Court curtailed
In the words of Lionel Richie, Santa Fe may get to fiesta forever. But it's not going to look the same. The annual celebration of Spanish heritage and reconquest will have a very different look this year: The Entrada is gone. So, too, may be the story of Don Diego de Vargas' return to Santa Fe that's told by the Fiesta court during visits to Santa Fe Public Schools. At tonight's meeting, the SFPS board is set to consider ($) what's taught during the visits.
Pre-K in practice
The effort to bring city-wide pre-kindergarten programs to Santa Fe hasn't stopped since voters overwhelmingly decided a sugary-drink tax was a bad way to fund it. But you sure don't hear much about it anymore. Meanwhile, cities and school districts like Las Cruces and Roswell are pushing ahead with programs. Some have help from the state and others are looking for a new way to fund the beneficial programs.
Sky-high stacks
Republican Steve Pearce says he wants to keep the San Juan Generating Station open. PNM plans to close the coal-fired plant in the next few years; two of the four units are already shut down. But the congressman and Republican gubernatorial hopeful says he wants to find a buyer for the power plant, which takes coal from a nearby mine that would also be shuttered if the plant closes.
Zapped
A hearing examiner at the Public Regulation Commission says SunZia isn't being specific enough when it comes to telling the commission—and ergo, the public—where it plans to put towers for electrical transmission lines in across 320 miles of Southern New Mexico. The years-long fight by the company to provide a more efficient path to market for renewable electricity will take its next step when the commission reviews the examiner's decision next month.
Overriding concern
Wooed by the promise of new jobs and new tax revenue, the Albuquerque City Council voted to override Mayor Tim Keller's veto of a $2.6 million incentive package for Topgolf. The recreation complex will occupy the spot just south of Montano and I-25 that some may recall was the site of The Beach waterpark.
Transferred
A close associate of Gov. Susana Martinez has been transferred from the Department of Public Safety to a new job at the state Department of Corrections. Amy Orlando is named in a lawsuit as a victim of sexual harassment by State Police Chief Pete Kassetas, who allegedly sent her a picture of a man's testicles and told her the boots she was wearing made him feel randy. Thom Cole has the story ($).
Blindspotting
We don't toss around nines too much at SFR. That's movie reviews, not guns. But funny you should mention that, because guns play a very important symbolic and literal role in Blindspotting, which reviewer Matthew K Gutierrez gave a nine out of 10 rating. Calling the storyline "one of the best this year has to offer."
More like it
If we could just ignore anthropogenic climate change for a minute, that would be lovely. It's not hard; just ask three percent of scientists. We're trending toward an end of the week that feels more like summer should feel in Santa Fe, with highs in the mid-80s and afternoon storms all week. It'll even cool further toward the weekend.
Thanks for reading! The Word wishes El Niño would get its you-know-what together and be strong instead of weak. This is America: We don't do weak anymore.
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