New Mexico Alcohol Deaths Rise

NM alcohol deaths rise

The number of New Mexicans who died in 2021 from causes directly related to alcohol surpassed 2,200, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Health. The mortality data—reporting 13% more deaths than the year before—account for causes of death brought on by drinking including injuries in motor-vehicle crashes and violence in which the victim was intoxicated, and illnesses such as liver disease and cancer, the latter of which made up 62% of the deaths in 2021. Bernalillo, McKinley and Sandoval counties together accounted for more than half of the statewide increase. Plus, the 2021 figures follow a 17% increase in alcohol-related deaths the year before. In a report continuing New Mexico In Depth’s focus on alcohol in the state, journalist Ted Alcorn writes that “legislators appear increasingly ready to act.” “We have to do something about it,” state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, said in an interview. “We need to put more resources into treatment programs and prevention programs, and also raise the excise tax.” The state’s current tax levies about $0.04 per standard 12-ounce beer and $0.07 per glass of wine or shot of liquor. The rates, which do not adjust with inflation, are at their lowest real value since 1993.

Ivey-Soto committee leadership nears official end

The Senate Committees’ Committee held a meeting last week by Zoom to, among other changes, approve a plan to remove Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto from the Senate Rules Committee and name Sen. Katie Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, its chair. Sen. Mimi Stewart, the pro tem from Albuquerque, said in her opening remarks that she called the Thursday meeting of the “administrative committee designed to help the Senate be democratic in their choosing of committees and chairs and vice chairs” to get a “head start” on staffing for the session that begins Jan.17. Ivey-Soto, also an Albuquerque Democrat, has been under fire since a lobbyist leveled sexual harassment allegations and an investigator found probable cause to hold an ethics hearing in the matter. Advocates called for his resignation and removal, and he sent Stewart a letter resigning the post in September. The proposed changes would not go into full effect until the first day of the session after action from the full Senate.

State money to hire local cops

While Santa Fe agencies weren’t in on the first round, both the city police and the county sheriff’s department are among 39 law enforcement agencies across the state awarded a share of $8.5 million that had remained in the $50 million Law Enforcement Recruitment Fund established this year. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the grants late last week. “We know that law enforcement agencies around the state need additional officers and lack the local resources to do so,” she said in a statement. ”This much-needed funding is bridging that gap and empowering communities to get hundreds more officers on the streets. I’m committed to continuing our strong support for law enforcement, and I will pursue additional funding for this initiative in the upcoming legislative session.” Cities and counties around the state benefited from about 400 additional funded positions created by a legislative appropriation, but the cash is not recurring.

COVID-19 by the numbers

Reported Dec. 9: New cases: 707; 652,223 total cases. The most recent report on geographic trends, dated Dec. 5, shows a 28.3% increase in reported cases over the prior seven-day period compared to the Nov. 28 report. Deaths: six; Santa Fe County has had 374 total deaths; 8,742 ;total fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 193. Patients on ventilators: 10.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent Dec. 8 “community levels” map, which uses a combination of hospital and case rate metrics to calculate COVID-19 risk for the prior seven-day period, shows eight counties categorized as “orange”—high risk—for COVID-19, versus three last week. They are: Cibola, Guadalupe, McKinley, Otero, San Juan, San Miguel, Torrance and Valencia. Santa Fe County remains “green,” identifying lower risk. Twelve counties are “yellow,” with medium risk. Corresponding recommendations for each level can be found here.

Resources: CDC interactive booster eligibility tool; NM DOH vaccine & booster registration; CDC isolation and exposure interactive tool; Curative testing sites; COVID-19 treatment info; NMDOH immunocompromised tool kit. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453. DOH encourages residents to download the NM Notify app and to report positive COVID-19 home tests on the app.

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

Listen up

Santa Fe Public Schools’ Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez delivered the annual “State of the Schools” address Friday in a recording with photos of students and teachers participating in the programs he sought to highlight. Hear about employee incentive programs such as child-care and training; student work initiatives; attendance and equity efforts and more from Chavez, School Board President Kate Noble and school staff. (We had big feels about the images of the student art work.) “I want to acknowledge what a tough year it has been for everybody,” Noble said. “Our social/emotional wellness, for many people in the community, is a little tenuous at the moment, and schools are always a concentrated version of what is going on in society.”

Economic development fits and starts

New Mexico’s efforts to build tourism as an economic development diversification strategy faced a dramatic challenge from wildfire this year. The New York Times looks at the complexity of the next rebound with the headline “Wish You Were Here. Ignore the Floods and Fires,” and interviews with rural residents in Mora, real-estate agents in Taos and other New Mexicans facing drought, wind and nature’s fury. “Unlike its neighbors to the east and west, New Mexico is tackling the economic challenge head on, passing legislation and funding programs to mitigate the effects of climate change. Complicating that effort: The state’s primary taxpayer, the oil and gas industry, is also the main source of the disruption. For that reason, New Mexico faces both what economists call ‘physical risk’ and ‘transition risk’: The financial damages of extreme weather and shifting temperatures, plus the damage caused by doing something about it.” With legislators headed into session next month, building resiliency could come in many forms. The story looks at what might be on tap, with ideas ranging from increased funding for a reforestation center to an investment in hydrogen infrastructure.

We do Christmas better

Santa Fe’s holiday sparkle caught the eye of Condé Nast Traveler in its list of “32 Best Places to Spend Christmas Around the World.” “Santa Fe’s already-beautiful plaza becomes downright magical with the addition of Christmas lights—but the holiday spirit doesn’t start and stop there,” the magazine writes. “The city also offers midnight mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis de Assisi, holiday exhibits at the New Mexico Museum of Art, holiday flamenco performances at El Flamenco Cabaret, and seasonal shopping at the Winter Indian Market. Even when Christmas is officially over, you can keep busy at Taos Ski Valley and Ski Santa Fe—both just an easy drive away.” Those looking to get a little jolly this week might consider the aforementioned Flamenco Christmas Cabaret at 6:15 tonight; free pop-up carols with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale at various locations, beginning at the Genoveva Chavez Center at 10 am tomorrow; or the Holiday Extravaganza at Capital High School at 7 pm Thursday. Find more events on the SFR calendar.

Wonderland, ahoy

The National Weather Service used the headline “Winter is coming!” on its website this morning as a “vigorous low pressure system will overtake New Mexico” today and tomorrow. Expect below normal temperatures, frigid wind chills and potentially treacherous travel. Rain is forecast to start in Santa Fe between noon and 3pm, with later snow showers likely on an otherwise cloudy day with a high near 41. The chance of precipitation is 70% with new snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Thanks for reading! The (Substitute) Word will spend the morning listening to this snow playlist that is not about holidays.