NMiF discusses deadline for education fixes; business on the reservation

This week on New Mexico in Focus, host Nash Jones heads to the Mescalero Apache Reservation for a community feedback meeting organized by the state's Public Education Department (PED). This is one of about a dozen in-person and virtual meetings across the state this month, to get input for PED's new plan to meet compliance with court orders under the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez is back in New Mexico this month, as Congress is on recess throughout the month of August. While here, the congresswoman is updating her constituents on all that's happened this year in Washington, D.C. This week, Jones speaks with Leger Fernandez about the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement.

For the latest edition of Indigenously Positive - NMIF's collaborative series with nonprofit news organization New Mexico In Depth - Correspondent Bella Davis introduces viewers to the co-founders of Change Labs, a nonprofit that connects and supports entrepreneurs on tribal lands.

Journalist and media executive Sara Kehaulani Goo sits down with Correspondent Russell Contreras to discuss her new book, "Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai'i." Goo tells Contreras how the book covers both her struggles to protect land given to her family several generations ago, as well as the long history of Indigenous land rights in Hawai'i.

NMiF airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) on Friday, Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 17 at 7 a.m. and streaming on the PBS video app. Involved, informed, in-depth media: watch New Mexico in Focus again online shortly thereafter.

Host
Nash Jones

NMiF Segments

Education Dept Gets Feedback on Native Student Needs
Correspondent
Nash Jones

Photojournalists
Joey Dunn
RJ Torres

Guests
Ariel Aguilar (Mescalero Apache), former student
Thora Padilla, president, Mescalero Apache Tribe
Rosalinda Baeza, mid/high principal, Mescalero Apache Schools
Mariana Padilla, secretary, New Mexico Public Education Department
John Sena, director, Legislative Education Study Committee

Rep. Leger Fernandez on ICE and Immigration Under Trump
Correspondent
Nash Jones

Guest
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M.

Native Entrepreneurs are Changing Rez Life
Producers
Bella Davis (Yurok)
Benjamin C Yazza (Diné)

Photojournalist
Joey Dunn (Diné)

Guests
Roddell Denetso (Navajo), Black Streak Apparel owner
Heather Fleming (Diné), Change Labs co-founder & executive director
Jessica Stago (Diné / Apache), Change Labs co-founder
Racquel Black (Diné), Entrepreneurship Hub manager

Sara Kehaulani Goo on Hawai'i and New Book, "Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai'i"
Correspondent
Russell Contreras

Guest
Sara Kehaulani Goo, journalist and author

New Mexico in Focus is the New Mexico PBS prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues, and people shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. NMiF takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic health, education, and art issues and explores them in-depth with a critical eye to give them context beyond the "news of the moment."

NMPBS Executive Producer, Public Affairs is Jeff Proctor. New Mexico in Focus's senior producer for public affairs is Lou DiVizio. Host and producer of New Mexico in Focus is Nash Jones. Producer is Antonio Sanchez. Multimedia journalist is Cailley Chella.

Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by the McCune Charitable Foundation and Viewers Like You. Funding for the Your New Mexico Government Project comes from the Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund. Funding for Our Land: New Mexico's Environmental Past, Present & Future is provided in part by the Neeper Natural History Programming.