Splitsville
The federal Nuclear Weapons Council announced yesterday that it plans to give the majority of the nation's plutonium core, or "pit," production to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Under the plan announced yesterday, full capacity would be 50 pits a year for Savannah and 30 pits for Los Alamos National Lab. It's priority work for the new administration. But it's mixed news for New Mexico, where LANL is the only facility in the country currently set up to produce the cores, which are used as triggers in nuclear weapons.
And scene
It's the last week of class at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Graduation is today. After that, the Laureate Education-affiliated group that runs the school will clear out any offices that aren't already empty and leave. One of the last projects turned out by students is a zombie comedy called Final Cutz, based on the closing of the school and the fire that burned old barracks on campus last year. Students will have to edit it somewhere else and find a venue other than The Screen. The city is still working on what to do with the property, which sports an outstanding debt of more than $20 million from a 2009 purchase.
Highland students claim mistreatment
Two New Mexico Highlands University students say Las Vegas police were unnecessarily rough with them, using bean bag rounds, Taser stuns and punches during a confrontation Saturday night. Part of it was caught on video. The two students are both minorities. Police defended the responding officers.
The name’s bond, well not bond, necessarily …
About that $73 million bond plan. Mayor Alan Webber says he's not certain Santa Fe would need to take on more taxpayer-funded debt, but he wants to be sure it's an option ($). The mayor introduced legislation for two bond issues at Wednesday's governing body meeting. He backed off on Thursday, saying that doesn't mean he's going full-bore after the bonds. Committee hearings will happen over the next few weeks.
F this
Judging by fundraising numbers and nominating results, Pat Davis is not expected to win the 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary. But he hasn't stopped trying. Davis will air TV ads starting today that begin with the phrase (look away if this is going bother you) "Fuck the NRA." Attention-getting, no? TV stations can't censor the ad when it runs, since it's political speech.
90 gallons
That's how much water the average Santa Fean uses each day. It's a pretty low number, as cities go, and compares well to Albuquerque's 127 and Las Cruces' 165—a number Santa Fe hasn't seen since the mid-1990s. It's also fortunate, because, you know, no water.
Lookout
It can be crazy-lonely and crazy-boring, but life looking for fires at a lookout tower perched in the forest is one of the most important tools ($) firefighters say they have for keeping small fires from blowing up into infernos. A 31-year veteran says, "I think most people would hate it after the first hour."
Cooler
Our summer-like burst of hot weather should moderate this weekend across the state. Today's still going to be hot, but the general trend is downward. Wind, however, is trending up. It's going to be ugly out there and, of course, dangerously ripe for fire.
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