Let's Talk New Mexico

Early voting will start soon and run through November 1st, and several cities in our area will choose new mayors. Old fashioned images of mayors have them greeting families on downtown streets, checking in on local businesses and directing city police, but is that really how they spend their days?

In July, Congress voted to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, eliminating over $1.1 billion in federal support for public radio and television – leaving tribal and rural communities especially vulnerable to loosing essential news.

New Mexico has invested in early childhood education for years and now Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has announced that the state will soon offer no-cost universal childcare to every kid in the state. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll dig into what this means for families and what infrastructure needs to be in place before the program begins November 1st.

The end of summer comes with a welcome drop in temperatures, leaves starting to change color, and the smell of roasting chile in the air. Farmers are busy and so are farmer’s markets. It’s harvest time.

Whether you live in Albuquerque, or down South, or in Santa Fe, or cooler areas that historically haven’t been their home, a warming climate is leading to a broader range and longer season for mosquitoes and other pests.

In early June, the Trump Administration proposed up to 90% cuts to federal funding for tribal colleges and universities, including several in our region, threatening their ability to stay open.

Thanks to growing financial risks from climate change, property insurance premiums are ballooning, and not just in areas inundated with wildfire and subsequent burn scar flooding. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll explore the problem – and possible solutions – as lawmakers try to confront how climate change could reshape the state’s insurance market.

President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut incentives for wind, solar and electric cars and will ease restrictions on fossil fuels which contribute to a warming climate and severe weather. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll ask, where does this leave our state as we grapple with renewable energy development while banking on oil and gas?

The growing danger of adolescent gun violence hit close to home at the University of New Mexico last week, as a shooting took the life of one teen, sent another to the hospital, and left a third facing serious charges.On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll discuss the impacts on the University’s community and young people facing the persistent threat of gun violence.

Our state's mountains, deserts, caverns and culture draw tourists from around the world, but a changing climate and more severe weather are threatening those places and that important part of our economy. How can we protect our natural and cultural treasures from fires and floods? Should we still visit places after a disaster hits?