This week on New Mexico in Focus, Gene Grant discusses the recent $485 million settlement awarded on behalf of an 8-year-old girl. The lawsuit, first filed in 2019, alleges a non-profit company called Familyworks, licensed by the state Children, Youth and Families Department, placed the girl in the care of Clarence Garcia, who allegedly raped her repeatedly. The lawsuit also alleges Familyworks knew about prior accusations of sexual assault against Garcia. Grant asks the panel how something like this was allowed to happen — and if the state should carry any responsibility.
Senior Producer Lou DiVizio catches up with Daniel Libit, an investigative and enterprise reporter for Sportico, who’s been following the criminal case against former UNM athletic director Paul Krebs. Lou asks why this case rose to the level of criminal charges when so many other collegiate scandals don’t. And the two discuss how this trial could impact the secretive nature within many universities.
A recent ruling from the New Mexico Supreme Court could set the stage for changes to political redistricting in the state. The justices weighed in on a lawsuit brought by the state Republican Party and others challenging the new congressional districts drawn by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature. But the decision could impact another case too — a lawsuit brought by the Navajo Nation, alleging San Juan County Commissioners packed Native American voters into a single district. New Mexico in Focus Correspondent Gwyneth Doland single district caught up with two people familiar with these cases to ask what impact the outcomes could have on future elections.
In July, the Biden administration publicly announced its decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. In conversation with Our Land’s Laura Paskus, filmmakers Karen Coates and Jerry Redfern explain how cluster bombs work and why they’re so dangerous. The two longtime journalists’ film, “Eternal Harvest,” documents the bombing campaign in Laos between 1964 and 1973, when the U.S. military dropped 4 billion pounds of explosives, about 30% of which didn’t detonate and remain on the landscape.
NMiF airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) Friday, July 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, July 23 at 7 a.m., and streaming on the PBS video app.
Host
Gene Grant
NMiF Segments
$485M Foster Care Abuse Settlement
Correspondent
Gene Grant
Guests
Ed Williams, Searchlight New Mexico
Carol Suzuki, professor of law, University of New Mexico
Merritt Allen, Vox Optima Public Relations
Former UNM Athletic Director on Trial
Correspondent
Lou DiVizio
Guest
Daniel Libit, investigative & enterprise reporter, Sportico
Redistricting Lawsuits Move Forward After NM Supreme Court Decision
Correspondent
Gwyneth Doland
Guests
Hannah Burling, project leader for Fair Districts NM, Co-Pres. of the League of Women Voters
Leonard Gorman, executive director, Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission
New Mexico Journalists Detail Long-Lasting Dangers of Cluster Bombs
Correspondent
Laura Paskus
Guests
Jerry Redfern, reporter, photojournalist & filmmaker, “Eternal Harvest”
Karen Coates, editor, writer & filmmaker, “Eternal Harvest”
New Mexico in Focus is the New Mexico PBS prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues, and people that are shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. NMiF takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic health, education, and art issues, and explores them in-depth with a critical eye to give them context beyond the "news of the moment."
NMPBS Executive Producer, Public Affairs, is Jeff Proctor. New Mexico in Focus Senior Producer for Public Affairs is Lou DiVizio. “Our Land” Senior Producer is Laura Paskus. The producer of New Mexico in Focus is Antonio Sanchez and Co-producer is Kathy Wimmer.
Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by the McCune Charitable Foundation and Viewers Like You.
Funding for the Your New Mexico Government Project comes from the Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund.
Funding for Our Land: New Mexico’s Environmental Past, Present & Future, is provided in part by the Neeper Natural History Programming Fund for KNME-TV.