artdirector@sfreporter.com
Morning Word
Supreme Court declines to hear SFR’s transparency case
The New Mexico Supreme Court has denied the Santa Fe Reporter’s petition for certiorari in a long-running legal battle with the City of Santa Fe over whether basic facts about how the government disciplines its employees should be public record.The high court’s denial, issued Sept. 23, effectively ends the case. And it leaves in place a legal loophole that allows state, city and county governments across New Mexico the option of releasing information—or not—about whether and how they’ve punished police officers, trash collectors, firefighters or anyone else who draws a taxpayer-funded paycheck. SFR first challenged the city’s practice after officials refused to make public whether an internal investigation had resulted in discipline for one of two officers who fired shots at Anthony Benavidez in 2017, killing him. Then, the newspaper sought records about officers whose actions had led to citizen complaints and insurance settlements. “After four years of litigation by the Santa Fe Reporter to try to remove this crucial barrier to democracy, the New Mexico Supreme Court’s discretionary refusal to even hear this case was unexpected and a major disappointment,” SFR attorney Daniel Yohalem says. City spokesman Dave Herndon issued an emailed statement noting, “The New Mexico Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari upheld the Court of Appeals’ memorandum opinion that applied the law that has been in place for decades: Public employee disciplinary records are not subject to IPRA. The Court of Appeals recognized that a change to the state’s IPRA law would require legislation.”
Big bucks in governor’s race
A change in New Mexico’s campaign finance laws allowed this year’s gubernatorial candidates to collect more money than in previous races, and they’ve taken advantage of it—already raising more than candidates in 2014 and 2018 during the same time period. Incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had collected by the first week of September as much as she did for the entire 2018 campaign, according to an analysis by New Mexico In Depth. Donations for both candidates are coming from clusters of family groups or other connected donors. To wit: 60% of about $10 million reported by Lujan Grisham for the entire election cycle has come from donors at just 357 of the more than 13,000 donor addresses provided in her reports, while 53% of the almost $6.5 million Mark Ronchetti has raised comes from donors at just 206 of the 9,112 addresses in his reports. The next round of campaign finance reports for candidates comes Oct. 11, with a final pre-election report on Nov. 3. The candidates are set to square off in a second televised debate on Oct. 12 hosted by KOAT-TV, along with KKOB Radio and the Albuquerque Journal.
Officials advocate for monkeypox, COVID-19 shots
New Mexico health officials yesterday encouraged a broader swath of people who might be at risk for monkeypox to consider vaccination against the disease. While a finite amount of vaccine initially also limited the department’s criteria to administer it, Deputy Health Secretary Dr. Laura Parajon said during a public health news conference that the state is now able to offer it to anyone who is considered at higher risk, including gay/bisexual men, other men who have sex with men, transgender and gender non-confirming people. The most common risk factors include having a new male sexual partner in the last month or having multiple partners in the last year. Vaccines are also encouraged for those who are taking HIV preexposure prophylaxis medication, who have been diagnosed with syphilis or gonorrhea in the last year or who are involved in sex work. So far, the state has 46 reported monkeypox cases.
Meanwhile, the state continues to administer a new round of COVID-19 vaccines targeting the Omicron variant—upward of 70,000 to date. Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said New Mexico’s case rate shows a plateau phase. “The news is good, generally the picture with respect to COVID is encouraging,” he said. The department is, however, keeping an eye on a slight uptick in the Albuquerque metro area and is mindful of previous increases in cases during the winter months. Officials also suggest seniors ages 65 and older get a high-dose flu shot in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Scrase noted he received one at the same time as the Omicron booster. “I do want to provide my strong personal endorsement,” Scrase said. “I would never recommend anything to you all that I wouldn’t do for myself and since I’ve already done it for myself, I feel really comfortable recommending it to all of you.”
COVID-19 by the numbers
Reported Oct. 6: New cases: 275; 620,060 total cases; Deaths: four; Santa Fe County has had 351 total deaths; there have been 8,590 fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 86. Patients on ventilators: eight. 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 “red” (high) to “green” (low) while two—Rio Arriba and De Baca—are rated “yellow” (medium) during the prior seven-day tracking period. Santa Fe County remains green. No counties are currently rated red. Corresponding recommendations for each level can be found here.
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
A new episode of Cinema Scope airs this afternoon at 4:30 on KSFR, and last week’s episode features the Cinematic Arts and Technology Program at the Institute for American Indian Arts with its director and program creator, James Lujan, recruited for the post 10 years ago. “I went to USC in Los Angeles and so I decided to try to create a film program that I wish I would have gone to,” he says. The program has a foundation of “meaningful storytelling,” Lujan says, and includes screenwriting along with technical skills. Recent program grads are working on the television show Dark Winds, in graduate school at NYU and in other places “getting out there and making a mark,” he says.
Stolen art returns to AZ museum after NM detour
A valuable painting that was cut from its frame on the walls at the University of Arizona Museum of Art in 1985 and later discovered in a house in southwestern New Mexico has returned home to Tucson and is slated for exhibition beginning tomorrow. Willem de Kooning’s “Woman-Ochre” was missing for 30 years. Then, writes the Arizona Republic, “in a bizarre twist, New Mexico antique dealers hired to liquidate an estate in 2017 discovered the stolen painting in the home of a deceased couple in the tiny ranching community of Cliff, New Mexico. The antique dealers called the museum, who rushed to pick up the art and ushered it back to Tucson with a police escort.” The Getty Museum in Los Angeles funded a restoration after curators discovered the art had been damaged in the theft and its subsequent reframing. De Kooning painted “Woman-Ochre” between 1950 and 1953 as part of his well-known “Woman” series and the work is valued in the neighborhood of $160 million. The heist and its happy ending are also the subject of a documentary released this year called The Thief Collectors that explores the story of the suspected thieves who hung the painting behind a door in their bedroom, on view as their little secret for three decades. The FBI won’t confirm if agents believe the retired couple stole the work, if there were accomplices, or if they were linked to other art thefts. “Restored: The Return of ‘Woman-Ochre’” will be on exhibit at the university through May 20, 2023—an exhibit that, the school says, “tells the complete story of the painting, from its creation through its theft and remarkable recovery.”
Fiestas for all
Sunday marks the end of the 2022 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, so your chances to spy the sky spectacle of mass ascension this year are waning. Weather prevented flying Wednesday and put the kibosh on this year’s America’s Challenge distance race for gas balloons, which was canceled after pilots could not safely make the launch window, but yesterday saw a robust Dawn Patrol and liftoff. The green flag is up at this morning’s scheduled pilots’ meeting, but the owners of one well-loved special shape balloon had a close call after “Joelly Bee” was reported stolen from a hotel parking lot early yesterday morning. By last night, police had recovered the balloon and other stolen items. (Read a pun-filled account from the Albuquerque Journal here.) In fiestas of the more natural variety, reports from the Santa Fe Ski Basin and Aspen Vista Trail show, it’s a festival of yellow on the mountain, albeit amid the first taste of winter. Catch music from Controlled Burn on Sunday at the basin in the farewell to fall season performances. Or drive over to Bandelier National Monument on Saturday for Fall Fiesta in Frijoles Canyon next to the visitor center from 11 am to 3 pm for cultural demonstrators and artisan sales, plus traditional dance by the Oak Canyon Dancers from the Pueblo of Jemez at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm.
Fall into the weekend
The National Weather Service forecast is similar to yesterday, with a slight chance of showers this morning, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after noon with a high near 58. Weather is not expected to shift much over the weekend, with showers and highs in the mid to upper 50s Saturday and Sunday.
Thanks for reading! Speaking of Dawn Patrol, the (substitute) Word is excited to try a new instant coffee out of Colorado with that name. If it’s good enough for NASA, it might even work for early-morning journalism. Don’t worry when you don’t see a report on Monday. We’ll be off for the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday and back at it for the Tuesday edition.
