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Today's Opinions

  • Flowers make for better downtown

    What a joy it is to see the baskets of flowers on the lamp posts in the downtown area! Various traffic islands in Los Alamos and White Rock are also aglow with colorful iris and other well landscaped plantings. My husband Ken was chairman of the first Los Alamos County Beautification Committee back in the 1960s. He would be delighted, as I am, to see the improvements since that time. Warmest thanks to Dick McIntyre and the Parks Division for sprucing up our little town so beautifully.

    Ruth Williamson
    Los Alamos

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  • Don’t waste money on LA “brand”

    Instead of squandering $50,000 for a non-local public relations firm to develop a “brand” for Los Alamos, how about if we instead donate that money to the Sheriff Posse Shack remodeling fund? If we’re looking for a good investment to bring long-term tangible benefits to our community, I think the Posse Shack is a better bet than a catchy slogan.
    Elizabeth Jones
    Los Alamos
     

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  • Smart Meter Study a public intrusion

    The Department of Public Utilities will be rolling out the Mesa Smart Meter Study on Barranca and North Mesas. There will be involuntary installation of Smart Meters on every home on Barranca and North Mesas, regardless of whether or not the homeowners consent to the installation of these monitoring and power controlling devices.
    There has been enormous national and international controversy regarding the potential health hazards and privacy intrusions that Smart Meter installations will bring to our community.
    There is also much evidence that Smart Meter Technology does nothing but increase private utility profits and will eventually require the purchase of many new household components to accommodate this new Smart Technology. DPU will only tell residents their marketing approved propaganda about Smart Meters and the International agenda to force a “Smart Grid” on the nation.
    This will be enforced on all members of Los Alamos and White Rock very shortly. I encourage everyone affected by the Mesa Smart Meter Study to do your own research on the potential health effects and privacy issues by searching online for Smart Meter Problems. Do not simply accept the one sided information provided by DPU.
    Jeff Theesfeld
    Los Alamos
     

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  • Effects of well drilling on springs

    Most of the discussion of the county’s proposed well project has focused on wellhead impacts. However, I believe there is a greater concern: potential impact to the springs in White Rock Canyon.
    This project is designed to extract ground water before it becomes surface water flowing into the Rio Grande. Ground water becomes surface water by emerging through springs. Therefore, by definition, some springs somewhere must be affected; the only question is which ones and how much. The county’s explanation that “experts with knowledge of the White Rock Canyon hydro-geologic region have expressed opinions to the Department of Public Utilities that the various springs in White Rock canyon would not be adversely impacted” is apparently at odds with this fact.
    Pajarito Spring along the Red Dot Trail is the most well-known of the White Rock Canyon springs, but there are lots more scattered through the canyon. These springs are truly remarkable oases in a unique canyon and should be protected.

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  • A number is a number is a number

    A rose is a rose is a rose. Yeah, well it’s also true that a kidney stone is a kidney stone is a kidney stone.
     Long before Gertrude Stein wrote her oft quoted floral identity, mathematicians knew this to be true. Things are what they are.
    What a thing is, is what it is. Does this mean that a rose is a rose because it’s not a kidney stone? To say that something “is” something else means that the else is the something.
     But does that mean that what the meaning of the word “is” is what meaning is all about? (Try saying that three times fast!)
     Ow, my tongue hurts. Let’s get back to roses.
     Better yet, let’s take a look at the basic math being used here.
     (Come on, you really didn’t think you were going to get away without getting an earful — or eyeful — of math, did you?)
    When we say something is something, such as “1 + 1 is 2”, we mean that one plus one and two are the same thing.
     But if you write an equation saying “2 = 1 + 1”, that seems to bother people. Hey, isn’t the “2” on the wrong side of the equation?
     Equal means equal. In other words, equal equals equal, is equals is, and is is is.
     And so it is with numbers.

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  • Leasing a car on the cheap

    My trusty Volvo wagon served our family well for 13 years, but after 106,000 miles it finally gave up the ghost. My wife just completed graduate school so we weren’t ready to commit to a new car payment. I rented a car at first, but at $500 a month, that soon got old.
    Then I came across a concept new me: assuming someone else’s car lease. Initially I was skeptical, but after considerable research I took the plunge.
    It took many emails and phone calls and a month-long wait for the paperwork to clear, but I now have a one-year lease on a quality car whose monthly cost is about a third less than the stripped-down model I was renting.
    With the caveat that car lease assumption is not right for everyone, here’s how the process works:
    People need to get out of their car leases for a variety of reasons, but it’s notoriously difficult to do so — you usually must pay the outstanding balance plus an early termination fee.
    One way around this, if your finance company allows it, is to transfer the lease to another party for the remainder of its term. Many people use online lease assumption services like Swapalease.com and LeaseTrader.com. I went with Swapalease.com.

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  • Business takes steps toward franchise goal

    Los Angeles-based entrepreneurs Paula and Matthew Pope and Tom and Precious Haines knew they didn’t stand a chance convincing a bank to lend them startup capital for a build-it-yourself frozen yogurt “creative space” in Albuquerque. Besides their distance from the business’s home, none of the four had prior experience in retail.
    So the couples pooled all their savings with investments from a few family members to open their first Olo Yogurt Studio in the Nob Hill neighborhood near University of New Mexico in 2010.
    The store did so well that the partners made plans to open a second store in 2013 in a West Mesa shopping mall. But they hadn’t reached the three-year threshold that most traditional banks require of businesses before they’ll lend.
    That’s when the partners turned to The Loan Fund, where Tom Haines said he was surprised to find a lender interested in community and job development, not just getting its money back. “It was not just, ‘Here’s the form. We’ll talk to you — maybe.’ This wasn’t just a transactional relationship,” Haines said.

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  • Stoddard was a friend, mentor

    Upon returning to Los Alamos as a young man, my family relocated to White Rock where I had the opportunity to live across the street from Senator Steve Stoddard.
    I had known the Stoddards from growing up in Los Alamos so the move allowed me to renew old friendships.
    Over the years, Steve and I would have occasion to visit on Sunday evenings, where we would sit together and discuss the issues of the day and issues related to state politics.
    During this time, I would always recall that Steve would start by saying “Well … Alan as you know …” This was normally followed with educational information and a story or two that was always entertaining and very informative.
    After several years, both our families left the neighborhood, and although we were unable to continue our Sunday evening talks, we would visit at community events or activities. We would spend five to 10 minutes discussing the issues of the day.
    I will always remember Steve’s ability to look at the big picture and provide advice. If he did not have the answer, he was able to use his vast network of contacts throughout the state to provide assistance. I, along with so many others in the community, would like to thank and remember Steve as being a friend, mentor and dedicated public servant.
    Alan Kirk
    Los Alamos 

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