Reverend William Barber II, Birds Dying Mystery & Students Return to the Classroom

New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

This week on New Mexico in Focus: Correspondent and environmental journalist Laura Paskus follows up on a story by Algernon D’Ammassa of the Las Cruces Sun-News that reported people were finding dead migratory birds across the state of New Mexico. Paskus talks to New Mexico State University ornithologist Martha Desmond and Audubon New Mexico’s Jonathan Hayes to find out what might be causing the bird deaths.

Rev. William Barber II is the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, an economic justice effort first envisioned by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s. Rev. Barber calls America’s staggering poverty numbers a moral problem worthy of attention in the current presidential campaign, as well as in political contests across the country. Correspondent Russell Contreras spoke with the reverend recently about what’s missing from the conversation about poverty.

A lot is on the table when it comes to the legalization of recreational cannabis in New Mexico. Legislators are divided, advocates are frustrated, and some are worried legalization would hurt the medical cannabis program. A new podcast from NMPBS and the New Mexico Political Report explores these questions and more. NMIF correspondent Bryce Dix sat down with Growing Forward hosts Andy Lyman and Megan Kamerick to talk about what’s in store for listeners for the podcast that premieres Sept. 29.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel discuss navigating a child’s education during the coronavirus pandemic. While some school districts are sticking with online classes through the end of the semester, others have opted to start a hybrid learning model this week, where students and teachers ease back into in-classroom sessions. Line panelists also debate the fate of controversial statues in Santa Fe and Albuquerque – those that have been removed and those that are still standing.

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