Suing to open primaries
Two independents, a Democrat and a Republican walk into a primary election voting location… Yes, it's a bit of a joke. But four people have filed a petition against the state, arguing that closed primary elections are unconstitutional. Currently, all taxpayers fund the election, but only major party members are allowed to vote. The state Supreme Court can decide whether to hear oral arguments on the issue. It decided a related case against open primaries in 2017.
Lock them up
Republican congressional candidate Yvette Herrell has asked a court to impound absentee ballots in Doña Ana County ($). About half of those 8,000 ballots (collected over the four weeks prior to Election Day) were uncounted as the clock ticked into the wee hours of election night. Rather than count them, the county clerk decided to secure the ballots and start counting again in the morning. But an unknowing Herrell had already given an acceptance speech and said during a Saturday Fox News interview, without citing evidence, that the ballots were somehow in question. Her court motion also does not cite specific irregularities or issues with voting. Herrell isn't speaking to local media.
Boondoggle
What, Larry Barker's the only one who gets to use that word? Poppycock! Albuquerque's bus rapid transit system is a mess. It just is. RJ Berry's signature project could have been the Paseo interchange at I-25. Instead, the "guy who swung a hammer for a living" decided to put a bunch of fancy bus stations in the middle of Route 66 and buy electric buses to move Burqueños rapidly through the city and save about eight minutes on their bus rides. But the buses don't work. Mayor Tim Keller has moved to cancel the contract with Build Your Dreams, the Simpsons-esque company that might as well have sold the city a monorail for all the good it's done Albuquerque.
Getting plowed
What exactly are the city and state's plans for plowing roads in Santa Fe when it storms? Why does it seem like they just prefer to let everything melt? Well, sometimes snow maintenance crews do like to let the sun take care of the issue once a storm passes, but Santa Fe does have a plan for the city's streets, which includes dividing up into five areas that each get a plow and also sending around a vehicle to hit trouble spots like hills and tricky intersections. SFR lays it out for you.
Y’all ready for this?
What does the possibility of legal recreational cannabis mean for New Mexico's pot producers? Right now, there's a limit on how many plants a company can grow for the state's medicinal marijuana program. Presumably, that woud get lifted if the state legalizes adult marijuana use. But not everyone is ready to expand their operation, and some are worried well-capitalized out-of-state companies could set up dominating farms and push out local growers.
Busy, busy
The holiday travel season is upon us. The blue-shirted people who make you do the stupid human tricks at security say they expect record numbers of travelers through airports this Thanksgiving, maybe 25 million people headed over the river and through the woods to grandmother's newly rural-addressed house.
Thanksgiving is when?
We get it. As fun as the holiday can be, it can also sneak up on you. SFR has your back, with our procrastinator's guide to Thanksgiving. We thought about putting it out next Wednesday, but decided that was a little too on-the-nose.
Lingering chill
Temperatures will continue to hang out in the blue part of the thermometer (at least that's the way it looked on the one out the window when we were kids) for most of Northern New Mexico. Albuquerque will see highs closer to 50. The next day—which we suppose is Thursday—should bring another few degrees of warmth.
Thanks for reading! The Word appreciates you and would buy you a slice of pie if this were that kind of world.
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