The new year certainly hasn't brought any relief in the ABQ violence department. Seven murders so far this month (8 if you count a homicide where a homeowner shot an intruder) which puts us on a path to meet or surpass the 82 slayings of 2019. That one of the killings took place outside the historic downtown Kimo Theater, even though the police presence there has been increased, shows how intransigent the violence has become.

Retired undercover DEA agent Michael Vigil, promoting his new fiction book with KKOB radio host TJ Trout Monday, said the obvious but isn't said enough by the city's elites:

The vast majority of crimes in ABQ are drug-related. There's also a lot of anger. I see that on the streets.

The state labor secretary came with what seemed to be an hallucinogenic inspired statement when he commented on the state's recent job growth:

More and more people are seeing the wonderful quality of life in New Mexico

Of course, the vast majority of job growth--direct and indirect is due to the SE oil boom. Population growth there is on an upswing but remains stagnant elsewhere, especially in crime-ridden ABQ, but when it comes to putting lipstick on a pig no one does it better than the bureaucrats.

UNM tried to dress up its forlorn Athlete Department Monday with the news that former winning UNM Lobo football coach Rocky Long has been hired as the program's new defensive coordinator. Hours later it was announced that a woman had been shot in the leg at a weekend party populated by UNM student athletes and recruits. Welcome back, Rocky. . . or something.

What some of the Wall-Leaners are already calling a low-energy 2020 legislative session continues. Even as enough revenue pours in to pave Cerrillos Road with gold, the narrative at the Roundhouse remains the same. The crash is coming and the boom is going to turn to doom. Veteran ABQ Dem state Rep. Moe Maestas pushes back this way:

We need to change the narrative so it’s less about saving for tomorrow and more about investing to save tomorrow.

Pretty wise words there but then Moe recently turned a wise old 50.

BREAKING THE FAST

How do you break a seven day fast during which you lost 10 pounds? If you're Lyla June Johnston, who is challenging NM House Speaker Brian Egolf for his seat in the June primary, you check in to Santa Fe's Tune-Up Cafe and wolf down a heaping plate of enchiladas.

Her choice to break her fast seems to speak to the addictive powers of New Mexico's famed chile. A week can be a long time to be deprived. We can't speak to the righteousness of the Tune-Up's chile, having never dined there, but we won't argue with the opinion of someone who chose the place to break a seven day fast.

Johnston posted the pic of the enchiladas on social media following her fast at the Capitol to bring attention to climate change (and to her House candidacy). Egolf may have been too busy to notice. He is busy juggling the legislative agenda and his fine dining experiences are often at the Roundhouse Cafe.

Egolf remains favored to win the primary for his Santa Fe seat but should there be an upset and Lyla June goes on to win, here, according to one reviewer, is what she has to look forward to at the Cafe:

Only open during the session, this is the place to assuage not only one's hunger, but also the stress of a legislative session. The food is cheap, good, reliable and comforting.

If only the legislative sessions could be as comforting.

THE BOTTOM LINES

Former state GOP Executive Director Marge Teague died at her Oregon home Monday. She was 84. "Marge was a true force and a trailblazer in New Mexico Republican political circles for decades," said the GOP. Marge Teague was 84.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020