The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This week’s view from the editor’s desk

All Photos by Clarke Condé.

The view from the editor’s desk this week has been positive. We had a couple of stories verging on the supernatural in Thoughts on Eyeshine by Adrian Pijoan  and Thoughts on “Alien Species” by Eric J. Garcia, and great photos of the aerialist Summer Solon that were part of the Backstory with Keely Mackey about her new album. This week looks promising with new openings on the horizon. 

It was good to have U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury stump for the amendment.

The Good

The good this week was the campaign kickoff to pass a constitutional amendment here in New Mexico to invest the largest surplus the state has ever had (due largely to oil and gas revenue) in education. This means more money for childcare workers, early childhood education of all stripes and more money for the Public Education Department. This ballot measure goes to voters in November.

It was also good that U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich stumped for the amendment. The bad part was the last place ranking for childhood wellness for the state.

The Bad

As I reminded readers last week, New Mexico just slipped from 49th to 50th in childhood well-being rankings. This would help, if anybody knew it was happening.

The ugly? No media. What a shame. Was there a cat up a tree I missed?

The Ugly

While both U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury were on hand to stump for this ballot measure, Albuquerque’s media was not (well, Albuquerque’s magazine of art was there). Maybe they were hiding. This has to rank as a more important story. Investing the money we make from the fossil fuels that are wrecking the place for the next generation is critical. If we don’t make these kids smarter then we are how are we ever going to find our way out of these problems?