Democrats and Republicans set for competitive race for governor |

Dems and GOP prepare for competitive race for governor

Tuesday primary election results set the stage for a potentially competitive gubernatorial race between incumbent Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican candidate Mark Ronchetti. President of Research & Polling Inc. Brian Sanderoff tells Albuquerque Journal the national climate at the approach of the midterm general election on November 8 could influence the governor’s race here. “It just makes it harder for the Democratic incumbent to work on the campaign trail,” Sanderoff said. “Democrats – in no way, shape or form – can take this race for granted.” The State Democratic Party yesterday issued a press release calling Ronchetti and GOP Lieutenant Governor candidate Ant Thornton—as well as Republican nominee for Secretary of State Audrey Trujillo—as “dangerous,” writing, “With a Ronchetti/Thornton/Trujillo ticket, the New Mexico GOP is on a warpath to destroy rights that have been protected in New Mexico and the country for decades, such as access to reproductive health care, the right to same-sex marriage, and they would dismantle all progress for families that New Mexico Democrats have accomplished” under Lujan Grisham. On the side of the GOP, a national group associated with the republican partyPutting families back to work ran an ad attacking the governor. As the Log ratings, several national political rating sites, such as The Cook Political Report and Politics classify the race as leaning toward a Democratic victory.

Weather poses flood risk in fire area

Last night’s firefighters community update on the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire warned of the potential for flooding following forecasted thunderstorms in the area. “You’ve had a ridiculous number of red flag days, something like 24 in a month, and now we’re actually looking at clouds and rain,” said public information officer Bill Morse. “Is it manna from heaven or is it those flash floods and debris flows that we all fear and know could happen?” The evening meeting also included videos of the removal repair work in progress. Last night the fire remained at 65% containment and 318,599 acres. Part of the fire impact assessment includes soil analysis in burned areas, including an assessment of the potential for erosion and flooding as a result of the fire. “Fires have that punch, a lot of people forget that,” Owen Burney, director of the John T. Harrington Center for Forestry Research at New Mexico State University in Mora, told SFR. “The first punch obviously being fire, you know, devastating effects that can burn down houses, obviously forests. The second punch is massive amounts of erosion and flooding.

DOH reports rise in COVID-19 cases, less severe disease

New Mexico is experiencing a current surge of COVID-19 infections, state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross confirmed in the state report yesterday. first public pandemic briefing in three months, sharing data showing that “the state has seen an increase in the number of cases for several weeks now,” as well as an increase in the number of hospitalizations. But what New Mexico isn’t seeing is an increase in the number of patients requiring intubation, or an increase in “medically significant” cases, she said. “Clearly what we’re seeing with this wave is very different from what we’ve seen in the past,” Ross said, listing potential reasons for the change to include the high percentage of people immune to vaccinations or infection. anterior. , as well as the changing properties of the current Omicron subvariant responsible for most cases in the state (BA.2.12.1). Ross and Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase also pointed to the myriad “tools” available at this point in the pandemic, including the oral treatments that Scrase described in the press briefing and in a recent editorial published by SFR, as “game changers”. He noted yesterday that the state has made “incredible progress on the percentage of people we have treated” and urged those testing at home to contact health providers if they test positive to access treatment. While the DOH halted public briefings during a lull in cases, the new surge could lead to a return to regular updates, he said, “We’re working on some sort of schedule to make sure you to get your questions answered.”

COVID-19 in numbers

Reported June 8:

New cases: 1100; 542,746 total cases

Deaths: 13; Santa Fe County had 304 deaths in total so far ; there were 7,862 total deaths statewide. Hospitalizations: 140. Patients on ventilators: new.

Rates per case: According to latest DOH report on geographic trends for COVID-19, as of June 6, the state had recorded 6,104 new cases in the previous seven days, an increase of nearly 55% from the previous seven-day period. Grant and Santa Fe counties had the two highest daily case rates per 100,000 population during the most recent period: 82.5 and 64.8, respectively.

Community levels: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Community Levels” Tracking System– which uses case rates plus two hospital metrics in combination to determine county-level virus status – classifies nine NM counties as “yellow” or medium risk: Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, Mora , Harding, Sandoval, Bernalillo, Cibola and Grant Counties. The rest of the state remains “green” for low community levels. The CDC will provide an update later today at 8 p.m. EST. CDC recommendations for individuals and communities based on community-level rankings can be found here.

Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at home rapid antigen tests; Self-reporting a positive COVID-19 test result to the health service; Covid-19 treatment Information: oral treatments Paxlovid (12 years and older) and Molnupiravir (18 years and older); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolbox for immunocompromised people. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call the NMDOH COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.

You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.

Listen

How did chocolate end up in Chaco Canyon? Culture meeting podcast host and The palace Magazine editor Charlotte Jusinski dives into this local mystery with researcher Patricia Crown and retired archaeologist Jay Shapiro in “All roads lead to chocolate.” The most recent episode is topical linked to Chocolate: the exhibitionwhich opens June 17 at New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science through Chicago Field Museum.

dark winds showcases indigenous talent

dark windsadaptation of Tony Hillerman’s crime novels, premieres June 12 on AMC and, in advance, The Hollywood Reporter dives into the “30-year journey” to do the show. Produced by Robert Redford, George RR Martin and others, dark winds is one of the first productions to use Camel Rock Studios in Tesuque Pueblo, located in the old pueblo casino and, THR said, is the first Native American-owned film and television studio. The show was filmed in three different sovereign nations, written by a writers room of five Indigenous writers, and Chris Eyre (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes) was the lead director. Producer Graham Roland is Chickasaw, and the crew and main cast are also mostly Indigenous. Zahn McClarnon (Lakota), who plays Detective Joe Leaphorn recounts THR says he’s been playing since the early 90s “and it’s been a struggle all along. I’m really glad I managed to stay in this business and finally see this thing come to fruition with Indigenous writers, an Indigenous crew, Indigenous talent, and Indigenous directors and producers. We are in a unique period.

Capture the fire

that of Santa Fe Photo-eye gallery recently featured two of its Showcase artists, Carl Moore and Patricia Galaganwho did daily footage of the Cerro Pelado and Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fires. In cooperation with the gallery, Moore and Galagan now offer a selection of photographs from the series See through the fire will be sold as an open edition until July 1 and proceeds will benefit Food Depot Disaster Relief Fund and the Santa Fe Humane Societyefforts to provide assistance to evacuated animals. Moore is a fine art photographer based in Santa Fe; Galagan is co-author, with her late husband Philip Metcalf, of the photography book fire ghosts, a depiction of the effects of the Las Conchas fire in New Mexico in 2011. Gallery director Anne Kelly tells SFR that photographers went out each night to capture images of the fires. “Obviously what was happening was really terrible,” she said, “but the result of the smoke created these beautiful sunset images. They were really convinced that they wanted to use these images to help the victims of the fires and we had lots of conversations about those affected and how best to help.As well as viewing the portfolio online, people can also come and see them at the gallery (1300 Rufina Circle, Suite A3).

Waiting for the monsoons

Again, the National Weather Service forecast a chance of isolated thunderstorms today, this time after 3 p.m., but with little to no precipitation forecast. Otherwise it will be mostly sunny with highs near 90 degrees and a 10-15 mph southerly wind turning west in the afternoon. Fingers crossed it seems monsoon season could start soon?

Thanks for reading! The Word can’t wait to see David Bowie’s new documentary Lunar Reverie (although it looks like she’ll have to wait at least a little while).