Don’t drink the water
Last week, it hit national news that three dogs died after swimming in Austin, Texas' Lady Bird Lake; their deaths were attributed to a blue-green algae bloom. Then we started hearing about reports of the poisonous algae in lakes across the country including Maine, Georgia and North Carolina—and now, New Mexico is now on the list. Abiquiu Lake is closed for the same type of toxic algae bloom while officials await tests from biologists ($ TNM). So stay out of the water, keep your pets away from the banks, and learn more about blue-green algae from the EPA if you're curious.
Get the inside scoop?
Isleta Casino is adding New Mexico college teams to its betting boards, and not everyone is happy about it. While Isleta CEO Harold Baugus says there are "extreme measures in place … to prevent any kind of wrongdoing that might happen," college sports officials are concerned that high-end professional gamblers, roommates, close relatives, classmates and donors might have too much access to players and coaches to try and suss out information.
Summiting in Santa Fe
Representatives of the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Santa Fe Institute and local law enforcement are scheduled to speak today at the governor's anti-domestic terrorism summit ($ TNM) with hopes of brainstorming ways to identify hate groups, how to better share info between law enforcement agencies, and to speed up behavioral health interventions for young people who may commit crimes. House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, originally said he wanted a special Legislative session, but the powers that be scaled it down to today's one-day event.
Folded Tortilla with Meat Day-After-Monday
Did you know that the term "Taco Tuesday" has been trademarked since 1989? Neither did the Word, and we're pretty sure we've used the term in this very newsletter before, so hopefully we don't get a cease-and-desist letter from Wyoming-based chain Taco John's any time soon. The Word, a proud New Jersey native, would like to point out that Taco John's trademark applies in every state but New Jersey, where another restaurant already had secured the right to "Taco Tuesday."
Truth & reconciliation
The Caballeros de Vargas, the group that presented the controversial Entrada pageant that was recently canceled after public outcry, has come up with a new ceremony to replace the reenactment of the "peaceful reconquest" of Santa Fe. Now, the group will honor individuals who work to unite the Santa Fe community in positive ways ($ TNM). The new event will be held in the time slot previously reserved for the Entrada, and while this year the three Native and Hispanic individuals were chosen by the Caballeros, in the future the group says it will ask for public input.
Heads up
Santa Fe Public Schools students are being taught how to fall. We mean that literally; sports teams are taking the focus away from the head when it comes to tackling and tumbling in order to decrease the chances of concussion, a hot topic in both school and professional football in recent years. Capital High head coach Bill Moon tells SFR that the school buys students top-of-the-line helmets and schools are also contracted with Christus St. Vincent to measure concussion rates, which are slightly up at Capital and sharply down at Santa Fe High.
Flim-flam furnace man
Back in April, the Word told you about Logan, New Mexico Mayor David Babb, who got caught up in con games installing HVAC systems though he was unlicensed. He was asked to resign from office as a result, but was then reelected … and then started the same con game again. Babb has now pleaded guilty to wrongdoing, saying he was just trying to help his village with inexpensive repairs. He was ordered to pay an $800 fine and placed on probation, and a 90-day jail term was suspended.
Say what now?
The weirdest headline of the day goes to KOB, which says that Albuquerque's now-shuttered Desert Hills behavioral health facility used "booty juice" to calm down its young charges with temper outbursts. The euphemistic substance was in fact Haldol, an antipsychotic drug that lowers excitement in the brain, which is often injected into the buttocks (hence the pet name). However, it was inappropriate for the kids it was administered to, and thus its use constitutes child abuse. Desert Hills was shut down in April.
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