Quantcast
Opinion
Opinion
Opinion
News for Santa Fe and New Mexico :

That cruel joke called water law

In weeks to come, the New Mexico Court of Appeals will hear arguments in a water-rights case.

We're sure the judges have had at least some exposure to that field of law so crucial to this state — but we're equally sure they'll learn a lot more from a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the San Juan Agricultural Water Users Assn. — 15,000 or so senior water-rights holders along that river above Farmington. »Read this editorial

Off we go, into the styled blue yonder ...

Lest the taxpaying American public — and you know who you are, and aren't — wonder how well its dollars are being applied to the president's war against terrorism, we should take, well, comfort, from a report yesterday in The Washington Post. »Read this editorial


Domenici Medicare vote doesn't help his party

Pete Domenici is helping build a case for Tom Udall, not Steve Pearce, replacing him in the U.S. Senate. »Read this editorial


Obama Spanish pitch a call for inclusiveness

He didn't win friends or influence people from the English-only bloc, but Barack Obama's recent advocacy of Spanish struck a nice note here in the American Southwest. It should resonate around the country. »Read this editorial



From The Santa Fe New Mexican:

July 20, 1958: There is an echo in the old mining camps, amid the dark and empty shafts. There is this one hope: "the camp will come back." At the oldest lode mine in the United States, the Mina del Tiro mine at Cerrillos, the camp has returned. Antedating the Ortiz and Santa Rita mines by 100 years, containing "the only real evidence of ancient lode mining in the southwest" the mine has a history of slave labor and torturous work, going back to the cruel days before the Pueblo Uprising of 1680. Although many of the old Spanish mines were filled in by the Indians after the uprising in 1680, Mina del Tiro was apparently left untouched. Worked to the water level, the mine has been thought worked out. Since 1956, when work started again, a crew of 15 men has worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on the mine. The water has been pumped out and below the water level ores of lead, zinc, silver and copper have been found. The ore that has been dug has been left inside the mine until production begins. It is thought there is enough ore uncovered to keep the mine producing for about a year.

July 20, 1983: Carlsbad — New Mexico and Texas have made a fowl deal that's a turkey for both states. The deal concerns two subspecies of turkeys the states have trapped and traded to boost the states' bird populations. In southeastern New Mexico, the trade-out means that the Dark Canyon area near Carlsbad now boasts wild turkeys for the first time in years. Ben Hanson, wildlife information officer, said 66 Rio Grande turkeys were released in January in the Dark Canyon area of the Guadalupe Mountains west of Carlsbad. The birds were trapped near Canyon, Texas. In exchange, New Mexico provided Texas with 45 Merriam's turkeys. The birds were trapped near Raton and were released in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.
»Read more


The past 100 years July 19

The past 100 years July 21

The past 100 years July 18

The past 100 years July 17

The past 100 years July 16



Pull plug on 'gotcha' politics

Your July 15 story about John McCain's visit to New Mexico contained the zinger quote from the candidate: "We've got to let 1,000 flowers bloom ..." That is the common misquote of Mao Zedong's invitation to the Chinese intelligentsia in the summer of 1957 to criticize his government: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend." Of course, many of those who took Mao at his word were executed. »Read more letters


Enron was rehearsal for main event

Letters to the editor July19

Letters to the editor July 18

Letters to the editor July 17

Letters to the editor July 16

Submit a letter to the editor

More from The Santa Fe New Mexican

Sports

Shark circling with 2-shot lead in British Open

SOUTHPORT, England — Gusts that approached 50 mph required Greg Norman to manufacture shots from his 53-year-old memory Saturday in the British Open, which he called among the toughest tests he has ever faced in golf.  »Story

Neighbors

Time for Tradition

Spanish Market is nothing if not tradition, and nothing illustrates this better than the Youth Market. In fact, the Youth Market, whose artists must be at least 7 years old, has "grandmothered" in 6-year-old Isaiah Valenzuela.  »Story

Health & Science

New generation of robots hopping in

You might wonder what the shoebox-sized rover is doing when it nears the 8-foot wall, pops a pen-sized eyeball out of its midsection and has a look around.  »Story

Links


Advertisement



Loading Login Status...

Sponsored by:

Advertisement

Display Ads

To unsubscribe click here to login and change your newsletter settings