August 17, 2020
In case you missed it, Carlsbad resident Jayann Sepich was recently listed as one of the top ten New Mexico women of the century in an article about inspiring women from this state. The article, written by Current-Argus editor Jessica Onsurez, was distributed throughout the USA Today network.
Jayann’s daughter, Katie, was murdered in 2003. Sepich and her husband, Dave, successfully sought passage of Katie’s Law, which would require the collection of DNA from accused felons. The law passed in New Mexico, and, since then, Jayann has successfully fought for the passage of similar laws across the country and the entire world.
“From that tragedy, Sepich created a legacy of justice for victims of violent crime and rape nationwide,” Onsurez writes.
Jayann’s selection is very well-deserved, and our community is fortunate to have such a dedicated individual who has brought about so much positive change across our country. Artist Georgia O’Keeffe and golfer Nancy Lopez are also among those listed, as well as both our current and previous Governors.
As a reminder, here’s a few more of some of Carlsbad’s most amazing women currently in our museum’s hall of fame.
Linda Wertheimer was born in Carlsbad and is NPR’s senior national correspondent. She was the host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” for 13 years.
Author Anna Jane Sitton Hayes was the founding Editor of Sesame Street Magazine and Sesame Street Books.
Author and actress Lynne Pitcaithley was also responsible for starting Carlsbad’s successful spay and neuter program. She retired in 1999 as Carlsbad’s oldest teacher at age 80.
Becky Thompson has been inducted into numerous hall of fames, including the Amateur Softball Association’s Hall of Fame and the National Softball Hall of Fame. She played basketball for the All American Redheads.
Actor and model Katherine Jarvis Kerr Mead was the wife of artist Roderick Fletcher Mead. Mrs. Mead was very active in civic, cultural, and philanthropic affairs across Carlsbad.
More remarkable women from Carlsbad include long-time community volunteers Geraldine Armendarez, Julia Williams and Cecilia Castaneda. Retired educator Julia Heaton heads our FAAV committee responsible for Halagueno Arts Park. Chamber of Commerce retirement coordinator Janell Whitlock has previously been a judge, city councilor and county commissioner.
City Councilor Judi Waters founded our Class Act program and Councilor Lisa Anaya-Flores is our city’s first elected Hispanic woman councilor. (Denise Madrid Boyea was previously appointed to Council). Eddy County Commissioner Susan Crockett does an excellent job and her predecessor, Roxanne Lara, has been highly involved across the state. Rep. Cathrynn Brown and Sen. Gay Kernan do an excellent job representing our part of the state.
Finally, women occupy four of the six judicial positions operating out of Carlsbad- Judges Lisa Riley, Jane Shuler Gray, D’Ann Read and Collis Johnson.
This is certainly not a complete list by any means. Congratulations again to Jayann Sepich and to Carlsbad’s many highly-successful women.
The Department of Health’s daily report listed a male in his 30s from Eddy County as one of Saturday’s COVID-related deaths. This individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions, according to the State. According to Carlsbad Medical Center, this individual first reported to the emergency room here and was transferred to a hospital out of Eddy County the same day. We all offer our prayers to the friends and family members of this individual.
This was Eddy County’s fifth COVID-related death, according to the state, who reports 373 total positives for the county, 114 recoveries and 9,298 total tests as of Monday morning. There were 9 new positive COVID-19 cases reported for Eddy County on Sunday and 12 new positives reported on Saturday.
According to state data, 56% of the positives for our county have been men and 44% women. Records also indicate that more than half of the positives for our county have been in the 20-49 age range. Carlsbad Medical Center reports one current COVID-19 inpatient as of the morning of Aug. 17.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway