OPINION: Talk of the Town

Pavia should be thankful, not disrespectful

I was appalled to read Pavia's apology in the Journal. He was disrespectful and ungrateful to the Heisman voters, Vanderbilt University and his teammates and coaches who helped him become a nominee for the trophy. He projects a sense of entitlement instead of honest humility. Does he really think he accomplished all this on his own? If he wants to be a professional football player he has to learn how to be professional in all situations and be thankful for the people around him who are there to guide him and support him. 

Terry Novak

Bernalillo 

NM needs mobile home regulations 

Thank you for the article by Cathy Cook, “New Mexican legislators push for mobile home regulations” (Dec. 11). It highlights a growing problem that New Mexico lawmakers urgently need to address.

When I purchased my home four years ago, I believed I had found a stable, affordable place to age peacefully. I moved into a senior manufactured home community surrounded by nature and friendly neighbors. I added a ramp and deck, planted roses and settled into what felt like a secure future.

I did not anticipate how meaningful this community would become. Neighbors quickly turned into friends, and friends into chosen family. We check on one another, share rides, pick up prescriptions and groceries, and gather for social events. In an era when loneliness is described as an epidemic, these communities quietly provide effective models for social connection, health and aging in place.

Then we received letters informing us that the land under our homes had been sold to out-of-town investors — without notice and without an opportunity for us homeowners to purchase our community land. New management arrived, and we faced increased rent, decreased services and month-to-month leases.

Only then did I learn how vulnerable homeowners in these land-lease communities are. Homes cannot be moved affordably, yet rents can increase significantly (by as much as 95% in some communities).

What is marketed as affordable homeownership can quickly become a pathway to unaffordability and homeowner losses when communities are treated as commodities.

New Mexico has an opportunity to act. An Opportunity to Purchase bill would allow homeowners to buy their community land — or assign that right to a nonprofit — when the land is sold, preserving homes, affordable housing stock, equity and stability.

I am president of the Land of Enchantment Manufactured Home Owners Alliance (LEMHOA). More information is available at manufacturedhomeownersalliance.org.

Joanne DeMichele

 President of the Land of Enchantment Manufactured Home Owners Alliance

NM senators should support the Fix Our Forests Act

Over the last few years, we New Mexicans have become increasingly familiar with the terrible cost of wildfires: lost lives, smoke pollution, communities battered by the destruction. We need to take action to make our forests healthier and better able to withstand these extreme weather conditions.

The Fix Our Forests Act currently in the U.S. Senate helps our state and America increase our resilience to catastrophic wildfire. The bill will help build defenses for communities in high-risk areas, restore forest health through thinning and prescribed burns and strengthen environmental safeguards. Meanwhile, the Senate version has improved the opportunities for community input and tribal consultations. While I doubt everyone will agree with all the bill’s provisions, it’s a good, bipartisan start to protecting our communities and our precious forest resources.

Please urge Sen. Martin Heinrich to join Sen. Ben Ray Luján and support The Fix Our Forests Act.

Arden Hendrie

Cerillos

Put down the phones during family gatherings 

How was Thanksgiving? Did you find time to give thanks? Or are you more thankful that it’s over? How did it go? Family laughs and terrors? Or a circle of screen zombies?

Almost certainly the latter.

It seems that all of us, young and old, are glued to our phones and devices. As of 2025, the average person spends 6 hours and 45 minutes on their screen daily.

That's every single day.

It might be a little obvious but at family get togethers, families get together. You know, IRL. And memories come from real life.

Look back: Has anyone said something like: “Wow, I’ll never forget scrolling TikTok last Thanksgiving …”

Or is it more like: “Grouchy Uncle Stan actually said that!” Or better yet: “Tia Fernanda made the best buñuelos!”

With Christmas around the corner, now might be a good time to try a family digital detox.

Among many positive gifts, experts say that digital detoxing facilitates stronger family communication and bonds.

As with many addictions — 7 hours a day is an addiction — getting clean isn’t easy. But family holiday gatherings offer a unique opportunity to start.

To start, lose the screens. Put the phones in a room by themselves. With the coats and hats maybe. Turn off the TV. Then:

1. Get busy in the kitchen: bake. Cook.

2. Get outside: walk with the kids. Or just walk.

3. Get a game going: board games. Card games. Group games like Charades.

4. Look at family photos: but the ones on paper! The really old ones.

5. Tell the family stories. (A lot of times, the pictures get that started.)

Above all: talk. Tell stories and make stories. Think of the Christmas get-together like a an internet outage. You’ll be surprised at how fast you’ll begin making new, beautiful memories. IRL.

Jack Doherty

Santa Fe

Prior malpractice system worked for doctors and lawyers

During my 44 years employed with the New Mexico Medical Society (NMMS) before retiring, one of our core priorities was the New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act (NMMMA). In 1976, NMMS and the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association (NMTLA) established an agreement: Before either organization proposed amendments to the NMMMA, both would meet to discuss concerns and work toward consensus. The Legislature encouraged this cooperative approach.

For decades, physicians and attorneys worked together to address challenges under the Act, maintain solvency of the Patient Compensation Fund (PCF) and make needed amendments. Each two-year actuarial study commissioned by the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) provided the roadmap for responsible amendments.

That cooperative process changed in 2015. Without NMMS/NMTLA consult, New Mexico Hospital Association (NMHA) persuaded OSI to allow coverage for 19 hospitals, 20 facilities and about 1,300 additional physicians under NMMMA. Members of the medical community and trial lawyers filed litigation against the superintendent for violating the Administrative Procedures Act.

Between 2009 and 2018, OSI conducted no actuarial studies on these hospitals, facilities and their providers. Aimlessly, OSI and the NMHA set surcharges, changed underwriting and shifted claims exposure to independent physicians without the studies. Roughly 1,500 independent practice providers saw significant premium increases. Family practice premiums rose from $14,193 in 2010 to $24,236 in 2023; OB-GYN premiums rose from $82,000 to $116,760 over the same period. The PCF shifted from a $5.5 million surplus in 2014 to a $94.4 million surplus deficit in the 2023 actuarial study, which included hospitals.

Independent providers must be handled separately. Their risk exposure and claims frequency differ significantly from complex institutions.

To protect access to care statewide, the governor and Legislature should enact the framework in the vetoed 2011 SB-33: a separate Act and PCF for independent physicians and their outpatient facilities.

Randy Marshall

Albuquerque

No reason not to join health care worker compacts

New Mexico already has an interstate compact for nurses, so we are not setting a precedent by wanting to approve compacts for the other health care professional categories. Requiring a licensed medical professional from another state to go through the licensure process in New Mexico in order to practice here is an unnecessary time delay, during which the professional cannot earn a living here. It is also a sticking point when a patient in New Mexico seeks an opinion from an out-of-state medical professional. Instead, the patient would have to travel to that state in order to receive their professional advice when it could otherwise be performed via a videoconference without having to travel out of state. I see no legitimate reason why accepting interstate compacts for the remaining medical categories would not be approved.

Robert Ferguson

Albuquerque