New Mexico Senate upholds abortion ban

Body politics

The state Senate has rejected the repeal of an old abortion ban ($) on the books in New Mexico. The old law is unenforceable for the time being due to federal laws, but a heavy push to strike the law comes in advance of fears that the US Supreme Court will overturn or undermine Roe v Wade. The repeal was defeated when eight Democrats broke ranks and voted to keep the law in place. The vote doesn't change any current laws.

Let the sun shine in

We told you the other day about how we're suing the Santa Fe Police Department again for secret records that should be public, and fittingly, this week we have also published The Foilies. The Foilies, a dubious honor bestowed each year by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, are "awards" for the least transparent governments in the country, whether malicious or incompetent. From shredding records days before they are to become public to photocopying the label of a CD-ROM rather than sending the contents of that CD-ROM, there are a few head-scratchers and stomach-turners in this week's cover story.

A dancin’ mess

A fire at Albuquerque's National Hispanic Cultural Center that subsequently caused a flood is bad enough, but it's now left the National Institute of Flamenco in search of a new venue for big performances tonight and tomorrow. The group found a new home at a venue at UNM a fraction of the size of the NHCC, so it's refunding all tickets and inviting folks to buy new ones.

Wednesday night’s alright

After Boxcar, the Guadalupe Street bar with the big big big TVs, refused to serve 29-year-old Justin Duran, he brandished a gun ($) and threatened the bouncer and told the manager to "go get your boy." Back in September, a Santa Fe deputy got into an altercation outside the same bar, but we prefer to remember just how good their chicken fingers are rather than the fights that tend to break out. (Really, they're very good.)

That’s kind of important info

Keeping track of race in regards to crime statistics seems pretty important, right? New Mexico doesn't seem to think so. In a move that is just as baffling as it is frustrating, New Mexico is one of two states in the country that doesn't require cops or corrections facilities to record the race of offenders and inmates in most situations (or, even weirder, just lets intake personnel eyeball it and guess). This lack of data is on its way to causing serious problems in tracking what exactly is going on here.

Amalia Compound suspects indicted

Five people in Taos County have been indicted on federal terrorism charges stemming from the discovery of a suspected "training camp" last summer. While searching for a 3-year-old boy kidnapped from Georgia, authorities stumbled upon the ramshackle compound, which held five adults, 11 children and a cache of weapons. There was outcry when child abuse charges were dropped in August.

Third base

The seminal improv comedy show Whose Line is it Anyway? made unlikely stars out of Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, and tonight the pair comes to the Lensic to present their brand of expert comedy (spoiler alert: They are two of the funniest people on the planet). There are still tickets available, and the Word is highly disappointed to be unable to go. Attend, please, so we can live vicariously through you.

Back to “normal”

Today will warm up a little and likely burn off the last of that snow from yesterday, and temps should be back to seasonal normals by the middle of next week. Kids delighted by snow days will not be delighted by days added on to the school year to make up for lost time, which the school district will do ($) if this happens again, so let's hope for mostly clear skies the rest of spring.

Thanks for reading! The Word would like to remind folks that just because you have the right to do a thing doesn't mean it's right to do that thing.