
Weekend tragedy
A crash at the Red River Memorial Day motorcycle rally has left two bikers dead (TN $) and five injured. The folks killed were Lorenzo Cortez, 58, of Ranchos de Taos, and Jennifer Lynn Ashley, 43, of Colorado Springs, who were on the same bike. This is the second year in a row that someone has died at the rally; last year (TN $) it was a man fleeing cops. This year, it is unclear what caused Cortez to swerve into oncoming traffic (alcohol is not suspected).
Let the sunshine in
Santa Fe City Council is debating transparency. Specifically, the body is looking at procurement, and at what point the public should be made privy to proposals presented to the city. For example, a request for proposals might draw a number of bids on a contract, but should those be open to the public? An amendment to city code would say no, because making those bids public could lead to uneven competition among bidders, among other reasons. Councilor Signe Lindell says that is a small price to pay for transparency; Councilor Mike Harris says keeping the marketplace healthy outweighs the need for transparency.
What happened to Walter?
A cold case from 13 years ago could warm up in Santa Fe. Police are asking the DA to take another look at the death of Walter Donlon, 87, in 2005. They suspect his property manager, Marvin CdeBaca, killed him. CdeBaca says he found Donlon after a fall. The newfound interest from law enforcement was reportedly spurred by a KRQE investigative report earlier this month.
Not so convenient
As Santa Fe did a few years ago, Farmington is now looking at banning miniature liquor bottles (FDT $). A lobbyist for the convenience store industry says the ban will be struck down and that banning the bottles isn't an answer to the bigger problem of alcohol abuse and DWI, but advocates for such bans are mostly frustrated about trash. (When Santa Fe tried this kind of ban in March 2015, it was overruled the following October.)
Down south
Daniel Chacón over at The New Mexican takes a look at Santa Fe's Southside ($), asking officials and residents what they want and what they think the other thinks they want—and how the community and the media can help them make the whole picture clearer. By the way, SFR knows this is a talking point in our town, which is why we successfully applied for a Report for America grant to hire a new reporter to cover the Southside in depth for a year. RFA fellow Katherine Lewin joins our staff on June 3.
Lawsuit against care center
An Española family is suing a now-shuttered rehab facility and nursing home for causing the death of Ramon Rodriguez, who'd had quadriplegia since a car accident in 2008. Investigations at Española Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center uncovered more than 50 violations in just the first two months of 2018; the facility was shut down shortly thereafter.
Auntie Em
Severe storms in Eastern New Mexico have left residents scrambling to clean up the detritus. The tiny community of McIntosh, south of Moriarty, has been hit hard, and they're getting help from relatively nearby Edgewood folks. There have also been reports of tornadoes touching down near Clayton, in New Mexico's northeast corner.
Cardigan day?
After an extremely windy day on Thursday followed by an obscenely gorgeous weekend, the weather cools off a little today, with apparent plans to pop the mercury back up later in the week. Today's expected temp is 73 in town, which sounds just fine to us.
Thanks for reading! The Word was touched by how many of her Facebook friends posted Wilfred Owen poems this weekend.