Editorials

By Mandi Torrez

In 2022, 79% of New Mexico fourth graders could not read proficiently according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). New Mexico's fourth grade cohort has never reached more than 24% reading proficiency since NAEP's inception in 1998.

Yet, one strategy implemented in other states has not been tried in New Mexico: smaller class sizes. The nonpartisan think tank Think New Mexico, along with a bipartisan group of legislators, will propose legislation to cap grades K-3 at 20 students. This will help give our youngest students the best chance to read at grade level by the end of third grade, which means they are four times more likely to graduate from high school.

 Low Elevation and Supersonic Airspace Over Rural Communities and Tribal Lands in Southern Arizona and Southwest New Mexico

This week the Air Force will host four public hearings on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for expanding its airspace for its Arizona missions. Conservation organizations in New Mexico and Arizona are expressing their serious concerns with its proposal to authorize low-elevation fighter jet maneuvers as low as 100 feet above ground level (AGL) and supersonic flights as low as 5,000 feet AGL in southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico.

The late Native American Studies scholar Elizabeth Cook-Lynn wrote, "...a nation that does not tell its own stories cannot be said to be a nation at all." Therefore, please allow me to discuss my second great-grandfather, Francisco de Jesús Mariscal Leyva, referred to as Apache Francisco by his peers and simply as Jesús by his closest relatives. He and his older brother, José Mariscal Leyva, were born when the Gila Apache were at peace with Mexico during the early 1840s in Janos, Chihuahua.

My family, known then as Apache at Peace, engaged in farming and trading with the Janos community during this period. José and Francisco, the sons of Gila Apache leader Manuel Mariscal and his wife Norberta Leyva, also known as Ish-Noh-hnn, enjoyed a peaceful and contented life. Sadly, Manuel passed away in 1850 due to exposure. Ish-Noh-hnn remarried five years later and added two children to the family: a boy and a girl.

"WE THE PEOPLE"

In the 60s the phrase "We the People" saw a resurgence in popularity as trust in the federal government began to diminish. Americans of all walks of life wanted to know that we lived under a government of freedom as expressed by Abraham Lincoln, and that 'government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.'

Though confidence in the federal government was waning, people continued to embrace the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and the value of the U.S. Constitution. The writers of the U.S. Constitution really were smart people. They included methods that help to ensure that citizens of this great country would be in charge. They included Article V.

What: Chemtrails, contrails, geoengineering, the environment, health

Find out what those stripes are and why our blue skies are too often gray and cloudy

Where: Global

Who: U.S. Military, DOD, NOAA, UN IPCC, EPA, HAARP, PRIVATE CONTRACTORS

When: For the past 60 years and intensified 6 years ago

How: Spraying chemicals from jet planes to create clouds and/or dim the sun with mix of Sulfur dioxide, Aluminum and Plastic Nano Particles, Barium, Strontium, Propane Gas, and other unknown substances
Why: To mitigate global climate change. As bioweapons.

In the summer of 2022, I was amazed at the number of jet trails I saw. I live in a semi-rural area of New Mexico without much overhead jet traffic. The trails were describing lines, circles, grids, and xs, which stoked my curiosity. Nevertheless, I did not find out about chemical trails until January of 2023. Like many others I did not take the time to question what I was seeing.

As a homeowner you’re asked to pay your fair share through property taxes. Your property is assessed and valued by the county assessor, the mill rate is set and imposed by your county and other taxing authorities, and the appropriate tax is calculated and issued by the county treasurer. We all pay it - maybe not with a smile on our faces - but it’s the law.

Business owners should be held to the same standard.

By Paul Gessing

"I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member." Groucho Marx

Since President Biden left the presidential race his replacement Kamala Harris has been vague about her policy ideas. In a few areas (like abortion) we know her positions clearly. And in a few isolated cases she has made detailed statements ($25,000 payments to first-time home buyers and not taxing tips).

But, the best way to know someone is by the company she keeps. At the recently-completed Democratic National Convention New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was given a prime time speaking slot.

Editor-

WHO NEEDS A PLATFORM?

"Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate?" – excerpt from Robert F. Kennedy's speech in Phoenix, Ariz., Aug. 23, 2024
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Former Democrat/Independent Presidential contender, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., succinctly summed up the Democrats and Kamala Harris-Tim Walz Presidential campaign platform in a single sentence.

When you've nothing of substance to discuss, and your current policies are a proven sham, what's left to tell the voters how great your administration is going to be?