Help us build a community calendar for better business coordination

To Marfa businesses, hotels, STR management, event planners,

We’re reaching out to invite you to collaborate on an initiative that could significantly benefit all of us — a shared Marfa Business Community Calendar for upcoming events and expected visitor surges in our area.

As small businesses, we thrive when we can plan ahead. Whether it’s ordering additional inventory, scheduling staff, or managing hours and logistics, knowing when large events or a high volume of guests are expected makes all the difference. Unfortunately, we often learn about major happenings — weddings, conferences, large private events — only after we’ve placed our weekly orders and we’re overwhelmed or unprepared.

To solve this, we’re proposing a centralized Marfa Business Community Calendar, where:

  • Hotels and STRs can post general periods when they anticipate higher occupancy (no personal guest data needed).
  • Event planners and venues can list large events, such as weddings or festivals.
  • Local businesses can stay informed, plan accordingly, and even collaborate on promotions or services.
  • Our goal is simple: better communication leads to better service and stronger local business.

We’re not asking for detailed or sensitive information — just high-level alerts like, “Expect 200+ guests arriving for a wedding on July 15th” or “Hotel X is at 90% occupancy the weekend of Sept 12th.” This small effort could help restaurants stock up, shops staff up, and the entire town make a great impression on visitors.

I have created a free online calendar and would love to have as many businesses involved as possible. Please contact planetmarfa@gmail.com or on Instagram @planetmarfa and I can send you a link to access the calendar. If we work together, this could become an invaluable tool for everyone.

Thank you for being such an important part of our community!

Warm regards,

Colby Martin
Planet Marfa

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American Fascism?

In 2003, Laurence W. Britt, a retired international businessperson, writer and commentator, wrote an op-ed for Free Inquiry Magazine, called “Fascism Anyone?”

At the same time, Donald Trump was heavily involved in real estate having just completed construction on his Trump World Tower and was beginning his venture into his now fraudulent Trump University. It would be 10 more years before his intentions to enter the political arena manifest. 

Britt took the fundamental characteristics of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’ Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia and came up with a list of 14 common ideologies that linked these regimes to each other. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s gift shop sold a poster listing these early warning signs of fascism. Below is the list with my annotations relating to today’s Trump administration.

1.  Powerful and Continuing Nationalism (Project 2025)

2.  Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights (the separation of families & LGBTQ community)

3.  Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause (Immigrants)

4.  Supremacy of the Military (Trump’s $45 million military parade & birthday party)

5.  Rampant Sexism (Jean Carrol, remarks of sexual exploitation)

6.  Controlled Mass Media (continuous attacks on trusted news media)

7.  Obsession with National Security (the Golden Dome & acquiring Greenland)

8.  Religion and Government are Intertwined (obviously)

9.  Corporate Power is Protected (support for Citizens United)

10.  Labor Power is Suppressed (frequent criticism of unions and their leaders)

11.  Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts (attacks on Harvard & takeover of the Kennedy Center)

12.  Obsession with Crime and Punishment (was part of his running campaign)

13.  Rampant Cronyism and Corruption (the Trump Cabinet & Jan. 6 pardons)

14.  Fraudulent Elections (voter suppression & I guess we will have to wait and see)

Looking at this list one can say the writing is on the wall. It is quite evident the direction that our Nation is heading. Professor and leading expert on Fascism, Jason Stanley, has recently left his position at Yale University and accepted an appointment at the University of Toronto based on what he describes as the deteriorating political situation in the United States. If our Democracy can survive these next four years, we as a Nation of the People can protect what our Founders and Constitution created, but it is up to us to vote.

The last paragraph of Britt’s article leaves us with a haunting foreshadowing of our constitutional crisis we are experiencing today.

“Does any of this ring alarm bells? Of course not. After all, this is America, officially a democracy with the rule of law, a constitution, a free press, honest elections, and a well-informed public constantly being put on guard against evils. Historical comparisons like these are just exercises in verbal gymnastics. Maybe, maybe not.”

If you would like to read the full article, “Fascism Anyone?” by Lawrence W. Britt you can find it online at https://secularhumanism.org/2003/03/fascism-anyone/

David F. Long
Shafter

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Dear Editor,



One of my favorite expressions is “Keep your side of the street clean.” I love this adage for both its literal and metaphorical meanings. On one hand, it reminds me to mind my business and check the mirror instead of casting stones. On the other hand, it is just wise to actually keep my side of the street clean.

The West Texas winds blow around all sorts of trash — receipts from Lowe’s, Dollar General bags and sometimes, mysteriously, trash from fast food joints we don’t even have. I walk my dog Trixie every day and notice all sorts of things: plastic bottle caps, Bud Light cans, and sometimes straight up cash.

We often traverse alleyways, which is where most of the trash seems to accumulate, especially in cacti. All sorts of straw wrappers, old socks and even illicit substances present themselves. What if, I wonder, at least one person per block decided to adopt their very own block to keep clean? When so much, globally, is out of our control, keeping things local feels so much more manageable and empowering.

Little acts of service, like keeping an alleyway clean, can have a ripple effect that we might not even see how far it goes. Like a homeopathic cure, sometimes small catalysts are exactly what’s needed.



With love,

Amanda Holstien
Marfa

Don’t close the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend National Park

Closing the Chisos Mountains and one of the most beautiful areas of Big Bend National Park for two years or more is a very big mistake. The National Park Service says that only the Chisos Basin area of the park will be affected during the construction of a new restaurant and that 800,000 acres remain to enjoy. Imagine going to Yellowstone and not seeing Old Faithful or going to the Grand Canyon and not seeing the South Rim.

Big Bend National Park is Texas’ gift to the nation as the result of the state purchasing approximately 600,000 acres of land and then donating it to the federal government to establish the park. There must be better alternatives than spending over $22 million dollars on a new restaurant and gift shop to justify closing one of the most scenic areas of the park at Green Gulch and the Chisos Basin, popular hiking trails and the most beautiful campground in Texas. The NPS says that the restaurant cannot be built in a safe way without closing the high elevation areas of the Chisos Mountains for two years or more. The NPS should be reminded that this is 2025 and that there are high tech engineers who know how to get things done. Over 30 years ago, new motel units were built in this same area and this kind of drastic measure was not required.

What the National Park Service is planning is not in line with President Trump’s Common-Sense Revolution. Recently I spoke with several major business owners in the area just outside the park and all agreed that the NPS plan does not make any sense. In two or more years, local businesses are going to lose a big percentage of their profits, and many businesses may not survive at all.

As a former park ranger at the park and executive director of the Big Bend Natural History Association and a regular visitor and supporter of protecting the park for decades, I believe that we all need to speak out strongly against this plan while the project is still in the pre-bid stages. The Park Service is not required to respond to phone calls and emails, but each Texan and others across the nation can speak out in support of keeping the entire park open during the construction of the new restaurant by contacting their elected representatives including the president, while there is still time.

Rick LoBello
El Paso