artdirector@sfreporter.com
Morning Word
Checks in the mail
New Mexico taxpayers have begun receiving one-time rebates from the state: $500 for single filers and $1,000 for couples, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced yesterday. The Legislature and governor approved the rebates in the most recent session. No application is required: Rebate checks are in the mail for those who filed by mail and being deposited in bank accounts for those who use direct deposit. Nonetheless, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports the state Tax and Revenue Department received so many calls about the rebates yesterday—8,000 compared with a weekly volume of 6,000— its phone lines jammed. “It would be a great help if people would be patient just a couple of weeks longer so we can get everything printed, mailed and delivered,” Tax & Rev spokesman Charlie Moore tells the paper. “We understand that the rebates mean a lot to many households, but there’s not much we can tell people until we’ve gotten through all of that,” he added. The Legislature also allocated funds for low-income residents who don’t file taxes. People can apply for those funds through 5 pm tomorrow, with more information from the Human Services Department available here.
SFPS considers contractor for high-needs students
At its meeting today, the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education will consider a nearly $1.5 million contract to Specialized Education Services Inc—SESI—a national company that provides services for students requiring additional educational or behavioral support. “We looked at several companies,” SFPS Exceptional Student Service Executive Director Jeff Pinkerton tells SFR. “It’s very difficult to find people in the Santa Fe area that want to work with behavioral children,” he adds. Pinkerton says he hasn’t had any applications for four behavioral health positions needed—and advertised for the last two years—at the district’s elementary schools. Meanwhile, SFPS reports what educators around the nation have identified as an added challenge for many students struggling to re-acclimate to life in the classroom following the long period of remote learning. Nonetheless, the new program—proposed to take place at the Aspen Community School—has prompted concerns from some teachers, one of whom referenced a 10-year-old lawsuit against SESI.
DOH reports hantavirus uptick
Six months into 2023, New Mexico has had six cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the state Department of Health reported yesterday, compared with the usual average of three or four cases annually. Residents in McKinley, San Juan and Taos counties have contracted the disease: Two patients died and the four surviving patients were all hospitalized and required oxygen or intensive care before being able to return home. In New Mexico, DOH notes, deer mice are the main carriers of hantavirus, a severe respiratory illness caused by the Sin Nombre virus and found in mice droppings and urine. “Everyone in New Mexico should learn about hantavirus infections and take the necessary steps to minimize possible exposures,” DOH Deputy State Epidemiologist Dr. Chad Smelser said in a statement. “The key to preventing infections is to avoid exposure to rodents and their nests.” Hantavirus is not transmitted between people; rather, individuals often contract it when “they clean out or explore enclosed areas that have lots of mouse droppings.” Symptoms often present within one to six weeks and can seem like a flu or stomach bug. More information, including tips for prevention and rodent-proofing available here.
FEMA warns of Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire scams
The Federal Emergency Management Agency yesterday issued a warning for residents impacted by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire to be on the lookout for misinformation and fraud. “Fraudsters may pose as officials or pretend to be a source of official information regarding the claims Office and claims process,” a news release notes. “It is important to be alert to potential scammers and verify sources.” FEMA has claims offices in Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Mora and encourages people who suspect fraud related to a claim to either visit one of the offices; contact the helpline at (505) 995-7133; and/or report suspicious activity to law enforcement or the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 223-0814. Meanwhile, the state’s congressional delegation yesterday released a letter they sent to US Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge requesting HUD work with FEMA and other agencies to ensure areas impacted by the fire receive adequate federal funding for housing. While the state has received $3.95 billion in federal funding for compensation for the fire, the letter notes $242 million in remaining unmet recovery needs identified by the US Department of Homeland Security. The letter encourages HUD to partner with FEMA and its claims office “as other federal agencies have done to ensure that funding is distributed in a fair and efficient way,” and requests answers to a variety of questions regarding HUD’s determinations about New Mexico’s fire victims.
Listen up
St. John’s College wraps up its Continuing the Conversation podcast and film series, in which “questions are more important than answers,” and “where curiosity and connection trump certainty and combat.” Indeed. The final three episodes of this 20-part series tackle questions such as whether war can be beautiful, ala Homer’s imagery in The Iliad (μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ!); whether the “contemplative life of the mind” can counter the void of contemporary existence (we say no); and, lastly, a close reading of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 94″ with SJC fan-favorite: Annapolis tutor Eva Brann.
Is this thing on?
“3D virtual reality shopping malls will soon allow you to shop, pet dragon in tow, with friends living thousands of miles away. It’s called the metaverse, it’s almost here, and it’s incredibly data heavy.” So says antenna engineer Andrea Schmidt in a video presentation for LightSlinger, a lightweight antenna developed by Schmidt and condensed matter physicist John Singleton at Los Alamos National Laboratory. LightSlinger placed as one of LANL’s winners in last year’s R&D 100 awards in the electric category, and has more profound ramifications than freeing up data for virtual shopping, of course, including, the scientists say, helping to bridge the digital divide in the US and abroad, along with “potential applications” for defense and 5G. LightSlinger, as the name indicates, is “capable of slinging tightly focused wave packets with great precision towards a target location,” Schmidt says. Moreover, Singleton notes, they are relatively simple to manufacture: “Say goodbye to supply chain worries involving possibly untrustworthy, unreliable, or even malicious entities,” he says. The two scientists will discuss LightSlinger as part of the lab’s Frontiers in Science lecture series at 5:30 pm today at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.
An artist in Santa Fe
Potter Thomas Tenorio (Santo Domingo Pueblo) takes Travel & Leisure on a tour of Santa Fe for the latest episode in the magazine’s Locals series. The short video highlights Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery on the Plaza, which represents Tenorio’s work. “My main feeling when I started this business was to be proactive about the fact that there are so many people who know so little about the Native American communities and what they create,” gallery owner Andrea Fisher tells T+L. Her son Derek Fisher describes Santa Fe as a “kind of ragtag community of artists,” all of whom “seem to find beauty in the area that is around them,” which “translates into a very vibrant art culture.” The video shows Tenorio’s painstaking process as a potter, as well as the gorgeous results, and also includes moving testimony from the artist about his life and career’s trajectory. For instance: the year 2006, when he was accepted for the first time into Santa Fe Indian Market, and became sober. “I promised my tribe before I shall leave this Earth that I’m going to teach it back,” he says of his art. “It’s going to be my legacy, I guess.”
Summer has begun
Yes: We forgot to mention the summer solstice yesterday. The heat has fried our brain, but it’s not too late to enjoy these photographs of modern-day druids and tourists greeting the rising sun at Stonehenge. Speaking of the sun, the National Weather Service forecasts a sunny day with a high temperature near 88 degrees; east wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest 15 to 20 mph.
Thanks for reading! Had The Word remembered yesterday was the first day of summer, she would have shared LitHub’s roundup of the 50 greatest summer novels of all time (and her plan to read, as soon as feasible, Quan Barry’s We Ride Upon Sticks).
