Gunplay: Prosecutors in New Mexico say they are filing felony charges of involuntary manslaughter against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the low-budget Western “Rust.”

  Also to be charged is the production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who loaded the revolver. The charges are punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

  This comes nearly a year and a half after the incident. Baldwin has always said he was handed what he did not know was a loaded weapon and his lawyer said the actor was “blindsided” by the charges. Baldwin has said he cocked the hammer, but never pulled the trigger.

  New Mexico’s First Judicial Dist. Atty. Mary Carmack-Altwies said there’s evidence of criminal negligence and that might cover Baldwin as the movie’s producer as well as being the actor in the scene. “He has an absolute duty to know that what is in the gun that is being placed in his hand is safe,” Carmack-Altwies said. 

  The armorer is usually the one with primary responsibility for firearm safety. Live bullets are forbidden on movie sets, but investigators found some among the dummy rounds on hand for the production.

The War Room:  The US is sending Ukraine another $2.5 billion worth of aide, including  59 more Bradley fighting vehicles and 90 rubbered-wheeled Stryker armored combat vehicles. Missing from the package are M-1 tanks that the Ukrainians have been begging for.  The American tank is difficult to maintain and the US has been reluctant to send them.

Sober Thought: This month has come to be called “Dry January,” a period of respite from alcohol for millions of Americans who overindulged over the holidays.

  The NY Times reports that dry for a month doesn’t do it, and that alcohol is more dangerous to your health than previously thought.

  Reporter Dana Smith writes that there’s been a scientific revision of the previous wisdom that a glass or two of wine a day is good for you. Smith reports that Dr. Tim Naimi, at the University of Victoria said, “Alcohol is harmful to the health starting at very low levels.”

  The guidance has been two drinks a day for men, one for women and “excessive” is anything above that. Now doctors and scientists say that’s too much.

  About 60 percent of alcohol-related deaths are types of cancers and cardiovascular disease brought on by drinking.  Smith’s report explains that the body metabolizes alcohol into acetaldehyde, a chemical that is toxic to cells and can damage DNA. One doctor explained, “Once your DNA is damaged, then a cell can grow out of control and create a cancer tumor.”

Liar, Liar: Video has emerged of the lying Congressman George Santos dressed in drag and bragging about performing in drag shows in Rio de Janeiro. A former friend said Santos went by the drag name “Kitara Rivache.” Probably more interesting is that the friend told Reuters that Santos was poor in 2005, but in 2008 “he came back to Niteroi with a lot of money.”

Denial Ain’t a River: A failed political candidate in New Mexico was charged this week with paying four men to shoot at the homes of Democratic office holders, and taking part in at least one shooting himself.

  Political violence is a growing fear among both elected and election officials. Tom Liddy of the Maricopa County Attorney’s office in Arizona, who’s in charge of defending election lawsuits, recently told The Guardian: “What we’re seeing now, which I never saw before, is folks not just contesting the election, but rather demonizing county officials or state officials or entrepreneurs who are in the business of creating voting systems or voting machines. Prior to the end of the Cold War, the Soviets were trying to convince the world that our system of government was no good and was no better than theirs. And now, I think that there are folks in this country that are starting to feel that way, or at least, trying to persuade others of that.”

The Obit Page: Singer and songwriter David Crosby, an original member of the Byrds who founded the seminal folk rock band Crosby, Stills, & Nash, has died at age 81. No cause was given by his family.

  Words and vocal harmonics were the foundation of his music. His song “Almost Cut My Hair” was an anthem for the counter culture. Crosby was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with both bands.

  Fame and a life launched in the freewheeling stoner days of the 60’s got the better of Crosby at times with arrests for drugs and weapons and stints in prison. 

  “You don’t sit down and say, ‘Gee, I think I’ll become a junkie,’” Crosby told People magazine in 1990. “When I started out doing drugs, it was marijuana and psychedelics, and it was fun. It was the ’60s, and we thought we were expanding our consciousnesses.”

The Spin Rack: The Supreme Court announced that it has been unable to find out who leaked the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old opinion that made abortion legal throughout the country. The court said that investigators did 126 formal interviews with 97 employees, all of whom denied being the source of the leaked opinion published by Politico. The court’s marshal did not say whether the justices themselves had been questioned. — British actor Julian Sands who was the lead in the 1985 movie “A Room With a View,” is reported to be missing with another man after they went on a hike in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Because the hills are saturated with rain and snow, the search has been hampered by the danger of avalanche. — Train travel, flights, schools, and businesses were disrupted yesterday as a million French workers protested government plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. 

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