Here’s a look at some local news brought to you by Silver City Radio:

At the time of compiling this report, COVID-19 cases have increased in New Mexico to 1484 individuals. The total of 36 deaths in New Mexico from COVID-19 has remained unchanged. For our area, we have 11 positive cases of COVID-19 in Grant County 1 in Catron County and 2 in Luna County.

The New Mexico Department of Health has unveiled a COVID-19 Public Dashboard which includes current county-by-county breakdowns of positive cases by age, gender and ethnicity. In addition, users can click on each county and receive information on how many tests have been administered.  Grant County has administered 289 tests, Luna County 155 tests, Hidalgo County 18 tests, and Catron County with 26 tests. Visit https://cvprovider.nmhealth.org/public-dashboard.html  for the link to the New Mexico COVID-19 dashboard.

Yesterday, the New Mexico Supreme Court conducted a hearing by video link in a case concerning voting procedures for the June 2nd New Mexico primary election. The case, State ex rel Riddle v. Oliver, consisted of an emergency petition from a number of election officials concerned about public health issues through the use of polling sites during COVID-19. The officials wished permission to close polling sites and conduct the election mostly through mail-in ballots. The court ruled unanimously that state law prohibits them from ordering a mail-in election. The court instead directed county clerks throughout the state to mail absentee ballot applications to voters and encourage them to cast their vote via absentee instead of in person. Absentee ballots can be sent out starting on May 5th.

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused many closures and cancellations locally, including many annual events that attract locals as well as needed tourism. Four large local events that have been cancelled for 2020 are:

  • The Tour of the Gila
  • Fiesta Latina
  • The Wild Wild West Pro Rodeo
  • The Silver City Blues Festival

The Blues Festival, held on Memorial Day Weekend in Gough Park, will instead feature a series of 5 live stream performances that will be scheduled during the weekend of May 22nd through 24th. More information and event schedules will be available at https://www.silvercitybluesfestival.org/.

During this time of the COVID-19 health emergency, shopping local is more important than ever and crucial for our community. Please do your part and support our local businesses and make sure to visit silver city radio dot com for a listing of open business in Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties.