Category Archives: Articles

A creative solution for low-income schools

Let’s humiliate the schools a little more, says the Public Education Department. That’s a great way to motivate and encourage students. While this is going on, there’s news of a bright spot. The humiliation: PED has released the “grades” of … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Fixing food insecurity might take more than food

High school kids come around dropping leaflets at my door asking me to donate a bag full of food. This time of year, there are food drives everywhere. Sometimes I give, sometimes I don’t. It makes more sense to give … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Workers’ comp news is good, sort of

From an economic development perspective, the news on workers’ compensation is pretty good. But workers’ compensation is never quite that simple. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, NCCI, presented its annual smorgasbord of statistics recently to a group of workers’ … Continue reading

Posted in Articles, Workers' Comp | Leave a comment

Too much money in political campaigns

When the Dianna Duran scandal made the headlines, I asked a different question. What was she doing with all that money in the first place, I asked? How does the Secretary of State’s race generate hundreds of thousands of dollars … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Take a refresher for safer driving

If you are 55 or older, you can save some money on your auto insurance by taking a driver safety class. New Mexico law (paragraph 59A-32-14 in the Insurance Code) provides that insurers must give you a discount if you … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | 1 Comment

When education works for the students

A small private school sent a letter to parents of children in second grade, describing the evaluation the children were about to undergo. The school, in another state, is based on the Waldorf school model. The director of the school … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Responding to mental illness needs resources

Oh, those inconvenient people – the mentally ill. They fill our jails, they scare their neighbors, they drive their families crazy and sometimes bankrupt, and once in a while they kill somebody, or create a disturbance that leads the police … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Retiree Health Care is solvent for 20 years

A friend told me, excitedly, that he has been approved for the new hepatitis C drug – the miracle drug that is supposed to cure this disease at a cost of $93,000 per patient. He has started the treatment and … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Keep trying to reform school elections

New Mexico’s state constitution has handed us a real zinger. In 2014 a majority of us voted for an amendment to that constitution, but it didn’t get done. It turns out, the majority vote was not enough. The amendment in … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment

Bail reform — if we can do it

There are more people in New Mexico county jails than in our state prisons, and some of them stay there for a long time. In some cases, it’s a relief that they are locked up. In others, it’s a tragic … Continue reading

Posted in Articles | Leave a comment