Guest Commentary

Non-alternative facts

I don’t often get into the weeds of making news, but I think the craft is worth examining. I’ll share it from my side of the equation – the providing of information. News comes from information. That is, actual events that have happened in real time, real statistics and figures, you know, facts. People like […]

Op-ed: Public broadcasting funding cuts would be ‘catastrophic’ in New Mexico

For the cost of one cup of coffee per person, per year—that’s about $1.60—American taxpayers have generously and continuously supported public television and radio for communities across the nation. In New Mexico, this investment in public broadcasting allows 12 radio stations and 3 television stations to provide critical educational services, vital public safety partnerships, and […]

Protect the firefighters who protect our homes and forests

Riva Duncan is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She is vice president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. By Riva Duncan, Guest columnist. You probably don’t see wildland firefighters on the job because they usually work in remote areas. But with wildfires moving […]

AI Is Here—Are we ready?

Corner to Corner by Diane Denish. Diane Denish is a lifelong advocate for children and a former lieutenant governor of New Mexico. Contact her at diane@dianedenish.com AI is the newest buzzword in the world of technology and its use is growing every day. Many of us are curious about what it really is and more […]

The old stone house at Los Alamitos, which still stands today just south of Tijeras. Original portions of house date back to at least the early 20th century and perhaps as far back as the 1880s. This photo shows how it looked about 1950, after Valentine Knott remodeled and added stucco to the exterior. Photo Courtesy of Rick Holben

East Mountains flashback: Historic home At Los Alamitos

by Guest Commentary May 27, 2025May 27, 2025

By Rick Holben Located just south of Tijeras in Cedro Canyon, Los Alamitos was once a small community within the Cañon de Carnué Land Grant, and a 1893 land grant map shows the community as home to six families. In 1902, however, the U.S. government drastically reduced the grant from the 90,000 acres granted to […]

If you must hold committee hearings at 1 am, what’s wrong with your bill?

This week, the administration’s budget-and-more bill passed the House by a single vote. After the Memorial Day recess, it will be heard by the Senate via the budget reconciliation process, meaning it can pass with a simple majority. It’s no secret that the federal budget process is broken. Case in point: this budget bill, with […]

Letter to the Editor: City must invest in affordable housing, community support

Dear Editors and concerned citizens, I am writing regarding the ongoing sweeps of homeless encampments in Albuquerque. City police and sanitation workers have been, for the past year and a half, gathering en masse at outdoor campsites, terrorizing (and sometimes assaulting) residents and throwing all of their property into trash trucks and hauling it away. […]

Commentary, Corrales

Reel Gems – Overlooked Films Currently Streaming: Your Sister’s Sister (2011)

by Guest Commentary May 19, 2025May 19, 2025

By Douglas Wood Rated R Currently streaming on Prime and YouTube If ever there was a romantic comedy that was doomed to fail it would surely be Your Sister’s Sister, a three-person chamber piece written and directed by the late Lynn Shelton with improvised dialogue by the leading players. The film was made in a […]

Peaking in the Permian?

We are all too aware of New Mexico’s dependence on the oil and gas industry. I’m not the only one noting that our economy is not diversified enough or that our state budget is scarily dependent on it. We talk of the cliff we are driving toward. That cliff is alarmingly close. West Texas Intermediate […]

The best of the billionaires

Recently, Warren Buffett surprised his shareholders by announcing he was stepping aside as the CEO of Berkshire Hathway Warren Buffett is not like other billionaires who show off their wealth with rocket ships or spend it buying political favor. He’s the best of the billionaires. Financial journalist Andrew Sorokin termed him the “conscience of capitalism.” […]