COVID-19 by the numbers
Over the weekend, New Mexico health officials reported 436 new positive test results for COVID-19: 210 on Saturday and 226 on Sunday. The new cases bring the statewide total so far to 21,016, with 8,343 designated as recovered by the health department.
Bernalillo County continues to have the highest number of new cases: 129 over the weekend. Doña Ana County had 46 new cases and Lea County had 37. Santa Fe County had 34 new cases over the weekend: 15 on Saturday and 19 on Sunday. There have now been a total of 595 cases here, of which 226 have been designated as recovered by the health department.
The state also announced 12 more deaths: nine on Saturday and three on Sunday. There have been 654 fatalities. As of yesterday, 127 people were hospitalized with COVID-19—seven fewer than the day prior—and a steady decline since July 28, when 160 people were hospitalized
You can read all of SFR's COVID-19 coverage here. If you've had experiences with testing or the virus, we would like to hear from you.
SFHS basketball star killed over the weekend
Santa Fe High School basketball star Fedonta "JB" White, a 6-foot-8 18-year-old who was headed to the University of New Mexico to play for the Lobos, was shot and killed early Saturday morning. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office has arrested 16-year-old Estevan Montoya and charged him with first-degree murder, as well as aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a handgun and negligent use of a deadly weapon. White, who had completed coursework to graduate early and start playing college ball this year, has been remembered throughout the weekend as both a stand-out player as well as a beloved member of the community. A few hundred people gathered for a vigil on the Plaza Sunday evening. In a statement, UNM Lobo men's basketball coach Paul Weir said of White: "His graciousness and God-given smile coupled with a devoted grandmother whose passion was inspirational to any of us with children." A Go-Fund Me page has been set up for his family here.
Former Spaceport CFO alleges wrongdoing by CEO
Former Spaceport Chief Financial Officer Zach De Gregorio has filed a whistleblower complaint against CEO Dan Hicks, alleging "gross mismanagement and abuse of authority." De Gregorio says Hicks pressured him to bypass standard financial and accounting rules and interfered with De Gregorio's communications with state Economic Development Director Alicia Keyes. Hicks has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Hicks declined to comment to the Las Cruces Sun News on the complaint pending the investigation. The publicly funded Spaceport America, in Sierra County, houses Virgin Galactic, which plans to launch commercial space flights this year.
Gov announces racial justice task force members
On Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham revealed the members of the Governor's Council for Racial Justice, a new advisory group formed in the wake of the Minnesota police murder of George Floyd and national and international protests. "As I said at the outset of this overdue global movement for racial justice, we must not let the passion of this moment fade," Lujan Grisham said in a statement. The new task force, according to a news release is "tasked with counseling the administration and monitoring state institutions, holding them accountable for taking action to end systemic racism and ensure that all persons receive fair and equal treatment and opportunities." Santa Fe members on the task force include Sebastian Margaret, a Soros Justice Fellow launching the Disability Project at the Transgender Law Center, and Alexis Maria Rael, a 2016 Santa Fe high school graduate, Sandia National Laboratory intern and University of New Mexico graduate student. Brian Serna, founder and CEO of Serna Solutions and director of the Addictions, Abuse and Recovery Certificate at Southwestern College, is on the task force's health subcommittee.
Listen up
What will museums be like in the future? That's the question guiding the most recent episode of Augmented Humanity on KUNM. Guests include: Jon Voss, a founding member of Shift Collective, a nonprofit consulting and design group focused on community-driven design for social change; and Monique Davis, chair and president of the Shift Collective board, as well as managing director of the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art.
The VP showdown
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden didn't comment to the Associated Press for its recent story on his search for a running mate, but former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson—vetted for the same job in 2008 (and possibly quasi-vetted for the John Kerry ticket in 2004)—did. Says Richardson: "For Joe Biden, this is crunch time. After all the vetting, all the investigations into the prospective nominees, it's now up to Joe. It's personal…It's now about his gut feeling." As for New Mexico's current governor, on Friday the New York Times characterized Michelle Lujan Grisham as one of the "long-shot candidates" for VP and claimed she "has expressed interest in the job of health and human services secretary, according to officials familiar with her thinking." New York Magazine put together a quick pros and cons list for the VP contenders if you're having trouble keeping track.
As nice as pie
Does chucking it all to start over as proprietor of a pie shop sound like an idea? (Yes! Hello? Pie?). ICYMI, Kathy Knapp, aka the Pie Lady and owner of The Pie-O-Neer in Pie Town (approximately 85 miles of Socorro) announced in June she was hanging up her rolling pin and that she and partner Stanley King were searching for the next pie-o-neers to take their place. If you're not familiar with the legendary Pie Lady, don't miss Jane Rosemont's movie about her, and you can also read this 2016 SFR cover story. For its August edition, New Mexico Magazine interviews Knapp about her pie past and her pie-less future. Still not sure a life of pie is for you? Consider Knapp's take-away: "Pie was a way to get up in the morning and say, 'I have something to do. I have to make really good pie.'"
Ready for rain
Today provides the possibility, though not the certainty, of stormy weather. Forecasts call for scattered showers and thunderstorms primarily after 3 pm, but otherwise mostly sunny with a high near 88 degrees and northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chances of precipitation: 30% today and 20% this evening, when we have another chance for isolated showers and thunderstorms before 9 pm.
Thanks for reading! The Word had never given much (any) thought to how or why cheeses go extinct before reading this New Yorker article on the topic. Now it’s all she thinks about.
