Fenn catches treasure hunter in home
A Pennsylvania man thought Forrest Fenn's elaborate treasure hunting poem was pointing to his eastside Santa Fe home. Police say 41-year-old Robert Miller kicked in a brown pedestrian gate at the property, then used a hatchet he found in a stump to break into Fenn's guest house. Fenn and one of his daughters armed themselves and confronted Miller, who was making off with a chest ($). It was filled with bedding and towels. Miller had apparently fallen on hard times and made the trip to Santa Fe.
Youngblood in jail
State Representative Monica Youngblood woke up in jail today. The Albuquerque Republican reported to the Metropolitan Detention Center to serve a one-day sentence after she was stopped at a DWI checkpoint and refused a breath alcohol test. Police said she performed poorly on field sobriety tests. Youngblood was criticized for repeatedly mentioning her work as a state legislator and her support of police. She will have to install an ignition interlock on her car, serve a year of probation and various other checklist items. She's running for re-election to her westside district.
Taos Air
Promoters of commercial flights into Santa Fe's airport say they don't think a new airline started by Taos Ski Valley will hurt their efforts. Quite the opposite, says the Northern New Mexico Air Alliance's executive director, who believes increased publicity for commercial flights into the northern part of the state will help everyone. Taos Ski Valley, which wrote a $50,000 check to be a founding member of the alliance, recently bought its own jet and will begin weekly service to and from Dallas and Austin in December.
Diego Zamora dies
The Santa Fe attorney who spoke up to defend Michelle Lujan Grisham in a campaign ad has died ($). Diego Zamora bought health insurance through the high-risk insurance pool that Grisham's former company, Delta Consulting, ran for the state. The Democrat has been criticized for profiting off insurance that had debatable necessity since Obamacare guaranteed coverage despite preexisting conditions. Zamora, who had pancreatic cancer, said the state insurance pool helped him. Steve Pearce's campaign attacked Zamora's ad as partisan and not credible, thrusting the attorney into the campaign spotlight. Zamora was 60.
Pearce to release returns
Steve Pearce says he's filed his taxes from last year and will release his returns today. Back in May, The Santa Fe New Mexican asked gubernatorial candidates to release their tax information. Lujan Grisham made public five years of returns. Pearce promised he would, but has been hammered by Democrats for delaying.
Sidearms race
The Albuquerque Police Department graduates a bunch of new lateral hires from its academy this week. The state's largest city has had to jack up its starting pay to $29 an hour to fill its ranks after officers left in droves when the feds showed up to crack down on unconstitutional policing by the beleaguered department. But that's set off a race to raise salaries in other cities, like Santa Fe, to keep the officers they have.
Dems hold money leads
Democrats have big leads in key federal races in New Mexico. Down south, Xochitl Torres Small outraised Republican Yvette Harrell better than three to one in the contest for the 2nd Congressional District seat. In the US Senate race, incumbent Martin Heinrich is both spending and raising money at a much faster rate ($) than Libertarian Gary Johnson and Republican Mick Rich.
Stay cool
It will do so for at least a couple more days, before warming toward 60 degrees on the weekend, when we may all forget about these foggy, chilly days. There's still a chance for scattered rain or snow showers today and tomorrow.
Thanks for reading! The Word has no idea how to roast chestnuts.
Spread the Word! Forward this and subscribe to our other newsletters at sfreportercom/signup.
Although most sites allow a few free views, the dollar signs ($) indicate links that require a paid subscription to the news source.