artdirector@sfreporter.com
Morning Word
SFPD issue arrest warrant for Monday homicide
Santa Fe Police late yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Francisco Javier Grado-Flores, 29, of Santa Fe, charging him with murder and tampering with evidence. The warrant stems from a homicide at a residence in the 4300 block of Camino Alhambra that caused the death of Raul Rene Montejano Jr., 27, also of Santa Fe, after he was struck by gunfire. According to a news release, SFPD responded to the residence at approximately 3:51 am yesterday after a neighbor called 911 reporting a woman had asked for help and said her mom had been shot and another person was dead. Upon arrival, police discovered a 56-year-old woman injured by gunfire, who was subsequently treated at the hospital and released; and Montejano, who died at the scene. Police believe Grado-Flores may have fled to Mexico. He was last seen driving a red Ford Mustang with aftermarket rims and an eagle windshield decal; SFPD believes Grado-Flores has a head injury from possibly being struck with a baseball bat by Montejano during a physical altercation, and is armed and dangerous. Police are asking for anyone with information to contact Detective Jill Feaster at (505) 955-5281. If you see Grado-Flores, call 911.
New website spotlights high-achieving, struggling schools
A new state website from the state Public Education Department (NMVistas.org) provides a slew of data about schools’ performances, alongside designations that indicate whether individual schools require more assistance. For instance, in the Santa Fe Public Schools, Amy Biehl Community School At Rancho Viejo received an overall score of 38, when the overall average score for schools is 53. As such, the school has been designated as needing “additional targeted support and improvement.” The site also provides drilled-down data, such as schools’ math, reading and science proficiencies, as well as improvement in those realms. Overall, SFPS has eight sites targeted for intervention; the state has identified 200 out of more than 850 statewide. The site also delineates types of intervention: El Camino Real Academy, with an overall score of 25, received a higher form of intervention designation: “comprehensive support and improvement.” Schools receiving top scores receive “spotlight” designation—SFPS has eight such schools. Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero tells the Santa Fe New Mexican the labels aren’t intended to be punitive but, rather, to help PED identify where resources are needed.
NM reports job growth
State data released on Friday depicts an optimistic economic workforce situation in the state, with the Department of Workforce Solutions reporting 20,900 additional jobs over the year in May 2023. According to a news release from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office, those numbers follow four months of gains and brings the total number of jobs in New Mexico to its highest point ever: 869,400. Moreover, New Mexico’s 3.5% unemployment rate is below the national average. According to DWS’ Economic Research & Analysis Bureau, the majority of the job gains came from the private sector, which was up 16,200 jobs, or 2.4%, with the majority of those jobs in the private service-providing industries, and with the highest gains in the leisure and hospitality sector (a 5.1% increase, or about 4,800 jobs). The public sector was up 4,700 jobs, or 2.6%. “The robust job growth in New Mexico is proof positive that we are enacting all the right policies to grow our economy,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “We are paying people a livable wage, providing child care for working parents, and making it easier for employers to find prepared candidates by putting more people through college and technical training.”
Just did it
ICYMI, the Institute of American Indian Arts last week reported a new multi-year partnership with Nike that has been “several years in the making.” According to a news release, IAIA President Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation) began meeting virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic with Nike N7 General Manager and Co-Chair of Nike’s Native American Network Sam McCracken (Sioux and Assiniboine). Then, last September, Nike representatives came to Santa Fe to tour the campus, sit in on classes and meet with students, among other activities. At the start of this year, Nike returned to IAIA and McCracken announced the company would offer internships specifically for IAIA students. “I was literally in tears,” Career and Internship Director Lorissa Garcia (Acoma Pueblo) said in a statement. “You know, in my language, just thanking Sam for the opportunity that they were providing for our students and how impactful that was going to be, not just for our students and our IAIA community, but for Indigenous peoples in general.” Two IAIA graduates received this summer’s internships: Jennifer Benally (Oneida Nation and Diné) and Daveishena Redhouse (Navajo Nation) will join Nike’s Color Design and Jordan’s 3D Design teams, respectively. “Our partnership with Nike is rooted in a shared commitment to expanding educational and employment opportunities for IAIA students through creative design coursework development and instruction, internships, mentoring and enhancing career pathways for permanent employment,” Martin said in a statement. “Nike will have increased access to the rich and diverse talent pool of IAIA students and alumni, as they continue to build an ever more diverse and representative creative community.”
Listen up
Do you need to be a parent of an aspiring musician to enjoy the cuteness of children playing rock ‘n roll? Nope. Witness the popularity of School of Rock (the movie…the show not so much). More to the point, witness the cheering crowds at Saturday’s performances at Tumbleroot from The Candyman Rock School in Santa Fe as Deer in the Headlights, Flannel and Lace, Pond Skum, and Arson? performed a wide variety of tunes—from Pat Benatar to KISS to the Beatles—all of which rocked (registration for the next round of Rock School opens in August btw). You can also listen to the bands’ interviews with KBAC, 98.1 FM Program Director Chris Diestler here.
Home sweet home(s)
Another day, another multi-million dollar Santa Fe home receiving props from Mansion Global. The east side adobe home at 831 El Caminito dates to 1845, and has come down in price recently from $14 million to $12.5 million (it also was on the market in 2014 for $3.3 million). The De la Peña family lived in the Spanish Pueblo farmhouse for approximately 80 years; artist, writer and historic preservationist Frank Applegate purchased it in 1925 and his pal Ansel Adams—Applegate was closely connected to the Los Cinco Pintores artists group that included Zozobra inventor Will Shuster—photographed the home on numerous occasions. In addition to historic significance, the 9,300-square-foot home also features five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, along with “exquisite architectural & artistic details.” On the other end of the housing spectrum, Good Housekeeping magazine spotlights a tiny house in Los Cerrillos for its roundup of the country’s best tiny-home rentals. “Desert Casita,” according to its Airbnb listing, includes “a fully equipped kitchen with a small apartment size refrigerator/freezer and an apartment size electric stove,” a queen-size bed and lots of access to the great outdoors. And speaking of the great outdoors, Condé Nast Traveler includes a Carlsbad casita in its list of the “coolest Airbnbs” near every US national park. Bungalow on Blodgett offers proximity to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, along with two beds, 1.5 baths and a large oversized soaking tub.
Reading the borderland
If you know, you never pass up the chance to read work by poet and novelist Luis Alberto Urrea (who participated in Santa Fe’s 2021 Big Read events for his novel Into the Beautiful North, and in the most recent Santa Fe International Literary Festival). His recent essay for the New York Times’ Read Your Way Around the World series focuses on the US-Mexico borderlands, an area he describes as “the most interesting book in the world, being rewritten every day.” Among the authors he recommends, Urrea describes Las Cruces native Denise Chávez as “one of the best and most authentic.” Chávez’s “milieu,” he notes is the “often overlooked southern New Mexico and West Texas world of frontera families, and the tall tales that flourish there. She is the queen of the generation that surged in the 1980s and beyond—a strong feminist voice free of cant and bursting with delight.” He particularly singles out her novel Loving Pedro Infante as a good starting point. Urrea also gives a shout-out to Ana Castillo (who has a home in the southern part of the state), for her classic New Mexico novel So Far From God. “Both of these writers tell the stories of women on the American side of the line in vivid color, in many tones and in both languages,” Urrea writes.
Some like it hot
The National Weather Service forecasts a mostly sunny day with a high temperature near 86 degrees, southwest wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.
Thanks for reading! The Word succumbed to taking a virtual tour of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, described in this story as a concrete “doomsday” collection of seeds from around the world.
