Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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That wild and crazy Richard Branson says New Mexico's space future will roar into reality on Christmas Day when he will blast into orbit — wheee! — himself and others who coughed up a couple of hundred thousand bucks. Rich promises a soft landing. This deadline will pass as others have, of course. However, there are significant developments at the New Mexico Spaceport. Just weeks ago, Space Exploratory Technologies Corp. announced it will set up shop at Spaceport America. The company will be flight testing its rocket tha...
"Mr. President, sir, Mr. President!" The nervous but earnest young reporter catches up to George Washington as the statesman is about to step into the Erstwhile Inn for an appointment with John Adams. George Washington had just delivered a sound thumping to Adams in the nation's first presidential election and is eager to shore up his partnership with the sometimes brooding and self-persecuted Adams, who would serve as his vice president. "George!" "John!" "I feel like we are making history together!" The two exchange back...
As a teen in the mid-1950s I began to develop the vague notion there may be more to life than hotrods and Friday nights at the drive-in. The revelation was, as we said back then, a real drag, daddy-o. So what to do with one's life? Since high school essay writing was always fun, and since I am nosey by nature, a newspaper career path made some sense. There was this, too. I came of age with the outstanding Los Angeles Times where I discovered Jim Murray, the late Pulitzer Prize winning sports columnist. I wasn't a sports nut...
It is just a couple of weeks before Christmas and we are all grateful for the season. For this brief time we can shed our concerns, bask in the holiday spirit. It is the one time of year we can relax and forget our woes. As 2012 nears the end of her flight, much like a 727 trying to land in 100 mph winds, your humble correspondent has put his worries behind him. Like, as a young friend of mine would say, I am totally not worried. Except for the fact I am heading for a fiscal cliff. I don't even know what to wear. An inner... Full story
Dear Book Publisher: Lucky day for you! I am giving you first crack at a work in progress, a story of total fiction involving national security, major military campaigns, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. OK, I know you book publishing guys. You are going to want a sex angle. Tough challenge. This won't exactly be Debbie Does Iraq, but I'll work on it. Here is a sketch of some of my characters. Paula Broadwell: Paula is razor sharp, accomplished, highly educated, 40-year-old married mom... Full story
Far be it for me to offer political advice, but were I a state Senate candidate I would lay off the prairie chicken. You don't want to mess with lesser prairie chicken, folks. Aubrey Dunn is running for Senate in District 39. He may have stubbed his toe when he criticized state government for spending thousands of bucks protecting the lesser prairie chicken while education goes begging. Aubrey says drive between Roswell and Tatum and you will see white flags on top of the fence. "These flags are for prairie chickens to make... Full story
Neither Republican National Committeeman Pat Rogers nor Bernalillo District Attorney Democrat Kari Brandenburg has the slightest idea of how to issue an apology. You'll note I cite a person from both parties to prove, just like Fox News, I am fair and unbalanced. Perhaps an example of a sincere, heartfelt apology will help Rogers and Brandenburg get the idea. Here goes. Last week I did a terrible thing. Trying to make a point about carpet bagging beauty queens I said that were it my goal to win a community spelling bee I...
Miss Ruidoso, who became Miss New Mexico, who will represent our state in the Miss America Pageant, never lived in Ruidoso, likely never will. With that out of the way, let's sort this all out. Carol Henry, executive director of the Miss New Mexico Pageant, is "boiling mad," as she puts it, at the Albuquerque Journal for what she said is a mischaracterization of the status of the eligibility of Miss New Mexico Candice Bennatt to hold that title. Candice, a former Houston girl and once cheerleader for the NFL Houston Texans,...
"Focus on New Mexico" host Gene Grant hasn't a clue. The KNME-TV weekly discussion of all things New Mexico features experts in the subject de jour and smart questions from regular and guest panelists. Among the regulars are former House Republican Whip Dan Foley and New Mexico Law Review editor Sophie Martin. Moderator Grant lets this all flow freely, providing an intelligent, usually low-key discussion of critical issues to the state. What's wrong with this guy? Doesn't he know he'd bomb on national TV? Shouting is...
"Focus on New Mexico" host Gene Grant hasn't a clue. The KNME-TV weekly discussion of all things New Mexico features experts in the subject de jour and smart questions from regular and guest panelists. Among the regulars are former House Republican Whip Dan Foley and New Mexico Law Review editor Sophie Martin. Moderator Grant lets this all flow freely, providing an intelligent, usually low-key discussion of critical issues to the state. What's wrong with this guy? Doesn't he know he'd bomb on national TV? Shouting is...
(With apologies to Gail Collins and David Brooks of the New York Times — who popularized this format, the following is an exchange between the columnist and former New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.) Denish: Your column backing the New Mexico law allowing illegal immigrants to drive was right on target, but I was amused by readers who think you actually are a liberal. I guess in the eyes of some New Mexicans you might be. Cantwell: Labels are misleading, aren't they? It is usually a mistake to paint people with the same b...
(With apologies to Gail Collins and David Brooks of the New York Times — who popularized this format, the following is an exchange between the columnist and former New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.) Denish: Your column backing the New Mexico law allowing illegal immigrants to drive was right on target, but I was amused by readers who think you actually are a liberal. I guess in the eyes of some New Mexicans you might be. Cantwell: Labels are misleading, aren't they? It is usually a mistake to paint people with the same b...
So here comes a critic from Alamogordo who won't divulge his last name and therefore I won't use his first. Let's call him "This Guy." This Guy laments a recent column here opining New Mexico's law allowing an illegal immigrant to obtain a driver's license is a good law and should stand. "Reading your article made me think this has to be a joke. No one with half a brain could be this stupid, but I think you have proved me wrong," he writes. Actually, This Guy has a valid point. Had I a whole brain, certainly I would be half... Full story
So here comes a critic from Alamogordo who won't divulge his last name and therefore I won't use his first. Let's call him "This Guy." This Guy laments a recent column here opining New Mexico's law allowing an illegal immigrant to obtain a driver's license is a good law and should stand. "Reading your article made me think this has to be a joke. No one with half a brain could be this stupid, but I think you have proved me wrong," he writes. Actually, This Guy has a valid point. Had I a whole brain, certainly I would be half...
"So, how do you think Susana Martinez is doing now?" Barney asked, his voice tinged with a hint of sarcasm. This was going to turn mean. Barney is my friend from New Jersey who has nothing more to do than monitor New Mexico politics and taunt me with his right wing jabs. I made a valiant effort to steer the conversation onto safe ground. "Well, Barney," I said, "our governor is making solid progress in her goal to reduce the New Mexico transportation fleet. She just sold a 1983 Gulfstream Turbo Commander for $575,000,...
"So, how do you think Susana Martinez is doing now?" Barney asked, his voice tinged with a hint of sarcasm. This was going to turn mean. Barney is my friend from New Jersey who has nothing more to do than monitor New Mexico politics and taunt me with his right wing jabs. I made a valiant effort to steer the conversation onto safe ground. "Well, Barney," I said, "our governor is making solid progress in her goal to reduce the New Mexico transportation fleet. She just sold a 1983 Gulfstream Turbo Commander for $575,000,...
Casper, New Mexico. Has a nice ring, doesn't it? Reader Raoul McPeters of Hobbs says Casper is the ideal name for the Hobbs Ghost Town. An invitation to New Mexicans to name the 15 square-mile town without inhabitants, a billion dollar venture to study futuristic technology, brought responses from Clovis, Sandia Park, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Carlsbad, Albuquerque and Williamsburg. Williamsburg? It is a small village nestled near Truth or Consequences. T or C, as it is known, is the only New Mexico community which sold its nam...
Casper, New Mexico. Has a nice ring, doesn't it? Reader Raoul McPeters of Hobbs says Casper is the ideal name for the Hobbs Ghost Town. An invitation to New Mexicans to name the 15 square-mile town without inhabitants, a billion dollar venture to study futuristic technology, brought responses from Clovis, Sandia Park, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Carlsbad, Albuquerque and Williamsburg. Williamsburg? It is a small village nestled near Truth or Consequences. T or C, as it is known, is the only New Mexico community which sold its nam...
Would it be crass of me to observe a presidential candidate ranted for months about how he would lead the nation out of debt and then closed his campaign with a $4.8 million debt? (Really!) We won't have Cutesie Newtsie to kick around anymore. So toxic is the national political scene it makes us grateful to live in New Mexico with its small time politics, it splendid sunsets, its quiet lifestyle, and its sometimes exciting news. Exciting news? Where? Suggested slogan: "It's Happening in Hobbs!" You know about the Hobbs of...
Would it be crass of me to observe a presidential candidate ranted for months about how he would lead the nation out of debt and then closed his campaign with a $4.8 million debt? (Really!) We won't have Cutesie Newtsie to kick around anymore. So toxic is the national political scene it makes us grateful to live in New Mexico with its small time politics, it splendid sunsets, its quiet lifestyle, and its sometimes exciting news. Exciting news? Where? Suggested slogan: "It's Happening in Hobbs!" You know about the Hobbs of...
Here's a no-brainer. Teachers should not expect to be paid if they trot off to Santa Fe to serve as a New Mexico representative or senator. That is to say, if you are a teacher member of the Legislature we don't want to pay you for legislating, then pay a substitute to teach what you should be teaching, then pay you for not teaching. Period. A quick qualifier here and an even quicker disclosure. It is my guess that running for the Legislature is the last thing on their minds for 99.5 percent of teachers blitzed by...
Here's a no-brainer. Teachers should not expect to be paid if they trot off to Santa Fe to serve as a New Mexico representative or senator. That is to say, if you are a teacher member of the Legislature we don't want to pay you for legislating, then pay a substitute to teach what you should be teaching, then pay you for not teaching. Period. A quick qualifier here and an even quicker disclosure. It is my guess that running for the Legislature is the last thing on their minds for 99.5 percent of teachers blitzed by...
Sometimes I bet you sit around thinking, gee, I wonder what it will be like when the New Mexico 2112 Bicentennial Committee meets to plan the celebration of our 200 years of statehood? I know I wonder that. I wonder that a lot. Because I am really, really bored. Here's an advance report. Bicentennial Committee leaders from all walks of life gathered in Upham, designated the state capital when all that Santa Fe adobe just got old and tired and crushed to the ground after 150 years of absorbing pompous, nonsensical political rh...
Sometimes I bet you sit around thinking, gee, I wonder what it will be like when the New Mexico 2112 Bicentennial Committee meets to plan the celebration of our 200 years of statehood? I know I wonder that. I wonder that a lot. Because I am really, really bored. Here's an advance report. Bicentennial Committee leaders from all walks of life gathered in Upham, designated the state capital when all that Santa Fe adobe just got old and tired and crushed to the ground after 150 years of absorbing pompous, nonsensical political rh...
Let's talk about dust today. Appropriate subject, given this season of reduced visibility as the wind picks up loose levels of groundcover in Silver City and drops them on Clovis. That is fortunate in that much of Clovis is blown into Texas. Large parts of Farmington are deposited in Espanola, which has enough dirt of its own, thank you. Spring is not New Mexico's banner season, but it has its economic advantages. Car washes do well. Pharmacies unload tons of allergy pills. It is a stretch, perhaps, but I will make the...
