COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 148 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 191,377. The health department has designated 173,569 of those cases as recovered. Bernalillo County led with 58 new cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 37 and Sandoval County with 25. Santa Fe County had three new cases.
After two consecutive days with zero deaths, the state announced seven fatalities. There have now been a total of 3,932 deaths statewide. As of yesterday, 110 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
As for vaccines, as of yesterday, according to the health department's vaccine dashboard, 43.6% of New Mexicans 16 years and older have had at least one dose and 26.9% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 42.8% have had at least one shot and 24.2% are fully inoculated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Mexico currently ranks first in the US for the percentage of population in the state who have received first and second doses.
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.
NM meets all COVID-19 gating criteria
When it comes to New Mexico's COVID-19 gating criteria, 168 has been the magic number and the remaining holdout in assessing the statewide picture during the pandemic. While the state has been regularly meeting seven of the benchmarks—from contact tracing to hospital supplies to transmission rates—reducing case counts to 168 new cases over a seven-day rolling average has remained elusive. Until now. "It is true that New Mexico, as a state, is meeting all eight of the statewide gating criteria," Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase writes via email in response to SFR's questions about the significance of doing so. "And we should celebrate this fact as it has been a long time!" Nonetheless, he continues: "We will need to watch the numbers over the next week or two to ensure the trend holds, as case counts over the past four days have averaged 193, 15 [%] higher than 168. Also, when the case count is 168, that means that we are at eight cases per 100,000 across New Mexico. Which means that half of New Mexicans live in a county over eight cases/100,000, and half in a county below that. Personally, I am waiting to celebrate when all 33 New Mexico counties are green or turquoise at the same time." Green and turquoise refer to the county-level framework under the public health law and the current criteria for assessing local transmission. Overall, the most recent weekly epidemiology and modeling report from the health department concludes that case rates may be hitting a plateau and declines in hospitalizations and deaths may be slowing.
Taking back Midtown
The City of Santa Fe plans to "take back control" of the Midtown campus, according to an action memo slated for presentation at tonight's City Council meeting. The move comes after the city and potential master developer KDC/Cienda Partners canceled their negotiation agreement earlier this year. The memo, written by Director of Community and Economic Development Rich Brown, says he contacted all the developers who previously expressed interest in the project and, having done so and in consultation with City Manager Jarel LaPan Hill, canceled the city's Request for Expression of Interest and will instead take the lead in moving the project forward. "We have both a team of staff and contractors who can move forward quickly with zoning and development planning for approvals and get this development project moving forward more rapidly than if we linked up with another master developer in the near term," Brown says in the memo, providing a timeframe of 16 to 18 months, starting immediately. The plan, as outlined, includes assessing infrastructure; identifying parcels for affordable housing; preparing buildings for either reuse or demolition; creating public engagement; and assessing a potential public financing mechanism, among other actions. "We're taking back control of our own Midtown destiny," the memo says, "and will move to implement a series of initiatives to move the overall project forward."
Cannabis scorecard
State senators and representatives will likely hear today in their respective chambers two bills proposing a path forward for legalizing adult-use recreational cannabis in New Mexico. Both passed—after great debate and many amendments—their respective committees yesterday. Two state House committees yesterday approved—along party lines—a revamped proposal addressing cannabis taxation and regulation, House Bill 2, which the House Taxation and Revenue Committee approved after amending the measure to hike its excise tax over time. Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said the amendment proposed by Los Alamos Democrat and Committee Chair Christine Chandler was "a reasonable change that is likely to give us significant additional resources." House Judiciary members then discussed the bill into the night and voted to approve 7-4 just before 1:30 am today. HB 2 likely heads for a floor vote today. A prior version of the bill in the regular session included social justice reforms, such as expungement for people with past cannabis possession charges and convictions. That measure now has its own bill—Senate Bill 2— which the Senate Judiciary committee passed yesterday, also along a 6-3 party vote, after significant debate. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth said just before 10:30 pm that the Senate will take up SB 2 on Wednesday morning. A third cannabis-legalization proposal, Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, has yet to receive committee assignments.
Democratic runoff today for CD1 candidate
Two Democratic candidates seeking to replace Deb Haaland in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District head into a run-off election today. According to a Democratic Party of New Mexico news release last night, 199 Democratic State Central Committee in the district cast their first votes yesterday for a field of eight candidates. None received the required 50% +1 threshold, so under party rules, the two top finalists will face off. State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez and state Rep. Melanie Stansbury, both Albuquerque Democrats, garnered the top votes: 37.2% and 21.6%, respectively. The winner of that race will face Republican state Sen. Mark Moores as its candidate and Chris Manning, a Farmington war veteran, running for the Libertarian Party.
Listen up
Tomorrow at 10 am (Thursday, April 1), the Santa Fe Council on International Relations will host a free online discussion on "The Dry Corridor: Climate Change's Impact on Hunger in Central America" with Senior Director of Public Policy and Thought Leadership at World Food Program USA Chase Sova; Kate Milliken, the UN World Food Programme's regional climate change adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean; and Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre's International and Regional Liaison Officer Carlos Fuller. SFR journalist Katherine Lewin will moderate the discussion. Advance registration required and available here.
New law removes cannabis fines for juveniles
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham yesterday signed into law a measure removing fines for the possession of cannabis by a minor and modifying the requirement for community service to a maximum of 48 hours. It also removes a nonrefundable "application fee" for public defender representation for any child subject to the provisions of the state Delinquency Act. "These fees are disproportionately painful for lower-income families," Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "Nickel-and-diming New Mexico families doesn't solve anything. On the contrary, it can create a vicious cycle of fee collection and license revocation, all of which serves only to entrap too many New Mexicans in the criminal justice system." Children, Youth and Families Department Secretary Brian Blalock said the law, approved unanimously during the regular session by both legislative chambers and sponsored by state Reps. Roger Montoya, D-Velarde, and Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, was another "positive" step forward for juvenile justice reform: "Fines and fees unfairly penalize economically disadvantaged families and are contrary to the rehabilitative purpose of our juvenile justice system," he said. In other actions, the governor yesterday vetoed House Bill 92, which would have raised the fee on drinking water testing for public water systems.
Making Indigenous history
Santa Fe's School for Advanced Research continues its 2021 series: Museums Pivot: Shifting Paradigms for Collaboration at 2 pm today (free but advanced registration required). "Affirming Indigenous Representation: The Future of Native Art and Collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art" will feature keynote speaker Patricia Norby (Purépecha), who holds a doctorate and is the Met's first Indigenous curator and first full-time curator of Native American Art in its 150-year history. Norby will discuss Indigenous representation at The Met and share her vision for the future of the museum's Native art and collections. "Historical and contemporary Native American art embodies and confronts the environmental, religious and economic disruptions that Indigenous communities have so powerfully negotiated—and still negotiate—through a balance of beauty, tradition and innovation," Norby said in a statement when her appointment was announced in September.
Growing pains
As March comes to a close, hopefully you've taken advantage of Santa Fe's Mini Seed Libraries (don't worry if not—they are ongoing through May). But perhaps this year you're taking the plunge and starting those seeds indoors. Edible New Mexico has helpful tips for newbie seed-starters in its spring edition, noting the challenges that await: "Start too early and your cute little sprouts get yellow and leggy way before it's warm enough to move them outside. Start too late and you might as well just plant directly in the ground—there was no need for all the trays and TLC. Forget to water for three minutes and the whole tray of seedlings kicks the bucket. Set the trays outside for a sunny afternoon and shriek when you remember in the middle of the frosty night that they're still out there." Before you get discouraged, Edible NM breaks down the process into the basics—soil, humidity, water, heat, light and timing—and provides a list of additional resources as well.
Calm down
Today will be sunny with a high near 57 degrees and east wind around 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon, a vast improvement to yesterday's gusts.
Thanks for reading! The Word thought maybe the New York Times was joking about companies turning remote employees into holograms, but apparently they were not.
