Steven B. Chavez is the principal at Mesa del Sol, SC3 International, SC3 Development and SC3 Mechanical and Electrical. Originally from Grants, he now lives in Albuquerque. New Mexico stands at a crossroads. We have the natural resources, creative talent, and geographic advantages to thrive in the 21st-century economy—but for too long, we’ve struggled to […]
Community Content
Posted inColumns & Columnists
What did 2025 leave us?
It seems apt, with the sweeping and nearly constant change effected by the White House in the last 11 months, to look at a few key areas of impact for Americans and the world in 2025. Federal spending, debt, and budget The new administration came in hot on this topic, establishing the Department of Government […]
Posted inEstancia, Opinion & Analysis
Letter to the editor: Accountability demanded at Estancia Valley Classical Academy
Submitted by David C. Nuckols, EVCA teacher, and Craig Springer, parent. Enrollment at Estancia Valley Classical Academy in Edgewood, a public charter school, has drastically declined. So has state funding. Five teachers were recently put out of a job and two went part-time. All seven volunteered for the personnel action. Slapdash signs in front of […]
Posted inOpinion & Analysis
On the war on drugs
Quelling the import of illegal narcotics is a laudable goal, and one that has eluded the United States for at least four decades. The effort took a radical turn this year with exciting yet confusing new narratives, some of which clashed this week. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth found himself before Congress this week explaining the […]
Posted inCommunity Content, Congress & Federal Gov.
The Tumbleweed Snowman is 30 years old. See how he’s changed since 1995
OK, Albuquerque, do you know what today is? Yes, it’s #GivingTuesday (an important day in a nonprofit newsroom) but it’s also Tumbleweed Tuesday, the day the Tumbleweed Snowman claims his holiday perch alongside the busy westbound lanes of I-40 next to the AMAFCA offices near the “Big I.” This year is also the icon’s 30-year […]
Posted inCommunity Content
Thankful for locals who’ll be buying local and reading local this season
From the publisher… Pat Davis, Publisher “People have a right to know… Since The Independent News first closed its doors in 2022, no journalists have covered Moriarty. When we brought The Indy back to Edgewood in 2023, we always wanted to get back to Moriarty, too. In the Spring of 2025, we finally did. Working […]
Posted inOpinion & Analysis, Pueblos
Commentary: From conflict to collaboration — How a New Mexico transmission line will protect power delivery and prairie chickens
Opinion in New Mexico Political ReportIn his role as Executive Director for Audubon Southwest, Jon Hayes oversees the National Audubon Society’s operations in Arizona and New Mexico—including two nature centers, a research ranch, and a team of scientists, educators, and advocates all working to advance bird conservation in the Southwest. The Crossroad-Hobbs-Roadrunner Transmission Project, a 345 […]
Posted inOpinion & Analysis
On providing for the general welfare
By Wednesday, Nov. 5, the Federal government shutdown will have broken the record for the longest in history if not resolved. Before that, two key deadlines occur. On Nov. 1, healthcare insurance premiums for 44 million Americans will increase an average of 30% as enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act premiums expire, and 42 […]
Posted inOpinion & Analysis
On the content of one’s character
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” In the six decades since it was delivered, this famous sentence from Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., Opinion & Analysis
Opinion: Protecting the Freedom to Read: A Call to Action for New Mexico
By Senator Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez, Senator Harold Pope, and Representative Kathleen Cates