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Police: Woman faked carjacking, caused deadly crash
New Mexico State Police over the weekend arrested and charged a woman they say fraudulently claimed to have been carjacked and kidnapped when she herself caused the car crash that killed two people. In a news conference Saturday, law enforcement officials introduced forensic data from the car involved in the March 2 car chase and crash in Santa Fe they say shows Jeannine Jaramillo, 46, was alone in a stolen vehicle and drove it the wrong way on I-25. An ensuing accident killed Santa Fe Police Officer Robert Duran, 43, and Frank Lovato, a 62-year-old retired firefighter from Las Vegas, NM. State police arrested Jaramillo Saturday afternoon in Albuquerque and charged her with two counts of first-degree murder; receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle; aggravated fleeing and tampering with evidence. “We believe Jaramillo led officers on a chase, driving the suspect car and causing the fatal crash that killed Officer Duran and Mr. Lovato,” State Police Deputy Chief Carolyn Huynh said at the briefing. “We have evidence that backs up this conclusion.”
Moreover, Jaramillo’s criminal history includes a 2021 incident in Cibola County in which she claimed a male assailant forced her to flee from police in a stolen vehicle (that case was dismissed pending further investigation); and a 2015 case in Bernalillo County in which she received three years of probation on charges of aggravated battery on a police officer; receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle; and two counts of resisting, evading or obstructing a police officer. At Saturday’s briefing, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said Jaramillo’s criminal history will be taken into account going forward, and she would be filing a pretrial detention motion in District Court this morning to try to hold Jaramillo in custody until trial. “Through this horrific chain of events, we have seen the danger and damage that Ms. Jaramillo is capable of if she is to remain out in the public,” Carmack-Altwies said.
Dem candidates make their pitches in Roswell
New Mexico Democrats’ 2020 pre-primary convention—held at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino—took place just a few days before the state logged its first cases of COVID-19 and a public health crisis and concomitant partisan divide commenced. Last weekend, as the state edged toward the two-year mark of the pandemic, Democratic hopefuls once again gathered in person, this time in Roswell, in the unofficial kickoff to what is expected to be stiff competition in midterm elections. Still, some vestiges of the last two years lingered. For instance, unlike prior conventions, all delegate voting for the state party’s platform and candidates this year will be conducted through an absentee voting process “to ensure that everyone within our party organization is able to participate fully in all aspects of the convention process,” a DPNM news release stated. Results will be announced by March 15, after voting closes and results are certified. Under state law, the candidates in contested races are placed on the ballot in the order of votes received at the convention (with highest first). Candidates who don’t receive at least 20% of the votes have to gather additional signatures to appear on the ballot at all. Contested Democratic primary races at the top of the ballot for 2022 include AG hopefuls state Auditor Brian Colón and 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raúl Torrez; state treasurer candidates Laura M. Montoya, former Sandoval County treasurer, and former Magistrate Judge Heather Benavidez; former Las Cruces City Councilor Gabe Vasquez and physician Darshan Patel, who will face off to challenge Republican US Rep. Yvette Herrell in the 2nd Congressional District; and state auditor candidates former Santa Fe City Councilor and current Public Regulation Commissioner Joseph Maestas and former City of Santa Fe employee Zack Quintero. The state GOP held its pre-primary convention in late February in Ruidoso and released voting results shortly thereafter, albeit following technical problems.
Gov wants NM divested from Russia
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued a letter to the State Investment Council calling upon it to immediately evaluate state portfolios and divest state resources from the Russian government. “As you know, Russian President Vladimir Putin has directed his forces to invade the sovereign nation of Ukraine without justification,” the letter reads. “Thousands of Ukrainians have been senselessly murdered, and many more will likely perish in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. I stand with the Ukrainian people and wholeheartedly condemn these egregious acts of violence, which cannot go unchecked. The State of New Mexico has substantial investments that may be directly or indirectly aiding the Russian invasion. This is unacceptable. Not one penny should go toward furthering Putin’s brutality.” Lujan Grisham’s letter follows the actions of officials in other states attempting to add financial pressure to Russia. SFR asked the governor’s office on Feb. 28 if Lujan Grisham planned to take action as it related to the state’s financial connections to Russia; Press Secretary Nora Meyers Sackett wrote to SFR on that day that while she was “not aware of any state business with Russia...New Mexico stands with Ukraine and will evaluate any potential action.” According to the governor’s office most recent announcement, the state’s permanent funds, governmental client investments, endowments, and reserve funds managed by the SIC are currently valued at $36.36 billion, with the SIC managing the investments for 23 New Mexico government related clients at a combined value of $1.84 billion. As of the week prior to last, approximately $7.9 million was invested in Russian stocks and bonds. Bob Jacksha, chief investment officer of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board, told the Wall Street Journal recently that “without immediately quantifying it, we can say our direct exposure to Russia and Ukraine is minimal across the portfolio, though “indirect exposure from the impact on all markets is unavoidable, of course.”
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 381; 513,311 total cases
Top three counties: Bernalillo County with 99; Doña Ana County with 46; San Juan County with 38
Santa Fe County: 30, 13 from the 87507 ZIP code, which ranked fifth in the state among ZIP codes for new cases
Breakthrough cases: According to the most recent weekly vaccine report, between Jan. 31-Feb. 28, 48% of COVID-19 cases were among people who had not completed a primary vaccination series; 27.9% were among those who had completed the series but had not received a booster; and 24.1% were among those who were fully vaccinated and boosted. For hospitalizations, those figures change to 65%, 18.3% and 16.7%. The percentages shift to 63.1%, 20.7% and 16.2% for fatalities.
Deaths: 16, 10 of them recent; there have been 6,972 statewide. Hospitalizations: 197
Vaccinations: 91.9% percent of adults 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 78.1% have completed their primary series; 44.5% of adults 18 years and older have had a booster shot; 12-17-year-old age group: 71.1% of people have had at least one dose and 61.1% have completed their primary series; Children ages 5-11: 38.6% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 29.6% have completed their primary; Santa Fe County: 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 87% have completed their primary series.Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
On the most recent episode of the PBS show New Mexico In Focus, host Gene Grant talks with Ukrainian Americans living in New Mexico about what the country and the state can do to help people in their home country. Grant also speaks with a Ukrainian professor sheltering outside Kyiv. Guests include Nataliya Pavlenko-Edelman, president, Ukrainian Americans of New Mexico, along with Ukrainian Americans Larysa Castillo and George Danilov.
Native romance
Valentine’s Day may be in the rear view, but Smithsonian magazine remains focused on romance, specifically “romance in Indian Country.” Story author Dennis W. Zotigh (Kiowa/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo/Isante Dakota Indian), a member of the Kiowa Gourd Clan and San Juan Pueblo Winter Clan, notes while “the practice of romance and love” isn’t “normally associated with Native culture,” in fact, “being romantic is a year-round pursuit in Indian Country.” Each tribe, not to mention person, has “their own ways of exhibiting romantic tendencies,” and to capture some of those, the publication turned to social media and asked: “What do Natives do to be romantic?” The story includes replies from throughout Indian Country, including New Mexico, where one Albuquerque resident writes: “1. Let you backseat drive 4 a day! 2. Don’t tell U your stew needs more salt. 3. Don’t tell you your bread is hard. 4. Don’t tell U to ‘hurry up.’ 5. Wrap your moccasins tight so they don’t unravel! 6. Carry all your bags without asking. 7. Change a diaper 8. Bring in wood automatically 9. Don’t make me cook 10. Set up chairs at the plaza/powwow!…ayyyee!”
Monuments 2.0
The City of Santa Fe’s CHART project (Culture, History, Art, Reconciliation, Truth), created to address the divisions and controversies over public monuments, has now issued a call for proposals “that will create a pool of prospective monuments, memorials and works of public art that communicate what is important to residents of the city and county of Santa Fe.” Titled “Monumental Dreams and Conversations,” the initiative will include “public workshops and gatherings to inspire proposals and stimulate conversation,” with all proposed ideas shared publicly “as a way to celebrate our collective imaginings, stories and values.” Take note, individual artists can submit, as can groups and organizations, including neighborhood associations.” However, one need not be a professional artist to submit an idea,” a news release notes, “you can submit a description in words rather than a drawing, if you wish,” and/or drawings and words in combination. Proposals may be submitted by email (info@artful-life.org) or by snail mail (CHART, PO Box 28556, Santa Fe, NM 87592). Find proposal forms in English here and Spanish here. Deadline: Midnight, April 30.
March on
If you enjoyed the weekend’s sun, snow, rain and wind, you’re in luck: It’s March and we can probably expect more of the same for the foreseeable future. As for the immediate future, aka today, the National Weather Service forecasts a 30% chance of showers after 5 pm amidst increasing clouds, with a high near 46 degrees (the wind will be of the southeast variety at around 15 mph and become southwest in the afternoon). Those showers could become snow showers tonight, again with about a 30% chance of probability and snow accumulation of less than one inch.
Thanks for reading! Thus far, The Word has found Heardle harder than Wordle, but fun nonetheless.
