It's all hands on decks as Santa Fe gets closer to talking turkey about the budget. Everyone is trying to keep the scissors away from their hair, including the courts. We have two views, starting with reader Judith Binder:

ABQ Metro Judge Frank Sedillo spoke at the League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico luncheon and one of his topics included the great need for judicial services and that state government should not short-change the judiciary.

A number of judges hold clinics to provide free legal services where needed. And recently judges contributed from their own salaries to help pay their clerks to keep the court running. Another point is that funding drug courts saves the state more money than incarcerating law breakers. We need to increase the number of these Courts along with staff support.

But a Senior Alligator bites back with this:

The judges want more money! Ha! New Mexico has a gilded judiciary thanks to all the lawyers in the legislature and a jalopy legal system. If the judges want more money they can start with a cut in pay, more contribution to their gilded pension and no retirement until 65.

And right in the middle of this heated debate comes word that NM Court of Appeals Judge Robert Robles has been busted on suspicion of DWI. That ought to help get public support for money for the courts. Not.

And as far as Robles staying on the bench after this? Don't bet your breathalyzer on it.

THE NEEDLE & THE NORTH

The congressman may need many more of these to make a dent in the generations-old drug epidemic in Rio Arriba and other northern counties, but it's a start:

Congressman Ben Ray Luján is hosting a Substance Abuse Prevention Community Workshop on Tuesday, February 22. The workshop will build on the Drug Summit that Luján convened last year, where treatment providers, federal agencies, community leaders, and law enforcement discussed how to fight substance abuse.

Tuesday’s workshop will bring together families, youth, and community organizations to discuss substance abuse prevention and community collaboration. (5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Pablo Roybal Elementary School1574 State Road 502 Santa Fe, NM).

Heroin and other drug addictions remain a fact of life in many of the small villages in Lujan's northern district. Rio Arriba County has for years led the nation in heroin overdose deaths.

We've made some progress, but this is a stubborn 50 year old problem. It is now in the lap of Lujan, 38, whose youth and energy it is hoped can make a difference.

And is new state Department of Health Secretary Catherine Torres going to be active on this?

THE RECESSION

The economists can tell us the recession is over here, but the worst of the budget cutting is still to come for some governments. For the city of Santa Fe in the budget year that begins July 1, the anticipated deficit is now nearly $8 million. That's out of a total budget of around $72 million--or well over 10 percent. Now that's a deficit.

Santa Fe has been hammered by fewer and more frugal tourists, the slow-motion crash of real estate and the freeze on state government hiring. They have kept believing that it would turn around, but it hasn't and now the restructuring of the city government there is unavoidable.