artdirector@sfreporter.com
Councilors balk at gun proposal
A recent New York Times investigation of gun violence among children reported a sharp increase of gun deaths among children in both 2020 and 2021. “There were two things that I feel are largely responsible,” New Mexico State University Public Health Professor Jagdish Khubchandani tells the Times. “One is the socioeconomic upheaval that occurred in the country. No. 2 is that the share of households with children that own guns keeps increasing.” A new proposal from Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber, co-sponsored by Councilors Amanda Chavez and Carol Romero-Wirth, specifically targets guns and children, but city councilors tell SFR they have reservations about the mayor’s idea to skirt the state constitution’s prohibition against regulating arms by leaning on a state law that bans weapons in locations used for school-related activities. Legal questions about the proposition stymied the Quality of Life Committee, which voted unanimously last week to postpone considering the proposal until next month. “I think us as a governing body, we do not have the authority to take such action,” Councilor Michael Garcia told the committee.
NM unveils tutoring program
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus yesterday announced details for a new virtual tutoring program focused on mathematics, language arts and science for New Mexico students from pre-K through 8th grade at Title 1 schools. The governor and Steinhaus previewed the program last October. A PED spokeswoman tells SFR the tutoring program will be provided by the online company Paper via a $3.3 million contract. “Paper’s mission is to help every student reach their full potential by providing personalized academic support for nearly any subject or assignment, at any time of day, via any device,” Paper co-founder and CEO Philip Cutler said in a statement. “As a former educator, I have seen firsthand the positive impact that 1:1 instruction can have for both high performers and struggling students.” According to a news release from the governor’s office, Jemez Mountain Public Schools students have been using Paper since the 2021-2022 school year. Next month, the state also plans to launch the New Mexico Math Tutoring Corps for Algebra 1 students in grades 8-12 across the state. Earlier this fall, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, aka the nation’s report card, released its first results since the pandemic, which showed a decline in math and reading schools for fourth and eighth graders in most states, including New Mexico.
New hope for Alamogordo chimps
Earlier this week, a Maryland federal judge ruled the National Institutes of Health cannot lawfully refuse to retire federally owned chimpanzees formerly used for research to federal chimpanzee sanctuary Chimp Haven. The decision was issued in a 2021 lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States, Animal Protection New Mexico, Humane Society Legislative Fund, and three individual plaintiffs after the NIH refused to retire the chimps. Instead, as a news release notes, “NIH decided to retain dozens of chimps at the Alamogordo Primate Facility—the same New Mexico laboratory where they were previously used in experiments—for the remainder of their lives.” Thirty chimps remain at the Alamogordo facility to this day in violation of the 2000 Chimpanzee Health, Improvement, Maintenance and Protection (CHIMP) Act. “The CHIMP Act means exactly what it says: These chimps cannot be denied the sanctuary retirement they deserve,” Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States said in a statement. “It is a win that the US District Court for the District of Maryland agreed with us that the law reflects a commitment to providing these chimps—who suffered years of invasive biomedical experiments—the highest standard of care possible.” The decision, Animal Protection New Mexico Chief Program and Policy Officer Leslie Rudloff says in a statement, “affirms what we’ve asserted all along: by law, these chimpanzees have the right to live their best chimp lives in sanctuary.”
COVID-19 by the numbers
Reported Dec. 15: New cases: 441; 654,580 total cases. According to the most recent report on geographic trends for the week of Dec. 5-11, the state had a nearly 21% decrease in reported cases compared to the prior week. Deaths: six; Santa Fe County has had 375 total deaths; 8,761; total fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 197. Patients on ventilators: 12The Biden administration announced yesterday renewed availability for four free at-home COVID-19 tests per household via COVIDTests.gov. “Everyone in New Mexico should take advantage of this opportunity to stock up on free at-home COVID-19 tests before the holidays,” Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said in a statement. “It’s also a good idea for families to test before they gather this winter. And remember, if you are sick, stay home and avoid infecting others.” Earlier this month, Curative announced it would conclude its nationwide testing program by Dec. 28. Subsequently, DOH said, the state will only provide at-home testing, which New Mexico residents can also access here.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent Dec. 15 “community levels” map, which uses a combination of hospital and case rate metrics to calculate COVID-19 risk for the prior seven-day period, shows three counties categorized as “orange”—high risk—for COVID-19, versus eight last week. They are: Union, Guadalupe and San Juan counties. Santa Fe County remains “green,” classified as lower risk. Fifteen counties are “yellow,” with medium risk. Corresponding recommendations for each level can be found here.
Resources: CDC interactive booster eligibility tool; NM DOH vaccine & booster registration; CDC isolation and exposure interactive tool; COVID-19 treatment info; NMDOH immunocompromised tool kit. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453. DOH encourages residents to download the NM Notify app and to report positive COVID-19 home tests on the app.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
Renowned lecturer and podcast host Brené Brown spent a day in Albuquerque with Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher Father Richard Rohr, founder of Albuquerque’s Center for Action and Contemplation. In the first of a recent two-part episode of Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast, she talks with Rohr about his book, Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps.
It’s beginning to look a lot like...
The final pre-holiday weekend provides myriad opportunities for seasonal festivities. For those with an anti-consumer bent, be sure to check out the all-ages gift creation workshop from 2 to 4 pm today at the Southside Library. Once again, Vital Spaces will host more than 50 local makers at its winter market from 4 to 9 pm today at the Farmers Market pavilion, offering art, jewelry, ceramics, cards, accessories, home decor and more, along with music, handcrafted s’mores, hot cider, hot chocolate and bischochitos. You’ll also find holiday fare at tonight’s Museum Hill’s Winter Glow Holiday stroll, from 4 to 7 pm, with activities such as farolito making, horno firing, caroling and more at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; Museum of International Folk Art; and the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens. Tomorrow, Desert Chorale will offer pop-up carols from 11 am to 2 pm at the Railyard, along with more formal performances of Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” throughout the weekend at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Lone Piñon fiddler and accordionist Jordan Wax will offer a Hanukkah singalong at 11:30 am on Saturday at the Southside Library (and Chanukah on the Plaza kicks off at 3 pm on Sunday and includes latkes, donuts, gelt, hot cider and a giant chile menorah). Catch a costumed staged-reading by Upstart Crows of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at 1 pm tomorrow at the Unitarian Universalist Church (by donation; 107 East Barcelona Road). And, as of press time, a few tickets remained for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s weekend performances of The Nutcracker at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.
After the fire
Inside Climate News provides an on-the-ground look in Gallinas at the restoration work undertaken in the aftermath of the devastating Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon wildfire. Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance Executive Director Lea Knutson tells Inside Climate News the organization’s philosophy is “every inch of ground is important.” To that end, volunteers arranged boulders dislodged by monsoon rains into a structure intended to reroute potentially destructive erosion in the area. “To avoid future flooding and water contamination, the area has an urgent need for landscape-wide restoration. While federal agencies undertake many of their repairs with heavy machinery, several local organizations, including the HPWA, are using small-scale, nature-based approaches to restore the Gallinas watershed,” the story notes. “These hands-on efforts are offering hope for both the landscape and the community.” Knutson evacuated for five weeks during the fire, with her property—though not her home—burning in the conflagration. She remains positive about turning “flood events into restoration events,” saying: “I would just love to see hundreds of people out there building these low-tech structures with logs and rocks, because they don’t require a lot of maintenance in the long run.” The story also looks at the expertise Santa Clara Pueblo is contributing to restoration efforts.
Chill out
The National Weather Service forecasts another bitterly cold day: sunny, with a high temperature near 25 degrees and wind chill values as low as -10, with northwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Saturday’s high temperature will be near 31 degrees, but the wind chill values could drop as low as -14. Sunday should see temperatures start to “warm up” a bit to a high of 35 degrees and no forecasted wind chill values, with temps staying in the mid 30s as we head into Christmas.
Thanks for reading! The Word is attempting to get in the holiday spirit by watching Saturday Night Live holiday skits.
