Fred Martino

This week, a conversation with Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima, including a wide range of your questions.

Today, the city council unanimously approved a resoultion granting the Mayor and the Council the power to declare a state of emergency in the city.  

While this action has not yet been taken, it may be of use during the continuing pubilc health emergency.

This hour-long program celebrates a true milestone: Leora Zeitlin (Intermezzo, Thursday/Friday-2pm to 4pm) and Emily Guerra (Fiesta!, weeknights-7pm to 9pm) are marking 20 years as KRWG hosts.

Listeners reflect on memories of talking with Leora and Emily over the years, their contributions to the arts in our community, and the profound impact they've had through their love of music and public media.

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) has introduced legislation designed to reduce poverty by helping both parents and their children.  

“The federal government’s current approach to poverty is simply not working well enough,” Heinrich said.

Senator Martin Heinrich says current federal programs to address poverty are not well coordinated and sometimes even have different eligibility requirements.  And he says that leaves many children and their parents behind.

To address that, Heinrich reintroduced the bipartisan Two-Generation Economic Empowerment Act.

State health officials spoke in Las Cruces Thursday about the state’s response to the cononavirus threat. 

So far, most coronavirus cases diagnosed in the United States are travel-related.  But there is concern about the potential for more person-to-person transmission.  Eric Chenier is Deputy Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health.

“We are currently working to identify cases as early as possible and implement isolation procedures to prevent further spread of the virus should we have a case.  COVID-19 causes a mild illness in roughly 81 percent of those who get the disease.  Typical symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath.  The most heavily impacted and vulnerable populations are those who are older and those who have some other sort of illness.  Only about two percent of those who are getting sick with COVID-19 are children,” said Chenier.

Before winning the Nevada caucus on Saturday, Democratic Presidential candidate U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders spoke in El Paso.  

To a standing room only crowd at the Abraham Chavez Theater, Sanders said he will fight for immigration reform and remarked he would end ICE raids and Trump’s policy of detaining children.

But the focus of the speech was economic inequality, and Sanders received loud applause for promising a $15 an hour minimum wage and universal healthcare.

Diet plays a critical role in the evolution of animals, as can we see in the beak shape of Darwin's finches. But, what is the role of diet in our own evolution? Can our evolutionary history tell us what humans should eat? And how can we know what our ancestors ate? Dr. Nicole Burt will present on her current research into human diet and how methods such as stable isotope analysis can help reconstruct past diets.

Location: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces

                    Health & Social Sciences Auditorium RM 101

Date: February 14, 2020

Time: 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm

Everyone is welcome! Faculty, Staff, Students, the community

*Food will not be served

Fred Martino interviews Janet Honek, co-author of “Love Letters from World War II: Robert W. Dalton’s WWII Service.”  From the book description:  Our parents, Robert "Bob" Dalton and Alfreda "Sandy" Dalton were part of the Greatest Generation. After Sandy passed away in 2018, Janet found a trove of letters that Bob sent during his World War II service. The letters provide an intimate first-person account of how an average GI experienced the war and its aftermath, illustrated with his original photos. The almost daily letters start with his induction in October 1944 through to his return in May 1946. Each letter begins and ends with his love for his wife and the daughter who he left behind to fight in Patton’s Third Army. In his own words, this book offers a soldier's perspective of boot camp, the battle to defeat the Third Reich, life in postwar Germany (and the U.S. Army), and relations with the family back home – and most importantly how World War II touched all their lives.

On Tuesday, the Doña Ana County Commission rejected an endorsement of a so-called “Red Flag” law, a gun safety measure before the New Mexico State Legislature.

The vote was 3 to 2 against endorsing the bill.  Commissioners Lynn Ellins, Isabella Solis, and Ramon Gonzalez voted “no,” while Commissioners Shannon Reynolds and Manuel Sanchez supported the measure.

The bill would enact a law allowing extreme risk protection orders in the state.

Extreme risk protection orders, otherwise known as Red Flag Laws, set up a process to allow temporary removal of firearms from people deemed a risk to themselves or others.

As of late 2019, 17 states and the District of Columbia had enacted these laws.

Paul Gessing, President of the Rio Grande Foundation, says New Mexico needs to works on reforms during the 2020 Legislative session.  Gessing says making improvements to the Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) should be the top priority; he is not alone in stating that the GRT discourages investment in the state.  Gessing also says he supports a proposal to end the state income tax on Social Security; New Mexico is one of only 13 states to tax Social Security, a fact not lost on many publications that fail to put the state on lists as a good place to retire.  Gessing also says the state should reform its capital outlay process.

Fred Martino talks with Bill McCamley, Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.  They discuss the state's recent "rapid hire" event, the increase in the minimum wage, growing the hemp industry, the potential for recreational cannabis should it be approved, and more.

The fate of nearly 700,000 DACA recipients is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Brought to the U.S. as children, they are in the U.S. legally thanks to DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program started by President Obama.

The court must now decide if President Trump had the right to end the program.  

Tom Hanks is starring in the new film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” inspired by a real-life friendship between public television icon Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.  Some thoughts from our own Fred Martino.

Poet Terry Lucas graduated from New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy in 1974. The Poet Laureate of Marin County, California was in Las Cruces for campus visit.  While he was here, Lucas talked with Fred Martino.

KRWG Public Media participated in a live webcast on Thursday that marked the 75th anniversary of the Smokey Bear wildfire prevention campaign.    

The webcast featured a wide variety of professionals, including Eric Solomon from the U.S. Forest Service.

On Thursday, November 7, you can participate in a live webcast celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Smokey Bear wildfire prevention campaign. 

The live, interactive program starts Thursday morning at 11 at smokeybearlive.org, where you can also register for the event.

The webcast is originating from the Lincoln National Forest near Capitan, New Mexico and you may ask questions during the program, which will be answered by experts.

The ten candidates for Las Cruces Mayor recently met for a televised forum at KRWG Public Media.

They addressed the contention by some in the community that the city needs to be more business-friendly.

  Fred Martino speaks with Doña Ana County clerk  Amanda López Askin about ranked choice voting, the new voting procedure being used in the Las Cruces Municipal Election. 

Fred Martino anchors a very special Voice of The Public - Moving Forward After the El Paso Shooting. Guests include: Miranda Viscoli, Co-President of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. A special report features comments from Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM 2).

Silver City, NM – The Western New Mexico University Museum 45th Anniversary Black-on-White Gala will be Saturday, July 13, at 6 p.m.  Here is a statement from WNMU:

“With the gala, we at the WNMU Museum celebrate 45 years of advancing the understanding of the diverse cultural and artistic heritages of southwest New Mexico. The gala also marks the completion of Fleming Hall’s stunning transformation into an open, light, secure, and climate-controlled environment that highlights the historic fabric of the building while enhancing the visitor experience,” WNMU Museum Director Dr. Cynthia Bettison said.  

  SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján — the No. 4 ranked Democrat in Congress — announced his campaign Monday for the state's open U.S. Senate seat in 2020.

Democrats hope to maintain their hold on to the seat held by Sen. Tom Udall, who announced last week that he won't seek a third term.

Luján hails from a prominent New Mexico political family and helped his party retake the U.S. House majority in 2018 midterm elections as former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Education will be a major topic during the 2019 New Mexico Legislative Session.  The state is under a court order to provide more resources to ensure than all students receive constitutionally-mandated educational services.

Fred Martino discussed various priorities for educators represented by the the National Education Association-New Mexico with the organization's Government and Media Relations Director, Charles Goodmacher.

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In a 4-3 vote, the Las Cruces city council has lent its support to a bill designed to boost economic development efforts in New Mexico. 

Las Cruces area state Senator Bill Soules is proposing a special liquor license.  The number of licenses is limited in New Mexico, driving prices for the licenses sky high…hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Critics say it limits small businesses and reduces the number of restaurant choices. 

Soules’ bill would allow communities to offer a special liquor license.  Restaurants with a license to sell wine and beer could sell New Mexico-produced liquor.  But only in an economic development zone.  And only if the community where that zone exists gave the green light.  To be clear: the special license would not allow the sale of liquor produced outside of New Mexico.

The 14th Annual Diabetes Expo is coming to Las Cruces on November 3.  The event takes place at Alma D'Arte High School  from 8am to 2:30pm.  The $12 admission includes lunch. 

Fred Martino discussed the event with Ruben Marquez, Assistant Executive Director of Southern New Mexico Diabetes Outreach.

Former two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson announced he's running for U.S. Senate in New Mexico as a Libertarian.  Johnson also ran for President as a Libertarian twice.  He's seeking the seat held by Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich.  Businessman Mick Rich is the Republican in the race.

Johnson discusses his political philosophy with Fred Martino, along with his opposition to Trump Administration policies on immigration, trade, and deficit spending.  

The Otero Mesa.  At over 1.2 million acres, it’s a vast treasure southeast of Alamogordo and west of Carlsbad.  Most of it is public land.  And about a half a million acres are desert grassland, a rare and disappearing habitat for some 1,000 native species. 

The Southern New Mexico Festival of Quilts was held in Alamogordo Sunday and Monday.  Background provided by the festival: 

Since 2010 quilters from around the United States have been coming to Alamogordo, New Mexico to take part in a community event to benefit the children of Otero County.  The Southern New Mexico Festival of Quilts began as a cooperative effort between Rainee Mackewich of First National Bank and  Pam Holland, International textile artist, quilt teacher and photographer from Australia and has resulted in a week long flurry of quilting activities throughout the area every summer since. 

NTI provides job services to Americans with disabilities who want to get back into the workplace.  Over the past 25 years, NTI has helped over 175,000 individuals across the United States and over 1,200 here in the Las Cruces area through their NTI@Home and LandAjob programs.

Fred Martino recently talked with Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing about a number of economic issues facing New Mexico.

How could changes to NAFTA affect the state?

Will an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision have an impact on public sector unions?

And how should New Mexico use its windfall from increasing oil prices and production?