This weekend I picnicked with my mom and some of her coworkers. We had tacos and hot dogs, with Fritos and chile con queso, and ice-cold, pink lemonade. We enjoyed blue skies for most of the afternoon, and played yard games. I also had the pleasure of running through the sprinkler with The Coranator. Yes, [...]

I received word via e-mail this morning that. Sen. Ben Altamirano passed away following what’s believed to be a “massive heart attack.” KRQE is reporting he died here in Silver City, while the messages I’ve received indicate he was in Santa Fe. What this means for his district is entirely up in the air right [...]

I attended the New Mexico State Society holiday party Wednesday night with a colleague, and introduced him to New Mexico politics. I pointed out Rep. Steve Pearce, Rep. Tom Udall and, of course, Sen. Pete Domenici (Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Heather Wilson had already left the shindig). We dined on some New Mexican fare [...]

Years ago, when members of the New Voters Project came to New Mexico to register young people to vote, I befriended several of them. One friend in particular, Tyler, has kept in touch since 2004. And, from time to time, when she inquired about happenings in the Land of Enchantment, she’d ask “How are things [...]

Via John Fleck is this Santa Fe New Mexican article that puts some great perspective on the state’s peak water woes: New Mexico’s water math isn’t adding up. Real water plus paper water are supposed to equal water supply, but it doesn’t, especially during drought. Real water: That’s wet water, the stuff one needs for [...]

My favorite newspaper-reporter-turned-online-journalist Heath Haussamen was profiled in the Alibi this week. Here’s an excerpt: [Haussamen]: The benefits of the online format are immediacy, depth and multimedia opportunities. I can publish articles that don’t run in newspapers until the next day. I can have a written article accompanied by photos, video, comments, links to other [...]

Bob Johnson, the director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, has passed away: Robert H. “Bob” Johnson, a champion for open government and a former Associated Press executive who, during a 42-year career, wrote AP’s first bulletin on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, has died. He was 84. After retiring from [...]

Actually, I never crossed the border. I came close a few times, but, well, I had other things to do. The story isn’t quite live on the Daily Press site yet (UPDATE: it is now) but here’s a PDF (Border Issues Part 1). Oh, and Gold Star for Laura!

I bring this up in the concept of peak water, in that communities across the West are dealing with drought, in addition to the question of water supplies. The effects are actually being felt throughout the southern half of the U.S. Take, for example, this article in USA Today: Severe dryness across California and Arizona [...]

We’ve received call after call the past seven days as Silver City/Grant County residents wonder about the cost of gas. According to AAA New Mexico, our state has enjoyed new record highs every day for the past sixteen days (the state average is $3.38 per gallon for regular unleaded). Under the current administration, rising gas [...]

There’s more in today’s Silver City Daily Press, but I wanted to pass along some of the documentation on the story: We based our original decision on the facts that Great Lakes’ Denver/Phoenix option for Clovis and Silver City/Hurley/Deming, respectively, was about $465,000 less expensive than its Albuquerque-only option, and that community support was split [...]

Well, for some reason our Web site doesn’t have the Friday edition online yet, but I did want to get you a copy of my story on Richardson’s veto of $945,000 for studies of the Gila and San Francisco rivers. Here’s a PDF of the story. Richardson’s explanation of the veto (the “appropriation language was [...]