COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials did not release COVID-19 data over Easter weekend. On Friday, the state reported 218 new cases and seven more deaths; Santa Fe County had eight new cases and one additional death. As of then, New Mexico had 192,152 cases all told, with 173,981 designated as recovered.
The state also did not update its vaccine dashboard over the weekend, leaving the percentage of New Mexicans partially vaccinated at 47.5%, with 30.1% fully inoculated.
Our numbers may be higher, though. Using data from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, Forbes magazine on Friday highlighted New Mexico as the first state to provide vaccines for more than half its adult residents, while NBC News described us as the state closest to achieving herd immunity.
Starting today, all New Mexicans 16 years and older are eligible for a vaccine.
You can read all of SFR's COVID-19 coverage here. If you've had experiences with COVID-19, we would like to hear from you.
Back to school: the musical
Many New Mexico public school students head back into the classroom this week, with Albuquerque Public Schools reopening today and Santa Fe Public Schools reopening for full in-person learning tomorrow. In early March, Education Secretary Ryan Stewart set April 5 as the date by which districts should reopen in full in-person learning, a decision accompanied by opening vaccinations for educators, and providing extensive COVID-19 guidelines for in-person learning. According to the Public Education Department, more than a quarter of New Mexico's school districts were already in full reentry the week beginning March 28. In Santa Fe, preparations were in high gear last week, with the expectation that 60% to 80% of students would return. Capital High School Principal Jaime Holladay tells SFR many families feel hesitant to return prior to receiving the vaccine due to "fear of having their child or family get sick." Meanwhile, at Albuquerque's Lew Wallace Elementary, educators produced a music video to the tune of Diana Ross' song, "I'm Coming Out," replaced with the chorus, "We're Coming Back," avidly welcoming students back to classrooms.
Haaland: BIA will investigate missing Indigenous people
Late last week, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced she would be creating a new Missing & Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs to investigate missing and murdered Native Americans. "Violence against Indigenous peoples is a crisis that has been underfunded for decades," Haaland said in a statement. "Far too often, murders and missing persons cases in Indian country go unsolved and unaddressed, leaving families and communities devastated." The new unit, she said, will "provide the resources and leadership to prioritize these cases and coordinate resources to hold people accountable, keep our communities safe, and provide closure for families." According to the Interior Department, approximately 1,500 American Indian and Alaska Native missing persons have been entered into the National Crime Information Center throughout the US, and approximately 2,700 cases of murder and non-negligent homicide offenses have been reported to the federal government's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. New Mexico legislation that would have have expanded and strengthened the state's nascent and beleaguered Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force stalled out in the Legislature's regular session this year.
Take me to your leader
New Mexico tourism officials are reportedly concerned that two alien-named events in Roswell may be confusing to the public. The state Department of Tourism approved the 2021 Roswell UFO Festival to receive marketing and technical assistance through a new post-pandemic pilot program: the Strategic Events Recovery Readiness Initiative (we are concerned anyone thought that was a good name for anything). State officials, however, worry that Roswell's first-ever AlienFest may confuse folks looking for the UFO festival, due to the similarity in the two events' websites. ufofestival.com versus ufofestivalroswell.com, to be specific. "I've had several phone calls with them and they feel, as we do, that there is some confusion when you are having a UFO Festival and also having the first annual AlienFest," Roswell Public Affairs Director Juanita Jennings told the Roswell City Council's Finance Committee last week. However, MainStreet Roswell Executive Director Kathy Lay told the Roswell Daily Record that AlienFest is actually not a separate festival and, instead, refers to activities intended to bring visitors downtown. The Record writes: "She likened it to the UFOlogist Invasion conducted by the International UFO Museum and Research Center or the Alien Chase 5K run during the UFO Festival." Exactly. At any rate, the city and MainStreet Roswell are working together to clarify the situation.
Listen up
Santa Fe startup Parting Stone, which solidifies cremated remains into stone-like solids, has launched a podcast: Deathcare Decoded. When SFR first interviewed company founder/podcast host Justin Crowe in 2018, he was also working as a managing editor for a website devoted to funeral directors. That same passion for the industry—and for revolutionizing it—comes through in the podcast, with topics so far ranging from normalizing mental health in the death care industry to "clever hacks" for building a new funeral business.
IAIA teams up with NBC
Santa Fe's Institute of American Indian Arts announced on Friday that third- and fourth-year students who intend to participate in the school's new Broadcast Journalism Certificate program may be eligible for $10,000 scholarships as part of a partnership with NBCUniversal News Group's NBCU Academy Program." [The certificate] is very new," IAIA's Chair of Cinematic Arts & Technology Department, James Lujan (Taos Pueblo) says. "It just got approved by the Higher Learning Commission last month, and it came about because of our new collaboration with NBCUniversal; we were approached by NBC even though we didn't have a specific journalism program at the time, but we did offer classes in journalism and broadcast and production, so NBC felt that was a sufficient foundation for the partnership." Lujan says 25 scholarships will be available over the next two years, but the program is not contingent on NBCUniversal's financial involvement. "This certificate can survive beyond the lines of the grant," he says. "I didn't have to create any new courses, so there's no reason it can't survive." Interested parties can apply for the NBCU Academy scholarship here.
Going once, going twice
Attentive Morning Word readers may recall our March 25 brief previewing Bonhams Books & Manuscripts online sale featuring one of Georgia O'Keeffe's ram skulls, valued at $5,000 to $7,000. Here's a follow-up from the sale, which ended March 30. Said skull sold for $15,300, more than twice its top estimated value. Other O'Keeffe items sold included an archive of 18 autograph, typed and signed letters to artist Marilyn Thuma (aka Mym Tuma), between May 14, 1964 and May 8, 1973, which went for $10,200. O'Keeffe's folding safari chair sold for $3,570, and her seersucker blue wrap dress for $3,187. The entire auction, according to Hyperallergic, brought in $524,296 all together, more than half of which came from Andy Warhol books and memorabilia; an early artist book by Warhol was the top lot, estimated in worth at $60,000 to $80,000 and selling for $106,562.
You’re getting warmer
Today will be mostly sunny with a high near 77 degrees and northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Forecasters are calling for a red-flag warning for tomorrow, aka increased fire danger, due to rising winds. Yes, fire season has begun. As for yesterday's smoke, Santa Fe National Forest fire managers said they were taking advantage of optimal conditions to conduct the previously announced Pacheco Canyon prescribed burn on the Española Ranger District.
Thanks for reading! The Word would very much like to witness royal mummies on parade.
