GRANTS, N.M. (AP) — The mayor of a small New Mexico city and several dozen supporters rallied Monday as he encouraged business owners in his community to defy the governor’s stay-at-home order that shuttered nonessential shops to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks says only a fraction of New Mexicans have been infected with COVID-19 and that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was killing the state's economy over "a little bug.” The governor has denounced the mayor's call for businesses to reopen as the number of cases in the state continues to climb. State Police plan to handle any complaints about businesses operating in violation of the health orders as they have elsewhere _ with a warning or subsequent citations.
Earlier post:
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — 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 said Martin’s plan makes “absolutely no sense whatsoever” and warned that State Police would be ready to enforce the health order. Health officials say New Mexico now has at least 2,726 coronavirus cases with 99 known dead.