Letter America May 4, 2013 Jonathan Franzen ... More
While outpourings of grief and love have punctuated the days since four Santa Fe teenagers were killed in a late-night crash June 28, anger, too, has begun to surface.
A group of nearly two dozen teenagers piled into Santa Fe Magistrate Judge George Anaya Jr’s courtroom on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 30, only to be disappointed. They missed Scott Owens’ first court appearance by moments.
When was that spaceport going to start producing billions for New Mexico?
In April, Dallas-based Securus Technologies won a bid to provide inmate telephone service to six state prisons. Now, the New Mexico Department of Information Technology is cancelling the contract after discovering bid evaluators miscalculated how much Securus would charge inmates and their families.
Last February’s defeat, once again, of a domestic partnership bill, is a reminder that the final stretch to full marriage equality won’t be easy. LGBT rights activists in New Mexico are also grappling with the same topsy-turvy national debate as everyone else. The gay community is caught in a dizzying one-step-forward/one-step-back shuffle as individual states and the Obama administration grant and revoke and promise and backpedal.
Public corruption in New Mexico isn’t like the hard-boiled gangster politics of Illinois. No, our political scandals are as hot and spicy as green chile, as muddy as the capital’s adobe architecture—and just as commonplace. “It’s mostly in the water," says Republican former Gov. David Cargo. “It’s mostly in the water. If you drink too much water, it affects your judgment.”
In the mainstream media, it’s said, if it bleeds, it leads. But if it’s feverish, phlegmy, nauseated and has the potential to create massive global casualties, then it doesn’t just lead, it dominates. “Every five years there’s always one—bird flu, mad cow disease, swine flu—and you’ll see the same reaction and coverage to create a sense of excitement,” Christopher Ortiz tells SFR.
A little more than a year ago, primary election results were in, and New Mexico’s political sphere spun into high general-election gear. What happened?
The New Mexico Department of Health has received 10 applications from nonprofit organizations for licenses to grow pot. Though DOH has attempted to keep the names of the organizations confidential, SFR was able to determine most of their names.
