Columnists

A natural outcome of certain states moving their presidential primaries earlier in the year is that for those states with later primaries, primary election turnout is often dismal. That will likely be the case in New Mexico in 2024 where both presidential frontrunners have locked in their delegate count and there are few contested primary […]

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture recently delivered a draft farm bill. It was eight months after the old farm bill, about to expire, had to be extended. This $1.5 trillion, 942-page tome has a lot to like, but it’s missing some key provisions important to New Mexico. And it’s hung up in partisan scrapping. […]

When the legislative session ended in 2019, House Speaker Brian Egolf said, “The produced water bill, I think, is going to go down as one of the greatest environmental accomplishments to come out of the state Legislature of New Mexico. Just the quantity of fresh, potable water that’s going to be saved for agricultural and […]

By Darrell Allen It is easy to make fun of the student protesters who have vociferously made their voices heard in support of the Palestinian people, pretty much across the whole country.  Even here in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico.  The front page of the May 16 Albuquerque Journal, perhaps inadvertently, did just […]

In New Mexico one of our best kept secrets is former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris. It was a lucky day in 1976 when Sen. Harris and his family moved to New Mexico. The move came after two terms as U.S. senator from Oklahoma and two runs for president in 1972 and 1976.  On May 21 […]

May 8 could have been another low point for U.S. House Republicans. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), after weeks of threats, finally pulled the pin on the grenade she’d been carrying around since March and officially filed her motion for Speaker Mike Johnson to vacate his leadership position, forcing a vote on the measure. Greene […]

In the digital age, access to reliable internet is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. This truth has become even more evident as we’ve navigated through recent global challenges that pushed us towards remote work, online schooling, and telehealth services. Yet, for many in rural New Mexico, high-speed internet remains out of reach due […]

The man was said to be the only electrician in Mora, and my agency forced him out of business. This was around 20 years ago. I learned about it in a staff meeting. The assistant general counsel who told us about it had tears in her eyes and a quiver in her voice, but she […]

If you do grocery shopping for your family, you have undoubtedly used self-checkout. That’s what I was doing recently when shopping for two items in a nearby store. I noticed a new sign had been posted: “Self-check-out restricted to 15 items or less.” I had not seen that before.  On the contrary, there were times […]