artdirector@sfreporter.com
Morning Word
COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials on Friday reported 871 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 223,796. DOH has designated 199,401 of those cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County had 169 new cases, followed by Lea County with 114 and Chaves County with 69. Santa Fe County had 27 new cases.
The state also announced nine additional deaths on Friday, eight of them recent; there have now been 4,472 fatalities. As of Friday, 385 people were hospitalized with COVID-19—29 more than the day prior. DOH is expected to provide a three-day update on cases, hospitalizations and fatalities this afternoon.
Currently, 75.6% of New Mexicans 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 66.2% are fully vaccinated. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 56.2% people have had at least one dose and 43.4% are fully inoculated. In Santa Fe County, among those 18 years and older, 86.8% have had at least one dose and 76.6% are fully vaccinated.
A public health order requiring all school, hospital and congregate care employees to provide proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 tests goes into effect today.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Arsonists destroy downtown art
Arsonists on Saturday night destroyed downtown artwork described as “a queer and Afrofuturist expression of comfort and solace by a local artist of color.” Artist and Earthseed Black Arts Alliance co-founder Tigre Mashaal-Lively, who also performs using the name Tigre Bailando, created and executed the piece in collaboration with numerous other artists for Nevada’s annual Burning Man gathering in 2017, and installed their massive sculpture, “The Solacii,” outside Guadalupe Street gallery form & concept late last month. “The sculpture symbolizes a process of communal grieving: the artists wove ‘The Solacii’s’ robes from personal garments and heirlooms donated by friends, family and community members,” form & concept owner Sandy Zane and Director Jordan Eddy wrote in a joint statement on the arson. “This fire is an unspeakable loss for so many.” Eddy tells SFR the gallery captured the arsonist on camera, filed a police report and encourages the public to come forward with any possible information; Santa Fe Police Chief Andrew Padilla tells SFR an investigation is underway.
SFPS school board member, educator Price dies
Over the weekend, Santa Fe Public Schools announced the death of school board member Lorraine Price, a former teacher and administrator. In a notice to faculty and staff, Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez described Price, who joined the board representing District 5 in March, 2013, as “our beloved friend and leader,” and as “a tireless advocate for children, particularly with regard to social justice and students’ health and safety.” Chavez also noted the Board in 2019 nominated Price, then vice president, for a New Mexico School Boards Association Excellence in Student Achievement Award as “a shining light and role model for us all.” School Board President Kate Noble said in a statement Price “contributed a lifetime of wisdom, leadership, advocacy for equity and humor to Santa Fe’s Public Schools. We can never repay all that she gave us. Last week, she was listening to loud music and thinking about how to keep people safe from COVID. We have work to do in her honor.” Price, reportedly 72, came to New Mexico in 1972, having earned a bachelor’s degree at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and a master’s degree in educational administration at the University of New Mexico. She worked in education at UNM and Santa Fe Community College. SFPS says it will apprise faculty and staff regarding any plans and memorial details the family would like to share.
Some parents, districts denounce masks
The state Public Education Department’s universal indoor mask mandate for all schools is spurring backlash from districts across New Mexico, the Associated Press reports. The Floyd school board remains suspended for voting twice to not employ PED’s COVID-19 Safe Practices for school reentry and placing the superintendent on administrative leave for refusing to execute the board’s orders. Parents and others spoke out against mask mandates at length last week at a Las Cruces Public Schools board meeting. In Torrance County, commissioners recently passed a resolution supporting the Estancia Municipal School District Board of Education’s “authority, as duly elected officials, to make independent decisions in the best interest of the students, parents and staff” and approving financial assistance to the district to those ends. According to the Grant County Beat, the commissioners’ resolution followed a vote by the Estancia School Board to allow parents, students and teachers to choose whether or not to wear masks while attending classes for in-person learning. The Aztec Municipal School District Board of Education also voted recently to join the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education in a lawsuit against the New Mexico Public Education Department. Parents at Carlsbad Municipal Schools recently gathered in protest, urging their board to do the same.
Listen up
On the most recent episode of New Mexico PBS’ New Mexico in Focus, panelists delve into three top concerns in the state this week: the new mask mandates; the rise in violent crime in Albuquerque; and new and increasing dire climate change forecasts. Guests include: Dan Foley, former NM House minority whip; lawyer Sophie Martin; Carlsbad Current-Argus News Director Jessica Onsurez; NMiF environmental Producer Laura Paskus; Jorge Torres from ABC-15 Phoenix; NMiF correspondent Sarah Gustavus; and child psychologist Dr. Scott Carroll.
‘Tis the seasons
When is the best season to visit Santa Fe? All of them, according to Lonely Planet: “One of the few places in the US that experiences all four seasons as if they were crafted with a painter’s brush, there is no bad time to visit Santa Fe, just different color palettes,” Ungelbah Davila writes. July to September constitutes our best “all-around season,” with monsoons making “this time of year the most enchanting of them all.” December, however, is the best season “for the poet at heart” because of Christmas and snow (we’re paraphrasing). You’ll get the “best bang for your buck” in November and from January to April: “This is an excellent time of year to budget travel in Santa Fe and experience a taste of what makes this place so prominent in the mystique of the West. The chile is just as hot and the sunsets just as lovely as during peak season, but with lower costs and less congestion on the donkey trails turned paved roads around the historic downtown.” As for February, contrary to the story’s premise, “if Santa Fe had a blah month, this would be it.”
Got gloom?
The Word employed her subpar craft skills to make a Gloom box for the Reporter office (1512 Pacheco St., Ste. D105) where Santa Feans can drop off their woe in advance of this year’s Zozobra. We will safely transport and deposit your sad papers into the giant groaning puppet come Sept. 3. You can also submit glooms online here for $1, with various upgrades available, including uploading documents to burn or specifying placement. In the meantime, the public radio program This American Life is coming to this year’s Zozobra and wants to hear what gloom you’re planning to deposit and why. They are interested in offerings big and small—anything from a wedding dress to a court summons to a letter from a long lost friend. Email alexihorowitzghazi@gmail.com with details of what you’re going to burn and the story behind it. And don’t forget, due to COVID-19, only 10,000 tickets are available to this year’s burning (with proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test required for admission). Tickets available here.
The rainy season...apparently
It may or may not have rained overnight but, either way, today should be mostly sunny, with a high near 85 degrees and north wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Tonight, however, we’ve got a 20% chance of precipitation before 9 pm.
Thanks for reading! While The Word doesn’t care much about labels, she’s going to do some Patagonia shopping very soon.
