New Mexico Mercury

Response to open primary piece

The flowing exchange of emails between Fred Nathan and me transpired as a consequence of a column I wrote last week about the ways the political parties control the political process and disenfranchise many voters, especially by excluding independents from the primaries...

Juarez Valley Strives for Recovery

Travelers headed south of Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico might have noticed a full, flowing Rio Grande in recent days. The coveted water was on its way to Mexico where, under a binational 1906 treaty, the U.S. is annually obligated to deliver 74 million cubic meters of the liquid. Once past the border, the water is used for irrigating farmland in the Juarez Valley of Chihuahua state, which encompasses the municipalities of Praxedis C. Guerrero, Guadalupe Distrito Bravos and Juarez.

Long known for its fertile farmland as well as contraband corridors, the Juarez Valley was one of the hardest hit areas in the so-called Narco-War, especially between 2008 and 2010 when thousands of residents fled their homes and abandoned farm land...

Searching for today’s “Salt of the Earth”

We all know that Hollywood has made a number of films in New Mexico. But one film that gained the kind of notoriety that chambers of commerce don’t appreciate, was Salt of the Earth, an independent film produced by Paul Jarrico and directed by Herbert Biberman, released sixty years ago on March 14, 1954.

The film was shot in Bayard and Silver City and the script depicts an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in Grant County in 1950. Many miners were recruited to play themselves in the film...

El Machete: RIP Chester Nez

RIP Chester Nez

DOJ announces start of negotiations with ABQ Mayor Berry

US Attorney for New Mexico Damon Martinez told a group of community members Monday night that the community outreach portion of their process is coming to an end.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) will present a portion of a draft consent decree to the mayor this week to begin negotiations - possibly as early as Wednesday.  Martinez said that his team wants to reach an agreement with the City on the stipulations contained in the 45 page report in order to avoid filing a law suit regarding the conduct of Albuquerque Police Department. Martinez said, “The negotiations will go on as long as they are productive"...

The VA Scandal

When former Senator majority leader and Presidential candidate Bob Dole said that it was time for VA Secretary Erik Shinseki to go, that was the end because Dole, a war hero, wounded veteran, great public servant and frequent user of VA services has more credibility on this issue than any American. Having introduced Shinseki at his confirmation in 2009, this must be a very painful experience for him.

Senator Dole’s comments made me think of my cousin, Molly from Middleburg, Virginia who worked for eleven years as a volunteer at the Walter Reed Army Hospital...

“Digital Latin America” artists in their own words

516 ARTS is bringing together artists from across Latin America, as well as some locally based talents, for their Digital Latin America exhibition.  The exhibition opens today with a block party from 5pm-9pm. We got a chance to capture a few of the artists speaking about their works in the exhibition and some of the themes involved in their work...

Video shows UNM professor did not assault officer

UNM professor David Correia has been an outspoken critic of APD in light of the police department’s ongoing spree of controversial shootings and damning Department of Justice report which found gross violations of civil rights and a culture where accountability is nearly non-existent.  Correia has stood in solidarity with the family members who have lost loved ones at the hands of APD.  He has appeared on New Mexico Mercury’s “Insight New Mexico” and we found him to be courteous, informed and passionate...

Review: “Common Ground on Hostile Turf: Stories from an Environmental Mediator,” by Lucy Moore

In this short book Lucy Moore tells several compelling stories. Their power for me comes in part from their honesty, including Moore’s willingness to examine her mistakes as well as her insights about the dynamics of her mediation work. The book is about attempts, through mediated negotiation, to resolve conflicts within and among heterogeneous groups of people. It’s about successes, failures, and outcomes that contain elements of both. It’s about helping to build relationships of trust in order to undertake collective action to further a common purpose, but also – not incidentally – for the sake of the relationships themselves...

Weekly Poem: my mother

my mother once told me
through the smoky air of our living room
after a long drag and a long drink
“the women in our family have been
known to bring out the worst in men”...