This week on New Mexico in Focus, Gene Grant and the Line Opinion Panel discuss gun violence in New Mexico and how local, state and federal officials are trying to address it.
First, Grant updates the panelists on federal charges announced for failed Republican candidate Solomon Peña and asks for context on the ongoing trend toward federalizing state crimes.
Then, Grant and the panel discuss how the shooting at Red River’s Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally will impact the future of motorcycle events throughout the state.
Plus, the panelists weigh in on the newly resurrected Governor’s Organized Crime Prevention Commission and ponder why the state is bringing back a 50-year-old program.
Grant also sits down with Red River Mayor Linda Calhoun to talk about last month’s shooting at the town’s Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally and what the future holds for the holiday event.
NMPBS has a new executive producer for public affairs. Jeff Proctor has been entrenched in New Mexico journalism for decades. This week he sits down with Grant to introduce himself to New Mexico in Focus viewers, while revisiting some of his past work and laying out his vision for NMiF moving forward.
This spring, the Rio Grande is ripping along, flush with snowmelt and boosted by spring rains. That’s good news for ecosystems along the river that have been gasping for water the past few years. One of those places is Albuquerque’s San Antonio Oxbow, a special place along the west side of the Rio Grande that hasn’t flooded in a few years. Recently, The University of New Mexico’s Wes Noe took the Our Land crew to the bluffs above the Rio Grande, to explain the oxbow’s history and importance.
New Mexico in Focus airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) Friday, June 9 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 11 at 7 a.m., and streaming on the PBS video app.
NMiF Segments
Flooded with Life: Albuquerque's Oxbow
Correspondent
Laura Paskus
Guest
Wes Noe, University of New Mexico Biology Department
Red River Mayor Responds to Memorial Day Weekend Mass Shooting
Correspondent
Gene Grant
Guest
Linda Calhoun, (R) Mayor of Red River
Introducing NMPBS Executive Producer Jeff Proctor
Correspondent
Gene Grant
Guest
Jeff Proctor, executive producer for public affairs, NMPBS
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.