In her first month of teaching fourth grade in a lower socio-economic school district, a 10-year-old boy rushed at my friend with a sharpened pencil yelling, “I hate you; you are going to die!” The teacher (who requested anonymity) had simply asked him to complete an assignment. Now in her fourth year of teaching overall, […]
Time to put our differences aside
Stubborn Congressional liberals and my way or the highway tea party zealots are laying a heap of hurt on all of us. Hey, kids, it’s time to climb out of the sandbox. As this is being written the stock market is bouncing around like a deranged pogo stick. Business, the working stiff, retired folks. We […]
Training won’t hurt communities
Regarding the Pentagon’s proposed training initiative that would create a low-altitude training range covering most of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. I flew almost 4,000 hours in United States Air Force fighter jets. We flew hundreds of low-level sorties in high speed and relatively loud jets every day over densely populated parts of Europe. […]
Competition won’t hurt rodeo
Farm bill would hurt working Americans
Freedom New Mexico Farm welfare: It’s not just for the poor. While working Americans slave away to pay their taxes, wealthy welfare farmers can rest assured the easy money will keep showing up in the mail for years to come. Even though farmers are thriving as a result of world food prices soaring 43 percent […]
Storm kept 911 dispatchers on their toes
By Sharna Johnson: CNJ Staff Writer A sampling of calls taken by four Clovis 911 dispatchers during the March 23 tornado: Dispatcher: Debby Blankenship 7:55 p.m. Dispatcher: Clovis 911, what is your emergency? Caller: Just calling to report what appears to be a tornado having passed through just south of Clovis. Dispatcher: Where at? Caller: […]
Mother nose best
By Anita Doberman: Lifestyles Columnist My 3-year-old, Eva, is a funny child. She likes to make people laugh and imitate cartoon characters. She is fairly calm and isn’t the one getting hurt jumping off the couch like her 4-year-old sister, or eating marbles like her 14-month-old bother. Perhaps this is why I overlooked certain clues […]
Abusers are weaklings, cowards who should be punished
Clyde Davis: Local Columnist This is the month of imagined horrors. Goblins, vampires, witches and ghosts occupy our yards, our TV screens, our neighborhoods and our school classrooms. Most of it is done in fun, and we like to scare ourselves. Ironically, October is also domestic violence month, which moves us from the realm of […]
Greenwalt returns for 3-on-3 hoopla

Zach Terry of Terry’s Rams drives to the basket against Jesus Medina of the King Ballas during a match-up at the Three-on-Three Hoopla Street Ball Tournament at the North Plains Mall. The King Ballas won 16-14. (Staff photo: Andrew Chavez) By Eric Butler: CNJ correspondent Casual observers, as well as players who were in-between contests, […]
Death is one of life’s cruelest lessons
By Leonard Pitts Torrie was buried on a Friday. The day was cold and clear and there must have been a couple hundred people packed into the church. Most of the mourners were unbearably young — in their teens and 20s, I would guess. One was a woman who had to wait out her tears […]
Enron court case will not prevent further problems
Freedom Editorial It is easy to view the recent indictment and arrest of former Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay with a degree of satisfaction. Executives of the now-bankrupt Enron have been accused of hiding billions of dollars in debt and embellishing company financial statements with complicated off-the-books transactions. Its collapse hurt thousands of employees […]
Nader may syphon votes or be non-player
Project: Reader Reaction A recent Project: Reader Reaction question asked about Ralph Nader’s bid for president. Some responses: “I voted for Nader in 2000. I had hopes of seeing something different in the executive branch of the federal government rather than the two major parties, which have reached the point of almost being indistinguishable from […]
Hurt, Theodore
Theodore Hurt Services: 1 p.m. (CDT) Tuesday at Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery in Dallas. Mr. Theodore “Chief Rotten Eagle” Hurt, of Malakoff, Texas, a retired U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, died Saturday, June 21, 2003. He was born on Aug. 24, 1932, in Bluefield, W. Va., to Robert Griffith and Pansy Hurt. He served in […]