On your marks
The legislative session begins today, as lawmakers from around the state pour into Santa Fe for the next month. Because it's the short session, they're limited to handling budget matters and whatever else the governor puts on the agenda. We'll find out everything that's on that list this afternoon as Susana Martinez delivers her final state of the state address.
New sexual harassment policies and training
Lawmakers have adopted new sexual harassment policies that require an outside investigation of allegations, as well as clarifying the definition of harassment and mandating training every two years ($). The old policy was just a couple of pages long and charged lawmakers and top staffers with investigating their own. It was also worded so poorly that it appeared to be applicable only to staffers, and not legislators.
Senate Democrats elect Mimi Stewart to leadership post
After ousting Sen. Michael Padilla from the state Senate's second-highest party position last month, Democrats elected Albuquerque's Mimi Stewart as their whip. She's in charge of tracking votes and making sure members are in line with the party position as much as possible. Democrats removed Padilla after Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham, who's running for governor, said she thought he should bow out of the race for lieutenant governor because of previously known allegations of harassment. He did, though he still maintains his Senate seat, to which he was elected long after the allegations were made public.
UC how committed we are
Officials from the University of California, which has been involved in running Los Alamos National Lab since the place opened in 1943, told a group that the school has missed some opportunities to be more of a community presence in Northern New Mexico, but remains committed to the job. UC's contract—it's now part of a partnership with private companies like Bechtel—is up for bid after the consortium failed to make performance goals in recent years. New groups featuring the University of Texas and Texas A&M are also bidding on the $2 billion annual deal.
SFPS superintendent upholds suspension
Julian Carter, one of the students tied to a letter that threatened a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School, will remain on long-term suspension ($) following a decision by Superintendent Veronica Garcia. The 15-year-old Carter says he knew far less about the letter than the district is assuming, and while he did see it, he says he thought it was a bad joke. He wants to attend school in another state. The district disagrees and says there's a safety issue.
For the birds
The latest installation of Our Land on New Mexico PBS is well worth a five-minute investment. The report goes behind the scenes at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to explain how managers there try to replicate the environment that established migratory patterns for tens of thousands of cranes and other birds. The scene where an eagle stirs a flock of thousands of birds is incredible.
Brrr
It's going to be a few degrees colder than normal for most of us, but a sneaky cold front approaching from the East means it's going to be downright blustery for that part of the state. High temps in Roswell and Clayton and other spots could be below average by as much as 20 degrees. Expect highs in the upper 30s in Santa Fe, low 40s closer to Albuquerque. It should warm up toward the end of the week. Roads are nasty in the northeast, especially on I-25 north of Glorieta Pass.
Why don’t you take a picture?
Aside from lasting longer, it could also win our annual photo contest. It's one of our most popular reader-participation projects throughout the year. As usual, there are prizes for the winners, you get published and there's an art show where you can strut about like the cock of the walk. It's just $5 to enter and the proceeds go to the NM Fund for Public Interest Journalism.
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