There’s no getting around the need for New Mexico’s film incentive program to have better accounting. As SFR has pointed out, the program’s frequently touted profits are not always all they’re cracked up to be. But that doesn’t mean the program isn’t profitable and good for New Mexicans.

A lawsuit filed by an Arizona-based construction company alleges the state Department of Transportation rejected its asphalt after failing to test it properly, raising questions about the quality and longevity of the new road work.

Last week’s so-called drug raid on an Española-area school made national headlines when the bust netted tomatoes instead of marijuana. What the stories didn’t say is that the operation wasn’t just another example of America’s fruitless (tomatoes not withstanding) War on Drugs. It was also an example of Your Stimulus Dollars at Work.

At the New Mexico Department of Health, a swirling mass of allegations, accusations, threats and denials creates a murky picture of a state agency still caught between the past and the future.From all the competing accusations and denials, one truth emerges: Something is sick at the New Mexico Department of Health.

Two years ago, Bob Ortiz was a deputy director in the New Mexico Department of Health’s Grants Management Bureau. He had experience managing millions of dollars and was hired to help fix a $1.7 million accounting glitch for DOH. Today, Ortiz is paid $96,400 a year to do—well, not much.

This week’s merit badge for good government goes to City Councilor Carmichael Dominguez for his efforts to tackle quality of life improvements on Airport Road. The south side is Santa Fe’s bastard son, and is too often relegated to leftovers and afterthoughts, despite its youth, vitality and value to the city as a whole. But Dominguez’ plan ain’t exactly perfect.

The winning candidates in the recent SFPS board elections shared a clear campaign message: change.  But it’s easier to make political promises than it is to actually achieve them.  Hence the need for SFR’s handy checklist, in which we offer the incoming school board concrete, achievable jumping-off points.

Republicans sure have interesting priorities. Even though they got elected on a fiscal agenda and arrived in legislatures and Congress with a budget crisis and a nation staring down unemployment, they’ve decided to put policing women’s bodies on the top of their agenda.

On Feb. 3, a throng of New Mexico lawmakers gathered in the center of the state capitol to oppose an executive order signed by Gov. Susana Martinez four days earlier.

Last week, Santa Feans found out just how menacing those spiky blue parentheses used to symbolize a cold front can be. The state was hit with a one-two punch when cold air traveled down from the northern states and a storm system came across from California, National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Jones tells SFR.