Remembering New Mexico First – RIP

This commentary was submitted by Diane Denish as part of her Corner to Corner column.You can submit a letter to the editor: editor@citydesk.org By Diane Denish In Mid-January, New Mexico First, the non-profit public policy organization, closed its doors after 38 years.  As a participant and observer of New Mexico First from the beginning I have […]

Remembering New Mexico First – RIP

This commentary was submitted by Diane Denish as part of her Corner to Corner column.You can submit a letter to the editor: editor@citydesk.org By Diane Denish In Mid-January, New Mexico First, the non-profit public policy organization, closed its doors after 38 years.  As a participant and observer of New Mexico First from the beginning I have […]

Posted inCommentary, Letters to the Editor, Sandoval County

Letter to the Editor: Why it is a Mistake to Dismantle USAID and Foreign Assistance 

Submitted by Rebecca Black, Retired Senior Foreign Service Officer and Mission Director with USAID Every day brings a new decision by Elon Musk and the Trump Administration about the future for US government assistance overseas and its implementing agency, United States Agency for International Development, USAID.  Unless the numerous lawsuits stand, as of Monday all […]

Posted inCommentary, Letters to the Editor, Sandoval County

Op-ed: Musk is ‘Unelected, Unvetted, Unqualified’

Submitted by Dr. Katherine Aaron, resident of Rio Rancho My response to US Representative Melanie Stansbury’s MEET THE PRESS interview Feb 4, 2025. Elon Musk is an unelected, unvetted, unqualified billionaire who has been given carte blanche access to our federal agencies, to fire employees, to disrupt and dismantle agencies and to stop payments violating […]

Posted inCommentary, Corrales, rio-rancho, Sandoval County

Commentary: Lawmaker’s Proposal Would Chip Away at Public-Records Access

This commentary was submitted by Heath Haussamen, and was originally published at haussamen.com. Disclosure: State Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, who is mentioned in this column, is my spouse. Here’s a good way to alienate the people our government is supposed to serve: Call them bothersome, or even malicious, and cut off their access to information […]

The smartest person in the world

This commentary is provided by Randi McGinn.You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org The last short story Mark Twain ever wrote provides some wisdom for the times we are now living through. Captain Stormfield Goes to Heaven is about an ex-military man who dies and goes to heaven, where he is taken on a tour of paradise […]

The smartest person in the world

This commentary is provided by Randi McGinn.You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org The last short story Mark Twain ever wrote provides some wisdom for the times we are now living through. Captain Stormfield Goes to Heaven is about an ex-military man who dies and goes to heaven, where he is taken on a tour of paradise […]

Posted inCommentary

A harder line on teenage criminals

This commentary is provided by Merilee Dannemann.You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org We remember the killing of a 5-year-old girl in 2023, shot in a drive-by shooting that was motivated by a dispute between the shooter and another teenager. It still breaks our hearts. That is partly because the little girl, Galilea Samaniego, was an innocent […]

Posted inCommentary

A harder line on teenage criminals

This commentary is provided by Merilee Dannemann.You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org We remember the killing of a 5-year-old girl in 2023, shot in a drive-by shooting that was motivated by a dispute between the shooter and another teenager. It still breaks our hearts. That is partly because the little girl, Galilea Samaniego, was an innocent […]

Posted inCommentary, Sandoval County

Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come for You (or Your Family, Friends or Neighbors)?

This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the Randi McGinn. Have you ever been called upon to be someone’s hero? If you’ve chosen a “hero” career like nursing, firefighting, law enforcement or the military, you have that chance almost every day, usually in dramatic fashion.  The rest of us don’t really think of ourselves as heroes […]