A place to call home
For thousands of people who work in Santa Fe, they can only afford to work here. Living here is something else. Affordable housing was among the top concerns in a recent poll of city voters and the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce just held a forum to examine the problem. Spoiler alert: It looks ugly.
Old Man Gloom
A 1950s-themed Zozobra will burn tonight, as the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe continues its march through the decades leading up to the marionette's 100th-anniversary celebration. We're not sure it'll be a Happy Days kind of show, but tens of thousands will pour into Ft. Marcy Park to find out. SFR has the lowdown on the water-bottle ban and some secrets about what you can still bring in to the event.
Athletic supporter
The University of New Mexico has found the person it wants to clean up the school's beleaguered Athletics Department. Eddie Nuñez, currently a deputy athletic director at Louisiana State University, will trade étouffée for green chile and $400,000 in annual compensation when he becomes a Lobo. The state's flagship university has kept the hiring process secretive and refuses to release any information about who else sought or was interviewed for the job.
Wells Fargo scandal grows by 1.4 million fake accounts
The city of Santa Fe's newly extended banking relationship with Wells Fargo is taking something of a PR hit. An independent review of the bank estimates that employees at the bank opened up 3.5 million fake accounts for customers nationwide since 2009. The city put the contract out for bid, mostly indicating it was upset with the bank's financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Well Fargo scored the highest.
Sam in Santa Fe
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard spent most of his final years in Santa Fe, writing both plays and letters as he continued to examine themes that played out in his work and his life. But he wasn't working on a memoir. SFR's cover story this week looks at Shepard's stay in Santa Fe and a lifetime of correspondence with friend Johnny Dark. It's definitely worth a read.
Entrada protests planned
Native groups and other supporters once again plan to protest the Entrada, part of the annual Fiestas celebration that commemorates Don Diego de Vargas' resettlement of the city following the Pueblo Revolt. Long a part of Fiestas, the event has become increasingly controversial. SFR will be at Fiestas all day and have a dispatch from the Entrada next Friday, Sept. 8.
Mr. Robot in New Mexico
The hit USA Network series Mr. Robot will film in Albuquerque this month (which is September ... man, that was fast) for part of the show's third season. It stars the wide-eyed guy with the undercut hairstyle and is one of the more innovative programs to hit the boob tube in recent memory. Seems like a couple other Albuquerque-based shows fit that bill, too.
Holiday weekend
It should be a gorgeous Labor Day weekend. Temperatures are setting up to top out in the low 80s, with a chance of afternoon storms. Nothing terribly threatening for tonight's activities, but check the forecast before you do whatever you have planned!
Thanks for reading! The Word wishes you a weekend of grilling and chilling.
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