Editorials
Editorial content. Content posted here may or may not reflect the opinions of the Beat. They reflect the opinions of the author.
Plan to Use Herbicides in the Forest
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 07 August 2023 07 August 2023
Last week the Gila Forest Service offered a meeting with the public concerning its plan to use herbicides as part of an hazardous fuel reduction program to protect private property from fire. The public has until Aug 21 to comment on this plan. You can go here to see the plan: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=64491 To get to the info on herbicides - open "Scoping" folder at bottom of the page. Go to "Proposed action" pdf and on page 9 they describe the intended herbicide use.
For a database of herbicide toxicity studies you can go to Beyondpesticides.com
Here is the email for comments on the proposed forest service plan:
southwestern-gila-silver-city@usda.gov
Some thoughts in response to their plan:
Revised: Continue to be aware of scams
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 28 July 2023 28 July 2023
[Editor's Note: I just read an article about Amazon scams and have attached the link at the bottom, plus some additional information to help you detect scam emails.]
They come in all forms – phone calls, emails, text messages, social media.
If someone calls you telling you they are your grandchild or a long-lost uncle, for instance, make sure it is your grandchild or uncle before agreeing to send any money to anybody.
Hang up and call your grandchild or someone who knows if you have a long-lost uncle. If the grandchild answers, ask them if they are in trouble. Most likely they are not. If you call your cousin and he tells you there is no long-lost uncle, then you have saved a pile of money.
Education Commentary from State Rep. Rod Montoya (Farmington)
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 27 July 2023 27 July 2023
In less than a month, kids across the state will return to their classrooms and face the most confusing environment that has ever existed in New Mexico public schools. This is due to recent changes in state law that were made by progressive legislators and Governor Lujan Grisham.
House Republicans have initiated an effort to notify parents of these changes which strip parents of their right to know what their kids are being taught, and what medical procedures and/or medications can be provided to children without their parents' knowledge. We are distributing a form that parents can use to inform school administrators of their demand to be involved in their children's education and healthcare decisions.
You need to know the Public Education Department and Department of Health are taking the position that you don't have the right to know what your children are learning or what healthcare choices they may be making - Specifically in regard to abortion, mental health, and gender-altering care.
Cartoon/Trip Highlights Massive Policy Gap Between NM, Lone Star State
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 24 July 2023 24 July 2023
By Paul Gessing
A recent cartoon by John Trever highlights the vastly different approaches towards governance of New Mexico and Texas. The cartoon is of the state border circa 2030 as New Mexicans head to Texas for gas-powered vehicles while Texans visit NM for abortions and marijuana.
These are hardly the only differences between the two nowadays, as Texas has no income tax or job-killing gross receipts tax, it is a right-to-work state, and state spending per-person is less than half of what it is in New Mexico. Not coincidentally, Texas is also one of the fastest growing states in the nation while New Mexico's population is stagnant with young people leaving and being replaced by older people and retirees.
Revised: When it rains, it might flood
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 14 July 2023 14 July 2023
I expect most of you Beat readers to be intelligent human beings who can think for yourselves.
I get national weather service advisories and warning constantly all day long if there is the slightest bit of rain or if there's more. I'll post one or two to let you know of the dangers, but when each map shows a tiny portion of the county as being under a flood advisory or warning, I'm not going to continually post the warnings.
Plus, just to add insult, often those panicked advisories are soon cancelled. The government loves to scare you, but you know better.
You are smart. If it is raining where you are, as well as upstream of where you are, you know not to drive through flooded underpasses or low water crossings. You know that there might be debris in that water, or the flow of the water might be strong enough to carry a vehicle downstream, so you don't venture into it.
Shedding Light on Opioid Settlement Funds: A Path to Transparency and Accountability
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 30 June 2023 30 June 2023
By New Mexico Auditor Joseph Maestas
More than a billion dollars from opioid lawsuit settlements are heading to New Mexico coffers, with some monies already hitting state and local government bank accounts. These funds represent a golden opportunity to mitigate the devastating impacts of the opioid epidemic—but making sure the money is spent the way it is intended is critical to ensuring that this opportunity and money aren't wasted.
Opioids have taken a heavy toll on our State, claiming the lives of hundreds, shattering families and exacting long-term economic and social damage on communities. Companies that manufactured, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers will now pay $1 billion in lawsuit settlements to help remediate the havoc wreaked by these narcotics.
The 2023 Farm Bill: New Mexicans should ensure their voices are heard
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 30 June 2023 30 June 2023
Think about what New Mexico might look like without food production. What if we didn’t have New Mexico chile, open space or healthy crops? Food nutrition is a crucial part of our everyday life. As you drive around your local community, take a minute to notice how the food and agriculture sector is everywhere.
All New Mexico agriculture and the consumers who enjoy our state’s products are impacted by the 2023 Farm Bill being discussed by Congress, which is renewed every five years. The renewal provides an opportunity for producers and consumers to make decisions about commodities to grow, conservation practices to invest in and requirements to establish the nutrition programs that are important to so many people, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), through which 510,595,215 meals were provided to New Mexicans over the past 12 months as of June 15, 2023, according to the New Mexico Human Services Department.
Kids Count Report a Wake-Up Call
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 28 June 2023 28 June 2023
By Paul J. Gessing
Once again New Mexico is at the very bottom of a list. Kids Count 2023 is compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation with distribution and media handled by New Mexico Voices for Children.
While it is not the report Rio Grande Foundation would compile, the 16 variables considered in it do highlight issues regarding the well-being of New Mexico children. Sadly, like so many similar reports, the results are not good for our state. What is unique is the positive spin being applied by Voices for Children.
As Voices for Children's Amber Wallin recently wrote in an opinion piece, "you shouldn't let the rankings get you down because they don't tell us how far we've come."
We politely disagree and believe that Voices would not have the same sanguine viewpoint if a Republican governor or Legislature were calling the shots.