Frazier documents what fouls the outdoors. Then he files complaints with the city government in hopes the messes will be cleaned.
Ringside Seat
Abortion votes don't always make or break politicians
State Rep. Phelps Anderson, now an independent, sided with 39 Democrats in voting to do away with an anti-abortion law.
Learning Santa Fe
We all have a part to play in the success of our students
We have several years of recovery ahead of us, and the process will require everyone’s help: Are you up for it?
For the birds
Watch for cedar waxwings around Santa Fe
Here, during winter, we are so lucky to have this awesome visitor to our region.
Commentary Amanda Uhle
Rush Limbaugh made me a feminist
I was a teenage girl in the ‘90s, and my father was deep in Rush Limbaugh’s sway. Dad would pick me up from school with the Buick’s AM signal crackling and buzzing, Ru…
Phill Casaus
Virus wearing on state — and governor
We know plenty about COVID-19 by now, right?
Building Santa Fe
Brand-new affordable housing ready for mature occupants
Kim Shanahan has been a Santa Fe green builder since 1986 and a sustainability consultant since 2019. Contact him at shanafe@aol.com.
Ringside Seat
New Mexico public bank bill belongs in the scrap heap
Many Democratic lawmakers want to spend at least $100 million of your money to start a dicey venture.
Growing Up Spanglish
‘Grama Cuca usa’ turtle oil ‘en la cara’
Era una bitterly cold morning en ese día. El viento soplaba, blowing everything about. Grama Cuca had gone outside para tirar la cenizas de la estufa out unto the ash …
Implausible as it may seem, in the middle of the social rut and great pause that is the pandemic, I am actually feeling overbooked in my own home.
Ringside Seat
Killing time one license plate at a time
In the last 10 years alone, state legislators have introduced 64 bills for new license plates.
Commentary
Be clearer about what vaccinated can do
More than one in 10 Americans has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, but many are still awaiting a clear answer to a key question: What can they do…
So it looks like the start of the high school football season could fall, at least partially, on a Monday night with some of the matchups not being announced until the…
Ringside Seat
Giant of the New Mexico Senate is also a big underdog
State Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, is co-sponsoring an election reform bill that's begun to look like a long shot.
Magic Table
A cure for Thai cravings
When you can’t grab takeout, this curry chicken and noodles recipe comes to the rescue.
Commentary
Sorry, Mitch. You can't split the difference
He’s been called “Moscow Mitch” (for not doing more to combat Russian election interference) and even “Cocaine Mitch” (after a kooky and unfounded campaign attack). Bu…
Ringside Seat
Republican senators chose a poor leader
Republican state Sen. Greg Baca is either the state's clumsiest interrogator or a politician in 2021 with an approach from 1951.
Phill Casaus
By any name, looking out for New Mexico's kids
Changing a brand name is a leap into the great unknown — and when it doesn’t work, a flying leap into an endless abyss.
Commentary
All win when workers earn a living wage
When a group of workers seeking a raise in the state’s minimum wage marched down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue in the fall of 2012, they carried a banner proclaiming “Figh…
Commentary April White
A damaged Capitol would remind U.S. of our fragile democracy
In the weeks since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, hundreds of people have been tasked with cleaning the building, collecting piles of litter, painting over viole…
Commentary Richard Parker
Climate change puts survival of Southwest at stake
Out on the 13,000 acres of the Lower Wells Ranch, even a light breeze coats cows and quail alike in dust. Despite a pale sun hanging low in a clear sky, the temperatur…
Building Santa Fe
When they kicked the tires on midtown, everything went flat
RFEI should not now become an acronym for reason for extending indefinitely.
Ringside Seat
Long-winded lawmaker speechifies for secrecy
State Rep. Miguel Garcia gave a speech in favor of retaining the good-ole-boy system that allows state legislators to conceal what capital projects they spent public money on and how much they allocated.
Commentary Thomas Swetnam and Craig Allen
Use 'good fire' on private lands to restore lost forests
The Southwest is again suffering extreme drought, and the upcoming wildfire season could be another bad one. We have seen this pattern before during La Niña conditions…
Growing Up Spanglish
‘Este lugar es como un’ little ‘Peyton Place’
It was late en la tarde como dos horas after dinner que Canutito alfín acabó con su homework. He put sus libros at the edge de la mesa in order to find them en la maña…
Commentary
Here's why Republicans should convict Trump
As the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump goes on, we already know the outcome: Almost all Republican senators will vote to acquit him, mindful of the retributio…
Ringside Seat
Two tales from the city in time of trouble
Now 75, Jerry Joyce still reports maintenance problems at the park. But, he says, he's finished investing sweat equity on upkeep.
Tales of Tails
Great Pyrenees mix looking over his new flock of sheep
It's clear that Toby thinks of us as his herd of sheep.
COMMENTARY Jorge Otero
My father suffered; others should not have to
In 2018, I watched my dad suffer horribly while a very aggressive cancer devoured him.
Ringside Seat
Reform bill would squeeze out insiders
Senate Bill 254 would end the clubby system in which a few hundred political insiders appoint major-party candidates to run for a vacant seat in Congress.
When it comes to dessert making, I have one thing on my mind: ease. Many variables are at play, so let’s be honest — a lot can go wrong. There’s time, temperature, hum…
Ringside Seat
Ten questions to kick off a historic week
So much for justice for all: Former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial doesn't begin in the Senate until Tuesday, but the outcome is already decided.
A cornerstone of society, our schools can be a powerful accelerant towards a virtuous cycle of progress and prosperity.
Building Santa Fe
Show us the money
A state bank is both feasible and could be very practical in the complex solutions of solving a housing crisis.
Commentary Bill Richardson
My experiences with Aung San Suu Kyi
Last Sunday night, as I read the news reports detailing an unfolding coup in Myanmar, I worried about the people and my friends in Myanmar and the fate of their democr…
Ringside Seat
Total recall and more tales from Super Bowls
"What do I recall about playing in the Super Bowl? Are you kidding? I recall everything," former Lobo Preston Dennard said by phone this weekend.
My View Gwendolyn Perea Warniment
Children are learning despite pandemic conditions
Please don’t call it “learning loss.”
My View Daniel Pauly
My son's death shows why qualified immunity must go
“On a dark and rainy night in October 2011, Samuel Pauly was shot to death through the window of his rural New Mexico home by one of three sta…
My View Carrie Hamblen
Oil and gas industry was troubled before climate orders
After four years of harmful rollbacks to critical environmental and climate policy, President Joe Biden has recommitted the United States to l…
My View Ramon Trujillo
Opportunity scholarship is a lifeline for students like me
My name is Ramon Trujillo and I was raised in Servilleta, a small mountain community in Northern New Mexico. I graduated from Mesa Vista High …
My View David K. Thomson
Seeing 'rule of law' in action an opportunity for students
As I drive to work, past the barricades and the fencing surrounding the New Mexico Roundhouse, I think how it informs public perception about …
My View David Carr
City has much to consider when replacing lights
A recent article (“Critics: City could increase light pollution,” Feb. 18) confuses color temperature (kelvins) with brightness (lumens).
My View Guy Gronquist
Shelter wishes Joe Jordan-Berenis a fond farewell
As the former board chairman of the Interfaith Community Shelter who interviewed and hired Joe Jordan-Berenis as executive director on behalf …
My View JASON BARKER
Legalize cannabis — with social justice, patient protection
This year in the Roundhouse we have seen a number of competing legalization bills, but only two have any true social justice equity provisions…
My View Cathryn A. Glenday
Assistance with dying is dangerous policy
It is disturbing that at a time when COVID-19 cases are surging and so many New Mexicans are engaged in life-or death struggles, that anyone w…
My View Jeff Steinborn
End New Mexico's tradition of lobbying secrecy
As I begin my 13th year as a legislator, I have seen New Mexico achieve progress on many important issues.
My View Beth Beloff and Ben Shelton
Don't believe these myths about community solar
Community solar is back in front of the state Legislature, but this time it’s bringing an army of support.
My View Melanie Stansbury and Angelica Rubio
State can create a just transition to new climate future
New Mexicans are already experiencing the impacts of climate change — including extreme weather, prolonged drought, catastrophic fires and an …
The city of Santa Fe wants to replace its high-pressure sodium street lamps with LED lamps having color temperatures of 3000 K and 4000 K. This plan is a grave mistake. It would reduce safety and turn charming Santa Fe into the most garishly lit city in our region.
My View Shane Woolbright
It's gone dark in Texas — but what about here?
Several culprits helped cause the power outages in Texas. There’s the political pushback to any planning for climate change; there’s the polit…
My View Greg mello
LANL's largesse is not trickling down
In the 78 years since Dorothy McKibbin set up shop, what we now call Los Alamos National Laboratory has spent $122 billion in today’s dollars.…
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