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Columns

  • Charter Review group seeking citizen input

    The Charter Review Committee (CRC) is a group of county council-appointed citizens tasked to conduct a comprehensive review of the Los Alamos County Charter and provide options and recommendations to the council for potential changes.
    In the past year, the committee completed a review of the charter for “consistency and clarification” improvements that resulted in 11 recommendations to council, followed by approval of all by the citizens at the recent election.  

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  • Up to 100K for top plans

    Northern New Mexico technology companies have been using the Venture Acceleration Fund since 2006 to help bring their products to the marketplace.
    The fund, administered through Los Alamos National Laboratory, awards up to $100,000 to qualifying ventures.
    This year, the VAF is changing some of its rules: calls for ideas will be accepted year-round, and companies no longer must have a direct technology-transfer association with the lab — though some preference is given to those ventures.

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  • 3,800 permits backlogged

    Irony seemed to be a guest last week along with Harrison Schmitt, who appeared before the Senate Finance Committee.
    The designated Secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department talked about the department’s budget needs and commented on the energy industry on the same icy day that thousands of people were losing their natural gas service.
    I was there to see what he knew about New Mexico’s energy industries. The former astronaut has, after all, been absent from the state for decades.

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  • Session may prove moot

    Little may happen this legislative session. It reminds me of two heavyweights feeling each other out in the first round of a boxing match.
    Since Gov. Susana Martinez is new to the game and since she is new to nearly all legislators, it takes awhile to get a feel for each other. We saw much the same situation during former Gov. Gary Johnson’s first year.

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  • Cupid's sweet lament

    The Chocolate Doo Doo Drop gift bag. Now, I bet you never had anyone start off a conversation by saying that, eh?
    A chocolate doo doo drop is an extruded pile of milk chocolate “attractively packaged and nestled on a small pile of green grass” and wrapped in cellophane. The perfect gift for that special friend who gave you that yellow and purple checkered sweater for Christmas.
    Of course, if $30 a pound for “extruded” chocolate is a bit more than you want to spend, there are other organic options.

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  • Good customer service is business no-brainer

    Mistakes happen, but good customer service is one way to set a business apart.
    Owners need to build and maintain a stellar perception of their companies so that conversation about it is always positive.
    This is especially important for startup companies, which are more likely to experience stiff competition from entrenched organizations already in the marketplace.
    A savvy owner of a startup business will do research to make sure there is a market for any product before launching it; what customers want from it; and how to price it.

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  • Semiautomatic up for state firearm

    New Mexico has 20 official state symbols and may have a 21st before this legislative session is over.
    Senate Bill 109, introduced by Sen. George Munoz of Gallup designates the squash blossom necklace as New Mexico’s official state necklace.
    Before you get upset about lawmakers wasting time with such trivia, let me say that bills such as this consume very little time and effort of legislators. They are indicative of a state’s culture and provide help in advertising.

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  • Lack of sidewalks on Trinity is concerning

    In regard to the NM502/Trinity Corridor, citizens who live on Arroyo Lane/Verde Ridge would like to address issues/concerns regarding the lack of sidewalks and the ability to cross Trinity Drive/East Gate Road with out going a half mile, or more, to get to a crosswalk safely in order to go to the grocery store or Atomic City Transit stops.

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  • The downside of a good fortune

    The rates of China’s economic growth are often reported in a wide variety of sectors. But China is experiencing another bonanza, too. It doesn’t get the headlines commanded by economic figures, but it catches the attention of geologists and anyone with an interest in the history of life on Earth.
    What’s at issue is the absolute tsunami of fossil specimens that are dug up in China and make their way around the world.

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  • Faster for less money

    We are a nation of laws. By nature most of us resent laws that restrict what we do. At the same time, I hear no one singing the praises of lawlessness.
    The burning interest in laws misses a third option that is freer of pitfalls than either rules or lawlessness. The creative path has gained some notable ground on pollution problems.  
    The approach can be described as “voluntary,” “pursuing ideas” or “jawboning,” if you would call it that. They all mean achieving better pollution control than the law demands.

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