Morning Word: Pearce is Ponderin'

Pearce ponders new job
Steve Pearce, the 2nd Congressional District Republican, says he's considering leaving his House job for a try at the Roundhouse. Pearce is pondering a run for governor. The Republican side of the ticket for a post-Susana position is relatively clear at the moment, though Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry has been thinking about a run and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez' future plans are still something of a mystery.

No negotiations

Despite gubernatorial rhetoric to the contrary, Democratic legislative leaders say

with Governor Martinez about the budget that is the primary focus of the upcoming special session. Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, says he's chatted a little with Republican colleagues in the Senate, but not with the governor. “Our problem has never been with legislators. It’s always with the executive," Smith told the

New Mexican.

The governor's office says Smith wouldn't talk with them until after the Supreme Court ruled on legislative challenges to her vetoes. The court ruled last week that it would not hear arguments today about that challenge.

APD's crash problem

The recent on-duty crash in which officer Jonathan McDonnell hit an SUV, ultimately causing the death of a 6-year-old boy, is a horrific example of the problem Albuquerque police seem to be having with crashes. Police Oversight Board members in Albuquerque are attempting to get the department's—and the public's—attention: There were

in March.

Possible alcohol-fueled crash claims five lives

It may have happened again. A heavy work truck crossed the center line on Highway 550 south of Cuba and rammed into an SUV, killing four family members inside. Sandoval County deputies think

. The driver of the work truck also died in the crash.

Those seeds. Those. Little. Yellow. Seeds. They come from Siberian Elm trees, which aren't native to New Mexico (guess how we knew?) but do surprisingly well here. They're going to be around for a while, probably, as it's only getting hotter and

. Don't worry, we'll probably find something else that appears to be the solution to our tree problems, only to discover that, after reaching tree maturity, they eat people.

Four public high schools in Las Cruces are telling students to fall asleep in class. More accurately, in the nurse's office. The schools have high-tech sleeping pods and

they have been telling some students to take a nap to get themselves back up to speed during the day. The pods cost $14,000 each, but before you freak out and call your local legislator in a pre-special session fit, they were paid for with a federal grant.

Speaking of naps, bears have woken from their long winter's one and are busy being omnivores. It is, as the kids say, how they do, and they rarely bump into humans and even more rarely do something to the humans they encounter. But

, and it pays to know what to do and how to give bears the space they need. Los Alamos, as you might imagine,

on that front.

Carlsbad, New Mexico, was, until a late-day heat blast in Texas, the

Sunday, settling into the triple digits. It'll be

, with some big wind along I-25 if you're heading north of Las Vegas. 

Santa Fe Reporter