What the people think
Reactions to the governor's abrupt firing of her education secretary are starting to flow in, and it seems like folks are mostly surprised by the dismissal; including the former secretary herself, Karen Trujillo. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office says that initiatives were not being implemented with great enough speed, and spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said that the secretary was "notified on many, many occasions by our office on her communication style, her management style. … I don't believe it was a mystery to her." Trujillo, however, says she is shocked ($ TNM).
It’s that time again
We usually wait until Friday to share our cover story with you, but this week's is kind of a big deal, so we're gonna do it right away: It's Best of Santa Fe season again, folks. Find all the best our town has to offer, as chosen by our readers, in 152 categories sorted into eight groups: Food and Drink, Shopping, Personal and Pet Services, Home and Business Services, Health, Wellness and Fitness, Kids, Living, and Arts and Entertainment. Will we see you at the Railyard on Friday evening at our Best of Santa Fe Party? It's from 5-9 pm and it's fun as heck.
Farewell to Jim
Sad news in Santa Fe's restaurant scene yesterday: Tia Sophia's founder James (Jim) Maryol has died at age 76. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday July 25, a day on which the restaurant will be closed for business.
Homicide mystery?
There is little information so far on the death of 33-year-old Michael Corral outside Del Charro at the intersection of Don Gaspar and East De Vargas Street. He was out with friends on Saturday and eventually ended up in the street with a gunshot wound to the chest, but that's about all the info police have ($ TNM).
Not-so-Live PD any more
Santa Fe will no longer be featured on Live PD ($ TNM), a COPS-like reality show in which camera crews follow around police officers as they go about your average beat. City spokeswoman Lilia Chacon says that the department's insurance company would raise rates if the association with the show continued.
Where’s the pots?
KRQE reports that a $3 million government project to improve Chaco Canyon National Historical Park has gotten messed up; a brand-new exhibit hall meant to hold artifacts taken from the site in the early 20th century … doesn't have any exhibits. Folks at Chaco blame a faulty HVAC system, and for that, in turn, they blame the National Parks Service. Larry Barker takes us all the way back to 1896 to tell the story in full.
See what they’re up to
Kirtland Air Force Base is hosting an open house on Thursday evening for anyone interested in how the base is working to clean up a toxic plume of jet fuel that was seeping into Albuquerque's groundwater. This comes a few months after the high-profile story made national news concerning a dairy herd near an air force base in Clovis that was contaminated during the winter; the plume at Kirtland is not the same chemical, but the heightened awareness of toxic plumes related to USAF bases loops the situations together.
Another decent one
We're looking at a high perhaps around 83 today, with isolated thunderstorms bopping around the state.
Thanks for reading! The Word loves the way poet Jay Hopler describes a storm: "Lightning— Now there's a sexy machete: a pounce of sky electric—electricitied—inflamed."
