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New Mexico health officials on Friday\u00a0reported 5,291 new COVID-19 cases<\/a>, a close to 7.5% decrease from the day before, bringing the statewide total so far to 470,513; DOH has designated 336,396 of those cases as recovered. The statewide\u00a0test positivity rate<\/a>\u00a0rose slightly from 29.9% to 30.1% (the target is 7.5%).<\/p>\n Bernalillo County had 1,305 cases, followed by Do\u00f1a Ana County with 675 and Santa Fe County with 327, 137 from the 87507 ZIP code, which ranked third in the state among ZIP codes for the most new cases.<\/p>\n According to the state\u2019s\u00a0most recent vaccination report<\/a>, over the prior four weeks (between Dec. 27 and Jan. 24), 53.8% of COVID-19 cases were among those not fully vaccinated, as were 77.8% of hospitalizations and 93.3% of deaths.<\/p>\n The state also reported 26 additional deaths, 20 recent and six from more than 30 days ago, including a Santa Fe County female in her 60s who had been hospitalized and had underlying conditions. Santa Fe County has now had 226 deaths; there have been 6,417 statewide. As of Friday, 673 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, a 5.6% decrease from the day prior. The health department is expected to provide a three-day update on cases, hospitalizations and deaths this afternoon.<\/p>\n Currently, 91.3% percent of adults<\/a>\u00a018 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 77.2% have completed their primary series. Among the same demographic, 41.3% have had a booster shot. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 69.9% of people have had at least one dose and 59.3% have completed their primary series. Among children ages 5-11, 35.1% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 23.8% have completed their primary series. In Santa Fe County, 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 86.4% have completed their primary series.ICYMI,\u00a0CBS spent some time in New Mexico<\/a>\u00a0with New Mexico National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Susana Corona, one of the volunteers working as a school substitute to help out with the\u00a0COVID-driven classroom vacancies<\/a>.And the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/i>\u00a0talks with Los Alamos National Laboratory employee Michelle Keaton<\/a>, who was one of the LANL workers who sued the lab over its vaccine mandate (they dropped the lawsuit\u00a0after a judge denied their request<\/a>\u00a0to block the mandate). Keaton is on unpaid leave and looking for new work. A training manager at the lab, she\u2019d like to stay in her field, but thinks vaccine mandates may require her to look at other types of jobs, such as at Starbucks,\u00a0which recently rescinded<\/a>\u00a0its vaccine mandate for employees.<\/p>\n New Mexicans can register for a COVID-19 vaccine\u00a0here<\/a>, schedule a COVID-19 vaccine booster\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and view a public calendar for vaccine availability\u00a0here<\/a>. Parents can add dependents to their vaccine profiles\u00a0here<\/a>. You can read the updated guidelines for quarantine and isolation\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can order free at-home COVID-19 tests\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and access the DOH testing directory\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can read all of SFR\u2019s COVID-19 coverage\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Punishment for criminal behavior in New Mexico \u201chas grown less certain as crime has increased, with fewer violent crimes solved and more violent felony cases dismissed,\u201d\u00a0according to a budget and policy analysis<\/a>\u00a0released this month by the Legislative Finance Committee. In response to increased crime across the state\u2014the same report says New Mexico had the highest overall crime rate of any state in the country in 2020 and the second highest violent crime rate\u2014Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other state leaders announced earlier this month\u00a0a package of public safety legislation<\/a>\u00a0aimed at deterring crime.\u00a0As the\u00a0Albuquerque Journal<\/i>\u00a0reports<\/a>, however, there remains a lack of consensus regarding the best way to lower crime rates and a variety of proposals on the table, ranging from a controversial bid to\u00a0change pre-trial detention rules<\/a>\u00a0to a push to increase law enforcement ranks. Nonetheless, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Saturday passed three other bills geared at improving public safety by: expanding funding for crime reduction programs (HB 84<\/a>); increasing penalties for unlawful use of firearms (HB 68<\/a>); and for threatening judges (HB 99<\/a>). House Bill 68 also would expand sentencing for aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer. \u201cThis legislation is another tool that we can use, in conjunction with investments in behavioral health and other targeted criminal justice system changes, to go a long way toward making our schools and communities safer,\u201d co-sponsor state Rep. Meredith Dixon, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement.<\/p>\n While crime discourse often centers on Albuquerque, Santa Fe area law enforcement agencies say they have been combatting a surge in drug-trafficking they connect to violent crime. The\u00a0Santa Fe New Mexican<\/i>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0more than a dozen people have been charged with drug trafficking in the Santa Fe area in the past two weeks alone as part of a coordinated crack-down. \u201cWe believe that the violent crime is connected to drugs and gangs,\u201d Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told the paper. \u201cThese are major amounts that we think are being put out into the streets and harming the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Santa Fe Public Schools board members\u00a0met in person Saturday for a special meeting<\/a>, three hours of which they spent in executive session. Upon their return (right around 3:21 in the video linked above), the board unanimously renewed Superintendent Hilario \u201cLarry\u201d Chavez\u2019s contract for two years at his existing annual salary of $175,000; Board Secretary Sarah Boses said, during the meeting, the board had offered Chavez a raise on the contract during the executive session, but he had declined it \u201cat this time.\u201d\u00a0In a statement<\/a>\u00a0cited by the\u00a0Santa Fe New Mexican<\/i> on behalf of the board<\/a>, Boses said: \u201cThe board has incredible confidence in the superintendent and would like to see him develop the SFPS team and community for many, many years to come.\u201d Chavez told the paper his goal \u201cis to lead the district for many years to come, and that\u2019s the important part of this contract.\u201d\u00a0Chavez was hired as superintendent last April and came on board in July 1<\/a>, succeeding former Superintendent Veronica Garc\u00eda.<\/p>\n Legislation<\/a>\u00a0to address\u00a0predatory lending<\/a>\u00a0in New Mexico passed its first committee on Saturday, receiving a 3-2 vote along party lines\u2014with Republicans against it\u2014from the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. HB 132 reduces the annual interest rate for loans made under the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act and New Mexico Small Loan Act from 175%\u2014among the highest in the country, according to a\u00a02020 policy report from Think New Mexico<\/a>\u2014to 36%. The legislation would also limit maximum loan terms for loans of $10,000 or less to a period of 24 months and prohibit accrual of fees, penalties and charges for ancillary products. \u201cAbusive loan rates are keeping our families and communities down, it\u2019s a financial epidemic,\u201d one of the bill\u2019s five co-sponsors, state Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo, said in a statement. \u201cWe must bring an end to these practices, in order to protect New Mexican families from financial harm.\u201d\u00a0Advocates for the bill<\/a>\u00a0say storefront loan companies target low-income and Native American populations. The bill heads to the House Judiciary Committee next.<\/p>\n Listen up<\/b><\/p>\n Last week, the Secretary of State and the University of New Mexico\u2019s Department of Political Science presented findings from the\u00a0\u201c2020 New Mexico Election Administration, Voter Security, and Election Reform Report<\/a>.\u201d On the most recent edition of New Mexico PBS\u2019\u00a0In Focus<\/i>\u00a0program, correspondent\u00a0Gwyneth Doland talks with Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver\u00a0<\/a>about the\u00a0voting reforms Toulouse Oliver and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham are supporting<\/a>\u00a0during the current legislative session.<\/p>\n Indigenous pantry<\/b><\/p>\n Food 52\u00a0<\/i>features <\/i>Chef Freddie Bitsoie<\/a>\u00a0(Din\u00e9), a native New Mexican, in its series on chefs\u2019 pantry essentials. Bitsoie, author of\u00a0New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(<\/i>which he penned with <\/i>James Beard Award\u2013winning author James O. Fraioli) shares seven staples for stocking an Indigenous American kitchen. They include: juniper berries, hominy, sage, prickly pear, tepary beans, agave nectar and blue cornmeal. In an excerpt from the book, Bitsoie writes: \u201cAs a Navajo, it is imperative that I respect the myriad ingredients cultivated by Indigenous stewards of the land, air, and water in what we now call the United States. And as the executive chef at Mitsitam Native Foods Caf\u00e9 in Washington, D.C.\u2019s Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, I use that awareness to build varied menus that incorporate sacred Indigenous foodways with reverence.\u201d<\/p>\n Eat it up, Albuquerque<\/b><\/p>\n Albuquerque is New Mexico\u2019s most vegan city, according to\u00a0Thrillist<\/i>, which includes the city in its roundup of\u00a0\u201cThe Most Vegan Cities for Your Midwest to Southwest Travels.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0According to the story, \u201cthe Southwest isn\u2019t especially well-known for its vegan cuisine,\u201d but Albuquerque proves the exception (we would argue Santa Fe also belongs on this list, but whatever). The story recommends\u00a0Vegos ABQ<\/a>, where options include a red chile jackfruit burrito; a potato, pinto bean\u00a0and green chile-stuffed bosque burrito; and an enchilada plate. Other recs include following the\u00a0Vegan Vato Instagram page<\/a>\u00a0to see where to find its vegan food truck on any given day;\u00a0The Acre<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cfun, homestyle food;\u201d\u00a0La Finca Bowls<\/a>\u00a0for fresh quinoa, lentil and vegan pok\u00e9 coconut rice bowls; and the vegetarian restaurant\u00a0Mata G<\/a>, which features different international cuisine each day. And speaking of Albuquerque,\u00a0Food & Wine<\/i>\u00a0magazine says<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s where you\u2019ll find the best bread in the state, specifically at\u00a0The Burque Bakehouse<\/a>\u00a0and at\u00a0The Ferm Brinery & Bakehouse.<\/a><\/p>\n The calm before the cold<\/b><\/p>\n Enjoy today\u2019s relative warmth, Santa Fe. Today should be sunny with a high near 49 degrees and west wind 10 to 15 mph. The\u00a0National Weather Service<\/a>\u00a0forecasts a 60% chance for snow Tuesday night into Wednesday with daytime high temperatures plummeting into the 20s for the rest of the week.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading! The Word is starting the day with\u00a0<\/i>Joni Mitchell and Neil Young<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(<\/i>this story\u00a0<\/i><\/a>explains why Joni Mitchell is singing from backstage).<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\nLegislators, law enforcement focus on crime surge<\/b><\/h4>\n
SFPS renews superintendent contract<\/b><\/h4>\n
Bill to curb predatory lending passes first committee<\/b><\/h4>\n