NM Alcohol Legislation, Neighbors Appeal Stadium, State Forfeits Millions

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we open our show with an issue we’ve been following over the past couple of years — the state’s nation-leading alcohol-related death rate. Senior Producer Lou DiVizio hosts two special roundtables to break down a new Common Cause New Mexico report that provides even more context on the issue and the Legislature’s decades of failures to address it.   Lou asks the second group of panelists for conclusions and recommendations to course-correct the state’s worrying alcohol-related death rate.  

Last November, the Albuquerque City Council approved a lease at Balloon Fiesta Park for a new stadium for the New Mexico United professional soccer team. The decision has drawn organized opposition from some neighbors of the proposed site. Andy Lyman, editor at the alternative newsweekly The Paper., asks a neighbor why she and others are opposed to the new stadium. 

New Mexico’s Parks Division has missed a series of deadlines and must forfeit millions of dollars in federal funding intended for outdoor recreation projects for the last three years. Freelance journalist Elizabeth Miller sits down with Michael Casaus, the state director of the Wilderness Society, and asks how those forfeited dollars could have helped city parks and open spaces. 

Host: Lou DiVizio

Segments: 
History and Lobbying on NM Alcohol Legislation 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guests: 
Sindy Bolaños-Sacoman, executive director, SBS Evaluation & Program Development Specialist LLC 
Steve Terrell, retired reporter, Santa Fe New Mexican 
State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D), District 16 

Searching for Solutions to NM’s Alcohol Problems 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guests: Dede Feldman, Democratic former state senator 
Trip Jennings, executive director, New Mexico in Depth 
Michael Bird, former president, American Public Health Association 

Concerned Neighbors Appeal Against Building New Mexico United Stadium 
Correspondent: Andy Lyman 
Guest: Brooke Jordy, concerned neighbor 

State Parks Division Forfeits Millions in Federal Funds Due to Missed Deadlines 
Correspondent: Elizabeth Miller 
Guest: Michael Casaus, New Mexico State Director of the Wilderness Society