Gary Johnson’s running for Senate

Former governor enters race as Libertarian

In it to…

Gary Johnson is running for Senate. As the new Libertarian Party candidate, Johnson will face Republican Mick Rich and incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich, who was elected to his first term in 2012. Johnson, and the rest of the nation, were pretty clear on his chances in the 2016 presidential race, but Libertarians and some political strategists think he stands a much better chance in a US Senate race of converting discontent with the established political system to a seat within it.

Shut down

Angry calls, emails and death threats to Judge Sarah Backus caused Taos District Court administrators to clear much of the building yesterday afternoon and lock down the other proceedings going on inside. The judge ordered signature bonds for the five defendants in the Amalia compound case, saying the state didn't focus on proving a threat to the community related to its charges of child abuse. Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Backus to her position on the bench in 2011.

In with the new

Indian Market, which is this weekend in Santa Fe, is getting younger. The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts has officially done away with the tenure program that allowed established artists to bypass the blind jury system for selection. While that issue is still unsettled for many in the Native art community, it's the new normal. SFR looks at the selection process and a new fellowship program that's brought at 12-year-old artist to Santa Fe as a participant in the show.

Harder to find

New Mexico's recent decision to enforce a ban on out-of-state CBD products under its medical marijuana program rules is making some useful treatments much harder to find. Researchers and patients have found that CBD products (no psychoactives) work much better when coupled with THC products (contain the psychoactive part of marijuana that gets you high). The state says it's enforcing a law that has been on the books since the program started.

We meet again

Under threat of legal action by the Attorney General's Office, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents will reconvene on Friday to reconsider the fates of the men's and women's skiing program, women's beach volleyball, women's diving and men's soccer. Attorney General Hector Balderas says the regents violated the open meetings act when they only offered a vague description of what they planned to discuss. The board cut the athletics programs to partially cure a department deficit and to come into line with federal gender equity laws.

Profiled

Yusuf Casanova faces federal gun and drug charges stemming from a controversial ATF sting operation in Albuquerque. He's been jailed for more than two years awaiting trial, and last month filed a motion to ask the court to throw out those charges because of selective enforcement, or what most of us would call racial profiling. Casanova is black. The white man who supplied him meth was never charged.

Tossed  

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by noted gallery owner—and everything-else owner—Gerald Peters. The Santa Fe collector says a Nevada gallery owner and an Idaho auction house and its partner defamed him when they told former Ruidoso Downs owner RD Hubbard that a painting Peters sold him might have been a fake. The judge said, however, that the defendants didn't seem to know Peters had been involved and that finding they "engaged in deceptive trade practices would border on absurdity."

Stormy

Typical New Mexico: Hot and (relatively) humid in August. After some booming storms rolled through Santa Fe last night, meteorologists say today's going to still stay hot, with temperatures rising to the upper 80s in Santa Fe and low 90s in Albuquerque. Storm coverage is likely to increase, and while it's far from a guarantee of rain, when it does open up, heavy downpours could follow.

Thanks for reading! The Word likes getting caught in the rain. And maybe piña coladas. Aaand now that's going to be on the brain all morning.

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