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COVID-19 by the numbers
On Friday, New Mexico health officials reported 285 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 199,333. Bernalillo County had 80 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 55 and Doña Ana County with 19. Santa Fe County had 17 new cases, seven of which were in the 87507 ZIP code, which ranked eighth in the state on Friday for the most new cases.
The state also announced nine additional deaths, although last week Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said the Office of the Medical Investigator has been working through a backlog of cases and any COVID-19 deaths reported now may, in fact, be months old. Time stamps notwithstanding, there have been 4,098 total fatalities. As of Friday, 145 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. The health department will provide an update for the weekend and today’s new cases later this afternoon.
New Mexico’s vaccine dashboard reports 59.4% of eligible residents 16 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 47.1% are fully vaccinated.
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.
DCA begins “Multi-Cultural” dismantlement
Despite an ongoing lawsuit in federal court, the state Department of Cultural Affairs began on Friday the first steps toward removing the “Multi-Cultural” mural from the side of the Halpin building on the corner of Guadalupe Street and Montezuma Avenue, site of the forthcoming Vladem Contemporary satellite branch of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Artist Gilberto Guzman’s lawsuit contends destructing the mural would violate both his contract with the state, as well as his rights under the federal Visual Artists Rights Act. Last month, a federal judge declined Guzman’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent destruction of the mural. Hence, on Friday, the process began: “The renovation process on the east wall has begun,” Daniel Zillmann, director of communications and marketing for the department, said via email. “[Thursday], window insets were removed and [Friday] morning, the construction netting was put in place.” Theresa Sanchez, a liaison for Guzman, tells the Santa Fe New Mexican that the mural’s supporters “still have a thread of hope…We believe that the artist still has some rights, but we don’t know. It has to be determined or agreed upon by the judge. So, it’s still a little on the limbo side.” The state has said the museum will acknowledge the mural and its history inside the building.
Who wants to be a cannabis regulator?
A bunch of folks, it turns out. The state recently posted the names of the 161 people who have applied to serve on the state’s new Cannabis Regulatory Advisory Committee, created as part of the newly enacted Cannabis Regulation Act (SFR dug down into the act’s other stipulations here). The committee also has designated members, including the chief public defender and one representative each from the New Mexico Administrative Office of the District Attorneys; the New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association; and the New Mexico Association of Chiefs of Police. The act also requires other members have expertise in a variety of areas, including: cannabis policy, public health and water resources. The committee will be advising the Cannabis Control Division on myriad issues such as best practices; economic and cultural diversity in licensing and employment; and public health and safety. According to the state’s timeline, the committee should be established by September, with various licensing beginning at the start of 2022 and retail sales of cannabis kicking off in April, 2022.
UK athletes train in Santa Fe
In its Friday wrap-up, the City of Santa Fe noted that members of the United Kingdom Triathlon team just spent four weeks undergoing intensive training here as part of their preparations for the Olympics. Their regime included 10 hours of high-altitude running each week; 15 to 20 hours of bicycling; and seven to eight hours in the Salvador Perez pool (which has been closed to the non-Olympic public for...a while—apparently, the City Council will take up the issue of reopening it this week). The five-member team includes gold-medalist Alistair Brownlee (London, 2012 and Rio 2016) and his brother Jonny, a bronze and silver medalist, respectively. When he leaves Santa Fe, Jonny is flying straight to Tokyo (presumably not via a direct flight) for a warm-up race next week, but it sounds like he may return. “The facilities, the people, the natural trails, the culture and the weather are all brilliant,” he said. “It’s become our special place.” As far as positioning Santa Fe as a spot for elite athletes, runners from Kenya have long trained here, and city’s Recreation Complex Manager Liz Roybal says she hopes to see even more. “This has been a goal for a long time,” she said. “This might be the beginning of a bigger picture here for high-altitude training.”
Listen up
On the most recent episode of New Mexico In Focus on New Mexico PBS, correspondent Antonia Gonzales talks with two local advocates about the national attention given to the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis. Guests include Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women Executive Director Angel Charley and Christine Means, a member of New Mexico’s task force. The episode also includes interviews by NMiF Senior Producer Matt Grubs with Melanie Stansbury and Mark Moores, the respective Democratic and Republican candidates for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District special election.
More eyes on the 1st Congressional District
The Washington Post’s “The Trailer” newsletter eyeballs New Mexico’s upcoming special election for the 1st Congressional District—in play following Deb Haaland’s appointment as US Interior Secretary, and the state’s first special Congressional election since 1998. Republicans, WaPo claims, see the June 1 election (early voting began last week) as their best chance to reclaim the district, whose last successful candidate in the district was Heather Wilson in 2006. Four candidates will appear on the ballot (the race includes Libertarian Chris Manning and Aubrey Dunn, a former Republican is running as an independent), but WaPo primarily focuses on Democratic State Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Republican State Sen. Mark Moores. The GOP sees opportunity in this race, as special elections often have lower turn-out, while the Dems are under pressure to mobilize “a big win, one that wouldn’t suggest their base was demobilizing after Trump left the White House.” The story characterizes Stansbury as a consensus candidate for Democrats, while the GOP settled on Moores as someone who “hadn’t been picking the sort of fights that backfired on the party, like insisting that the 2020 election was stolen or that the coronavirus wasn’t a serious threat.” Democrats’ “debacle” in Texas’ special House election a week ago is driving both parties. “National Democrats ignored the Texas race,” the story notes. So when it comes to New Mexico’s: “They are not ignoring this one.” The four candidates debated on KOAT last night.
USA Today poll ranks MOCNA #3
As SFR has repeatedly noted, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts has shone throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with Senior Manager of Museum Education Winoka Yepa (Diné) both developing a phone app and digitizing entire exhibits to keep the museum accessible during stay-at-home orders. Now, USA Today’s 10best.com readers’ poll website has named the Santa Fe institution the third-best art museum in the country. “As an agent of change and a place of discourse, MoCNA exemplifies the power of museums to bring awareness to issues facing Indigenous Peoples and to challenge misperceptions of contemporary Indigenous arts,” Director Patsy Phillips (Cherokee Nation) said in a news release. “To receive this recognition is particularly special as we are a small dedicated staff working ceaselessly to advance contemporary Indigenous arts and cultures in all we do.”
With gusto
Today will be mostly sunny with a high near 73 degrees and southeast wind 15 to 20 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon and potentially gusting as high as 30 mph.
Thanks for reading! The Word just perused this New Yorker story examining Sudowrite and now realizes her days are numbered before someone programs a computer to write this newsletter. C’est la vie.
