Columnists - The Journal

So many bills, so little time

This is the last full week of the 2013 session. Still to be debated and voted on in the Senate are many weighty topics, some presented in lengthy bills of over 100 pages. Examples are dramat...

DATE: Apr 29, 2013 | CATEGORY: Life in the Legislature

Living with seasonal allergies

Spring has officially sprung, and here in the Four Corners that means breezy days and trees and grasses coming back to life after being dormant through the winter. This combination results i...

DATE: Apr 25, 2013 | CATEGORY: Southwest health notes

A western approach to deficit reduction

Up here in the Rockies, we have our own perspective on the budget debate in Washington. It’s shaped by our keen awareness of the beauties and dangers of nature; our relationship with a feder...

DATE: Apr 25, 2013 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

My experience in the Legislature

Gun control, civil unions, school refinance, renewable energy, Medicaid expansion, single-payer health care, repeal of death penalty, comprehensive sex education, and, of course, marijuana r...

DATE: Apr 23, 2013 | CATEGORY: Life in the Legislature

The Virgin never leaves Hispanic roadside shrines dot the mystic West

Driving across the mystical West, it is important to say a prayer, leave an offering, think of others. The Spanish phrase is “vaya con Dios,” or “go with God.” North of Abiquiu, N.M., is a r...

DATE: Apr 19, 2013 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's travels

Safe havens and evil

Once again it happens with sickening suddenness — a jolting shock that alters and cruelly mocks our assumption of “normalcy.” On a weekend when the news cycle focused on North Ko...

DATE: Apr 18, 2013 | CATEGORY: Cagle Cartoons

‘Terrorism’ debate doesn’t help

The bomb explosions at the Boston Marathon were a form of terrorism, by most definitions of the term. The devices that went off near the finish line Monday were obviously designed to harm in...

DATE: Apr 18, 2013 | CATEGORY: Others Say

April is Month of the Young Child

April is the Month of the Young Child and the perfect time to share what our local early childhood council has been up to over the past 12 months. We know that what happens to ch...

DATE: Apr 18, 2013 | CATEGORY: MECC Cares for kids

'The pig in the python'

When people have asked me to describe this legislative session, often I find myself referring to the expression that it's been like "the pig in the python." There's so much being jammed thro...

DATE: Apr 16, 2013 | CATEGORY: Life in the Legislature

A heist at the depot

It was late in the afternoon of July 7, 1893, when the eastbound train slowly went out of sight and all that remained was black smoke in the distance. As the train disappeared, a lone horsem...

DATE: Apr 16, 2013 | CATEGORY: Columnists

Keep student loan rates low

Paying off student loans takes a backseat to other expenses when a college graduate is unemployed or underemployed. Ask any barista with a master's degree. The high-interest rates help expla...

DATE: Apr 15, 2013 | CATEGORY: Others Say

The Constitution above all else

When I took my oath of office, the most critical part of that oath was to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not be part of destroying it. I would like cit...

DATE: Apr 15, 2013 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns