Questions Remain for July’s Special Session

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we look ahead to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s special session in July. Executive Producer Jeff Proctor asks Senior Public Safety Advisor Benjamin Baker which bills we can expect to see at the session. In the first of a two-part discussion, Senior Producer Lou DiVizio asks our roundtable guests to explore the deeper questions around what the governor calls public safety legislation and consider whether any of it will pass. Later, our roundtable guests examine the political stakes of this summer’s session falls flat.

Earlier this year, 10th graders from Thoreau High School wrote to media outlets and officials across the state, drawing attention to a recommended cleanup plan from the federal government.

Across the Navajo Nation, contaminated uranium mines have been polluting the air and water and making people sick for generations. As part of a plan to finally clean up more than a million cubic yards of contaminated uranium and radium waste at just one of those sites, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed relocating the waste to private land within the town of Thoreau. Relocating it to the Red Rocks Disposal Facility would move the uranium off the lands of the Navajo Nation, but as the students point out, the town of Thoreau is predominantly Navajo.

This spring, a representative from the EPA met with the students, who listened to a presentation and interviewed him for their podcast. Our Land Senior Producer Laura Paskus visited Thoreau High School in May and then invited the teens into the studio in Albuquerque to talk about what they’re learning, and who they’re hoping will listen.

Host: Lou DiVizio

Segments:

State Senior Public Safety Advisor on July’s Special Session
Correspondent: Jeff Proctor
Guest: Benjamin Baker, Senior Public Safety Advisor to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

NM’s Shift in Public Safety Policy Ahead of Special Session
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio
Guests:
Dede Feldman, Democratic Former NM State Senator
Trip Jennings, Executive Director, New Mexico In Depth
Daniel Williams, Policing Policy Advocate, ACLU-NM

The Politics of Gov. Lujan Grisham’s Special Session
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio
Guests:
Dede Feldman, Democratic Former NM State Senator
Trip Jennings, Executive Director, New Mexico In Depth
Daniel Williams, Policing Policy Advocate, ACLU-NM

Thoreau Teens Oppose Radioactive Dump
Correspondent: Laura Paskus
Guests:
Reagan Russette, Thoreau High School
MiaBella Burrola, Thoreau High School
Ezekiel Gonzales, Thoreau High School