Analysis: Virgin Galactic may be close to taking off, but Spaceport remains earthbound, Part 1
The wealthy continue to reserve seats on VG spaceflights, but neither the state nor Sierra County will receive gross receipt taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales when regularly scheduled spaceflights begin here, thanks to one of several giveaway incentives approved by the state legislature in 2003 during spaceport advocate Bill Richardson’s first year as New Mexico governor.
Fewer people here means fewer dollars from federal and state government
Release of the first set of U.S. Census data shows that Sierra County’s population has decreased slightly while becoming more racially diverse. But the impact on the county budget could be significant.
Can Hatch green chiles outlast the climate crisis?
Growers of New Mexico’s iconic crop wrestle with drought, water rights and labor shortages.
Tenet
If you are looking for an escapist spectacle (with the added attracting of a mind-bending plot), the latest entry from writer-director Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Inception,” “Intersteller”) will do the trick.
The Underappreciated Comic Genius of Anthony Michael Hall
Anthony Michael Hall, the guest celebrity at this weekend’s Truth or Consequences Film Fiesta, is not simply a great actor. The author makes the case here that Hall, who appeared in such iconic teen comedies of the 1980s as “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club,” was the funniest kid ever on film.
Reader at Large: October 8–29, 2021
A digest of some of the best and most thought-provoking articles and books enjoyed by the author in the past several weeks
Politically pointed nudity
Truth or Consequences’s own Lynn Sally reveals how, in the hands of feminist performance artists, striptease can be used to disrupt, rather than reinforce, the social norms that police how women are expected—and thereby bound—to inhabit public space.
The soft vigilantism of Frances Luna
The Truth or Consequences City Commissioner used her other bully pulpit in the Sierra County Sentinel last Friday to call for local-government critics to be verbally assaulted in stores and on the street.
Sentinel’s unconscionable breach of journalism ethics
Ron Fenn, candidate for the Truth or Consequences City Commission, was the only local candidate who submitted answers to the Sierra County Sentinel’s candidate’s questionnaire that the paper chose not to publish.
Why the wait?
A Truth or Consequences resident who has applied to be appointed to fill the vacant seat on the city commission raises a concern about the commission’s decision today not to make the appointment until after the upcoming municipal elections.
Date of Aragon’s hiring in Texas corrected
The Sun erred in reporting on Friday that Truth or Consequences City Commissioner Randall Aragon knew in early July that he would be departing at the end of August for a law enforcement position in La Marque, Texas. The Sun has corrected its story and published his rebuttal and our apology here.
Rooted: Our big move, Part 5
This is the concluding part of an occasional series of personal reflections by Jewell on the challenges and rewards of making a new life for herself and her family in Sierra County.
Baca and Forrister almost squeeze in relative unknown to fill vacant city commission seat
The Truth or Consequences city commissioners’ vote today on the power play intended to seat Shelly Harrelson split, two for and two against. Instead the commission will go ahead with interviews of all five persons who submitted a letter of interest in filling the seat vacated by Randall Aragon at a special public meeting on Nov. 29
“Riverwalk” economic feasibility study recommendations unveiled
Two years in the making and likely to be endorsed at Wednesday’s Truth or Consequences City Commission meeting, the study calls for a public investment of $12 million in outdoor recreational amenities on both sides of the Rio Grande. One third of the estimated cost would go toward the construction of a 46-foot-wide bridge spanning the river, potentially located at either Ralph Edwards or Rotary parks. Accommodating both vehicular traffic and recreational use, the bridge would also serve as a conduit to bring water and wastewater services to the east bank to enable, for good or ill, commercial and residential development.
How the rise of copper reveals clean energy’s dark side
The demand for copper is estimated to grow by 350 percent by 2050 because of its use in most forms of renewable energy. But the extraction of copper poses significant environmental risks to the communities near the mines.