This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Antonia Gonzales speaks with President Biden’s top tribal affairs adviser, PaaWee Rivera. The son of former Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. George Rivera is working to advance Native interests as tribal communities emerge from the pandemic. 

A group of leading civil rights attorneys gathers for a discussion of the impact on New Mexico of the George Floyd murder and subsequent conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death at the hand of Minneapolis Police spurred a New Mexico law that addresses legal protections for police officers. 

The Line opinion panel looks at population news from the Census Bureau and the Legislative Finance Committee. Recent reports show the state lags its neighbors in population growth, with key parts of the population leaving New Mexico during their prime years. 
 
The Line also discusses a report from Searchlight New Mexico that revealed the state Department of Children, Youth and Families has been using an encryption app to communicate about cases and departmental strategy. The app deletes communications and shields work from the public eye. Now, the state attorney general says he’s asked his lawyers to look into the practice. 

Finally, the group explores the impact of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s new pandemic public health plan. With New Mexico aggressively vaccinating its population, the governor announced this week that the state could reopen businesses with few restrictions by the end of June. 

New Mexico in Focus airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) Friday, April 30 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 2 at 7 a.m.  

NMiF Segments

Advising Biden 
Correspondent

Antonia Gonzales 

Guest
PaaWee Rivera, director of tribal affairs, The White House 

Civil Rights and the Chauvin Verdict 
Correspondent
 
Matt Grubs, NMiF Senior Producer 

Guests
Frances Crockett Carpenter, attorney 
Joseph Kennedy, attorney 
Carolyn Nichols, attorney 
Laura Schauer Ives, attorney 

Line opinion panel  
Dan Boyd, Capitol bureau chief, Albuquerque Journal  
Dede Feldman, former state senator 
Ed Perea, attorney 

Host
Gene Grant  

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."

The producer of New Mexico in Focus is Matt Grubs, with Kathy Wimmer, associate producer. The NM PBS Public Affairs executive producer is Kevin McDonald.

The McCune Charitable Foundation provides NMiF funding, along with viewers like you.

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