Recovery in Ruidoso; Public Broadcasting Funds Cut
This week on New Mexico in Focus, we head to Ruidoso just days after deadly flooding hit the area. Reporter Cailley Chella visited the village last week and found residents, including the mayor, watching the clock and waiting for the feds to step in and help. After Cailley spoke to those affected, the federal government declared a disaster in Lincoln County. The move will free up millions in federal aid for those trying to dig out from a year of fire and flood damage.
Earlier this month, Congress approved President Trump’s request to strip away the next two years of funds previously allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As a result, our local public television station and about 1,500 others — along with the national PBS and NPR networks — will no longer receive federal funding starting in October. This week, we invited two local opinion columnists to continue a debate that has been heard in Washington D.C. for years: Should taxpayer dollars fund public broadcasting? Since our funding is caught up in this debate, we put up several firewalls to avoid a conflict of interest. Trip Jennings, executive editor of New Mexico in Depth, hosts this two-part conversation with Santa Fe New Mexican opinion page editor Inez Russell Gomez and Albuquerque Journal editorial contributor Jeff Tucker.
Cailley takes us to the Trinity Site in Southern New Mexico, where a new sign now stands to acknowledge the human toll of the nuclear bomb that first exploded there 80 years ago.
Also in attendance that day was Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester, who prayed at that event for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons. Wester recently stopped by our studio to talk with Correspondent Russell Contreras about the New Mexico Downwinders finally getting access to compensation, and how he sees the federal government still falling short.
Host: Nash Jones
Segments:
Flood Recovery in Ruidoso
Correspondent: Cailley Chella
Guests:
Emerson Fulcher, 13, Flood Survivor
Jason Fulcher, Dad, Riverview RV Park Owner
Vandhana George, Resident, Gavilan Mobile Home Park
Arturo Olivas, Resident, Gavilan Mobile Home Park
Monda Milton, Manager, Gavilan Mobile Home Park
Cynthia Schumacher, Volunteer
Lynn D. Crawford, Ruidoso Mayor
Federal Funds Cut to Public Broadcasting
Correspondent: Trip Jennings
Producer: Gwyneth Doland
Guests:
Inez Russell Gomez, Opinion Editor, Santa Fe New Mexican
Jeff Tucker, Opinion Contributor, Albuquerque Journal
New Sign Marks Trinity Site’s 80th Anniversary
Correspondent: Cailley Chella
Guests:
Tina Cordova, Co-Founder, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
Jay Coghlan, Executive Director, Nuke Watch NM
Melissa Park, Executive Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Mary Martinez White, Member, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
Santa Fe Archbishop Wester on RECA, Nuclear Weapons
Correspondent: Russell Contreras
Guest: Archbishop John Wester
Should Taxpayer Dollars Return to Public Broadcasting?
Correspondent: Trip Jennings
Producer: Gwyneth Doland
Guests:
Inez Russell Gomez, Opinion Editor, Santa Fe New Mexican
Jeff Tucker, Opinion Contributor, Albuquerque Journal