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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 255 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 197,447. The health department has designated 178,380 of those cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County had 65 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 56 and Doña Ana County with 29. Santa Fe County had five new cases.
The state also announced seven additional deaths; there have now been 4,058 fatalities. As of yesterday, 134 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Currently, 57.7% of New Mexicans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 42.4% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 67.5% have had at least one dose and 46.2% are fully inoculated.
The state’s new less restrictive county-level red-to-green COVID-19 metrics system goes into effect today.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here. If you’ve had experiences with COVID-19, we would like to hear from you.
The dimmer switch
Santa Fe City Councilor Michael Garcia says an April 23 demonstration of the city’s proposed LED lights left attendees with more questions than answers (we attended and also left with questions, but they were more existential than light-bulb related). As such, Garcia thinks the project should pause. The city plans to convert 5,500 streetlights to more energy-efficient LED lights and, with contractor Dalkia Energy Solutions, set up four demonstration sites so residents could see the options and provide feedback. Garcia said while he supports the project, the feedback he’s received indicates more time is needed. “There are a lot of challenges that are happening with this process,” Garcia said. “I think it’s appropriate that we hit pause and we address this matter in a way that does the service to the public that they are requesting.” Public Works Director Regina Wheeler indicated the city won’t be pausing the conversion, but may extend the public comment period and possibly send staff to demonstration sites again mid-May. The city, she says, is working with the International Dark Sky Association in order to ensure it qualifies as a dark sky city under the conversion. One criticism, apparently, was the lack of information on kelvins, measuring the color temperature of the various lights, on the various street poles, which Wheeler said was omitted intentionally so that people could judge the different lights without being influenced by that information. However, the city plans to release more information on the different street poles in a newsletter.
Lawmakers bristle over gov’s veto
State lawmakers and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham are at odds over approximately $1.1 billion in federal stimulus funding for the state. Lujan Grisham vetoed legislators’ plans for the money and says the executive branch holds the authority for how it’s spent. Lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties disagree, including Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, who didn’t rule out litigation in discussions with other lawmakers yesterday. The governor’s office, in turn, says the state needs to first receive the funds and guidelines on how they can be spent before allocating them. Her veto, however, has generated discussion over lawmakers’ next steps. “We have to have an equal presence in this thing,” Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said. “It’s our elected duty.”
Study: NM population will start to decline in about 10 years
New Mexico’s population counts will likely plateau post-pandemic and then decline, according to a demographic policy study released by the Legislative Finance Committee yesterday. The study reinforces some recently released Census data showing New Mexico as one of the slowest growing Western states. “In about a decade, New Mexico is projected to start seeing overall declines in population,” the study says. “Projections indicate declines in younger ages and rural areas will continue and likely be exacerbated by Covid-19. Given the status quo, New Mexico is heading toward having more, older New Mexicans using relatively expensive public services (e.g. Medicaid and Medicare) and fewer, younger New Mexicans in school and working.” Specifically, the study cites data from a University of New Mexico Geospatial and Population Studies Department forecast that the population will peak around 2.14 million and begin to decline in 2035.
Listen up
Following up on its Mars Technica podcast, Los Alamos National Laboratory has kicked off a new audio series, Relics, which focuses on historical items found in the National Security Research Center. Episode One, “Oppenheimer’s Chair,” takes a look at, yes, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s chair. Episode Two, “Secret City Babies,” delves into why the 300 babies born during the Manhattan project all had the same address: P.O. Box 1663 in Santa Fe. The forthcoming third episode, on May 10, will discuss the Fat Man Manual.
Ode to spring
What better way to celebrate the end of April and the spring segue to some sort of normal than an outdoors COVID-safe event complete with poetry? From 5 to 8 pm tonight, Axle Contemporary, Santa Fe Poet Laureate Elizabeth Jacobson, YouthWorks, Santa Fe Community Screenprinting and the New Mexico School for the Arts will present Everything Feels Recent When You’re Far Away, the culmination of a year-long project in which 60 high school student poets wrote poems and then screen-printed them into clothing, photo portraits and a book version. SFR recommends the event, and be sure to check out the rest of SFR’s picks this week.
And, as long as we’re talking poetry, Jacobson’s two-year term as the city’s poet laureate expires at the end of June, and the city has an open call for her successor (applications are due by May 17). Briefly: This is an honorary position (we believe that means it’s unpaid) and requires four appearances per year for a two-year term at city-sponsored events as determined by the Arts and Culture Department. Applicants must be over 21 (we assume this is in case the events involve drinking) and a resident of or employee within Santa Fe County for at least two years. Applications include a resume and—yes—poems. Find the full deets here (about halfway down the page).
SFR honored in regional journalism competition
The Santa Fe Reporter took home 10 awards in the 2021 Top of the Rockies competition from the Colorado Pro chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists, open to journalists in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The awards included five first-place awards to: Culture Editor Alex De Vore in the arts, entertainment and food category for “How ‘Fortnight’ and ‘Second Life’ Shaped the Future of Indian Market;” Contributing Editor Jeff Proctor in the sports category for “Links for Life;” staff writer Katherine Lewin in the podcast category for The Reported podcast; Art Director Anson Stevens-Bollen’s in the front page design category for “A Crack in the Shield;” and Senior Correspondent Julia Goldberg in the science and technology feature category for “Model Citizens” about the state’s COVID-19 modeling efforts. Lewin also earned third place in photography for her spot coverage of the day Santa Fe’s Plaza obelisk came down; the paper’s team earned third place in the Social Justice Reporting category for coverage of the event, including what led up to it and its aftermath in a cover story by Staff Writer Leah Cantor, Proctor and Lewin. Goldberg’s story on the Santa Fe Art Institute’s 35-year-history received third place in the arts and entertainment category, while SFR Editor Julie Ann Grimm’s story on New Mexico’s budding hemp industry, “Hempire,” received third place in the agriculture category.
Farewell, April
TGIF! A warm, windy weekend awaits as the calendar changes and cruel April becomes a distant memory. To wit: Today will be sunny with a high near 71 degrees and east wind 10 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the morning. Saturday, the temps rise to a high near 77 degrees and then down to 75 degrees on Sunday, also sunny. Expect various winds blowing in various directions all weekend long.
Thanks for reading! Like the rest of the world, The Word laughed when she read the viral adoption ad for Prancer, the demonic Chihuahua, but even more happily read the news that he had been adopted. Speaking of which, in celebration of National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, the Santa Fe Animal Shelter is waiving fees for all dogs over the age of six months this weekend, April 30 to May 2, at the main campus location and by appointment only.
