Down and dirty news catchup
While the holidays tend toward snoozy when it comes to news, a few items from The Santa Fe New Mexican ($) caught our attention long enough for us to stop cheerfully guzzling eggnog and return to our normal state of existential despair. To wit: Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan appears to be flashing what is sometimes considered a hand gesture signifying white supremacy in a photo his wife posted on Instagram. Former Inn of the Five Graces employee Kevin Abell is suing the hotel and its owners, alleging they fired him because he's gay. And last, but just as abject, former state employee Lorraine Otero is suing her former boss, New Mexico Board of Examiners for Architects Director Melarie Gonzales, alleging Gonzales wrongfully terminated Otero after harassing her to rub lotion on her shirtless body.
Sad monkey business
US Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, D-NM, have asked the National Institutes of Health to again consider moving 43 retired laboratory chimpanzees from the Alamogordo Primate Facility on Holloman Air Force Base to the national sanctuary system at Chimp Haven in Keithville, Louisiana. A letter from Udall and Heinrich, as well as US Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA, follows NIH's decision last October not to transfer the chimps to the sanctuary, saying they were too sick to move ($NYT). The lawmakers say NIH's decision violates the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act (CHIMP Act), which requires chimpanzees live out their lives in a sanctuary.
Bah, humbug
While New Mexicans were preparing for the holidays, New Mexico Gas Co. was filing a request to raise their rates. If approved by the Public Regulation Commission, the gas hike would generate more than $13 million, with an average household bill of 50 therms rising an estimated $1.71. The company says the rate increase is needed to recoup costs for capital projects, and that rates would still be some of the lowest in the region for its 530,000 customers in the state. If approved, the new rates would go into effect in January, 2021.
Put that in your pipe
New Mexico lawmakers plan to push a bill in next month's 30-day session that would raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21. A federal law that does the same will go into effect next year. One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque, says the intent is to "keep the next generation—and the generation after that—from being nicotine addicts." According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers first try smoking before they turn 18, and use of e-cigarettes also is on the rise with teenagers.
Winter wonderland
SFR will have a new issue on the streets on New Year's Day but, until then, you can still pick up our double end-of-the-year Winter Guide. And there is no better time to do so, as even post-Christmas plenty of holiday remains in which you may want to ski in Taos (as well as at New Mexico's other resorts), drink some winter brews and weather the cold weather. We got you covered with all of that, plus out-on-the-town picks to keep you entertained through the end of the year (the Word will be at the Moby Dick/Pink Freud show on Dec. 28, if you'd like to have a word with her.)
Startup bucks
Science and tech startups, listen up. The state Department of Economic Development is awarding $10,000 grants to up to 10 science and tech companies with fewer than 50 employees. The companies must work in aerospace, biosciences, cybersecurity, intelligent manufacturing or sustainable/ green energy fields. The deadline to apply is Jan. 23, and applications must demonstrate a unique product and benefit to the state, among other criteria.
Finding Native American women
The New York Times takes a deep dive into the crisis of missing Native American women ($), with a story that opens in Gallup, New Mexico and chronicles what happens when one of those women is found. "Nothing happens afterwards—that's the scary thing," according to Annita Lucchesi of the Sovereign Bodies Institute, which "has tallied numbers of missing and murdered from a jumble of police reports, news clippings, family contacts and social media posts." Activists and victims' families say not enough is being done to find Native women—who suffer disproportionately high levels of violence—or to support their recovery.
Sand and spiders
ICYMI, White Sands National Monument has been officially designated the country's 62nd national park. US Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, along with US Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-NM, introduced legislation changing the designation as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2020 fiscal year; President Trump signed the bill on Dec. 20. As you read up on the startling beauty of gypsum sand dunes, you may also enjoy this take by Melanie Radzicki McManus, writing for The Chicago Tribune, about her adventures there. Spoiler alert: tarantulas.
Tip of the iceberg
If you kinda liked the snow storm we had over Xmas, you may enjoy the coming days. First: Today, patchy freezing fog before 8 am, after which it will be mostly sunny with a high near 42. Tonight: a 20 percent chance of snow showers after 11 am, with an 80 percent chance of snow on Friday, leading to an accumulation of approximately one inch. Temps over the weekend will be in the high 20s and low 30s heading toward New Year's Day, on which we have a slight chance of snow as well.
Thanks for reading! The Word isn't particularly materialistic, but is still jazzed about her Christmas haul, which included a stuffed unicorn, a book on David Bowie and a La Choza hoodie.
