Morning-Word-Covid
COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 3,370 new COVID-19 cases for the three-day period of Nov. 6-8, a 28% increase over the three-day caseload one week ago. The new cases bring the statewide total to 286,086; the health department has designated 249,938 of those cases as recovered. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently ranks New Mexico fifth in the nation for its seven-day case rate per 100,000.
Bernalillo County had 774 new cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 561 and San Juan County with 520. Santa Fe County had 157 new cases.
The state also announced 11 additional deaths, nine of them recent, including the 174th from Santa Fe County: a male in his 50s who had been hospitalized; there have now been 5,124 fatalities statewide. As of yesterday, 425 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, 35 fewer than Friday.
Currently, 83.1% of New Mexicans 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 73% are fully vaccinated. Among that age group, 14% have had a booster shot. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 63.4% people have had at least one dose and 55% are fully inoculated. Among children ages 5-11, 0.5% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine following last week’s rollout. In Santa Fe County, 94.2% people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 82.9% are fully vaccinated.
New Mexicans can register for a COVID-19 vaccine here and check eligibility for a COVID-19 vaccine booster here. Parents can add dependents to their vaccine profiles here.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Raise in the works for some state employees
State officials say discussions are underway to raise minimum pay in New Mexico state government to $15 an hour for at least 1,200 public worker who make less than that amount. State Personnel Office Director Ricky Serna previewed salary targets to lawmakers late last month that included a $15-per-hour minimum and a 7% increase in annual payroll for pay at executive agencies overseen by elected officials, such as the governor, state attorney general, auditor and treasurer. State Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, who chairs the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, tells the Associated Press that state government has trouble recruiting and keeping workers on the lower end of the pay scale—a problem that is costing money. “The cost of losing someone is far more expensive than paying them a decent wage. That turnover is a killer,” she said, adding that even $15 per hour is “ridiculously low.” The Santa Fe City Council at the end of October voted to raise municipal employees’ minimum wage to $15 per hour as well. The moves come amid a national Fight for $15 initiative targeted at Congress.
NM in line for $3.7 billion in infrastructure improvements
New Mexico stands to receive more than $3.7 billion in funding, following last week’s historic passage by the US House of Representatives Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to US Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM. Heinrich and the other Democratic members of the state’s Congressional delegation, US Sen. Ben Ray Luján along with US Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury, will be holding a virtual news briefing with New Mexico media this morning to discuss the bill’s impact on the state, along with the Build Back Better Act, a climate-related bill that is next on Biden’s agenda. According to a news release from Heinrich’s office, the two bills combined will add on average 1.5 million jobs per year for the next 10 years. The infrastructure bill is anticipated to include: $2.5 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $225 million for bridge replacement and repairs; $38 million over five years to expand the state’s electric vehicle charging network; at least $100 million to help provide broadband coverage to those who lack it in the state; $355 million over five years to improve water infrastructure; and $90 million for infrastructure development for airports over five years and more. “For decades, New Mexico has been held back by a systemic lack of investment in infrastructure. That’s about to change,” Heinrich said in a statement.
Hola, sailor
ICYMI, it’s Navy Week in Santa Fe. “New Mexico may be landlocked,” Mayor Alan Webber noted, “but we feel connected and grateful to all who serve and have served in the Navy.” Specifically, sailors from the USS Santa Fe (SSN 763), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, are in town for a variety of events; Santa Fe Navy Week is one of 13 Navy Weeks being held across the US this year as “weeklong series of engagements designed to bring America’s Navy closer to the communities it serves.” Scheduled events and community service here include school visits, a Habitat for Humanity build event, mentoring at Girls Inc. and community service at Kitchen Angels, according to an online schedule. The US Navy Band, The Destroyers, will perform on the Plaza at 2 pm on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, as part of Veterans Day on the Plaza events. “I was honored to be a part of Santa Fe’s virtual Navy week last year, so it is exciting for my wife and I to travel to New Mexico and represent the Navy here in Santa Fe this year,” Rear Admiral Chris Engdahl, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Seven, who is serving as the Navy’s senior representative this week, said. “As a namesake city of an incredible attack submarine and home to many veterans, active duty and reserve personnel, I look forward to reconnecting this year and strengthening the Navy’s partnership with the citizens and leadership in this wonderful city.”
Listen up
In the most recent episode of KSFR’s CinemaScope podcast, host Nazneen Akhtar Rahim talks with Mark Gordon, writer and director of the award-winning documentary Awakening in Taos: The Mabel Dodge Luhan, about Luhan’s legacy and Gordon’s current project, Man of Many Colors, about a Tiwa Indian named Blue Spruce Standing Deer, the son of Tony Lujan, who was married to Mabel Dodge Luhan.
NM’s digital art future
Hyperallergic talks to New Mexico artists about cryptoart, with writer Nancy Zastudil noting, at the start of her story, “I was sure I wouldn’t find anyone in New Mexico to interview for this article.” She did, however, and delves into how these artists are using NFTs—non-fungible tokens—to break free of traditional art-world models. “Artists and creative communities are the ones who are making things interesting right now,” Sara Ludy, an artist who recently moved to Placitas, tells Zastudil. Ludy views the move to NFT artwork as an opportunity to shift traditional sales models to be more transparent and equitable. Santa Fe artist, curator, writer and digital content maker JenJoy Roybal founded Searchlight, described as a “community-led curatorial body that creates and manages a Pre-Qualified NFT Artists Pool for the global NFT community” to also help with these aims. “Every week we answer questions and help people understand the process,” Roybal says. “That’s an important part of the community—bringing more people into the crypto space and helping them understand what it is.” Local artists aren’t the only ones watching and engaging with the brave new world of NFTs. Art researcher, curator and critic Mario A. Caro (Colombian Mestizo), founding director of the MFA Studio Arts program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, says his interest lies in understanding how NFTs are created, disseminated and collected, noting that part of what IAIA’s MFA program teaches is how to “address a market on its own terms and in its own language.”
Another day in paradise
Forbes magazine prescribes the “purrfect” day in Santa Fe, a city in which might wish to spend a week or even a lifetime, the magazine notes. But if time is tight, writer Leslie Kelly recommends a few “essential” stops. These include Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return, natch, where a “full-on sensory overload” awaits “that’ll make you laugh and gasp and want to learn more about the power of positive mechanics.” Follow up, she adds, with a trip to Meow Wolf’s bar for a “Meowgarita, which comes in an otherworldly shade of blue and has a puff of cotton candy on top.” No, that margarita doesn’t count as breakfast. From Meow Wolf, head to The New Baking Co. for a breakfast burrito and then down to the Plaza for some shopping. Once downtown, one might wish to eschew the “extravagant boutiques,” she says, and instead buy from “the craftsman on the street” (this may or may not refer to the Native American Artisans Portal Program...we’re hoping it does not). From there, try to snag a table at the Plaza Cafe and eat some posole or, alternatively, hit The Burger Stand for “sweet potato fries with toasted marshmallow dipping sauce.” You could then leave downtown and head to the Farmers Market (assuming this one day in question is a Tuesday or Saturday) or take a hike on the Santa Fe River Trail (we would also recommend a nap at this point, but what we know?). Come afternoon, a “late-afternoon cerveza” at Santa Fe Brewing Co.’s HQ Beer Hall, followed by dinner at Jambo Cafe.
Cloud up
Today will bring increasing clouds, the National Weather Service predicts, with a high near 65 degrees and north wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
Thanks for reading! Generally, The Word would rather view than read about a sunset (and would prefer not to do it at 5 pm), but she still enjoyed this roundup of literary sunsets published to mark the end of Daylights Savings Time.
