
Please sir
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has traveled to Washington, DC, to ask for federal aid in handling an influx of migrants. Her spokesman says the state has taken on the federal government's funding responsibilities, and that she will request reimbursement for the humanitarian assistance, more staffing and resources, and better communication about when and where migrants are being dropped off. While her requests focus on humanitarian aid, Republicans are urging military-style intervention.
Do it for the turtles
Reusable straws are all the rage right now in some circles, though one company is not feelin' the love. The drama around the FinalStraw (TNM $), developed by a company founded by Santa Fe resident and former LANL employee Emma Cohen and her business partner Miles Pepper, sees Cohen accusing Pepper of holding a prototype "hostage" and starting a rival company with the intellectual property they developed. Cohen is seeking damages of an amount to be determined at trial.
Bye, Mary
New Mexico Museum of Art Director Mary Kershaw, who has notably led the charge in the museum's acquisition and renovation of the former Halpin Building at the corner of Guadalupe and Montezuma, is leaving New Mexico. Kershaw has taken a post in Flagstaff as director of the Museum of Northern Arizona.
Pro-choice support
A small but dedicated group of women turned up on the Plaza yesterday for a rally to #StopTheBans, and in support of abortion rights. The mid-day rally was only conceived of the evening before. A few hundred people gathered in Albuquerque then marched downtown (yesterday there was a national call to action, so a number of cities saw demonstrations).
Leger drawings
The congressional candidate you may not have heard of yet, Teresa Leger Fernandez, talked to SFR this week about her platform and why she loves our region. She's running in CD3 against former CIA operative Valerie Plame and District Attorney Marco Serna, among others.
Hush money
KRQE's Larry Barker reports that an investigation has found nearly $2 million paid out late last year by the Martinez administration to keep public employees quiet about information that would further tarnish that governor's already dubious legacy. The money, paid out by New Mexico's Risk Management Division, came from tax dollars and went to employees claiming discrimination, retaliation, harassment and hostile work environs. Allegedly, their claims were not properly investigated before the employees were paid.
Stay in your lane
You may recall the heartwarming story turned horrid, when a Pecos basketball coach granted a kinship waiver to provide a home for one of his male students was then charged with assaulting female students. Dominick Baca is back in the news again, this time for violating the conditions of his pretrial release by traveling to Albuquerque for a night when he was supposed to be on house arrest.
Weather woes
More than one reader was a little upset with the Word yesterday for talking about Albuquerque weather instead of Santa Fe weather. The Word usually uses the easy formula of subtracting 5 to 8 degrees from Albuquerque temps to get Santa Fe's predicted temp, but turns out that would have been wrong yesterday, anyway, as it was a pretty raw one. Looks like Santa Fe temps should be up today, with a 0% chance of precipitation. This weekend we could near 80 degrees. The Word may be able to finally retire the fuzzy boots.
Thanks for reading! The Word has a vegan friend visiting this weekend. What's your favorite vegan meal in town?