Grand jury levies riot charges against SFR staff writer
Aaron Cantú was in Washington DC on Inauguration Day covering protests that turned destructive. Police arrested more than 200 people, and prosecutors have charged almost all of them with the same alleged crimes—including Cantú. He was working as a senior editor for an online magazine. Several other journalists have had charges dropped. Cantú will be arraigned Friday. You'll keep seeing his byline at SFR, including this week's cover story.
Madam Chair
State Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-Gallup, has become
the Legislative Finance Committee. It's arguably the most powerful panel of legislators in the state. The committee Lundstrom now chairs drafts a budget annually, as well as dealing with supplemental funding requests from state agencies throughout the year.
Testing kids less
Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says kids are going to spend
less time taking standardized tests
in New Mexico public schools next year. She's been a proponent of measuring all sorts of things about schools, teachers and students. But she says giving kids more time to prepare for tests and less time spent taking them is a move she's ready to make.
Chan again
Prosecutors have decided to go forward with
for former Santa Fe County deputy sheriff Tai Chan. He shot and killed Jeremy Martin, then a fellow deputy, at a Las Cruces hotel in October 2014. The past two trials have ended in hung juries; the last one after just a few hours of deliberation.
AG jumps aboard motor oil suit train
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has filed suit against Dollar General, alleging the discount chain sold motor oil that
wasn't suitable for modern engines
. Other states have done the same thing. Some of the motor oil, the suit says, shouldn't be used in engines made after 1930.
Krebs' million
Retired and investigated UNM Athletic Director Paul Krebs won't get a buyout of his contract, but KOAT figures his retirement benefits
. Krebs is under investigation for using university money to ferry potential boosters to golf courses in Scotland like Trump Turnberry and St. Andrews.
KOB names Joles' replacement
It's Steve Soliz, a Texan who has a long career in radio and was most recently a weekend anchor in Harlingen, Texas. Soliz
alongside current anchor Tessa Mentus. Joles retired after three decades with KOB.
Not lovin' it
McDonald's corporate office has told the franchisee in Raton to take down the billboard off I-25 that promotes its breakfast burritos. Apparently the keepers of the golden arches do not like cannabis jokes such as "Usually when you roll something this good, it's illegal."
this morning
yesterday, though.
Thanks for reading! The Word is regretting all those Little Debbie snack cakes eaten at 3 am. They seemed like a reasonable choice at the time.
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