Imagine, for a moment, that it’s a chilly December night, and a pretty young brunette has come to your apartment. Your courtship of her began when you were picking up a paycheck and told her you had all that money but nobody to spend it on. She accepted when you asked her out for dinner. After that, the two of you spent time together—hiking, cooking, talking. On this particular night, you share a joint. When she leaves your apartment around midnight, you give her some pot for the road. A similar handoff occurs a month later.

“It’s not safe. There’s no safety. You can’t trust anybody. You got to protect yourself,” Rebekah Apachito says. As one of about 1,600 tribal members who live in the Navajo community of To’hajiilee, 90 miles west of Santa Fe, she has good reason to be afraid: According to federal crime data, Native American women are 10 times more likely than the average American to be murdered. Even more shockingly, approximately one in three Native American women will be raped in her lifetime.

It was Oct. 14, 2011, and Keith Gardner was tired. As Gov. Susana Martinez’ chief of staff, Gardner is arguably the second most powerful person in state government.

Here’s how New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act works: Anyone can ask to inspect a public record. If it exists—and it’s not impossible to unearth—the public agency holding the record must make it available for inspection.

This November, voters will weigh in on five amendments to the state Constitution, all of which would reshape state government.

More than 27,000 New Mexicans work for state government, according to the state’s sunshine portal. Those state employees are required to give a portion of their paychecks to a pension fund run by the Public Employees Retirement Association. When an employee retires, the pension is repaid.

A few years ago, I stopped reporting on Los Alamos National Laboratory. I was no longer confident in my ability to remain objective when writing about the nuclear weapons facility. There’s no way I can pretend that the development and manufacture of nuclear weapons is a good idea, no matter where it’s done. And I’ve interviewed too many people whose stories turned my stomach.

When government officials conduct their business through private emails, we can only speculate as to what they’re saying. Here’s a satirical, fictional, imaginative and humorous collection of that communication.

A 10-year-old girl walks into her home, where her young Hispanic parents greet her. The conversation soon turns to voting. “¿Papá, tú votas?” she asks. (Dad, do you vote?) “¡Sí! Pero sólo para las personas buenas!” he replies. (Yes! But only for the right people!)

Environmental news is a downer. I know. Despite trying to balance news about climate change and energy development with a love for wild places and muddy rivers, I’ve pretty much spent a decade of my life depressing readers. Lately, I’ve even been wondering how much I’ve contributed to the helplessness people feel about the environment.