Nationwide, arts-related jobs will grow just as quickly as the entire labor force over the next eight years, according to a recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Much of that growth should come to Santa Fe, which already has the second-highest percentage of artists in the labor force, according to a 2008 study by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Most Latinos are conservative and don’t know it. That’s the message many emphasized at the Hispanic Leadership Network’s Rebuilding the American Dream conference held in Albuquerque Sept. 23 and 24—the latest in the bipartisan battle for Latino support.

On Aug. 11, a dozen members of the press crammed into a Public Regulation Commission meeting to follow a juicy lead. Jerome Block Jr.—the embattled commissioner facing allegations of charging $8,000 worth of gas to his government-issued credit card in six months, stealing a car and misusing public campaign funds—had been in the news for weeks. Block’s fellow commissioners were set to remove him as PRC vice chairman, leading to speculations of either his impeachment or resignation. Block had also been hammered in the headlines for missing one-third of his PRC meetings. Predictably, he was a no-show.

Nearly two years after Bob Ortiz first raised concerns about how one of the state’s largest departments handles its finances, he’s finally getting a response. In July, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service conducted a financial management review, similar to an audit, of the New Mexico Department of Health. The analysis found accounting errors in the DOH’s Women, Infants and Children program—to the tune of $500,000 in fiscal year 2008.

As lawmakers continue their redistricting work in the special session, both parties are getting fed up.

After City Councilor Patti Bushee kept hearing horror stories involving drug deals, burglary and loitering from her constituents, she decided to hold a public meeting about it. Roughly 40 people, including cops, showed up to the Sept. 12 meeting, which focused on crime near the Railyard [news, Sept. 14, “Relapse”].

During a recent interview with SFR, Mayor David Coss expressed frustration at the lack of citywide broadband service in Santa Fe.

Predictions of a drying Colorado River Basin come often. In 2008, a study published in Water Resources Research predicted that the basin’s two biggest reservoirs would dry up by 2021.

The 1st Judicial District encompasses Santa Fe County and Rio Arriba County, which has the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the nation. District Judge Stephen Pfeffer says most of the drug-related search warrants he issues occur in Rio Arriba County. He says he signs roughly two drug-related warrants a month.

Though city elections won’t be held until March, candidates for the four open Santa Fe City Council seats are already signing up for what promises to be a horse race. So far, District 1, where Councilor Patti Bushee faces re-election, has been drawing the most attention.