Lights out, beer’s gone
The contents of shuttered Santa Fe brewery Duel are to be auctioned off on Friday. The money made from selling beerish supplies and restaurant goods will help Duel's landlord recoup some of the more than $31,000 that MIA owner Trent Edwards owes, but will not go toward the 10 claims of unpaid wages filed with the Department of Workforce Solutions.
Welcome to the world
A few more bills we can now call law include criminal justice reform like rethinking solitary confinement and a "ban the box" measure (meaning private employers can't ask about criminal records at initial application), changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day statewide, help for firefighters with PTSD, and an end to coyote-killing contests. The governor has until Friday to sign more bills, so stay tuned.
Owens convicted
It took a jury about a day and a half to convict 32-year-old Christopher Owens with second-degree murder in the case of a killing over a joke. Owens shot Tim Baca, 30, in the chest in Santa Fe in 2017 after Baca made an off-color joke after a night of partying.
We can’t bear it
If you've walked by Manitou Galleries on Palace Avenue, you have probably petted the head of a mountain lion or a bear. It's compulsive. Apparently, though, it was also a compulsion for thieves to steal one of the massive statues ($) on Sunday night, despite the heavy bronze creature being bolted into stone. A peacefully sleeping bear statue by Joshua Tobey, valued at $19,000, has gone missing, and two men in hoodies are the culprits. That should narrow it down.
Backwards down the number line
The presidential administration has cut a few billion dollars that would fund next year's US Census, and that could have dire consequences in New Mexico. Considering the levels of rural living and poverty in our state, our population is one of the hardest to count, and Census workers contend that even a slight drop in funding will make our count inaccurate—and, in turn, just a 1% undercount of New Mexicans could mean missing out on more than $23 million in federal funds that we desperately need.
Heads up
After a week of no water due to a busted well in the Lone Star Mobile Home Park on Agua Fría, where they lived, a Santa Fe family had insult added to injury when a man fleeing police crashed his pickup into their home ($), demolishing it. Thankfully, and perhaps miraculously, no one was actually injured, but the Carmona family is now high and dry. Friends have set up a GoFundMe to help defray costs of hotel living and relocation.
Let’s call the whole thing off
With the legalization (and prediced boom) of hemp in our state, New Mexico State Police are considering providing officers with test kits to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana. Hemp, an immensely useful plant that can be used to make pretty much anything, from paper to clothes to plastic-like products, has no THC and can't get you high. Weed does have THC and can indeed get you high. But they are identical to the naked eye. Hemp, which would be legal to transport around the state, would have .3% or less THC content. Psychoactive marijuana has more like 20%.
Sweater weather
It will be cooler and more windy today, with fire warnings in the southern and eastern plains. But since we asked if anyone here was from Tucumcari a few days ago, and no one responded, we're guessing that second part doesn't directly apply to any of our readers. But hey, we could be wrong. Anyone? Anyone?
Thanks for reading! The Word is not thinking about potholes.
