OP/ED

Op-Ed: ‘County Shows It Doesn’t Give A Flock About Surveilling Citizens’

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By JAMES RICKMAN
Los Alamos

Perhaps I should feel grateful that County leaders dispatched their official Spin Doctor to reply to my letter about the emergence of a network of Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in our community (link). But outside of Mr. Krueger’s “Trust Us, We’re the Government” response, the County continues to sidestep the issue of why the cameras were installed in the first place.

Is Los Alamos facing some kind of underlying existential threat that necessitates its citizens giving up some of their liberties to gain a little more security?

The way the County tells it, Read More

Op-Ed: New Mexico Doctors And Patients Are Being Held Hostage By Insurance Profits—Not Lawsuits

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By CHERIE LACOUR
Principal
Bencoe & LaCour Law

For years, a familiar ghost has been used to haunt the halls of the Roundhouse in Santa Fe: “litigation crisis.” We are told that greedy trial lawyers and “runaway” juries are driving doctors out of New Mexico and forcing medical malpractice premiums into the stratosphere.

But according to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) own latest data, that ghost doesn’t exist.

2024 Data from the National Practitioners Data Bank paints a different story.

  • Total medical malpractice lawsuit compensation for victims – NM ranks 15th nationally
Read More

Op-Ed: Protecting Our Right To Read

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By Rep. KATHLEEN CATES
District 44
Bernalillo & Sandoval Counties

Imagine walking into a library filled with thousands of books and never finding one with a character who looks like you. Out of all the books in a public library, not one featured a character who shared your lived experience.

Banning books is harmful because everyone should be able to easily find books with characters that represent them.

In the last year, 4,235 unique titles were challenged, making this the second highest number in the history of the American Library Association. The same report stated, ”39% of these challenged Read More

Op-Ed: The Facts About Project Jupiter’s Water Usage

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By JULIA ROBIN
Head of Infrastructure Planning and Sourcing
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

In southern New Mexico, water is a precious resource that touches everything. It touches families and businesses. It touches agriculture and the food we eat. It touches public health and safety.

And ultimately, it touches the region’s long-term future. We take our responsibility to preserve water very seriously, so we want to help clarify and correct the record about the Project Jupiter’s water use. We updated the project’s power design last month and want to give residents of Doña Ana County the most Read More

Op-Ed: To Grow Up And Leave Los Alamos…

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By Sal DeWitt
From Los Alamos 

I never knew there was a part of life I was missing until I left Los Alamos.

Maybe it’s a part of becoming an adult, but now I understand what everyone meant

When they talked about it being a 

Sheltered,
Quiet,
Town.

Los Alamos is like a ray of sunshine hidden in a dark alley. Sometimes even unnoticed, but too small to see beyond the walls of the buildings surrounding it. Not able to reveal how dark the world could really get.

I moved to Los Angeles
After rehab,
After the drugs,
After realizing the darkest addiction existed in places people call “perfect.”

And now I find myself Read More

Op-Ed: Don’t Join The Flock

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By JIM RICKMAN
Los Alamos

Big Brother is relentlessly watching the citizens of little Los Alamos, but who is watching Big Brother?

Over the past months, a growing network of surveillance cameras have been mysteriously installed on lamp posts along Trinity and Diamond drives. These cameras ostensibly are automatic license plate readers, Flock cameras, or some cheaper knock off. Regardless of the brand, these systems are entirely self-contained, never blinking or running out of power—watching every coming and going every minute of every day.

Data about your travels, the configuration of Read More

Currier: Voting Shapes NM’s Future—Your Voice Matters

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By MISSI CURRIER
President & CEO
New Mexico Oil and Gas Association

Every election cycle brings debates about candidates, policies, and politics. But at its core, voting is about something much bigger: shaping the future of New Mexico and ensuring your voice is heard on the issues that matter most to you, your family, and your community.

Primary elections are now underway across New Mexico, and this year’s races will help determine decisions about our economy, education system, healthcare, infrastructure, public safety, energy policy, and job creation for years to come. Those choices Read More

Op-Ed: New Mexico Is Building The Water Infrastructure Our Future Demands

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State Engineer Elizabeth K. Anderson, P.E.

By ELIZABETH K. ANDERSON, P.E.
New Mexico State Engineer 

New Mexico is experiencing a watershed moment.

Within the next 50 years, the state’s top scientists project that climate change will reduce available water in New Mexico’s rivers and aquifers by approximately 25 percent.

That challenge has guided Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s approach to climate and water management from the beginning of her administration. When the governor took office in 2019, New Mexico faced a familiar but urgent problem: aging water infrastructure, worsening drought, Read More

Op-Ed: Sacred Space Should Be Safe Space

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By Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Los Alamos

As a rabbi, I am sadly and keenly aware of the appalling rise in antisemitism in this country and around the world. And as a human being, I mourn alongside our Muslim neighbors in the wake of the tragic event in San Diego on Monday. Beginning with my move to New York in 2019 and continuing after my return to Los Alamos,  I’ve been a member of the New York Board of Rabbis (NYBOR). Rather than try to express my own thoughts on the terrible shooting at the San Diego mosque, I reproduce here the message sent out by NYBOR earlier today and strongly encourage all of us to reflect Read More

Op‑Ed: Los Alamos Medical Center Is Prepared When It Matters Most – Emergency Care for Moms And Babies

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By ALAN HEILPERN, MD, Medical Director & Physician, Emergency Department
And
DEBRA TEMPLE, MHA, BSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Los Alamos Medical Center

Pregnancy and childbirth are moments of great anticipation and joy – but they can also come with unexpected medical emergencies. As clinical leaders at Los Alamos Medical Center, we want our community to know this clearly: our hospital is and will continue to be prepared to care for pregnant and postpartum patients when urgent needs arise.

As we prepare to transition inpatient labor and delivery services to regional partners at the Read More