Donkey Ban

Mural of burros rejected from downtown plans

Kick in the ass

The Santa Fe Historic Districts Review Board has rejected the installation of a mural in Burro Alley downtown. The board took issue with the medium of the mural, which would actually be printed on vinyl and adhered to aluminum, then mounted in the alley. It will appear too shiny and new, they said, and that perhaps the image of donkeys in front of a saloon would be more palatable if it were painted directly on the adobe wall.

Haaland won’t advance (yet)

US Rep. Deb Haaland said she will not run for Senate, saying she'd like to concentrate on making change via her current Congressional office. The Laguna Pueblo politician has a near-cultish following (and the Word doesn't mean that in the pejorative), and we'd offer that she's likely to win any seat she runs for, to be honest. Meanwhile, all signs point to Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver preparing to enter the race ($).

The wave of the future

Do you live in Tierra Contenta, the planned community down off of Airport Road, or do you at least have opinions on how the next phase of its development should go? A public forum at the Chavez Center tonight gives the public the opportunity to discuss what's next. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the developers want input on road layout, business development and open spaces, so get your voice heard.

Courtroom news

Your semi-regular criminal news roundup includes a former Albuquerque priest who's been convicted of seven counts of sexual abuse, Davon Lymon saying he feared for his life when he shot an Albuquerque police officer, a 29-year-old in Santa Fe suspected of drunken driving crashing into an office building downtown (causing no human injury or damage to the building), and two women in Santa Fe getting sentenced ($) for separate vehicular homicides. The Albuquerque Journal takes a closer look at one of the cases, in which a couple that had been drinking at Meow Wolf got in a crash that killed passenger Kit Francis II.

School shifts

The head of Santa Fe Prep is stepping down ($) at the end of the 2020 school year. Jim Leonard has been at the school for 21 years and says that he isn't sure what he'll do next, but he's leaving the school in great financial shape, after growing its endowment from $1 million to $18 million during his tenure. Meanwhile, in ABQ, President Katharine Winograd of Central New Mexico Community College will step down around the same date (unless a suitable replacement is found sooner), when her contract is up.

Womp womp

We wanted to like the Spaceport America open house this past weekend. We really did. Hell, SFR staffers drove 10 hours round-trip to check it out. But it was a bit underwhelming, even if execs seem to think space travel has a bright future. Judge for yourself as SFR's Leah Cantor sums it up. The Albuquerque Journal seemed to like it better.

Whipped up

They warned us about fire yesterday, and they were right. A 1,000-acre fire near Portales destroyed four homes and injured two people. The cause of the fire has not been released.

Pedal to the beer

It'll be a little blustery this evening, but that won't stop bike enthusiasts from meeting at the Railyard water tower at 7 pm for a new tradition of social rides on the second Thursday of each month. The group will bike to the Second Street Brewery Rufina Taproom this evening and enjoy libations, so go make new friends.

Thanks for reading! The Word isn't sure she can wait until 2020 for more Better Call Saul. I'm not much of a TV-watcher, but when I get attached, it's for life.

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