Letters to the Editor

By BOB BOURQUE
Los Alamos

So Farmington is a “Second Amendment sanctuary” (link). Here is what the Founders most likely meant about that Amendment:

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary ‘to keep the British, and slave rebellions, at bay’, the right of The People to keep and bear ‘single-shot, muzzle-loaded, smooth-bore muskets’ shall not be infringed.”  

“The People” is plural, as in “We The People” seen at the top of the US Constitution.

So it means that the Farmington government could have a “well-regulated militia”, nothing more. The Amendment says nothing about private individuals Read More

By Ganapathysubramanian G
Los Alamos

Apropos the write up by Mr. Allen McQuiston in the post Sunday, this article is meant to alert the home owners about ensuring adequate insurance coverage to ensure the home owners are not the losers, which is in the right perspective.

However this prompts me draw attention to Mr. Allen McQuiston and others in the ‘insurance industry’ as to the wanton delays in settling even genuine claims defeating the very purpose of having an insurance coverage either resorting to ‘small prints’ ‘exceptions’ etc. or without any reason whatsoever.

I did personally notice Read More

By TERRY GOLDMAN
Los Alamos

Jim Rickman’s psychedelic(?) Op-Ed (link) had one special point of attraction for me: “Love our Children,” said a sign. But that doesn’t seem to include our LGBTQ or + children. While I respect and understand fear of the unusual, I can attest, in at least one case by personal observation, that these unusual children are God-given. I have seen it manifest in a nephew, at a very early age, and observed its suppression as the world (including me) reacted with surprise that was received as condemnation.’

The nephew’s reaction was to suppress her inclinations and to Read More

By RUTH CARR
Los Alamos

Dear Rheta,

Thank you so much for your response. I am glad you took the time to read Lil Miss Hot Mess’ article. I am certain Lil Miss Hot Mess expanded the vocabulary of a lot of readers.

My intention with sharing it was to highlight that the article co-authored by Lil Miss Hot Mess, is a refutation of some of the arguments used this past week to support Drag Time Story Hour. There were suggestions these story times are simply dress up story times. They’re not. They are designed to emphasize play as practice for living a queer life.

If Lil Miss Hot Mess is capable of acknowledging that Read More

By RHETA MOAZZAMI
Los Alamos

Ms. Carr, you seem to be distraught by the reading by Little Miss Hot Mess at the Mesa Public Library today (link). I read the short article you linked me to, but still, your last sentence has me bumfuzzled, “Certainly some will be supportive, regardless, but let us not extrapolate to insert personal biases to justify that support and focus on the intended purpose “play as praxis, aesthetic transformation, strategic defiance, desensitization of shame, and embodied kinship.”

You made me look up a word–praxis. From what I read; it just means practice. So, what Read More

By RUTH CARR
Los Alamos

As some may know, Lil Miss Hot Mess is a University of Arizona professor under the name of Harris Kornstein. In collaboration with another researcher, they have published a paper on the purpose behind Drag Queen Story Hour, which directly addresses some of the presumptions made by those in town. “Drag Pedagogy: The Playful Practice of Queer Imagination in Early Childhood” (link).

There is an intended purpose behind these performances, and simple fun and empathy are not one of them. As a scholar, Lil Miss Hot Mess is intentionally manipulating buzzwords to gain access to Read More

By DAVID DANIEL
Los Alamos

Dear Los Alamos,

Greetings and salutations from your very own drag queen of record, reigning supreme, and everyone’s fiercest Auntie, Leona La’Roux. I’m writing you all a nice little note today to help some of you out in your struggles to integrate the fabulousness of drag into the otherwise ordinary day to day of your life, especially your family life, and most especially into the experience of your children.

I understand, truly I do, why some people might have a little “record scratch” when they hear “Drag Queen” and “Children’s Story Hour” in the same breath. After Read More

By AARON WALKER
White Rock

County Council and staff are a transparency black hole. I appreciate Councilors Cull and Havemann for attempting to smooth things over last night, but there must be some significant changes. There have been glimmers of hope at times, but a wholehearted commitment to transparency must be made immediately. Council meetings are frustrating to the public, especially when there are matters that generate public interest on the agenda.

The first major problem is the burying of “popular” items on the agenda. Putting the items that have generated a lot of public input at the Read More

By REID PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos

Dear citizens:

Many of you are familiar with the ongoing housing crisis in our county, which is in fact real. In the community survey published at the beginning of the year, “availability of affordable quality housing” is the second lowest score in the entire survey at 5% positive. (Only “shopping opportunities” is lower, at 4% positive — a related issue.)

The county council is taking an important vote on this matter tomorrow, May 2. The Planning & Zoning Commission recommends changes to the county’s development code that increase building height flexibility Read More

By GLENN MICHEL
Los Alamos

I hike Quemazon trail regularly up to cave of the winds. It is a nice departure from pavement and close to my house, but it gets a lot of traffic.

Whoever it is who decides the trails need maintenance, please stop. The trails are fine, easy to see and negotiate, and for God’s sake, the trails are wide enough. Put your saw away and stop raping the trees along the paths.

The trails will never be wheel chair accessible. If someone feels they need a wider trail I would suggest the paved path along the airport. Sometimes a tree will fall across the trail and perhaps that can be removed, Read More

By Los Alamos Elks Lodge 2083
Board of Directors

In response to Stephanie Nakhleh’s post on the “Fear of Heights” we would like to address one of the misleading pictures that was posted in her column (link). 

This picture of an “empty lot and trash” is actually the parking lot of the Los Alamos Elks Lodge. We are a fraternal organization that was established locally in 1958.

The Lodge was built in 1962 on this property. We have a long-standing history with this community. Our main charter is charitable works within our community. We annually provide over $30K in donations to various causes, as well Read More

By SHERRILL COUTS
Los Alamos

As a relatively new Los Alamos County resident, I’m naturally trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible on the local social and political environment. I read with some alarm the letter by Cat Ozment here, which follows up on some positive number of previous articles regarding this issue.

First, I vehemently agree with Ozment’s sentiment. It seems there’s more than just a policy issue here, though, an effect of the cause of an attitude problem, I strongly suspect. To wit:

I suspect that the responsible parties on County Council are trying to play “Big Boys and Read More

By BELLA BLAIR
Sophomore
LAHS

Dear Los Alamos Community,

I am a sophomore at LAHS. One of my deepest passions is history and politics. I am so thankful to live in Los Alamos where our schools allow students to develop opinions on our country. Los Alamos is an extraordinary place for history. We have people in our town who care about preserving our past. Growing up here has substantially influenced my passions including wanting to be a lawyer.

Recently, I took a step outside of my comfort zone to attend the New Mexico Youth and Government Conference, where students from around the state come together Read More

By WONG FU
Los Alamos

If LANL knows that at least the summer interns need housing, why don’t they build dormitories for them?

There are plenty of places around town to develop into dorm space. Read More

By JUTTA KAYSER
Los Alamos

Yesterday at 3:30 p.m., I walked my leashed dog across one of the baseball fields starting from the parking lot at the White Rock Transfer Station. I passed the sign posted on the fence “All Pets Must Be On A Leash”.

I started walking my dog close to the fence of Field #3. While walking, I noticed a man crossing the large soccer field to my left, with a dog running about 60-100 feet ahead of him. I did not see any danger because the man was fairly close behind him.

My dog – an Australian shepherd mix, weighing 50 lbs. – was sniffing the grass along the fence of Field #3 when all of a sudden Read More

By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Electrical and electronics items are typically discarded at the Los Alamos Eco Station. A variety of items are discarded in an open bin located on the west side of the transfer station. Light bulbs are also discarded on the west side of the transfer station. Items such as batteries, power packs, etc. are placed in a plastic roll-top container (with secondary containment for spills).

Televisions are discarded in the same general area. Some items appear on shelves in the Reuse Area. I have a number of concerns about the electrical and electronics discard effort at the Read More

By DAVID IZRAELEVITZ
Chair
Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee

The mission of the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee is to honor the intellectual and ethical legacy of the Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project through lectures, college scholarships, and activities that promote STEM interest in our youth. As Chair of this Committee, I would like to publicly express our gratitude to Larry Sheffield for holding the World Premiere of his documentary film Oppenheimer, After Trinity on the 119th anniversary of Oppenheimer’s birth, here in Los Alamos. It is also a generous gesture Read More

By J. TAUB
Santa Fe

Definition of non-profit snail mail overkill in 2022: 1,561 solicitations from 268 organizations, most from entities with which we never had contact or sent funds. Some were identical solicitations, received at the same time, same address, same name(s). And a few, still, for my Dad who passed 10 years ago.

I’ve donated to non-profits since my teens (eons ago!) and strongly believe in the value of non-profit organizations. But today, instead of applying my funds to further goals I support, they’re flipped to drown me in a tsunami of repetitive snail mail, while hijacking and Read More