Martinez relinquishes leadership
State Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Ojo Caliente, announced on Friday he was resigning as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Interim Committee. Those resignations follow a bench trial earlier this month in which Martinez was found guilty for aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving. Martinez, who will be sentenced on Jan. 7, says he does not intend to resign his seat, which he has been urged to do by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Into the forest
The US Forest Service and Justice Department have filed suit to remove an injunction against logging operations in six national forests ($TNM). Fish and Wildlife Service biologists say the thinning operations, intended to suppress wildfires, support habitat for the Mexican spotted owl. The September injunction, which barred all logging, but was modified in October to allow some activities, was issued by US District Court Judge Raner Collins, who said federal agencies had failed to monitor the species. WildEarth Guardians, which filed a lawsuit in 2013 seeking protection for the owl, disputes biologists' current contention that they have complied with the court order. WildEarth Guardians Executive Director John Horning says the group does not plan to file a motion against the Forest Service's request to lift the injunction, as he is confident the judge will reject it.
Law and order
New Mexico will have some new laws come Jan. 1, 2020. Among them: a statewide wage increase, which will raise base pay to $9 an hour, with additional increases in the coming years, capping at $12 per hour in 2023 (Santa Fe's minimum wage is $11.80 per the city's Living Wage ordinance, and is no longer the nation's highest ($TNM)). Other changes will expunge some felonies from ex-convicts' records once they've completed their sentences—a prospect that raises numerous open questions, including the potential impact on the courts, as well as on public transparency. In addition, a new law will take effect increasing oversight of so-called surprise medical billing, and close tax loopholes for homeowners who rent properties using third-party websites.
Barking up the right tree
New Mexico Highlands University forestry program has received full accreditation through 2029. The full accreditation from the Society of American Foresters makes Highlands' program the only accredited post-secondary forestry program in the state. "The Society of American Foresters represents our entire profession and its accreditation process ensures that our program at Highlands meets the highest standards," said Joshua Sloan, Highlands' department chair for Natural Resources Management. Sloan said graduating from an accredited program will help the students secure jobs upon graduation, and that SAF accreditation provides a program prestige due the rigors of securing the designation.
Pedal to the metal
PBS NewsHour spent time recently with Santa Clara Pueblo artist Rose B. Simpson, whose black, refurbished 1985 Chevrolet El Camino pays tribute to potter Maria Martinez. The car, "Maria," is part of the "Hearts of Our People" art exhibition, the first major show focusing solely on art by Native American women. Currently on display at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, the show will also appear in Washington, D.C., and then Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2020. Simpson—who comes from a long line of potters—gave a tour of her Santa Clara studio for the segment, and speaks with NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown about art, craft and postcolonial stress disorder, among other topics.
The sounds of Northern New Mexico
Hyperallergic magazine highlights the current Museum of International Folk Art Museum exhibit "Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico" (which runs through October, 2021), and its in depth and expansive exploration of the "intergenerational knowledge" that informs Northern New Mexico's Hispanic music. Nicolasa Chavez, MOIFA's curator of Latino, Hispano and Spanish Colonial Collections, tells the magazine the exhibit has particular resonance at this time. "For the past 50 years or so, New Mexican folk music was largely seen as dying out, while other Latino musical forms were gaining popularity. But, today, New Mexican folk music is regaining its traction, though it remains the least known type of the Hispano music. Not many people know that New Mexico has its own genre of music."
Fresh start
Assuming your New Year's Eve plans don't leave you wrecked, The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department State Parks Division offers up a First Day Hikes program on Jan. 1, 2020 at nine state parks across the state. The events include a hike at Elephant Butte Dam from 10 am to 2 pm, the only day of the year the dam is open to pedestrian traffic. If you're really feeling spunky (or bonkers), consider participating in polar bear plunges at Storrie Lake State Park and Eagle Nest Lake State Park. You can find more details on individual hikes here.
Looking out for youth
Youth Today, a national magazine focused on youth services, profiles the Court Appointed Special Advocate program in the First Judicial District, which includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. CASA, a national nonprofit, matches volunteers with youth in foster care to help advocate for them, in the legal system and elsewhere. "The system is overburdened and these kids get lost so we have an adult that really gets to know them and pays attention to them," says Annie Rasquin, executive director for CASA's First Judicial District program. "What these kids tell us is that there are people in and out of their lives all of the time. No one is consistent and CASA ends up being the only consistent. We feel like we're lifesavers for these kids."
The bitter (cold) end
Today's forecast predicts sunny skies, with temps reaching near 30 degrees for a high. As balmy as that sounds, the wind chill values will be as low as -3. North wind 10 to 15 mph. As for Tuesday, aka, the last day of the year—nay the decade!—it will be mostly cloudy with a high near 34. Tuesday night will be partly cloudy with a low of around 20 degrees. Our next chance of snow right now is predicted for the first night of the new year (aka Wednesday), when there is a 20% chance of it after 11 pm.
Thanks for reading! The Word supports Daily Lobo Editor Justin Garcia and the University of New Mexico student journalists in their conflict with their own journalism department ($TNM) over the basic tenets of public records laws. Keep up the good work.
