New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we continue our annual countdown of the top stories of the year, with a special Line opinion panel of all journalists. Our look back at 2019 wraps up with topics such as the passing of the landmark Energy Transition Act and the move toward recreational cannabis legalization. But what tops the list as the most impactful story of the year? Tune in as The Line panelists break it all down.

NMiF also revisits a grass-finished beef ranch in Tierra Amarilla that’s the latest venture of four generations of the Casados family. C4 Enterprises plans to build its own butchering and meat processing operation with help from the state and local economic development groups. It’s a project that’s a far cry from the flash of Facebook and Netflix, but one that may hold the key to revitalizing rural New Mexico.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we begin our annual countdown of the top stories of the year, with a special Line opinion panel of all journalists. Our look back at 2019 kicks off with topics ranging from President Trump’s visit to Rio Rancho this fall to groundwater contamination near New Mexico military installations and Governor Michelle Lujan’s first year in office.

NMiF also looks back at a story from August, when neighbors in Albuquerque’s International District worked with the Nature Conservancy and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps to turn an empty dirt lot into a pop-up public park. Among the goals for the project were to build community and help add greenery to one of the hottest parts of New Mexico’s biggest city that has few natural spaces.

This week, New Mexico in Focus speaks with Vera and Chanterelle Sung, whose family owns the Abacus Federal Savings Bank in Manhattan. After the financial collapse a decade ago, relatively tiny Abacus was the only bank to face criminal sanctions. The bank self-reported suspected violations to the authorities, then was stunned by the prosecution that followed. Producer Matt Grubs speaks with two of the daughters of the bank’s founder, who had their story told in the Frontline documentary, “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.”

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel look at Rep. Xochitl Torres Small’s decision to support the impeachment of President Trump. The representative of New Mexico’s Republican-leaning 2nd Congressional District was one of the last House Democrats to come out in favor of an impeachment investigation and now, articles of impeachment. The Line panelists also examine a patch of bad luck suffered by New Mexico’s signature chile crop this year, and debate what can be done to stop Albuquerque drivers from getting into crashes with the up-and-running ART buses.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, senior producer Matt Grubs sits down with Steve Terrell, newly retired from the Santa Fe New Mexican after four decades as a newspaper man. They talk about what’s changed over the years since Terrell first started covering the Legislature and New Mexico politics.

In this month’s installment of Our Land, correspondent Laura Paskus and the NMiF crew travel to the border to see firsthand construction of the new wall between the U.S. and Mexico and learn about the its impacts on wildlife and communities.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel examine a law that went into effect in July. The law lets judges order guns taken away from domestic violence offenders, but as KRQE-TV reports, it’s lightly used and has a big loophole. The Line opinion panelists also debate the consequences of stricter mandates governing SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The new rules, approved last week by the Trump administration, could cut food aid to some 37,000 New Mexicans. With its final topic, The Line looks at the 10-day notices the City of Albuquerque gave two convenience stores to get these “nuisance properties” to make improvements for public safety.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, senior producer Matt Grubs catches up with Congresswoman Deb Haaland. The freshman congresswoman has been outspoken on the need for greater investigation into missing and murdered Native women and speaks frankly about how she feels law enforcement needs to prioritize such cases. She also addresses the need for more robust broadband access throughout New Mexico.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel take on the announcement, made shortly after the congresswoman was in the NMiF studio for the above interview, that Rep. Haaland was named as co-chair for presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. The Line opinion panelists also discuss how charter schools, especially in New Mexico’s larger cities, are adjusting to the reduction of funds that came with the state legislature’s adjustment of a 40-year-old funding formula for small schools. For the final topic, The Line looks at new numbers from the Albuquerque Police Department that show crime statistics have not decreased nearly as much as originally reported.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we celebrate Joy Harjo, a groundbreaking poet and New Mexico treasure. An enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, Harjo went to school at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and was both a student and faculty member at UNM. Earlier this year, she made history as the first Native American to be named a national poet laureate. She has written eight books of poetry, including her latest, “An American Sunrise.” Correspondent Megan Kamerick caught up with Harjo at a poetry reading in Santa Fe to talk about why she sees the poet laureate appointment as an opportunity for Native people.

Teton Saltes, a junior offensive lineman on UNM’s football team, combines community service with athletic and academic achievement. A member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, Saltes works among Native communities struggling with suicide – often at a rate higher than any other racial or ethnic group. Correspondent Antonia Gonzales met up with Saltes at football practice to look at how he tackles advocacy for his community with the same determination he does athletics.

“¡Las Sandinistas!” is a documentary that chronicles the brave women on the front lines of social reform during Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista revolution. NMPBS aired the documentary earlier this year. Correspondent Russell Contreras spoke to filmmaker Jenny Murray about the story.

NMiF also reprises two favorite “Our Land” segments, as correspondent Laura Paskus takes us to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for a look behind the scenes at how managers maintain the habitat to support sandhill cranes, geese, and other wildlife. Paskus also takes viewers along as she examines the effort to build a network of backyard wildlife sanctuaries across New Mexico’s urban landscape. The spaces can create a surprisingly serene refuge for animals and people.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Antonia Gonzales travels to Jemez Pueblo to meet Tina Archuleta, who has made it her mission to decolonize Native diets. Archuleta founded Itality plant-based wellness to restore health and balance to pueblos and reservations that often find themselves in what nutritionists call “food deserts,” or places far from a store that sells fresh groceries. As we head into the holiday season, Archuleta is pushing easy, healthy meals that confound some of what we assume to be Native dishes.

Senior Producer Matt Grubs speaks with UNM journalism faculty member (and NMiF contributor) Gwyneth Doland about her report on redrawing political boundaries in the state. “Redistricting NM 2021: A troubled history and opportunities for change” details over 40 years of strained geographic relationships that don’t always produce the kind of local representation communities need. The state is set to begin its next redistricting cycle following the 2020 Census.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel discuss what State Auditor Brian Colón calls an “abuse of power”: nearly $3 million in legal settlements approved during former Governor Susan Martinez’s administration. The Line panelists debate whether a publicly financed stadium for New Mexico United is right for Albuquerque. For their final topic, the panelists look at opposition by Native American leaders against another proposed nuclear storage facility in our state.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Megan Kamerick sits down with Albuquerque Journal business reporter Kevin Robinson-Avila to discuss his in-depth series on The Energy Transition Act. The ETA, signed into law this year by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, requires all local utilities to get half of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030 – prompting a shakeup among rural electric cooperatives, which serve more than 200,000 people in New Mexico, and with the wholesale supplier where cooperatives buy their power.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel discuss the court case that again questions the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act. The federal law, passed in 1978, mandates priority placement of Native American children up for adoption within a Native community. The law was created to counteract the historical practice of removing Native American children from their tribe and family and placing them in a non-Indian family or institution.

The Line opinion panelists also tackle the controversial law that set high standards to keep defendants jailed pre-trial, but that also resulted in an early release for a suspect in the infamous Victoria Martens murder case. For their final topic, the panelists look at what it means for a rural town, like Springer, New Mexico, to temporarily have no fire department.

This week, New Mexico in Focus interviews Thomas Saenz, the national president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Saenz has been a key figure in the Martínez/Yazzie v. State of New Mexico lawsuit, the case that is forcing the state to improve the education it provides for certain groups of students. Recently, both groups of plaintiffs asked the court to set more strict deadlines for the state to prove it’s making progress. Correspondent Russell Contreras speaks with Saenz about what’s ahead in the case.

New Mexico in Focus takes a hard look at crime’s effect on young people with Albuquerque filmmaker John Acosta, whose documentary “Growing Up in the Real Breaking Bad” aims to raise awareness about youth violence. NMiF host Gene Grant interviews Acosta, who is joined by a group of young activists who say policymakers need to listen and try a different approach to addressing the problem.

In a repeat showing of Our Land from August, correspondent Laura Paskus travels to the Gila National Forest for an in-depth report on the battle over the Gila River. In the intervening months there have been new updates on the project, and NMiF host Gene Grant sits down with Paskus to discuss these developments.

This week on New Mexico in Focus: the struggle to shape and reshape Albuquerque’s neighborhoods. Just over a year ago, the city moved to a new way of planning and zoning, designed to cut down on the regulatory burden for developers, while also establishing quality standards and protections for communities. Correspondent Gwyneth Doland sits down with representatives from the Historic Neighborhoods Alliance, who worry the approach actually creates a one-size-fits-all model that ignores local input and actually creates racial disparities.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel discuss the request Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham sent earlier this month asking legislators for their input on agenda items to be included in the upcoming legislative session. The session is a short one – only thirty days – and devising a budget is lawmakers’ number one priority. There is room, however, for other bill proposals; the Line speculates on which will make the cut. The panelists also look at what made 2018 such a banner year for tourism in the Land of Enchantment, as a newly released report from the New Mexico Tourism Department shows visitors spent more money in the state than ever before. Last on the Line’s agenda of topics is the governor’s challenge to find balance between moving away from the fossil fuel industry, while also relying on the those revenues to fund her top priorities, including a free college tuition proposal.