Legislation-induced vertigo

We round up what did and didn't happen in this year's 60-day session

What even just happened?

We promised that the Legislature was coming to an end soon, and now, here we are. Here are some of the highlights (as determined by us) of the 60-day session, which ended on Saturday has been claimed a great success for Democrats:

– While the legalization measure died, an expansion of New Mexico's medical cannabis program did pass. It allows more conditions to be treated by cannabis, most notably opioid addiction. It's now up to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to sign it. The push for legal weed will be back next year.

– Speaking of healthcare, the gov has been sent a bill that would protect New Mexicans' coverage of pre-existing conditions, should the Affordable Care Act get weakened on the federal level.

– Both houses passed a bill recasting Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day. Many New Mexico cities have already done this, but the bill makes it statewide. It, too, is on the gov's desk.

– A minimum wage hike cleared both houses. At $12 by 2023, the bill requires a higher dollar amount than was approved by the Senate, but doesn't include the inflation adjustments wanted by the House.

– A bill making the Parole Board give reason to keep inmates in jail, rather than making the incarcerated prove why they should be released, also awaits a signature from the gov. Not surprisingly, prosecutors are against it ($).

– A $7 billion state budget passed, but not without hurt feelings from the GOP.

– Domestic abusers with an order of protection against them are now no longer allowed to have guns. The governor's spokesman says she will sign this one for sure.

How he do?

So now we can largely move on from the Legislature until next January. What's next? Well, we can go back to focusing on our own city. The Albuquerque Journal published a populist report card of sorts for Mayor Alan Webber. Former Mayor Sam Pick says that the city will judge Webber based on potholes. Former mayoral candidate Ron Trujillo is mad about goatheads in parks. A city resident doesn't like that two city rec centers are closed for renovations at the same time. Finally, at last, at long last, former city Councilor Joseph Maestas and former mayoral candidate Kate Noble talk affordable housing, perhaps the most serious issue Santa Fe is facing now.

The pauper and the prixe fixe

Reading about all that crud sure does make us hungry. This morning's news interlude comes from SFR food columnist Zibby Wilder, who tells us what swanky restaurants have the best inexpensive bar menus.

Students speak up

On Friday, students marched on the Roundhouse to demand action on climate change; SFR was there to talk to them about their views. Across the world, from Parkland, Florida, to Sweden, students are gaining a louder voice ($) with regards to the planet's future … which makes sense, considering they're the ones who will have to live with all the policies put in place by old people in power.

Finding Miss Jones

Police have temporarily paused a search ($) for a missing 4-year-old girl on the Navajo Nation in Utah; they say it's because they need to reorganize and find more money for the search. She went missing on Thursday, and her footprints were found by a river. Her first name has been spelled by outlets as Anndine, Andanndine, Adalyn and Adalyne, and her age has been reported as both 3 and 4, but a Navajo-run Facebook page referred to her as "4-year-old Anndine Jones."

Goodbye forever

A painting was swiped in 2017 from a health clinic in Bernalillo County, and officials have now declared it officially removed from the county's art collection. The painting, "93 Million Miles" by artist Brian O'Connor, is valued at $2,500, but if it's ever found again, the intrigue of having been stolen may raise that number.

Cool, clean water

After a day on high, Water Protector Buck Johnson ended his protest in Taos ($). Johnson rose to dubious fame in some local circles on Thursday when he climbed a drilling rig east of the Rio Grande Gorge to protest a water agreement in the Taos Valley, and posted updates to Facebook from on top of the rig. Johnson and other activists are calling for an environmental impact study of the controversial Abeyta settlement.

It was always burnin’ since the world was turnin’

A week or two ago, the Forest Service said it was tentatively planning prescribed burns in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed and the Pecos Wilderness this week, and that smoke will likely be visible from Santa Fe, Tesuque, Glorieta, Pecos Canyon, Eldorado and I-25. These things are always weather-permitting, of course, so if it gets too windy, they'll be called off. Keep an eye on the Santa Fe National Forest's Twitter page or NMFireInfo.com to know whether or not they're gonna start the fire.

Thanks for reading! The Word had a reader ask what was up with all those military helicopters flying over town on Thursday March 14. We heard through the grapevine that it was a routine training exercise (they happen here on occasion); if anyone has a source where we can tune in for this kind of info, we'd love to hear it!

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