Marching for our students’ lives in Santa Fe
At noon Saturday, March 24, students and their families and supporters will meet at the Roundhouse and march to the Plaza for a rally. They will march to peacefully protest mass shootings and gun violence and to demand that their lives — and especially the lives of children, students, parents and teachers — be made a priority. Our young people are galvanized, and to those students, we want Santa Fe to say: “We hear you.”
Here’s how you can support them and be part of this important event. March with them or go to the rally. Make a donation — a GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for the costs associated with the march. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated (www.gofundme.com/march-for-ourlives-santa-fe). Join them, be heard and make a difference.
JoAnn Balzer
Santa Fe
Comings and goings
Thank you, Debbie Harmon, for your thoughts on the proposed Pilot Flying J travel center/truck stop (“The Flying J truck stop: A bad idea for Santa Fe,” My View, March 11). The fact is that these trucks are not going to come from miles around to stay at this facility. They are already here, bringing the food, fuel and materials you use every day. The impact on the homes in Rancho Viejo mostly would be limited to you having to drive by it on the way to town to get items that make life more comfortable. Having a safe place for trucks to rest and get fuel not only would prevent them from going into town to do so, it also would keep everyone on the highway safer.
But we appreciate you coming to Santa Fe and saving those of us who have been here forever from ourselves.
G.E. Wilson
Santa Fe
Remove film cap
New Mexico’s film industry has infused our state’s economy with millions of dollars and thousands of jobs (“Cap on film tax credits should remain,” Jan. 30). But with many other states now offering very attractive incentives — such as California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama and Pennsylvania — we need to remain competitive. Our film cap is delaying payments of tax incentive monies. The film incentive program only returns to the production entities a percentage of qualifying expenses that the productions have already spent in the state. The more money productions spend here, the better it is for our economy. Let’s get rid of the film cap.
Wolf Schneider
Santa Fe
Nice fit
Remember the story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen? Look it up on Google and, of course, read it and see how nicely it “fits,” if you get my pun, with America’s profile and attitude toward its “emperor.”
Keith Higgins
Santa Fe
All one
Typecasting is a human trait. We may, of course, question the graphic portrayal of Native Americans (and African-Americans) in cultural images. But shall we also question the portrayal of Hispanics? Women? Jews? Men? Whites? Anglos? Dogs? Cats? Vegetation? For all portrayals — graphic or verbal, humorous, derogatory, anonymous or not — are typecasting. They do not tell the full truth. Remember, a duck may be somebody’s mother.
Albo P. Fossa Santa Fe
Voting smart
As much as I appreciate and support the editorial on the issue of gun rights and its congressional supporters (“In 2018, make guns the issue,” Our View, Feb. 18), I was disappointed that you did not direct readers to the fastest and simplest means of determining whom to support and their voting records: the website Vote Smart (votesmart.org). This nonpartisan, strictly informationbased organization has been in existence for years and continues to be highly respected, though insufficiently accessed. It is the resource needed for checking the records and actions of members of Congress (and our local representatives, as well) on multiple issues. Please help publicize this important unbiased, factual, research-based resource for information to guide our political decisions.
Carol Winkel Las Vegas, N.M.