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In like Flynn
Emails uncovered by a public records request show the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office misled SFR and New Mexico In Depth when it claimed that prosecutors didn't think a high-profile DWI case could clear an important legal hurdle. In fact, a junior prosecutor told his boss, Raul Torrez, that he thought there was a solid drunk driving case against Ryan Flynn, head of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and former Martinez cabinet secretary. And, despite that prosecutor's promise that his supervisor, a good friend of Flynn's defense attorney, was removed from the case, Jason Greenlee continued to make important decisions about Flynn's DWI arrest, including the one to ultimately plead it down to a lesser charge.
Bad news
Federal water managers say the Rio Grande is in for an awful year. Calling the current state of affairs on the river that is New Mexico's lifeblood "the most extreme shift" it has seen between flow reports, the Bureau of Reclamation says the river will run dry in Albuquerque this year, and storage allotments in reservoirs upstream will be stressed. The Pecos River is looking ugly, too, with zero water from runoff expected to make it into storage reservoirs like Santa Rosa Lake.
Fire on the mountain
Out west, two fires of about 1,000 acres each are burning in the Mount Taylor Ranger District. One is reportedly a prescribed burn that jumped its containment line. The people who fight fires are throwing major resources at them early, worried that the dry forest will ignite and fuel massive fires.
Fire of a more personal nature
In Albuquerque, it's now merely a $25 fine if you're caught with an ounce or less of marijuana. Mayor Tim Keller signed a new city ordinance eliminating the crime from the city's books. He and councilors hope it will free up police resources used on the nonviolent offense. It's still against state and federal law.
It doesn’t suck
Santa Fe is going to debate banning plastic straws. Councilor Peter Ives announced Wednesday night that he planned to introduce a measure that would send plastic straws the way of plastic bags ($) in the City Different. Ives says he'd like to start with a voluntary program for businesses before considering an outright ban on the suckers.
We’re all gonna die
Patently true. In New Mexico, however, we're more at risk of dying young. Ten percent more than in most other states, according to Newsweek. It's not car crashes and shootings in Albuquerque leading the list of causes, though. It's drug addiction, suicide, diabetes and cirrhosis.
Ranch guessing
Don Imus has sold his ranch. We're left to guess at the sale price, but his real estate broker says it's close to the $19 million listing. The initial ask from the talk radio icon was $35 million. A cable TV mogul from Nebraska bought the place ($). No, you can't see it. Don't even ask. Just keep driving. It's off I-25 on the east side of the road as you travel north past Ribera. But The Word, which has your back, tracked down a YouTube tour of the place, narrated by … yep.
Brrr
Cold weather is back, baby! After nearly getting blown off the face of the Land of Enchantment yesterday, we'll hunker down and get chilly, with daytime highs in Santa Fe and elsewhere nearly 30 degrees colder than yesterday. It'll still be windy and there's serious fire danger in a good chunk of the state. Also, it snowed in Rio Rancho and might snow elsewhere.
Thanks for reading! The Word has no idea what to do in this weather. Oh, hai Netflix!
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