Supreme Court Orders City to Rank Candidates

Denied

Santa Fe will use ranked-choice voting in the March municipal election after the state Supreme Court rejected the city's petition to argue that the system was unconstitutional and not ready to be used. The decision finally sets to rest the debate over the voting method that was approved by voters in a 2008 amendment to the city charter. Nearly two-thirds of the city's voters cast a ballot in favor of the change, but the city continued to delay implementation, citing cost and finally arguing that the state constitution prohibited ranked-choice voting. You can track all SFR's election coverage here.

Smoke Sesh

The cannabis industry in New Mexico says it's not overly concerned about US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' memo reversing the hands-off stance the federal government has taken toward state-approved marijuana programs, both medical and recreational. New Mexico has a medical marijuana program which sports nearly 47,000 registered users.

SF schools to terminate charter school lease

Santa Fe's school board plans to end a contentious relationship with the Turquoise Trail Charter School when the institution's lease ends in three years. The school began as a district elementary facility, but became a charter school in the 1990s. A few years back, it became a state-sponsored charter school and continued to pay $324,000 a year for the space it uses. The school district says it will need the classrooms ($) for the 2021-22 academic year.

Capped

The school board also voted to limit enrollment at the popular Amy Biehl Community School in Rancho Viejo. New students will instead be assigned to Piñon Elementary and the district says it will begin an aggressive home visit plan to verify that kids who are enrolled at Amy Biehl actually live within the school's assigned boundaries.

‘A bit of a lemon’

The new ART buses don't match up with the platforms, their mirrors collide with the stations and the whole thing is thus not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Lights aren't timed properly and traffic gets snarled. It's so problematic that new Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller called his predecessor's signature project "a bit of a lemon." The fixes will take long enough that Keller wouldn't even hazard a guess as to when the bus rapid transit system will be operational.

Gov wants police to have immunity

Susana Martinez says cops should be free from worry that they're going to be sued as long as they act according to their internal policies and training. To that end, she wants lawmakers to pass a bill granting them immunity from lawsuits. Civil rights advocates say it's the exact opposite of what's needed in places like Albuquerque, which has had a monitoring agreement in place for more than two years after the Department of Justice found it had a pattern of unconstitutional policing and use of force.

Foiled

A single mom and a bunch of good citizens weren't having any of the purse snatching by suspect Samuel Romero yesterday. Police say Romero grabbed the woman's purse in the Santa Fe Place Mall and took off running when she confronted him. Employees at the Firestone across the parking lot chased after him when the woman shouted for help, and a guy across busy Rodeo Road tackled Romero ($) and held him until cops arrived.

Snow

Parts of the Sahara Desert have received more snow than New Mexico this year. Albuquerque hasn't seen measurable precipitation for nearly 100 days. Both those things could change today, as a storm system creeps across the state. There will be wind, and any snow in would be in higher elevations, with mountain spots potentially seeing a good few inches … a great few inches.

Thanks for reading! The Word loved the downright summertimey day yesterday, but knows today's weather is more seasonally appropriate. But still, in a secret place … this stings a little.

The dollar signs ($) are links that require a subscription, likely beyond a few free articles a month.

Spread the Word at sfreporter.com/signup.