Letters to the Editor (Feb. 3)

Proposed senate bill should be rejected

Editor:

New Mexico state lawmakers are once again trying to let violent juvenile criminals out of prison early.

Senate Bill 43 will override previous criminal sentences and allow early parole for nearly all juvenile criminals. No crimes are exempted: mass shooters, rapists, and murderers all become eligible for early parole after only 15 years.

Violent criminals like Nathaniel Jouett (who committed a mass shooting at a library in Clovis), Nicholas Ortiz (who murdered three people with a pick-ax during a home invasion), John Gamble (who killed a 15 year old by brutally beating him and setting him on fire with gasoline), and many more will all be eligible for early release.

These same lawmakers tried and failed to pass this bill last year. They are once again stubbornly trying to push this legislation through, in spite of the massive crime wave currently engulfing the state. Albuquerque already experienced a record number of homicides last year, and New Mexico has the second highest violent crime rate in the entire nation.

Lowering the penalty for violent crimes will embolden would-be criminals and put violent offenders directly back out into our communities. Violent crime in New Mexico will continue to increase, as will the number of innocent victims who are hurt and killed.

While I sympathize with the desire to give people second chances, this bill is not the correct way to do that. It does not separate out truly horrific offenders and make them ineligible for early parole. It also imposes too severe a burden on violent crime victims and their loved ones.

If this bill is passed, victims will be in constant fear of their released attackers coming back to hurt them. Even if their attacker is not initially released, the victim’s entire life will be consumed by repeated parole hearings. Each hearing will force them to re-live the memory of the attack, and rekindle the fear that the perpetrator will be set free and can come hurt them again.

The victims of violent crimes, and the state of New Mexico, deserve better than this.

Nathan Spulak

Bosque Farms

Freedom or disobedience

Editor:

The letter from Charles Garcia on Jan. 13 attempts to make a case for disobeying the very necessary COVID health masking mandate.

I do not much mind that these anti-masker and anti-vaxxers tend to kill off themselves and their families, but I do mind that they are the major cause of infections and deaths among innocent strangers.

So here is some homework for Mr. Garcia, to see whether his position is about freedom or about disobedience per se. The assignment for Mr. Garcia and other anti-maskers for the next week is to drive on the left-hand side of the road.

G.E. Nordell

Rio Communities

Artists helping community

Editor:

Just to let Maggy Fitzgerald and others know, the Belen Art League and Bugg Lights Museum are non-profit organizations.

The Belen Art League (BAL) has been at their current location since 2003, and was established so artists in the community could display and promote their art work. The BAL is a membership organization and currently has over 100 members.

We are not only a art gallery but we have helped the community with numerous projects. Have you visited the Veteran’s Memorial? The mural, the eagle and signage for the memorial and their visitor center was done by BAL members. Recently, a new mural has been painted at the Belen Public Library. The BAL has held children’s summer art programs for many years. All done by members volunteering their time and talent.

The Bugg Lights Museum is one of the few free Christmas displays in New Mexico. This allows the community to enjoy a night out without a burden to the family budget.

This past year, 2021 it had 6,343 visitors. These visitors also stop by other stores and restaurants in Belen. It was Ronnie Torres’s vision to have a permanent location for this display. Ronnie Torres and I spend many hours of our free time to set up this display for our community.

We are both members of the Belen Art League and are always volunteering. Economic growth is important for Belen, but you have to have events that will bring people in. That’s what we are trying to do.

Cecilia Aragon

Belen

Put on the mask and stop the whining

Editor:

We are now over two years into this unprecedented pandemic, and still we are subjected to the whining of people about their “personal rights” being infringed because of mask and vaccination mandates.

Most families, mine included, have had the grief of losing a family member or friend to this disease — nearly one million families have been touched so far.

I do not understand why wearing a mask is considered onerous. This is a public health matter. We already follow numerous public health mandates: we are required to use seat belts, we can’t smoke in public areas, use of intoxicants when operating vehicles or heavy machinery is forbidden, patrons of restaurants must wear shoes and shirts and many other examples.

I do not see people complaining because their airline pilot can’t show up to work overly tired or intoxicated, even though arguably the pilot has a “right” to use alcohol. We know, or should know, that such mandates are for the public good. This not a matter about one individual’s rights but the collective health and safety of all.

I am begging those who feel they are entitled to ignore the common good, please stop getting our direction from the far-right talking heads on conservative media (most of whom are vaccinated and wear masks by the way) and listen to our medical and scientific voices.

Put on the mask, get the vaccine, stop whining and let’s get this common enemy defeated once and for all.

Ron Lahti, M.Div.

Belen

To the cat-nappers

Editor:

The bowling alley is gone, and I have lived within these two blocks for the last 61 years, and I have always had alley cats. They have always had food, water and a place to stay.

You have brought gourmet food and treats every so often. Now there is a cat that we have had for at least nine years that you can pet and hold.

You made friend with it, but that did not give you the right to take it home, put a collar on it with a new name and phone number on in.

I took the collar off, hoping you would leave it alone. Now we have not seen our cat in awhile. So just remember every time you pet it where you got it.

It should still be an alley cat, and we sure do miss the bowling alley.

Frances G. Romero

Belen

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