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Morning Word
Manhunt continues as community mourns
Santa Fe Police continue to search for the suspect in a fatal shooting Tuesday at the Best Buy on Zafarano Drive that killed 83-year-old Santa Fean Gordon Peter Wilson, a retired investment and mutual fund manager and former chairman of the Archaeological Conservancy’s board. In an essay for the Conservancy, Wilson writes that his interest in archaeology began in grade school when he was “first exposed to Native Americans and ancient cultures…during the early days of black and white television, when the shows were mostly about cowboys and Indians. And, my sixth grade teacher, fresh from WW II and the GI Bill’s college opportunities, included ancient Greece and Rome in history class, probably an experience that many of today’s children don’t have. As a prolific reader, I supplemented this exposure with whatever was available in school libraries.” Friend and Conservancy colleague Mark Michel described Wilson to the Santa Fe New Mexican as “a gentle man, in the old sense of the word.” In a statement, Mayor Alan Webber issued condolences to Wilson’s family. “I share the grief and outrage of the Wilson family and our whole community,” Webber says. “The only consolation at this time is the combined efforts of law enforcement to find and arrest the criminal who committed this horrific crime. The safety and security of our whole community is my highest priority, and we are working overtime to keep our families, neighborhoods, and businesses safe.” The suspect, whom police describe as an Hispanic male with tattoos and a goatee, stole Wilson’s 2020 blue Jeep Grand Cherokee, bearing New Mexico registration plate CRM142.
Committee advances police vehicle proposal
The City of Santa Fe Quality of Life Committee last night advanced a controversial proposal to purchase two armored vehicles for the Santa Fe Police Department. The proposed purchase of the armored vehicles forms part of $40 million in one-time investments that Mayor Alan Webber announced during the annual State of the City address in May, with roughly $1.3 million allocated to SFPD. Several citizens and city councilors oppose purchasing the armored vehicles. “I very much believe that the kind of spending in our budget is really reflective of our values and policies, so if you have more in your municipal budget for police than you do for the unhoused community, or for youth or social workers or diversion programs, you’re going to get what you pay for,” Fatima van Hattum, a District 1 resident who served on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Advisory Council for Racial Justice, tells SFR. “That’s no decrease in crime, because we know most things related to crime are actually social issues related to housing and substance abuse.” District 1 City Councilor Alma Castro, who voted against the request during the Public Works and Utilities Committee earlier this week, proposed buying one versus two vehicles, noting the money in the request for the second vehicle could go to SFPD for other purposes such as increasing foot patrol. District 2 Councilor Michael Garcia seconded the motion, which ultimately failed. The budget adjustment resolution now advances to the Finance Committee—scheduled for Aug. 1. Castro was the sole vote against the request by the end of debate. “I feel it’s important to listen to our community and the concerns they have about police militarization,” she said.
School daze
Santa Fe Public Schools students return Friday, but this year’s high school freshmen are getting a jumpstart. Santa Fe High yesterday hosted an open house for the new students in an event titled Freshman Jumpstart to give new freshmen a chance to become familiar with the school and its services. SFR education reporter Mo Charney attended as well, and spoke with students, families and staff such as incoming freshman Kyrstin Quintana, who had decided to join Youth and Government as well as student council after talking to student representatives. “I’m not really into sports, and I’m not into band either. I did band in sixth grade, and it didn’t click for me,” Quintana says. “I thought I’d fit in there, and it’d be better than doing sports…they said the Student Council plans dances, and I think that’d be pretty fun too.” Quintana’s grandmother Charlene Cisneros, SFHS Class of 1979, also was on scene and said she was “excited” for her granddaughter’s entry into high school. “The school has changed so much, and I’m just hoping everything goes well this year—safe, no bullying or fighting. So far the teachers that I’ve met have been really good,” Cisneros says. “I think it’s going to be great for her.” Capital High hosts a similar event today from 8:30 am to noon.
NM lawmaker’s bill preser ves audio-only telehealth for tribes
Proposed federal legislation would codify a COVID-19 emergency health order that allowed for tribal communities to access audio-only telehealth services. US Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-NM, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District and numerous tribal areas, tells SFR she became aware that the provision was due to expire during a hearing. “One of our witnesses said, ‘By the way, the ability to have audio-only telehealth is expiring.’ And I said, ‘Oh, we need to fix that. And we need to fix it permanently.’ The Telehealth Access for Tribal Communities Act of 2024 would do that. “This is a piece to improve health care in rural areas; it is not a final solution,” the congresswoman notes. “We know that we don’t have enough rural health providers. And we also know that it’s very hard for tribal communities [that] live far away from the health clinics to get there. And so this is an important piece for that aspect of access. But you still need to go in and see a doctor. We still want doctors to be physically examining patients, to be establishing the rapport; but there are many times when you can get the care you need without sacrificing quality through telehealth and audio. It does not fix the whole problem, but it does address the improvements we can make and we should make.”
Listen Up
Texas Public Radio show Fronteras spotlights Eastern New Mexico University history professor emeritus Cynthia E Orozco, whose book Pioneer of Mexican American Civil Rights: Alonso S Perales is considered the first comprehensive biography of what the program characterizes as a “key figure” in Mexican American civil rights history and the founding of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “There is no Gus Garcia without Alonso Perales. There is no Carlos Cadena,” Orozco says. “LULAC is so key to the improvement of race relations in San Antonio. You cannot understand 20th-century San Antonio if you don’t know about Perales and LULAC.”
Zozobra 4ever
“I love Zozobra, but it’s one day and gone if you think about it.” (We do think about that, probably more than we should.) Those sentiments come from City of Santa Fe Tourism Director Randy Randall, who came up with the idea for a downtown statue of Old Man Gloom, and $35,000 worth of Lodger’s Tax revenue to pay for the tribute. Within a few months, Don Kennell and his team at DKLA Design turned around the project, which debuted earlier this week on Federal Place near the Santa Fe Community Center. The unveiling of the 18-foot steel sculpture precedes the Aug. 30 burn and the centennial celebration of William Shuster Jr.’s brainchild. “Zozobra is a homegrown Santa Fe thing, and the people have really made Zozobra what it is so we just really wanted to honor that and make something that brought joy,” Kennell tells SFR of the project. “It’s such a loved tradition here that we wanted to get it right to honor this town and the amazing people here that have created this phenomenon and this event.” Kennell says the team is still working on possibly adding a mechanical device to make the arms move or a pull chain “so people can engage with it.” They are also collaborating with Refract Studio for an augmented reality component that would allow people to point their phones at the statue and view a video with Zozobra’s origin information or would make the statue appear on fire. Speaking of AR, be sure to point your phone at the QR code on the front page of SFR this week for a 3D look at the work of Virgil Ortiz, the subject of this week’s feature story (“The Revolution Will be Sculpted”).
NM roundup
Travel writer Emily Hart has written frequently of her love for New Mexico, and includes the state in the #2 spot for her Business Insider story ranking all 50 states. “In my opinion, the Southwestern state, which has long been a hideout for artists and writers, has a style and feeling unlike any other,” she writes. Afar magazine also includes New Mexico in its list of incredible places to visit in the US, specifically “the arid landscape of the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness,” which the magazine describes as “otherworldly, with fields of stone mushrooms, mazes of alien spires, and gaping maws of rock. The 7,242-acre badland is a fantastical place for a hike. Heads up that there are no marked trails in this Bureau of Land Management area, no facilities or water, little to no shade, and spotty cell service.” That last part sounds nice. New Mexico Magazine also gets in on the Farmington-area otherworldly landscape journalism, with a story on the Bisti Badlands by Jennifer C Olson, accompanied by captivating photos from Gabriella Marks. “The sun sinks behind a crumbling sandstone mesa, highlighting pale, weather-worn hoodoos with rivers of burgundy and streaks of black against a pink sky,” writes Olson, who toured the area with with Diné guide Gilbert Tsinnajinnie, who explains the land “is traditionally held for ceremonial purposes.” It’s easy to “see why his people—or anyone—would set aside this landscape for the most reverent and awesome of occasions while going about daily life elsewhere,” she notes.
Here comes the rain
The National Weather Service forecasts a mostly sunny day with a high temperature near 87 degrees, and an 80% chance for precipitation via showers and thunderstorms after 3 pm, and again this evening before 9 pm.
