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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials on Friday reported 791 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 253,815. DOH has designated 224,058 of those cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County had 213 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 81 and both Doña Ana and Sandoval counties with 51. Santa Fe County had 27 new cases.
The state also announced 11 additional deaths, 10 of them recent; there have now been 4,812 fatalities. As of Friday, 347 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. DOH is expected to provide a three-day update on cases, fatalities and hospitalizations this afternoon.
Currently, 80.1% of New Mexicans 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 70.8% are fully vaccinated. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 64% people have had at least one dose and 54.7% are fully inoculated. In Santa Fe County, among those 18 years and older, 90.9% have had at least one dose and 80.9% are fully vaccinated.New Mexico State University officials on Friday tallied vaccination rates for staff and students following a Sept. 30 deadline and reported that while 72.3% of staff had provided proof of vaccination, numbers for students—at just above 30%—remained insufficient. “Our student vaccine card upload numbers are not where we want them to be right now based on this early data—and that’s not unexpected,” Jon Webster, NMSU system COVID-19 project manager, said in a statement. “We’re continuing to reach out to students through text message, email, social media, digital signs, and many other communication channels.”
The state health department has added a tool to its vaccination website that allows recipients of the Pfizer vaccine to determine if they are eligible for a booster.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Ready, set, vote
If you want to vote early, keep in mind that online registration for the Nov. 2 election closes tomorrow (but you can still vote on election day using same-day registration). Election officials also will start mailing out absentee ballots tomorrow and it’s the first day you can vote in-person at the county clerk’s office (100 Catron St.). Locations for early voting will expand starting on Oct. 16. SFR has answers to most—possibly all—of your election questions here, and you can check your voter registration status and look for more polling locations from the county clerk here. Read up on the Santa Fe City Council and mayoral candidates here. You’ll have a chance to hear directly from the three mayoral candidates—Alexis Martinez Johnson, incumbent Alan Webber and City Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler—in two back-to-back forums (both free) at 6 pm tonight and tomorrow night at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. Hosted by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Fe Housing Action Coalition, tonight’s forum will focus on business and economic issues, while tomorrow’s will center on housing topics. Remember that the Lensic requires proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry. Both tonight’s forum and Tuesday evening’s will also stream live on Facebook. In addition to the municipal races, the ballot will include candidates for Santa Fe Public Schools, Santa Fe Community College, as well as school district bond and Mill Levy questions. The Santa Fe County League of Women Voters will also host some forums this week, and has a voters guide covering all the races in Santa Fe County. Finally, you can view a sample ballot for your address here after you enter your registration info (your name and date of birth).
Sink or swim
Summer has come to a close, and won’t return until June 2022 but, with any luck and a whole bunch of cash, by then the city of Santa Fe will have a new outdoor pool. Members of the city’s Finance Committee, which meets at 5 pm this evening, will be taking a look at a $1.9 million plan to repair and reconstruct the Bicentennial Pool, the city’s only outdoor swimming facility. Earlier this year, the city identified what a Public Works memo characterizes as a “major leak” that was causing the pool to lose more than 100,000 gallons of water per month. “Due to the amount of water being lost and the season’s severe drought the City Council voted to close the pool and develop a solution to mitigate the leak,” an explanatory memo reads. Since then, Public Works “has been actively assessing the pool’s conditions and options for addressing the issues discovered. After considerable exploration of the issue it has been determined that the only viable solution is to replace the existing pool shell and attendant plumbing and electrical systems with an entirely new shell and attendant systems.” If approved, the work would happen in three phases and also include rehabbing the pool building and amenities and have a total price tag of $2.3 million. The Finance Committee today will also hear a presentation on the 2020 fiscal year audit, which the city submitted to the state last month after a nine-month delay.
State announces payment for low-income families
On Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that families who were eligible for for the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund would be receiving one-time $446 cash payments. “This critical assistance will help nearly 13,000 working New Mexico families,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “My administration will continue to aggressively pursue every avenue for helping working families get the services and assistance they need, whether it’s child care, or energy assistance, or cash for other necessities.” According to a news release, New Mexico received the allotment from the Administration of Children and Families, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program to assist eligible families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with the passage of the federal American Rescue Plan Act. This payment is intended to be used for any critical needs, including emergency housing, utility payments, food, clothing and back-to-school expenses. “The public health emergency has disproportionately impacted so many families working to make ends meet,” Angela Medrano, deputy secretary of the Human Services Department said in a statement. “These funds are essential to provide families much-needed financial relief.” HSD also announced last week an increase in monthly benefits that began on Friday for those in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Listen up
In her most recent book Ten More Doors: Politics and the Path to Change, former state senator Dede Feldman, who has lived in New Mexico for decades with her husband, discusses learning about her Albuquerque North Valley neighborhood by knocking on the front doors of the people who lived near her and being willing to engage in their lives. She discusses her memoir and pathway to politics with KNME correspondent Gwyneth Doland. Former US Sen. Tom Udall says Feldman’s memoir “shows how grassroots citizens who show up, volunteer for a candidate, write articles, and make their views known—just like she did—can make a difference by following her on the path she’s outlined.”
Green and yellow
While locals may not find many new ideas in the New York Times recent travel piece, “Eight Things to Do in the Southwest this Fall,” it’s always nice to be mentioned. Needless to say, Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta (ongoing through Oct. 10 and, if you’re attending, New Mexico Magazine has some photo tips) makes the list, as does green chile season. As for the latter, the Times makes particular note of the State Fair’s annual green chile cheeseburger challenge (won this year by Oso Grill in Capitan), along with Santa Fe’s own smackdown (won by Street Food Institute) and talks with judge Josh Gerwin, the chef and owner of Dr. Field Goods here and in Albuquerque: “The heat of the chile helps cut the fat in the cheeseburger, so they work well together,” Gerwin notes. Also on the local fall to-do list: visit some ghost towns (like Cerrillos); bird watch at the Bernardo Waterfowl Area; and, if you want to keep driving, star gaze and book some farm visits in Arizona.
Write in time
Perhaps the shortening of days and briskness of air will inspire you to turn inward and put pen to paper (or fingers to keys). If so, SFR’s annual Writing Contest has you covered and is now open for submissions. This year’s fiction theme, “Emerge,” will involve characters who move past obstacles and toward accomplishments (or not?). You don’t need to include the word emerge in your story, but each fiction entry must contain the following three words: fog, guardian and antiseptic. Non-fiction entrants should tackle the theme of “What We Owe,” and should be less focused on monetary debt and more concerned with how we interact, interplay and otherwise thrive together in a strange new world. Entries are open until midnight Oct. 31, 2021. The $10 entry fee supports SFR’s journalism, and first place winners in each category receive a $100 cash prize. SFR publishes the top three winners in each category in print and online. Entries should not exceed 1,800 words, must be submitted digitally and previously unpublished. Paid contributors to SFR in the last year are not eligible. You can read last year’s fiction winners here and last year’s nonfiction winners here.
The warm up
Look for temperatures to rise a bit this week. According to the National Weather Service, today will be sunny with a high near 75 degrees and northeast wind around 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. If you can’t wait for snow season to begin, drive up the mountain!
Thanks for reading! A long-time fan of Santa Fe’s BURNING BOOKS press, The Word happily filled out its somewhat unconventional survey, “Why is art like an alligator” a few months back and greatly enjoyed reviewing the results.
