Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m very proud to say that my wife (and three nephews) have retained possession of a family farm in central Nebraska that was homesteaded by her pioneering great great grandfather. It’s nothing that will ever make us rich, but it is a great source of pride to be able to hang onto a piece ofContinue reading “Targeted direct marketing blows a five-amp fuse…”

When my parents first began operating the Ruidoso News in the early 1950s, we did not have a large enough press to print the newspaper in our home town. The closest place with a broadsheet press for printing newspapers was in Alamogordo. Our staff would “make up” the lead type pages of local news andContinue reading “Strange things happen at White Sands…”

New Mexico has had its share of notorious UFO incidents over the years, beginning with the famous Roswell incident in 1947 in which an unidentified object crashed on a remote ranch northwest of the city. Air Force officials in Roswell first declared it was an extraterrestrial object, but later recanted the story to say itContinue reading “I think I know why a UFO was buzzing around Union County…”

During my years as a journalist reporting on the New Mexico Legislature, there was an oft told joke around the capitol that many of the lawmakers were elected to their posts simply because local constituents just wanted them out of town for a month or two. I had great respect for many of the legislatorsContinue reading “Maybe it wasn’t an accident…”

During the pandemic, my wife and I have relied on curbside delivery to pick up basic grocery items from a nearby Wal-Mart. The experience has been pretty good for the most part — the store occasionally substitutes items or is out of stock of other things, but we get most of what we want withoutContinue reading “I’m glad there weren’t any mini watermelons nearby…”

Two posts I recently wrote discussed an incident in which a Taos woman sued the local McDonald’s for injuries she suffered when a toilet paper dispenser detached from the wall of her stall and struck her in the head. She claimed she merely tugged on the roll of toilet tissue when the device turned intoContinue reading “On second thought, maybe a consumer warning is needed…”

Northern New Mexico experienced demonstrations last year focusing on statues memorializing early Spanish explorers who had brutalized Native American people in the Southwest. Several statues and memorials were removed or torn down by angry protestors. In Santa Fe, city administrators feared that a statue in Cathedral Park memorializing Diego de Vargas would be vandalized, soContinue reading ““Oh, it must be that thing covered up with pigeon poop in the back lot…””

(With apologies to Daivid Letterman. And bear with me, this post might be a bit long and philosophical… ) Many years ago, my father, who prided himself for his knowledge of New Mexico history, told me that when the territory was being considered for statehood, there was consideration given to calling it “Lincoln” instead ofContinue reading “Lincoln , Lincoln, a town so nice they named it twice…”

A good friend who faithfully reads my blog and is probably the most thorough fact checker I’ve ever known discovered some additional details about a blog I posted earlier this week. That story regarded a woman who sued a Taos McDonald’s for assault by a toilet paper dispenser. The woman claimed she was injured whenContinue reading “The flying toilet paper dispenser, part II…”

Probably everyone in southern New Mexico has visited the City of Rocks, between Deming and Silver City, at one time or another. Like many things to see in our high desert neighborhood, you saw it once and then you kind of forgot about it. On another one of our recent weekly journeys to rediscover ourContinue reading “Another overlooked Chihuahuan Desert gem…”

You might remember that in 1994, an Albuquerque woman received a $2.86 million settlement when she was burned by hot coffee at a McDonald’s drive-up window. Not to be outdone, a Taos woman pursued legal action against the double golden arches in the northern New Mexico community during 2016. In this case, the woman claimedContinue reading “She wasn’t rolling with the flow…”

An Albuquerque TV station seeking tips on local news stories got a call from a man in 2015 who said his next door neighbor’s bee boxes were a source or annoyance for the surrounding area. The neighbors complained of the constant buzzing and cringed about the danger of being stung by one of the critters.Continue reading “It was all the buzz on the local TV news…”

I never cease to be amazed by the new things I am constantly learning about New Mexico history. For example, did you know that Thomas B. Catron, the attorney known for his role in the “Santa Fe Ring” and the Teapot Dome Scandal in the early 1900s was once the largest private land owner inContinue reading “If he wasn’t the cook, why would he know where the kitchen was?”