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Letters

  • Mil Gracias - April 2, 2012

    The 18th annual Fiesta de la Hispanidad took place on March 9 in Ilfeld Auditorium to a sold-out crowd despite the wintery weather.  In my estimation, it was, as in years past, a tremendous success, thanks to each of the performers who were applauded by a respectful and appreciative audience. Once again, we were all treated to the talent, passion and effort invested by each performer.

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  • Support for city’s ‘rights’ ordinance

    A letter in the March 9 Optic questions the Las Vegas City Council’s consideration of an ordinance affirming the city’s rights to self determination. Among their concerns, the writers mention the following two items. First, they claim that the ordinance “annul(s) the federal and state constitutional rights of certain entities and individuals,” and secondly, they express concerns about water.

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  • Upholding basic freedoms

    I write in respectful dissent to the recent letter “Rights ordinance full of problems.” The writers portray the ordinance as an illegal invitation to anarchy, when in fact it upholds basic rights, legal doctrines, and values that date to the founding of the United States.

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  • Fracking not the way to go

    Keep up with the City of Las Vegas’ vote on the issue.

    Fracking pollutes our water, lowers the water table, causes earthquakes and “booms,” violates our basic laws against intrusive corporate takeover (privatization) of our right to safe utilities, etc.
    Don’t lose sight of the effort to sneak fracking past us.

    If fracking is the means by which we maintain our energy levels, it is high time we turn this ship of state toward alternative energies (see Germany’s efforts, see France’s efforts, etc.

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  • Stick to your ‘rights,’ Las Vegas

    I observed with great pleasure the Las Vegas City Council meeting March 21. It was a credit to the citizens of Las Vegas, many of whom spoke eloquently in favor of a proposed Bill of Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance intended to protect your city’s water, air and land from corporate predation, and specifically from the poisoning of water sources by hydraulic “fracking” for natural gas.

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  • Unintended consequences

    The Las Vegas City Council is considering a new ordinance that will give ecosystems “rights.”

    Aside from the legal absurdity that the ordinance would establish local government as “sovereign” over state and federal, and the environmental hubris that places the City Council in a position to determine what is evolutionarily correct, this ordinance will likely lead to the decline of the acequia culture along the Gallinas.

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  • Mora Co. can’t have life and fracking

    Northern New Mexicans and Mora County commissioners Garcia, Olivas and Quintana, I’d love to be diplomatic, polite, play political games of smiles and nuances — but I cannot do so and be honest with myself.

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  • Grateful for a wonderful pageant

    I just wanted to take a moment and thank the City of Las Vegas for their warm welcome and support that I received last weekend. It has been an honor to represent San Miguel County and I am looking forward to having a positive impact on the community.  My platform is “New Mexico: Go Green” and I enjoy spreading the message of recycling. 

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  • West teachers should take exam

    Teachers, I’d like to challenge you. I’m a parent of a junior at West Las Vegas High School. Juniors were scheduled to take the Standards Based Assessment (SBA) Exam on March 27 through March 29. I understand that this exam is college based (level) in comparison to what was required in the past years. Which was based on eight-grade level curriculum. I have a major concern that most of these students are highly unprepared due to teachers not focusing on preparing these students.

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  • Preparing for wildfire season

    As we enter the 2012 New Mexico wildfire season — one that could be as devastating as last year’s, the most severe on record — it’s important for landowners in the Gallinas and neighboring watersheds to understand that, while the state has jurisdiction over fire suppression on private lands, no public agency has jurisdiction over or responsibility for post-wildfire rehabilitation work on private lands.

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