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Morning Word
Federal judge allows group to post NM voter rolls
The Voter Reference Foundation says starting today it will once again post the names of New Mexico voters on its website. The announcement follows a ruling on Friday by US District Judge for New Mexico James Browning against Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and Attorney General Hector Balderas’ efforts to prevent VRF from doing so. The foundation sued both Toulouse Oliver and Balderas after Toulouse Oliver referred the issue to the AG’s office for possible prosecution. But Browning’s preliminary opinion, which allows the matter to proceed to trial, says the court disagrees with Toulouse Oliver’s interpretation of the state’s election laws and says nothing prohibits posting voter data online in the manner VRF does. “We won’t be intimidated by politicians who, for some reason, don’t want to give the people of their state easy access to election records they pay for,” Doug Truax, founder and president of the conservative organization Restoration of America, which created and funds VRF, said in a statement. “We’re committed to publishing the voter rolls in all 50 states, so the public can scrutinize the most important function of their government—running fair and accurate elections.” A Pro Publica investigation of the foundation also links it to Trump supporter/billionaire Richard Uihlein.
FBI unveils new database of missing Native Americans
The FBI yesterday launched an online list of more than 170 Native Americans it has verified as missing throughout New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, which it plans to update monthly. “For a long time, the issue of missing Native Americans has been in the news and a lot of people have been wondering if anybody is paying attention,” Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the Albuquerque FBI Division said in a statement. “I am here to assure you the FBI has been paying attention, and together with our partners, we are taking a significant step towards justice for these victims, their families and communities.” The agency says the release of the list is the result of almost six months of work combining and validating different databases of missing Indigenous persons in New Mexico. The FBI validated the status of missing Indigenous persons as listed in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Marcelino ToersBijns, unit chief of the Missing and Murdered Unit at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services, said the “single-source data set” is an “important improvement in information sharing” between federal, tribal and state agencies. New Mexico Indian Affairs Department Secretary Lynn Trujillo, chair of the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force, said the FBI’s list “is critical to define the true scope” of the situation in New Mexico,” where incomplete data has been one of the task force’s many hurdles. The FBI says relatives are encouraged to contact local or tribal law enforcement agencies if their missing Indigenous family member is not on the list to ask that agency to submit a missing person report to NCIC.
Flooding impacts fire suppression, repair efforts
Forest and fire officials say they are continuing both suppression and repair work for the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fires, but have been hampered by recent precipitation. Terrance Gallegos, Planning Operations for Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5, detailed those efforts yesterday. Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5 yesterday took command of the fire, which will now be solely referred to as the Calf Canyon Fire, according to a news release. Monsoonal weather, forecast by the National Weather Service for the area this week, can cause flooding and debris flows which in turn impact roads, culverts, drainages and private property. The San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office yesterday issued the latest in ongoing flash flood warnings for the burn scar area, while officials have yet to publicly identify two women whose bodies were found following a flash flood last Thursday in the Tecolote Canyon area. Law enforcement agencies, along with search and rescue volunteers, continue to look for a third missing person, a man, who disappeared during the flooding. Late last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham requested President Joe Biden direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to include flooding impacts in New Mexico’s disaster declaration for counties affected by wildfires and extend the duration of the state’s disaster declaration with 100% federal cost coverage. The state’s congressional delegation yesterday sent Biden a letter asking him to approve the governor’s request.
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 2,324 (includes the weekend); 586,711 total cases
Deaths: five; Santa Fe County had 327 total deaths; there have been 8,196 total fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 151. Patients on ventilators: three
Case rates: According to the state health department’s most recent report on geographical trends, for the seven-day period of July 11-17, Grant County had the highest daily case rate per 100,000 population: 70.8, followed by Lincoln County at 68.3 and Quay County at 68.1; Santa Fe County’s case rate was 44.3, up from 42.4 the week prior.
Community levels: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent update for COVID-19 “community levels,” updated every Thursday, shows more than twice as many New Mexico counties now have red or “high” levels compared with last week. The CDC framework combines case rates with two hospital metrics and shows, for the seven-day period of July 14-20, 17 New Mexico counties—10 more than last week—now have “red” or high levels. Santa Fe County remains “yellow” or medium. Only four counties now have “green” or low levels—down from nine last week. The CDC’s recommendations include indoor masking for people living in counties with high community levels. The community levels page has accompanying recommendations at the bottom of the page. The CDC also provides a quarantine and isolation calculator.Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453. Vaccines for children: Parents of children ages 6 months to 5 years can now schedule appointments for vaccinations at VaccineNM.org.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
Several years ago, theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, a research professor of Physics at Caltech, spoke with SFR about the “hidden crisis” in the field of quantum mechanics and the “many worlds” concept in which there are multiple versions of the world we are experiencing (a theory to which the Word clings, albeit with hazy understanding). Carroll delves deeply into his work on this topic in his book, Something Deeply Hidden, and will sign copies of it at 6:15 pm tonight in the lobby of the Lensic Performing Arts Center in advance of his 7:30 pm lecture, “The Many Worlds of Quantum Mechanics,” courtesy of the 2022 Santa Fe Institute Community Lecture series; Carroll serves as fractal faculty for SFI, and is also Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at John’s Hopkins University. You can also catch Carroll on his podcast, Mindscape, where he has conversations with “the world’s most interesting thinkers.” Tonight’s lecture is free, but sold out. However, it will also stream on SFI’s YouTube page.
Unpacking NM’s megafires
New Mexico’s megafires mark a turning point, author and naturalist William deBuys writes for TomDispatch, “for people, land and the Forest Service.” The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire “also marks a transformative change in the ecological character of the region and in the turbulent history of the alternately inept and valiant federal agency that both started and fought it.” deBuys, author of numerous books, including the most recent The Trail to Kanjiroba: Rediscovering Earth in an Age of Loss, places New Mexico’s current fire landscape in the essay within the larger history of the US Forest Service; the cultural and historical dynamics of the area; and the larger ecological context of climate change: “Our dawning new age, shaped by human-wrought conditions, has been called the Anthropocene,” deBuys writes, “but historian Steve Pyne offers yet another name: the Pyrocene, the epoch of fire. This year, it was New Mexico’s turn to burn.” The author, himself, received evacuation orders, but never had to leave. “But packing our ‘go’ bags and securing our houses now seems to have been a useful dress rehearsal,” he notes. “The drought and winds will be back. A bolt of lightning, a fool with a cigarette, a downed power line, or…goodness knows… the ham-fisted Forest Service will eventually provide the necessary spark, and then our oxygen planet, warmer and drier than ever, will strut its stuff again.”
Preparing for Indian Market
With Santa Fe Indian Market less than a month away (Aug. 20-21), the time to prepare is probably nigh. Cowboys & Indians magazine offers up “insider intel” in its Santa Fe Travel Guide, which includes tips for eating, drinking and lodging during the summer’s busiest weekend here. The guide includes the low-down on the galleries participating in the Art Indigenous Santa Fe fair (Aug. 18-21) at El Museo de Cultural; shout-outs to Bishop’s Lodge and Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado for accommodations; and dining recommendations that include Horno, Restaurant Martín and Joseph’s Culinary Pub, the latter of which is apparently planning a special Ristra cocktail with Tumbleroot agave spirit, KGB Naranja orange liqueur, fresh lime, jalapeño simple syrup, and a red-chile salt rim paired with a fried green-chile tamale with cheese and chile verde (yum). Travel Awaits also features Indian Market and some of the programming the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts has planned for the centennial celebration, such as the Native American Clothing Contest, silent auction and much-anticipated Indigenous Fashion Show (the weekend features a mix of free and ticketed events; find the schedule here).
Grab the umbrella
The National Weather Service says today will be mostly sunny with a high near 88 degrees, but we have a 60% chance for rain from showers and thunderstorms primarily after 3 pm. Thanks for reading! The Word is looking forward to reading this New Yorker story defending the continued relevance of Susan Faludi’s Backlash.
