Snow closures and delays
• Santa Fe Public Schools are closed today as a result of weather and road conditions. After-school activities and athletics are canceled, with the exception of high school athletics: A decision regarding high school athletics will be made by 1 pm. District offices are on a two-hour delay.
• Santa Fe Community College is closed, and all classes and school activities are cancelled; the Higher Education Center also is closed.
• City of Santa Fe administrative offices are on a delay and will open at 10 am. As of press time, the city's recreational centers were scheduled to open at 8 am, pending weather conditions. City libraries were scheduled to open at their regularly scheduled times.
• Santa Fe County is on a two-hour delay.
• The First Judicial District Court is closed.
• Non-essential state offices in Santa Fe are closed.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory is closed.
You can find statewide closures here.
Keep in mind, schools and government offices also are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so…let's go sledding!
Cannabis bill introduced
The greatly anticipated Cannabis Regulation Act was introduced yesterday in advance of the legislative session kicking off Jan. 21. Albuquerque Democrats Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino and State Rep. Javier Martínez introduced Senate Bill 115 (Martínez is the sole sponsor for the corresponding House bill), a 173-page piece of legislation paving the way for lawmakers to take up legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the economic argument for doing so yesterday to business leaders at a Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce lunch, calling recreational cannabis "an economic game-changer," that would create 11,000 jobs and significant tax revenue.
Ethics group pushes lobbyist reform
New Mexico Ethics Watch released a report yesterday that identifies numerous reforms to limit lobbyists' influence ($TNM). Among other policy proposals, the watchdog group recommends lobbyists be required to disclose which legislation they are working on when they make campaign contributions and expenditures, and to disclose how much they are being paid. The group also suggests a two-year moratorium for lawmakers before they become lobbyists. Moreover, the report analyzes the relationship between lobbyist expenditures and lawmaker votes in the areas of cannabis, firearms, film and tobacco-related products.
Report says NM could end homelessness
New Mexico could end homelessness in the next five years, according to a report from the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. According to the report, between 15,000 and 20,000 people each year experience homelessness in New Mexico. The coalition's analysis says it would cost approximately $61.3 million per year over two years to help the 6,548 people not assisted through current resources, along with a one-time investment of $48 million in state capital outlay funds to build additional permanent supportive housing. The coalition's executive director, Hank Hughes, said the goal is to "create a system in which homelessness is rare and nonrecurring" ($TNM).
For the trees
With help from volunteers, the Santa Fe Municipal Tree Board has been working since 2016 to inventory the trees in Santa Fe's public parks and in front of public buildings. As SFR reports this week, the data is intended to help city managers create a strategic citywide plan for protecting the trees, as well as a plan for where and how to plant more trees that increase the forest's overall resilience to quickly changing temperatures, weather conditions and disease outbreaks. At its most recent meeting, the tree board also reviewed its goals for the coming year and put forward the need for the city to hire an urban forester. John Muñoz, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department, says he plans to include the position in budget proposals for the next fiscal year. "It is a key position, a leadership position. One that is needed," he tells SFR.
Spirituality at Sunrise Springs
Star Tribune "religion, faith and values" reporter Jean Hopfensperger recently wrote of her visit to Santa Fe, where she spent time at Sunrise Springs resort for her "first foray into spiritual tourism, to explore what is one of the fast-growing segments of the travel industry—and maybe return more rested and centered." Hopfensperger wanted to investigate the trend, but says she's "wary of New Age wu wu such as crystal or aura readings" and "incapable of countless hours of meditation or yoga." Somehow or another, she still settled on Santa Fe for her visit, and spent four days having late breakfasts, nature hikes and taking spiritual classes (note to self: become a religion reporter). Hopfensperger did not, she writes, return to Minessota "in a state of inner bliss," but did "unlock some insights useful for this new year." She also had fun playing with the kittens in Sunrise Spring's "Cat Corral."
What will you eat in 2020?
SFR's food newsletter, The Fork, seems awfully excited about 2020 food trends (The Word hopes this means she will not have to keep reading about The Fork's search for lemon Kit Kats in the coming year). Those trends include an uptick in pea protein, more micro-boozing and something called a food board, which, instead of holding charcuterie, holds…french fries. Intermittent fasting will also apparently continue to rise in popularity, which seems understandable if pea protein, micro-booze and boards filled with fried foods are the alternative. Also check out The Fork for the latest in Santa Fe's food scene: The Lena Street Iconik Coffee Roasters' new seasonal menu will obliterate all thoughts of fasting.
It snowed. It might snow more.
Yesterday, the National Weather Service predicted Santa Fe would have one inch accumulation of snow. That was patently wrong. Today, it's calling for patchy freezing fog before 8 am, and a chance of snow showers—possibly with rain after 11 am—with new snow accumulation of less than half an inch possible. That possible snow/rain will then gradually clear, with highs reaching 42 degrees. Breezy conditions with a southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west 15 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Tomorrow is expected to be sunny, with a high near 39; Sunday also will be mostly sunny with highs near 44.
Thanks for reading! Here's something else to read: "Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for 'the least of these.'" So said Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1964 Nobel lecture, "The Quest for Peace and Justice." You can watch some MLK speeches here. The Word will be on hiatus this coming Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and will be back on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
