artdirector@sfreporter.com
Rust lawsuit settled
Rust Movie Productions has settled a wrongful death lawsuit over the Oct. 21 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. In a statement from Hutchins’ husband Matthew Hutchins, provided to SFR by his attorney Brian Panish of Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP, Matthew Hutchins says the agreement, which must be approved by the court, settles the case against both the production company and producer Alec Baldwin: “As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed. The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board, in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.” In a post on social media, Baldwin responded to the settlement agreement, writing: “Throughout this difficult process, everyone has maintained the specific desire to do what is best for Halyna’s son. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation.” No charges have been filed, as of yet, by the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which released a statement yesterday that the announced settlement in the civil case “will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis’ ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case. While civil suits are settled privately and often involve financial awards, criminal cases deal only in facts. If the facts and evidence warrant criminal charges under New Mexico law then charges will be brought. No one is above the law.”
Gov requests federal law enforcement help
In a recent letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the Department of Justice to support her request to the Federal Bureau of Investigations for additional federal law enforcement resources. The letter to Garland follows a June request the governor made to FBI Director Christopher Wray that did not result in additional resources, the governor’s office said in a news release yesterday. Citing efforts already made, such as a $50 million appropriation to add 317 police officers in the state, the governor’s letter states that “while these collective efforts are significant, they are not enough to address the violent crime currently present in New Mexico.” Since her June letter to Wray, the governor says, Albuquerque has had at least 45 homicides, more than half of which remain unsolved. Law enforcement shortages present “a particular problem for New Mexico,” she says, given that the state is the fifth largest in the US and has one of the higher poverty rates. Crime in New Mexico has been a key topic in the governor’s race, and one she discussed with SFR in a recent interview for our election issue, during which she said adding more police officers would be a priority in the 2023 legislative session.
DOH reports rise in infant syphilis
The state health department said yesterday it has seen a sharp increase in the number of congenital syphilis cases since 2017 and ranked first in the US for rate of congenital syphilis in 2020, which is the most recent finalized CDC data. There was one congenital syphilis case reported in 2017, 10 cases in 2018, 26 cases in 2019, and 42 cases in 2020. As such, DOH renewed a 2021 Public Health Order that mandates all medical providers serving pregnant women follow best practices by testing all pregnant women for syphilis multiple times. “Congenital syphilis is a completely preventable disease” Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said in a statement. “Treatment is available and affordable. Every encounter with a pregnant woman is an opportunity to test for syphilis, especially in people who are high risk or not yet engaged in prenatal care. We must talk, test and immediately treat those who test positive for syphilis with penicillin to prevent the transmission.” DOH also intends to reintroduce a bill in the next legislative session that would amend the the Public Health Act regarding testing pregnant women for syphilis to align with CDC guidelines. SB184 failed in the 2021 session.
COVID-19 by the numbers
Reported Oct. 5: New cases: 311; 619,786 total cases; Deaths: 10; Santa Fe County has had 351 total deaths; there have been 8,586 fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 91. Patients on ventilators: five. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent “community levels” map, which uses a combination of hospital and case rate metrics to calculate COVID-19 risk, several New Mexico counties turned from “green” (low) to “yellow” (medium) and “red” (high) during the prior seven-day tracking period. Catron, Grant and Hidalgo counties are now red; Rio Arriba and Otero counties are now yellow. Santa Fe County remains green. Corresponding recommendations for each level can be found here.
Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase and Deputy Secretary Dr. Laura Parajon will provide updates on COVID-19 and monkeypox (New Mexico has 44 cases, according to the most recent DOH report, five from Santa Fe County) at 1 pm today in a news conference that will stream live on the DOH Facebook page and with Spanish translation on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s YouTube page.
Resources: CDC interactive booster eligibility tool; NM DOH vaccine & booster registration; CDC isolation and exposure interactive tool; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result; Curative testing sites; COVID-19 treatment info; NMDOH immunocompromised tool kit. 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
One of the proposed constitutional amendments on the Nov. 8 ballot would tap into the state’s land grant permanent funds in part to help fund early childhood education (the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department released its five-year plan yesterday). You can read more about that in SFR’s election issue and share your thoughts and hear from advocates at 8 am today on KUNM’s Let’s Talk New Mexico call-in program, featuring guests Gwen Perea-Warniment, director of the New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee; Jessa Cowdrey, an advocate and parent; and early childhood educator Carmella Salinas. Listen online or at 89.9 FM; share your thoughts via email to LetsTalk@kunm.org or call in live to (505) 277-5866.
Significant Native art collection heads to auction in LA
Forbes magazine delves into the recently announced auction of Roy H. Robinson’s Native American art collection, which runs Oct. 26-27 through Bonhams Los Angeles. “From the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande” is “perhaps the last private collection of Indian art of this caliber and period which will ever come to market,” Forbes writes. While Robinson was born in Chicago in 1882, his sister Edna relocated in the early 1900s to Santa Fe, “likely for the curative climate,” the auction catalog details. She went on to marry Dr. Frank E. Mera, a tuberculosis specialist who founded the Sunmount Sanatorium. “Many Sunmount patients fell in love with Santa Fe and came to call it home,” the catalog says. Meanwhile, Mera’s brother, Harry P. Mera, was the curator of archaeology at Santa Fe’s Laboratory of Anthropology and designed New Mexico’s state flag. Gifts of Pueblo pottery and Navajo weavings from his mother Marie and Edna “were the very earliest contributions to Roy’s nascent collection.” The auction includes significant pottery and jewelry from New Mexico pueblos, alongside “a broad selection of material culture of Native peoples from across a vast swatch of North America.” Robinson’s dream of a museum hosting his collection did not come pass before he died in 1970, the auction catalog says. He, his parents, wife, son, sister and brother-in-law all were interred in Fairview Cemetery in Santa Fe.
Break new paths
As part of its look at “destinations off the beaten path,” Travel Weekly, a B2B travel industry publication, looks at UNESCO World Heritage Sites, both abroad and close to home, such as Chaco Cuture National Historic Park, which has been a UNESCO site since 1987. “This year, we have received a lot of interest in New Mexico’s Indigenous heritage and also lesser discovered experiences,” New Mexico Tourism Department Media Relations Manager Nicole Barker tells Travel Weekly. “Chaco offers intriguing historical and cultural immersion and awe-inspiring natural beauty.” Moreover, Chaco offers both guided and self-guided tours for exploring the area. “They can learn about the Chacoan people and their civilization (850 to 1250 AD), including how they tracked constellations and lunar/solar cycles using archeoastronomy techniques,” she says. Chaco, a certified International Dark Sky Park, has dozens of online photos of various nebulas as viewed from the area. Chaco also offers the types of “immersive” experiences travelers want these days, the story opines, with its trail tours, evening campfire talks and night sky programs (which appear to be up and running again, staff permitting). The Rhineland-Palatinate region in Germany; Haida Gwaii, off the northwest coast of British Columbia; and West Sweden and the Gothenburg area are other options mentioned for “modern trailblazers.”
Cool and cloudy
The National Weather Service forecasts a 60% chance of more rain today in the form of showers between 7 am and 1 pm, then more showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 59. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
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