At Urging Of Mayor, Some Stores Reopen In New Mexico Town - By Russell Contreras, Associated Press
The mayor of a small New Mexico city and several dozen supporters rallied as he encouraged business owners to defy a public health order by the governor that shuttered nonessential shops to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Grants Mayor Martin "Modey" Hicks said Monday that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was killing the state's economy over "a little bug." State health officials said Monday that 2,823 people in New Mexico have been infected and 104 have died.
Once a booming town connected to logging, Route 66 tourism and uranium mining, Grants took a big economic hit when the mines closed and many businesses shuttered.
Lujan Grisham has said the mayor's plan makes "absolutely no sense whatsoever" and that State Police would enforce the closure order. However, there was no heightened police presence at the rally, where protesters waved American flags and one held a sign that read: "Open Grants Now."
State officials say officers will handle any complaints about businesses operating in violation of the health order — as they have elsewhere — first with a warning and then subsequent citations that could carry fines between $100 and $5,000.
They said State Police have responded to 2,174 reported violations of the order statewide since March 24 while issuing 124 cease-and-desist orders and only four citations.
After thanking business owners around the community, the mayor said he planned to play golf. About 20 other people showed up at the city-owned course and played despite a warning by State Police for the facility to close.
Coronavirus-Related Deaths Top 100 With More Than 2,800 Cases – KUNM, Albuquerque Journal
The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in New Mexico rose by five Monday to 104. There are now 2,823 confirmed cases as well.
McKinley County continues to have the highest number of cases at 778 after surpassing the state’s most populous county, Bernalillo, over the weekend.
The latest deaths were all males in their 60s, 70s and 80s and all had underlying medical conditions. Two were from San Juan County and the others were from Cibola, Sandoval and Socorro counties.
One was a resident of Central Desert Behavioral Health in Albuquerque. There are 12 congregate living facilities in the state with confirmed COVID-19 cases in residents and/or staff.
On the Navajo Nation, there were 79 new cases bringing the total to 1,716, with the largest number in McKinley County, New Mexico. There have been 59 deaths on the large reservation, which spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she would work with the governors of Arizona and Utah to seek federal relief for the Navajo Nation.
City Workers In New Mexico Capital Brace For Furloughs – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
New Mexico's capital city is weighing a series of cost-cutting measures to address a budget deficit as tax revenue and other income take a dive.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported belt-tightening includes furloughs for all Santa Fe city workers except front-line public safety employees.
The furloughs are projected to save $1.43 million, just a fraction of the gap the city needs to close over the next two months.
Union leaders aren't happy with the mayor, calling into question statements made by Mayor Alan Webber that "everyone is being asked to sacrifice."
If approved by the council, the furloughs would go into effect May 6.
Habitat Safeguard For Snakes In Arizona, New Mexico Proposed – Associated Press
Conservationists are having a mixed reaction to a proposal from federal wildlife officials to protect critical habitats of endangered garter snakes in Arizona and New Mexico.
The Center for Biological Diversity said Monday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposition is somewhat of a relief. One of the group's attorneys says the number of acres that would receive protection is far less than previously stated.
Under the proposal, more than 18,700 acres of critical habitat for narrow-headed garter snakes and nearly 27,800 acres for the northern Mexican garter snake would be safeguarded across both states. Conservationists say both snake species have been on the brink of extinction for years.
Religious Freedom Attorneys Pick Their Battles Amid Pandemic - By Elana Schor, Associated Press
As states grapple with when and how to reopen establishments amid the pandemic, religious freedom remains a legal flashpoint.
That's particularly true for the conservative nonprofits that have taken a leading role in representing churches which have challenged stay-home orders.
At least a dozen state or federal suits filed since the virus outbreak started have focused partly or fully on freedom to worship in person, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a veteran of freedom to worship cases that represents multiple faiths, filed a brief supporting a New Mexico church's challenge to the state's religious gathering limits. A federal judge last week denied that church's bid for a temporary restraining order in the ongoing suit.
While a few pastors have grabbed headlines by defying public health orders with large services, some of those conservative nonprofits have found success defending a less polarizing practice: drive-in worship designed to gather the faithful in person, at a distance.
McKinley County Now Leads New Mexico In COVID-19 Cases – Associated Press
The total of 720 cases reported in McKinley County in western New Mexico as of Sunday evening has surpassed the 688 reported in Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque, New Mexico's most populous city.
McKinley County includes a corner of the main part of the Navajo Nation, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. Tribal officials reported Friday the reservation had 1,504 cases with 58 deaths. The reservation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
McKinley County is bisected by Interstate 40. Gallup, the county seat, is a regional shopping destination, including for many reservation residents.
The New Mexico Department of Health updated its statewide figures, reporting nine additional deaths related to COVID-19 and 139 additional cases of the disease as of Saturday, for a total of 93 deaths and 2,660 cases.
New Mexico Mayor, Police Head For Showdown Over Lockdown – Associated Press
The mayor of a small New Mexico city is promising a confrontation Monday between his small police force and State Police as he seeks to lift a COVID-19 lockdown order.
Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks vowed last week that he would allow all small businesses to reopen in defiance of the governor’s order to keep them closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Lujan Grisham warned that State Police would be ready to enforce the health order.
The nearby Native American community at Acoma Pueblo also pushed back against the Grants plan to allow the reopening of nonessential businesses.
Under a health order issued late March, state officials told all nonessential businesses to close their doors. First-time lockdown offenders can be given warnings, second citations for the same offenders are petty misdemeanors with a fine of up to $100, and third-time violators can be fined up to $5,000.
New Mexico Has At Least 2,726 Coronavirus Cases And 99 Dead – Associated Press
Due to a technical lapse, reporting results from some labs to the state Department of Health have been delayed and will be included in the state’s reporting Monday or as soon as they are received and lab-confirmed.
Health officials said there were 66 more positive tests since Saturday and six additional deaths.
They said three of the deaths were in McKinley County, two in San Juan County and one in Sandoval County.
McKinley County has 720 COVID-19 cases while Bernalillo County, the state’s most populous, has 688 cases.
The Department of Health also has identified positive coronavirus cases in residents and-or staff at 12 congregate living and acute care facilities including four each in Albuquerque and Farmington.
The other facilities are located in Santa Fe, Aztec, Gallup and Rio Rancho.
Navajo Nation Now Has 1,637 Coronavirus Cases, And 59 Deaths – Associated Press
The Navajo Department of Health said there are 1,637 known coronavirus infections across the reservation as of Saturday evening and 59 people have died.
The numbers don’t include cases from towns that border the vast reservation that spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Updated totals of cases and deaths are expected Sunday afternoon.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the big increase in cases is partially due to increased testing.
To date, there is a total of 7,393 negative test results.
Tribal authorities are again enforcing a weekend curfew in effect until 5 a.m. Monday, and Nez says more stringent patrols are planned. People caught violating the curfew face up to 30 days in jail and fines up to $1,000.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is building temporary hospital beds in Gallup and Shiprock, New Mexico as well as Chinle, Arizona to care for COVID-19 patients.
New Mexico Dairy Industry Drowning In Glut Of Milk – The Santa Fe New Mexican and Associated Press
The statewide shutdown of schools and restaurants, which are large buyers of dairy products, have contributed to a steep drop in demand for milk. Facing a glut, dairy farmers are dumping mass quantities of their product just as a growing number of jobless people struggle to feed their families.
Beverly Idsinga, executive director of Dairy Producers of New Mexico, said
farmers aren’t literally throwing the milk onto the ground. They put it into lagoons to help irrigate pastures or crops, or they feed the milk to calves.
Still, it’s milk that isn’t being sold, which hurts dairies that are already losing money as milk prices plummet.
New Mexico is the nation’s ninth-largest dairy-producing state, injecting $1 billion into the economy, according to 2018 data.
Prices are now about $12 per 100 pounds of milk — well below the $15 that farmers need to break even.