Opinion Columns – The Journal

Vote ‘yes’ on Intiative 310

I am writing to encourage Colorado voters to vote yes on Initiative 310, open primaries/ranked choice voting. I live in Alaska, where this system was approved by voters in 2020 and first imp...

DATE: Sep 10, 2024 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Trump gets pass time and time again

I never cease to be amazed at the pass that Donald Trump gets in the mainstream media despite the consistently outrageous things he says, but this one really takes the cake. Michael Tomasky ...

DATE: Sep 10, 2024 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

It’s still about Uncle Micky

According to Lindsey Graham, Don Trump is “Bat (dung) crazy.” But that was then, before the wholesale of souls who made a bargain with the devil that Trump’s fascism is the route to make Ame...

DATE: Sep 10, 2024 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Our view: Are four-day weeks shortchanging students?

How much time should students spend in the classroom each week? And each day? We are among those who believe that the four-day week creates a larger teacher and administrator hiring pool and...

DATE: Sep 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Editorials

Medicare or Medicare Advantage?

Dear Editor, In addition to football season and election season, it soon will be open season for Medicare, and we’ll be bombarded with ads (like this one) for Medicare Advantage from privat...

DATE: Sep 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Panel to be held about Medicare, Medicare Advantage

In addition to football season and election season, it soon will be open season for Medicare and we’ll be bombarded with ads for Medicare Advantage from private insurance companies. If you ...

DATE: Sep 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

3rd Congressional District ‘needs a representative like’ Adam Frisch

While there is excitement about the candidacy of Kamala Harris, Democrats and independent voters in Southwest Colorado need to remember the must-win 3rd Congressional race. Adam Frisch is ru...

DATE: Aug 30, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘We don’t have to take away the best family beach around’

My grandson and I have passed many a wonderful lazy afternoon at the Narraguinnep Beach. In a busy world of rules, laws and expectations, that beach was a refuge of solitude, beauty and simp...

DATE: Aug 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Durango’s land acknowledgment requires facing ‘problem and its root causes’

The person disparaging Durango’s land acknowledgment because it “focuses on the distant past and the despair and hurt that have occurred” comically misses the entire point of such acknowledg...

DATE: Aug 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

City Council ignoring constituents on Durango’s Central Business District

As part of a $400,000 effort to “test” the viability of the city’s plan to redo Historic Downtown Durango into an outdoor dining mall, the city has installed fake sidewalks, taking up 15 par...

DATE: Aug 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Polis is wrong to call for another special session on property taxes

Gov. Jared Polis has made a big mistake calling for another special session to further cut property taxes. Yes, property taxes have caused concern for many Coloradans in recent years. But th...

DATE: Aug 20, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Mancos won Tuesday’s match in straight sets

Bluejays won Tuesday’s match in straight sets

Panthers win Tuesday’s match in straight sets

Joe Martinez eager to bring pro boxing back to Farmington39-year-old will return to ring for main event Sept. 13 at McGee Park Coliseum

AZTEC – Snapping of leather comparable to the sound of gunshots reverberate off the drywall that is slathered along the walls of garage. Classic rock music from the 1980s pours out of the radio and fills the room, creating a spirited atmosphere.The receipt of drudgery lays on the floor in the form of sweat. But the thing that draws the most attention in the converted gym is the focus of professional boxer Joe Martinez.Martinez will headline Farmington’s first professional boxing card since 1985 when he squares off against Jeremy Ramos of Colorado Springs for eight rounds of super middleweight action.The card features eight matches with six fighters from Aztec, Bloomfield, Kirtland and Farmington. The card also features El Paso native Jorge Tovar, who will put his undefeated record to a test when he takes on Elijah Sweat of Las Cruces.The fights, which are promoted by the School of Hard Knocks, begin at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at McGee Park Coliseum.Martinez carries a 23-8-1 professional record and jumps back into the ring five years removed from his last fight in 2019 when he defeated Arturo Crespin via knockout.

“I’ve been fighting in the main events in Ignacio (Colorado) for a very long time, and I’ve been wanting to bring a fight here in Farmington and we’re finally getting here after 39 years,” Martinez said.Born in Farmington and fighting out of Aztec, Martinez made his professional debut in 2004 when he defeated Phil Gurule by knockout, the first of 11 knockouts Martinez collected in his decorated career.Martinez has achieved marks such as becoming a National Golden Gloves champion, a junior Olympic champion, a Gene Lewis National Champion and earning the title of Gene Lewis outstanding fighter.The prized achievement of Martinez’s career came in 2005 when he defeated Vicente Garcia, winning the WBC Mundo Hispano Welterweight World Title. In that fight, Martinez broke his jaw in the first round and continued to battle for nine rounds to earn the victory by scoring decision. The fight gained so much traction that it was named the fight of the year in New Mexico.

Nicknamed “Ironman” by his youth church group, Martinez embodies every letter of that term.In 2006 and 2007, Martinez broke his hand in both bouts but continued to push through the pain to win both matches.“Boxing is one of those sports where you can’t rely on somebody else to come in and help you out,” Martinez said.The preparation to endure eight rounds of punches to various areas of the body requires a precise and dedicated training regimen.“We usually start training camp two months out because we have a certain method of peaking at a certain time,” Martinez said. “Increasing the weight of the gloves and increasing rounds to make sure you are in tip-top shape. Boxing every single night, hitting the track, hitting the hills. It’s crazy because it really is like a full-time job.”

As painful as it might be to watch a loved one take a few jabs and uppercuts as a profession, Joe’s wife, Erika Martinez, understands that she has an important role in her husband’s corner.“At the beginning, it was little tough to get used to because I didn’t like to see him getting hit. But as the years went by, you kind get used to it, and I am at that point that I get really pumped up for him and do anything that I can to support him,” she said.Because of pop culture icon Rocky Balboa, the general population thinks of boxing in the form of Adrian and Rocky from the popular film series. Important to Rocky (played by Sylvester Stallone), was his wife Adrian (played by Talia Shire). The same could be said about Erika, who has been with Joe since 2010 and handles all the background noise for her husband.“Taking care of the kids, making any runs for food or ice for his ice baths and of course the meals because they are always important to him,” she said. “I make sure that he is focused and has no distractions and being the behind-the-scenes lady.”Training is a crucial part of any boxing routine, but none could ever compare to the reason or purpose that gets a fighter to take that walk up those stairs and into the ring.

Over the course of 20 years, Martinez has come to understand that his drive and determination in the ring comes from external forces.“In the beginning I had always done it for myself, but now I have a family, and I do it for them too,” he said. “I train my butt off because I want to show them that through hard work there is victory.”The opponent in the red corner across from Martinez features a 12-15 record, including four knockouts. Although the fight will take place in front of a home crowd, Martinez’s focus remains the same.“I am taking this like any other fight, taking it extremely serious,” Martinez said. “The guy I’m fighting is a very serious contender, so it’s exciting to bring boxing back after 39 years, but it’s not distracting from the mission.”No matter the outcome, Erika Martinez is sure of one thing.

“I have never met anybody that works as hard as (Joe) has, and I have been around sports all my life,” she said. “His work ethic is ridiculous and motivating, and you will never meet anybody that works as hard as he does.”To purchase event tickets, call 505-436-9473. General admission prices are $35 each, and ringside seats are $75 each.

39-year-old will return to ring for main event Sept. 13 at McGee Park Coliseum

Photos: Four Corners Motorcycle Rally returns to DurangoAnnual motorcycle event held on Saturday

Annual motorcycle event held on Saturday

Martinez, who’s also fought live in Ignacio, will enter the ring Sept. 13 at McGee Park Coliseum in Farmington

Bulldogs defeat Plateau Valley 32-12 on Friday night

Montezuma-Cortez volleyball goes 0-2 on home floor

Former employees and area residents watch decommissioned power plant’s smoke stacks fall on Saturday

‘Fire in the hole’: Four smoke stacks demolished at San Juan Generating StationFormer employees and area residents watch decommissioned power plant’s smoke stacks fall on Saturday

WATERFLOW – “Fire in the hole,” could be heard before the explosion that rocked San Juan County, bringing down the smoke stacks at the San Juan Generating Station in Waterflow.Former employees and area residents began arriving around 7 a.m. Saturday to find a place to park in a dirt lot opposite the decommissioned power plant so they could witness the 9 a.m. Aug. 24 destruction of the stacks.“I don’t know what I’m feeling now,” Justin Yazzie said, with tears in his eyes as he watched the towers fall to the ground. Yazzie, 70, worked at the plant for 40 years and retired as a fuel and water analyst in the water laboratory.

“I was practically raised there,” he said.Working shifts, which included 12-hour days, he spent more time with co-workers than with his family.Yazzie said he has a lot of “good memories” that he shares with his former co-workers and other retirees. Despite the loss of the plant, he said he still favors fossil fuel and accessing it “ethically.”

“We need it. The people need jobs,” he said.Yazzie said he lives his tradition and culture. He farms the land and has cattle, which he “under grazes.”“I want to take care of the land, take care of Mother Earth,” Yazzie said, adding he did his part by putting solar panels on his house.Yazzie said the San Juan Generating Station “provided a good life of growing up for our kids.”“It also saved and left a good pension and 401-K to live comfortably,” he said. “I mostly feel sad for the next two generations that won’t have the opportunities I had.”As a single mother, Coral Singer also found opportunities to support her child by working at San Juan Generating Station. Singer worked as a server before she attended San Juan College for welding. She got a job as a boilermaker at the plant as a member of Local 627.She said the staff was 75% Native American, and “it was their bread and butter.”“Now we have to travel to find work,” Singer said. “It’s a sad day.”

Singer’s son, Franklin Miller, watched the stacks go down while he was by his mother’s side. He said he will be happy to see the land reclaimed.“We don’t get precipitation like we used to, and the native plants used in ceremonies and medicinal purposes don’t grow here like they used to,” Miller said, adding he believes this is because of the coal-fired plants.“We have to go deep in the forest to find the medicinal plants,” Miller said, adding the plant’s demolition will “help clean up the air and bring back the native plants.”Tom Harper worked at the plant for 10 years in the computer department working on a 40-year-old PBX system and network switches. He said he had “mixed feelings” about seeing the smoke stacks go down.“It was a fixture for so long in the area,” Harper said. The plant opened in 1973 and originally had four coal-burning units. Units 2 and 3 were closed in 2017, and Units 1 and 4 continued operating until September 2022, when those two units were retired.Units 1 and 2 were jointly owned by PNM and Tucson Electric Power, according to a news release from the Western Clean Energy Campaign.Units 3 and 4 provided power to PNM, plus a mix of municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and as far as California, the release said.

Former employees and area residents watch decommissioned power plant’s smoke stacks fall on Saturday

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Editorial cartoon

Vote ‘yes’ on Intiative 310

Trump gets pass time and time again

It’s still about Uncle Micky

Our view: Are four-day weeks shortchanging students?

Medicare or Medicare Advantage?

Panel to be held about Medicare, Medicare Advantage

3rd Congressional District ‘needs a representative like’ Adam Frisch

‘We don’t have to take away the best family beach around’

Durango’s land acknowledgment requires facing ‘problem and its root causes’

City Council ignoring constituents on Durango’s Central Business District

Polis is wrong to call for another special session on property taxes

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