COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 732 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 42,586. The health department has designated 20,910 of those cases as recovered.
Doña Ana County led the state with 194 new cases, followed by Bernalillo County with 173. Luna County had the third highest number with 59. Santa Fe County had 42 new cases.
The state also announced nine more deaths from Bernalillo, Cibola, Doña Ana, Sandoval, Socorro and Valencia counties; there have now been 976 fatalities. As of yesterday, 289 people were hospitalized with COVID-19; 76% of general beds and 70% of ICU beds across New Mexico hospitals are occupied
Due to the weather, some COVID-19 testing facilities will be closed today.
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.
NM GOP files two election lawsuits
The state Supreme Court says Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has until noon today to respond to an election lawsuit filed by Republican lawmakers and four county clerks. That suit—one of two filed by Republicans—contends that Toulouse Oliver's office hasn't provided clear guidance on verification of personal information on absentee ballots and has not applied rules consistently from county to county. Moreover, according to a GOP news release, "multiple counties have denied Republican poll challengers the right to perform their duties, taking absentee ballots behind closed doors and out of sight of the very people who elect them." SOS spokesman Alex Curtas dismissed the allegations and said in an email that "voters should have confidence that their vote will be counted and that their personally identifying information will be protected" as legally required. The Republican plaintiffs also are required to file a supplemental explanation by noon today, at which point the Supreme Court will decide on its next steps. A second Republican lawsuit, filed in state District Court, accuses Toulouse Oliver of not providing adequate security for ballot drop-boxes. The lawsuits follow a national trend of election-related lawsuits, more than 300 of them arising from issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vote postponed on obelisk replacement committee
Santa Fe city councilors last night postponed a vote on Mayor Alan Webber's proposal to create a reconciliation committee to address divisions over public monuments, calling for more amendments. The proposal, brought before the Public Works Committee, would create a 21-member special committee named the Culture, History, Art, Reconciliation and Truth Committee or "CHART Committee." City Councilor Mike Garcia said he believes 21 members is too large for such a commission. CHART's tasks would include coming up with ideas for how and with what to replace the former Plaza obelisk brought down by protesters earlier this month and it would then make recommendations to the City Council by December, 2022. Councilor JoAnne Vigil-Coppler said she thinks that is too long a timeline. Webber's plan would spend $300,000 in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years for consultancy on the project. Among other specifications, CHART would include three representatives each from Native American and Hispanic groups present in New Mexico; elected officials; and people with art, legal and education experience.
Medical professionals urge COVID-19 vigilance
More than 350 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals signed an open letter released yesterday asking New Mexicans to abide by public health laws and recommendations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The letter reads in part: "We know what happens when COVID-19 infections continue to spread at this rate. Hospitals will begin to fill up—indeed, our state's health care system is already experiencing strain. More New Mexicans will lose their lives. More families will lose loved ones. And because of the terribly infectious nature of this virus, those New Mexicans who lose their lives, and those New Mexicans who lose a loved one, will not get to say goodbye. These will be lonely deaths. And they are preventable." According to a state news release, the letter will run in 19 newspapers across the state. "Health care professionals put their lives on the line for us every single day," Human Services Secretary David Scrase said in a statement. "Together we can protect New Mexico's hospitals and the health and well-being of people and families all across our state."
Listen up
The No More Normal podcast remains focused on election matters in its most recent episode, "The Disinformation Age," which examines the ways in which an informed electorate must learn to distinguish credible and non-credible sources of information. Guests include: David Carroll, data rights activist and associate professor of Media Design at the Parsons School of Design at The New School; Jessica Ann Mitchell Aiwuyor, founder of the National Black Cultural Information Trust; Mutale Nkonde, the founding CEO of AI For the People; Benjamin Ridout, from the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Public Library; Roberta Rael, founder of Generation Justice; and Pamela Pereyra, founder and director of Media Savvy Citizens and New Mexico Chapter lead of Media Literacy Now. No More Normal is a collaboration between SFR, KUNM and New Mexico PBS.
Vital art supplies
Vital Spaces' new initiative, the Community Art Closet, will provide free art supplies to the community available during regularly scheduled hours (to be announced once supplies are assembled) at its locations on the Midtown campus and the Southside outlets. Those provisions, ideally, will include a variety of goods for all skills and age ranges, including coloring sheets and activity prompts for younger artists working with Vital Spaces' partner arts organizations. If you'd like to volunteer or schedule an appointment to drop off supplies, email contact@vitalspaces.org. You can also commit to a one-time or monthly donation here.
New murals on the way for Santa Fe
Two local art groups, Three Sisters Collective and the Alas de Agua Art Collective, have received nearly $100,000 to install 12 murals across Santa Fe—and provide youth education—to highlight Indigenous culture and environmental issues. The collectives intend the murals—funded by The Mural Arts Institute out of Philadelphia—to address Santa Fe's history of colonialism, cultural erasure and environmental racism with artwork depicting Indigenous iconography as a way to teach local history and spark discussions about current environmental issues. Christina M Castro of the Three Sisters Collective tells SFR's Katherine Lewin she plans to set up a tour of the murals when they are completed. "This could be a great field trip," Castro says, "to come to each location of our murals and with a lesson embedded, whether it's about environmental issues or local herbs, maybe even an honor system herb garden, which is something that we've even talked about with regard to what will replace…the obelisk in the Plaza." Under the terms of the grant, the murals must be completed by summer 2022.
Howdy, Jack Frost
More snow! At least an 80% chance of about 1 to 3 inches. Today's forecast also predicts the high temperature will be about 27 degrees (in other words, sandal weather appears to be over). East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon. More snow tonight and more snow tomorrow morning with some patchy icy fog in the interim. Meteorologists say the storm will help the state break snowfall records for October (but we're still in a drought). As for the roads: Assume they are terrible. However, the City of Santa Fe says its current "snow and ice plan" has kicked into effect and crews will be providing 24-hour coverage during the storm. Basically, it's a snow day…except we were already all home anyway.
Thanks for reading! The Word hasn't yet watched David Byrne's American Utopia (here's SFR review), but she has been visiting the ongoing online exhibit of his drawings, dingbats, which was made as part of the We Are Not Divided project.
