Santa Fe National Forest closes
Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend, fire-abandoning jerks. As documented last year, the US Forest Service relies heavily on people to police themselves when it comes to fire safety. We suck at it. The forest supervisor tells SFR the service counted 84 abandoned, illegal campfires over the weekend. That was enough to convince him the likelihood of human-caused wildfires was too great to keep the forest open. Closure starts tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock. Sorry, folks.
Delta force
Top news on Politico.com Wednesday evening was Michelle Lujan Grisham's profit from the New Mexico's high-risk insurance pool. Most states have done away with such pools, which were created to provide an insurance option for people with pre-existing conditions before Obamacare required insurance companies to cover them. Delta Consulting (worth a click just to see their picture choice) was the company founded by Lujan Grisham and her campaign treasurer, state Rep. Deborah Armstrong. Lujan Grisham sold her stake in the company last summer, though Republicans have been uncomfortable with the arrangement. Lujan Grisham reportedly made between $165,000 and $350,000 from her share in Delta.
SF passes budget
Santa Fe's governing body gave unanimous approval to a budget for next year. The city took what's called a zero-based budgeting approach this year, requiring department heads to price out what they felt they needed from the ground up instead of building ($) on last year's budget. Most city departments will stay flat or even get a bit less. Police and Fire Department budgets get a big boost. The La Farge Library in midtown will be open for four hours on Sundays starting later this summer.
Pedal on
The mayor and City Council gave final approval last night to the one incomplete urban stretch of the Rail Trail bike and pedestrian path that stretches from south of town all the way to the Railyard. The city's price tag for the connector has caused heartburn for years—it's not quite $1 million, but you can see it from there—and three councilors still voted against it. The council tried to save money by using existing bike lanes through the South Capitol government complex, but the Rail Runner stops there, too, and the state worried about too many people getting confused and putting themselves in harm's way.
Bus stopped
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller says his city still doesn't have $75 million dollars from the feds that his predecessor, RJ Berry, assured the city was well in hand as he pressed forward on the bus rapid transit project along Central Avenue. The city may try to start limited service in the fall, as it attempts to renegotiate a deal with a Chinese bus manufacturer named Build Your Dreams. The city says some of the electric buses have been duds and the rest don't hold a charge for as long as promised. Albuquerque wants to buy them somewhere else (maybe from Build Your Bus?).
Sky high
One SFR intern gets the snake-handling assignment. The other gets to ride in a World War II bomber. Part of what we teach is that life isn't fair. The Commemorative Air Force is a group that's restored a small fleet of WWII-era planes and has just started the Flying Legends of Victory tour across the US and Canada. The group plans 400 stops for what it calls the "flying museums," and Santa Fe was its first. Putting a millennial and members of the greatest generation together in a B-25 was actually a pretty good idea.
Rancher’s onions plundered following social media post
Well, that's just about our favorite Associated Press headline in recent memory. It refers to the case of Doña Ana County rancher James Montoya, who requested a load of not-up-to-human-standards onions from a local produce plant. He planned to use them to feed his cattle. However, someone found the onions, which Montoya had transported to his property, and posted about the "waste" on social media. Apparently the onions were, in fact, up to human standards and depended upon the standards of the individual humans in question. Ergo, rancher's onions plundered following social media post. To be fair, the AP got the story from the Las Cruces Sun-News, which used a different headline.
Last chance
SFR's annual Best of Santa Fe contest ends today. As in, your last chance to vote for the finest, quirkiest or most delightful things our city has to offer. You can do so here. Don't procrastinate.
Thanks for reading! True story: The Word got grounded from the Mistletoe Dance senior year in high school for procrastinating on homework. The Mistletoe Dance is just what you're picturing. Never has a more severe punishment been meted out.
Spread the Word! Forward this and subscribe to our other newsletters at sfreportercom/signup.
The dollar signs ($) are links that require a paid subscription to the news source.