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Gov calls for fireworks ban, federal aid amidst devastating fires
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham yesterday signed an executive order urging New Mexico municipalities and counties to ban the retail sale of fireworks in their communities. The request follows a weekend in which fires broke out in half the state, with thousands of New Mexicans still remaining under evacuation orders. “Fire conditions across New Mexico remain extremely dangerous—it’s essential that we mitigate potential wildfires by removing as much risk as possible,” the governor said in a statement. A resolution banning fireworks in the City of Santa Fe will be introduced at the City Council’s Wednesday meeting and voted upon May 11. The governor also spoke yesterday with members of the state’s congressional delegation and federal agencies to request 25 additional federal support personnel to coordinate emergency response and recovery efforts, among other topics.
The state’s largest fire, the Calf Canyon Fire, remains at more than 56,000 acres and 12% containment, with Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1 Commander Carl Schwope last night reporting in a nightly live-streamed update “tremendous progress” on the fire line with “no new homes…destroyed.” Favorable weather at the start of the week is aiding firefighters, but incident meteorologist Bladen Breitreiter yesterday provided an in-depth look at weather conditions impacting the fire, along with forecasts of critical fire weather returning later in the week. Numerous communities in Mora and San Miguel counties remain evacuated, with San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Lopez saying last night he recognizes the “urgency” from residents “who want to get in and get back to their homes and kind of figure out what’s going on [but]...as public safety, we have to…ensure we can do that in a responsible way.” Fire managers say they will hold 6 pm nightly online briefings on Facebook for the Calf Canyon Fire until otherwise stated. They will also hold a public meeting on the Cerro Pelado Fire—burning east of Jemez Springs—at 5:30 pm tonight at the Jemez Mountain Baptist Church.
SF Sheriff says he’s still waiting on Rust evidence
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office announced yesterday it can’t finish its investigation of the Oct. 21 shooting on the Rust film set until it receives missing evidence. Sheriff Adan Mendoza did, however, publicly release what he characterized as all of the agency’s Rust-related files, including: a 204-page case report; lapel/dash camera footage from deputies and detectives; crime scene photos; and witness interviews—including with actor/producer Alec Baldwin, who was handling the gun that fired and killed cinematographer Haylna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. According to Mendoza, the department still lacks: FBI firearm and ballistic forensics; DNA and latent fingerprint analysis; the state Office of the Medical Examiner findings report; and analysis of Baldwin’s phone data. “Once these investigative components are provided to the sheriff’s office, we will be able to complete the investigation to forward it to the Santa Fe District Attorney for review,” Mendoza said in a statement. First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, in turn, echoed Mendoza’s statement with one of her own. “The District Attorney’s office must wait until the complete investigation has been turned over by the Sheriff’s Office,” she said. “Once we receive the completed investigation and conduct a thorough and deliberate review of all evidence, a criminal charging decision will be made.” Yesterday’s announcements from both the sheriff and DA follow last week’s release by the environment department’s Occupational Health & Safety Bureau’s investigation of its workplace investigation of the shooting, accompanied by both a citation and fine for “plain indifference to the recognized hazards associated with the use of firearms on set.”
Christus, Cancer Care group entering mediation
New Mexico Cancer Care Associates and Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center will enter mediation in the next few weeks to address their contract dispute, amidst reports of a deteriorating relationship. The public conflict began earlier this month when NMCCA says Christus informed them it intended to terminate their contract seven months early after NMCCA declined to enter into an agreement to make all its physicians and staff employees of the hospital and turn over management of the clinic. Mediation, Dr. Scott Herbert, NMCCA oncologist, said in a statement yesterday, “could be a breakthrough…We can now sit down and talk this through and put the patients first.” According to a news release from MNCCA, Christus has agreed to extend the termination from May 27 to July 15 and while “NMCCA continues to challenge Christus’ right” to set termination dates, “we are very encouraged to be joining mediation on this matter, and we applaud Christus for agreeing to join us to work out this very important matter,” Dr. Kathryn Chan, also an oncologist at NMCCA, said in a statement. “We will enter into mediation with no pre-conditions and hope to find the right solution for the cancer patients under our care.” Christus Marketing, Communications & Public Relations Director Arturo Delgado confirmed to SFR via email the hospital has agreed to mediation, writing: “We are encouraged and are working with them to determine next steps for meeting soon.” In January, Christus announced plans to build its own cancer center, to open in 2024.
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 422 (includes the weekend); 521,432 total cases
Deaths: three; Santa Fe County has had 273 total deaths; there have been 7,445 total fatalities statewide. Hospitalizations: 38; Patients on ventilators: four
Transmission: According to the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “community levels” tracking system—which uses case rates along with two hospital metrics in combination to determine the state of the virus on a county level—all 33 of New Mexico’s counties currently have “green”—aka low—levels. The CDC updates its map on Thursdays.
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 Santa Fe Art Institute’s Tilt podcast, “Walking Midtown,” SFAI alumni Hakim Bellamy and Ehren Kee Natay walk the site with Tilt producer Kourtney Andar while having a discussion that “explores the liminality of edges and perimeters—the physical realities and poetical possibilities of the Midtown Site where the Santa Fe Art Institute is located.”
Santa Fe sculptor delivers to Coachella’s “die-hard” fans
After a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, California’s Coachella music festival recently resumed, as did Santa Fe-based sculptor Don Kennell’s contributions therein. The Orange County Register zeroed in on Kennell’s horse sculpture, “Mustang,” describing it as a piece of art “for the die-hard fans of the fest,” and “an icon” of the American West. “Horses and humans have this primordial connection,” Kennell told OCR. “We’ve evolved together over time and the event takes place on Polo fields so there are just a number of different connections. And people just love horses and we’re very interested as artists to try to make a connection with the audience. We want people to fall in love with it, for people to feel that connection.” Kennell, one of the festival’s returning large-scale artists, had his sculpture—22,000 pounds of steel, 27-foot-tall and 44-foot-long—displayed on the festival campgrounds after it was shipped disassembled via two flatbed 18-wheeler trucks. “Mustang” is the latest in large-scale animal sculptures Kennell has displayed at the festival, always on its campgrounds, which he described as the spot where the “quintessential” Coachella experiences occur. “We’ve really taken that on as a point of pride that our work is for the campers, the hardcore attendees,” he said.
Santa Fe FTW
As regular readers of this newsletter know, Santa Fe commonly receives acclaim from all corners of the country (and globe) as a place to live, visit, explore and chow down. Santa Fe has now made the final list of nominees for TravelAwaits’ 2022 travel awards under the favorite US city category (The online TravelAwaits magazine is “dedicated to the 50+ traveler who’s ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.”) You can vote once per day through May 1. And speaking of lists: La Posada de Santa Fe just made Historic Hotels of America’s top 25 for “most magnificent gardens.” La Posada’s gardens trace back to the 1800s, Historic Hotels’ write-up notes, and today “there are many walkways for guests to explore a variety of fruit trees, walnut trees, hickory trees, elm trees, aspen trees, and cherry blossom trees. Some of these historical trees are over 130 years in age. Guests can view the beauty of natural grasses with a variety of roses, all shades of lilacs, butterfly bushes, and daffodils.”
Eye on the sky
The National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny skies today in Santa Fe with a high near 68 degrees and southeast wind 15 to 20 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Santa Fe has a 30% chance for thunderstorms tomorrow, with the eastern part of the chance facing potential severe storms and elevated wildfire risk.
Thanks for reading! The Word is enjoying exploring the new Encyclopaedia of Indian Art (here’s some back story from the BBC).
