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Today's News

  • About compost tea

    Hang out in organic gardening circles or read the publications and you will soon hear the high praises of compost tea. In its simplest form, compost tea is simply water in which a scoop of mature compost has been added and allowed to set. I have often wondered what the great benefit of this is — after all, the nutrients in the tea are just the nutrients in the compost, dissolved to facilitate rapid uptake by plants.

    It turns out though, that the real deal is something more robust, with a different purpose. Properly brewed compost tea is a microbial innoculant.

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  • Luna sees another drop in enrollment

    Luna Community College’s enrollment has dipped again, and members of the school’s Board of Trustees want to know why.

    Luna had 2,113 students enrolled in the fall of 2007, but that number decreased to 1,959 last fall — a 7.3 percent drop.

    The fall enrollment is critical because the state bases its funding for community colleges on such numbers.

    Since 2003, Luna’s enrollment had been going up and down, reaching a high of 2,183 in 2005.

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  • COLUMN: A thorough thumping

    Last week, the voters had a clear message for Luna Community College: They’ve lost confidence in its leadership.

    Just 17 percent of voters — and less than 10 percent in Las Vegas itself — approved a tax increase that would have meant a $52 annual property tax hike for the owner of a $100,000 house. If the tax had passed, it would have paid for new buildings and capital improvements for Luna.

    That’s an undeniable thumping. So why did it happen?

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  • EDITORIAL: Rush to destruction

    We hope the national Republican Party is not so desperate as to actually follow the lead of radio talk show entertainer Rush Limbaugh. If they are, and if they do, they will turn into little more than a fringe party, and the Democrats will become the only party with any clout in Washington. And that would be a bad thing.

    Limbaugh’s diatribes are what’s wrong with the GOP, not what’s right. Creating a more moderate party, filled with patriots like John McCain, is still the better way to go.

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  • EDITORIAL: A vote of no confidence

    There are a lot of ways to interpret last week’s Luna Community College elections, but one thing is clear: It certainly wasn’t a vote of confidence. The 83 percent voter opposition to Luna’s proposed tax increase drives that point home very well.

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  • LETTER: Ready to work with new colleagues

    First and foremost I want to thank each and everyone who came out to vote during the election for Luna Community College Precinct 6 trustee. I need to especially thank those individuals who went out and campaigned for me.

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  • 11 docs support union effort

    Eleven local doctors are joining in the effort to persuade Alta Vista Regional Hospital to negotiate with a union representing most of the hospital’s employees.

    The doctors were among 180 residents who signed a recent petition encouraging the hospital to recognize the workers, who are represented by District 1199 of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees. Five nurses and other health-care professionals also signed.

    The petition was sent to Wayne Smith, chairman and CEO of Community Health Systems, Alta Vista’s parent company.

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  • LETTER: Fifth councilor not the solution

    In response to the idea of a fifth council member being suggested by Cruz Roybal and Morris Madrid, may I remind them that the council already has a fifth member, in the personage of his honor the mayor.  His job is to break those tie votes and he does represent the entire town.

    If a fifth council member slot is created, either as a councilor-at-large or as a representative of a fifth ward, the mayor’s position then becomes one of moderator.  

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  • People trust us, official says

    Decrying negativity about Luna Community College, one of the school’s trustees this week contended that local residents have faith in Luna’s leadership.

    Abelino Montoya, a longtime trustee at the college, spoke several times during the board’s more-than-three-hour monthly meeting on Tuesday night about what he called the negativity by a few against Luna.

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  • LETTER: Time to put horse before the cart

    There is a time to start putting the cart where it goes.

    Click here to read more...

Copyright © 2013

The Las Vegas Optic is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in San Miguel County and Las Vegas, NM, and the surrounding area.