Letters to the Editor

Paper Changes, January 4: Got a Brand New Bag

The best part about the new year is that everything can be fresh. The paper you are holding is one example. SFR has been delivering local news and culture since 1974, and our print edition is our pride and joy. This year, we're rolling out improvements to the layout that enliven your reading experience.

Check out our redesigned Movies page, for example. Gone are the "Barf" to "Yay" ratings, replaced with a numeric system that allows our critics more freedom of explanation. We're also conserving the physical resources that go into making the paper, printed locally by The New Mexican on recycled paper with soy-based ink. The new format means less paper waste and no staples.

What hasn't changed is our commitment to speaking truth to power and to having fun while we share our community. We're ever grateful to our readers and advertisers.

Julie Ann Grimm
editor@SFReporter.com

News, December 21: “The End of Everything”

Not so Fast

While I didn't vote for "the Don," I have to say your article is off simply because you have this idea that the past administration has done wonders. Healthcare in New Mexico has gone downhill. Doctors are closing their doors or not taking insurance. Clinics are booking patients two and three months out because there are too many people needing care and not enough caregivers. Emergency rooms have longer lines again because of too many people and not enough doctors. ...

The economy is growing according to the media, but two in 10 families in this state earn less than $10,000 a year. ... We have one of the highest violent crime rates in the US. We are at the bottom of the barrel here, so it's not like he can make things much worse. Oh, and don't blame a Republican governor when it's the Legislature that seems very proud to have blocked almost anything she has tried to do.

The only point you made that I paid attention to was the attorney general appointment. Legalization [of marijuana] in New Mexico has been stalled in the roundhouse for years by the D's. ... If they would get their head around that little question, or at least put it up for public vote, we might be able to dig out of the massive shortfalls we have here.

Glen Finn
SFReporter.com

MeYowz

Maybe some of these cats commenting feel safe from the collars of tyranny, but I for one am grateful for your clear breakdown of how our national crisis of democracy stands to affect us locally. Write ON, brave journalists, write on right here in Santa Fe. MeYOWZ.

Kathryn Brady
SFReporter.com

Don’t Gut Our Help

If inequality and the well-being of hardworking Americans are truly important to the new Congress, they are now in a position to prove it.

More than 43 million people in this country still live below the poverty line. That number would be more than twice as high were it not for federal anti-poverty policies, according to the Census Bureau. Why then would the new Congress be gearing up to attack these programs?

I hope we can count on our members of Congress—Representative Ben Ray Luján and Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall—to reject any proposals that would take us backwards—whether gutting SNAP by turning it into a "block grant" or reducing access to Medicaid. Instead they should focus on doing some good, like expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to workers not raising children, who are currently taxed deeper into poverty.

Now more than ever, we need to focus on making things better for hardworking Americans. Dismantling our safety net is not the way to do that.

Estelle Berger
Santa Fe

Letters, December 14:“Adios, Compadres”

To the South with You

I am proud to be a resident of a sanctuary city. I believe that [Mr. Bender] misunderstands the definition of a "sanctuary" city. It means that our police force won't engage in unconstitutional practices of profiling or stop-and-frisk based solely on a perceived appearance. Criminal activity will be prosecuted. It is the responsibility of all citizens to continue to fight against hate crimes and ensure protection for those disenfranchised by president-elect's administration. So Mr. Bender, you and your friends won't be missed here, nor in New York City or Los Angeles and so many other cities in the US designating themselves as a "sanctuary." Perhaps a vacation to North Carolina or another state that embodies extreme practices against its citizens might be more apt. Congrats to Mayor Gonzales. He makes me proud of our community.

Mary Ann Cristello
Santa Fe

The Fork, November 24: “Turkey Hangover”

Some Warm Fuzzies

You do such a great job!! I'm in LA, but we visit Santa Fe every year and you really help me to broaden my understanding of what is going on politically, socially, and culturally and I'm grateful!

Mary Ann J Kaczmarski
Los Angeles, California

Reader Poem, December 24:

Winter Gloves

Canyon Road loves,
Just so they know,
even with out snow.
Those leather mittens
were my kittens.
Twenty-one was I,
headed for the sky.
Sheepskin lined,
Brown suede outside.
Resewed for my hand
finest mittens in the land.
Many a snowball fight
had they, through the night.
A warm hand and two
they made it through.
SnoSeal on the outside
dark brown, they never lied.
Forty-two years of delight
They were my winter might.
Now you have them both,
please take no oath.
Ecstatic the two
were left for you.
Enjoy my lifelong friends
Truly my time with them ends.
If you read this
There is no amiss.
Keep them, keep them,
Your delight is my gem.
Ever grateful
for what is fateful.

By GF Zaxus

Santa Fe Reporter