 There have been so many heartbreaking stories of small businesses failing or barely making it during the pandemic. Driving through Santa Fe, you really can’t miss the darkened windows or curbside only signs accenting downtown stores and Southside markets. Even harder to see are the ones that have completely closed, some with tables and chairs or office equipment still scattered around in the rush to leave and forgo rent or a mortgage that could no longer be paid.   But there’s a small silver hot dog cart called Roque’s in the parking lot of Big Jo True Value Hardware on Siler Road. Armando Pacheco, hot dog chef extraordinaire, has made this small business sing in the face of all the closings with a unique slate of offerings, a couple of which he described at the top of this episode.   Armando took over running the cart from Roque Garcia this winter. Roque has sold hot dogs on the Plaza for nearly three decades and will hopefully be able to return in 2021. But Armando is planning on opening his own cart in Albuquerque this year, called Chicano Dogs.   For now, keeping Roque’s going means a lot to Armando—it’s his retirement plan and what he normally does during the summer when he’s not working in the solemn halls of the Capitol during the legislative sessions, copying bills and getting them on the right legislators’ desks. The pandemic pushed him to work the cart even this winter, and it’s turned out to be a boon for him—and for anyone lucky enough to try one of his delicious hotdogs. 

Reported

The Hot Dog Guy

For generations, families across the US and Canada have struggled to get someone, anyone, to pay attention to the growing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. In the last few years, high-profile cases of brutally murdered Indigenous girls have brought the problem into the national spotlight and the pages of the national newspapers. Despite more attention on this complicated issue, states have struggled to address it. The problems are rampant—communication breakdowns among tribal, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and there’s little to no national or statewide data collection that would even begin to define the contours.  New Mexico is not exempt from any of that. It’s among the states with the highest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women, according to The Urban Indian Health Institute, which has a comprehensive but outdated report.  Last year, the New Mexico Legislature finally decided to do something by setting up a state task force, combining the work of the Indian Affairs Department with law enforcement agencies, advocates and survivors and family members.  This group, now called the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force, recently released a report, after a year of work. The state’s first attempt led to a sobering conclusion: that a lot more work needs to be done by the task force and by legislators—especially around data collection from law enforcement agencies. But of the 23 law enforcement agencies the task force queried, only 11 sent cases with race and sex included and the researchers were only able to analyze data from three police departments and two sheriff's departments. For this story, I spoke with Representative Melanie Stansbury, one of the co-sponsors of the original bill that set up the task force, about her impressions of the report and what could come next. I also interviewed New Mexico Sentencing Commission Deputy Director Douglas Carver about his work on race/ethnicity collection in the state. 

What Can Data Do?

Music: Lone Pinon Read more at www.sfreporter.com 

Military Gear Swap

Santa Fe has been described as a tale of two cities: the one in the north and the east, and the one in the south. The Southside, with a capital “S”, which is also my beat here at the Santa Fe Reporter, is the most densely populated in general, and also has the most young families and middle to low-income households, including immigrants and nonwhite people.  It’s also home to the city’s sewage treatment plant, several asphalt and gravel companies, and the airport, just to name a few of the polluting industries down here.  But one company, in particular its application for an updated air quality permit with the New Mexico Environment Department, has sparked a fight that started in late 2019 and has carried over into the latter part of 2020. That company is Associated Asphalt. It makes asphalt for roads and highways across the state, often in contracts with state and local governments.  Back in March, just after the first pandemic lockdown started, I wrote about the fight between Southside neighbors and the company. Associated Asphalt wants to consolidate its operations, which are currently in two spots, into one of those locations on the west side of Highway 599. It also wants to be able to operate 24/7.  So here we are, eight months later, and the permit is still in limbo, except now the Southside residents worried about the plant have two lawyers, Maslyn Locke and Eric Jantz from the New Mexico Environmental Law Centerand an air quality expert, Mike Schneider, on their side.  I interviewed Maslyn and Eric for this story. Excuse some of the background noise—working from home and outside of a studio means you can hear a bit of me typing notes and my dog obnoxiously chewing a bone.

Targeted Pollution

This week on Reported we’re highlighting the life of a New Mexican who, despite living on multiple front lines of the pandemic as a healthcare worker, a student, and a mother, has managed to both further her career and her education.  Stephanie Solis is just 20 years old with a four-year-old son, Aiden. She’s stepping toward her goal of becoming a nurse, while working as a home health aide. She lives with her mom and younger brother, who is 15—the same age she was at Capital High School when she got pregnant.  But Stephanie still graduated and started her secondary education and career, with the help of Lauren Whitehurst and the Mother Tongue Project.  Normally every year the Santa Fe Reporter publishes multiple essays from the Mother Tongue Project, an organization that creates and supports academic literacy skills specifically for young parents, mostly girls. The essays are written by teenaged mothers from Capital High School, and Stephanie was one of those writers before she graduated in 2018.  But this year, because of the pandemic, only one of those essays will be published on our website, and the author didn’t want to be recorded. But we still wanted to highlight a New Mexican who’s living many of the struggles hundreds of thousands of people across the state are struggling with right now: the possibility of getting sick, little help from the government, no childcare and financial problems.  So in episode two of Reported, the Santa Fe Reporter’s podcast, we’re catching up with Stephanie two years after graduation and the publication of her Mother Tongue essay, to see how far she has come and what life is like for a young woman who isn’t even old enough to drink and yet is on multiple frontlines in the pandemic. I spoke with Stephanie over the phone while she was at home one evening, so you will definitely hear her son Aiden in the background. Music: Lone Pinon

Multiple Frontlines

The Soldiers Monument, a 150-year-old anchor of the Santa Fe Plaza, is mostly gone. On Oct. 12, Indigenous Peoples Day, dozens of people pulled on a tow strap and a chain tied around the monument and pulled it down in two pieces. All that’s left is the base, which is now boarded up and awaiting whatever comes next.  The monument, known more commonly here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as “the obelisk,” has ignited fights over what it truly means for decades, and multiple mayors in recent years have promised to consider removing the statue from the plaza. Basically, it’s dedicated to Union soldiers who fought in the southwest—defending it from Confederate armies. But it is also dedicated to these same Union soldiers who slaughtered the regional Indigenous peoples in the so called “indian wars”. So, yeah, it’s complicated.  Finally, what maybe was a long time coming, came. Protesters pulled the obelisk down and so much has happened between Oct. 12 and now, Nov. 18, . The city seems divided into factions—some people believe pulling it down was the right thing to do. Others really don’t. This week’s  Santa Fe Reporter cover story looks in-depth at what’s happening now to move on;  the police response then, versus now; what another city did with a similar problem and more.This is Episode 1 of Season 4 of Reported, the Santa Fe Reporter’s podcast. We’re glad to be back after a lengthy break, bringing you all sorts of news you can use and compelling New Mexico stories for your ears.  Music: Lone Pinon All of our coverage about the toppling of the obelisk: https://www.sfreporter.com/tag/plaza/

Obelisk Down

 https://www.sfreporter.com/news/coverstories/2020/05/27/summer-tourism-outlook/ 

What's Left of a Santa Fe Summer

Like all businesses during COVID-19, the Santa Fe Playhouse has had to switch up its plans for 2020 and perhaps even 2021. Robyn Rikoon, the artistic director for the Santa Fe Playhouse, speaks with host and producer Katherine Lewin on Fiesta Melodrama and more. 

Pandemic Playhouse

The Development of Midtown

A Dose of Magic

COVID-19 has hit the world hard. People are losing their jobs or taking salary cuts, and for many, that means food insecurity. But in true New Mexico style, people are joining together to help out the community here.

3,000 Meals A Day

Go to www.sfreporter.com for more of our COVID-19 and Santa Fe coverage. 

Even Santa Fe Indian Market

Contact the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence for ways to donate or if you need assistance. 

COVID-19 Measures Increasing Domestic Violence in New Mexico

Despite a pandemic, spring continues to bloom outside our walls. Now it's almost the time for a time-honored tradition for New Mexicans—planting the best chile in the world. 

Chile in the Time of COVID-19

Coronavirus in New Mexico now has a face: Santa Fe public defender offers grim warnings, stern critiques for the public and the state's Department of Health.

From A Patient

Welcome to Reported, the Santa Fe Reporter’s podcast digging into the stories and investigations the newspaper knows you’ve read but wants you to hear. This show is all about independent, in-depth journalism in the alt-weekly style.

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Reported

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