News

Join us during Morning Edition on KUNM for a new series, The Drug War At Home, from the Fronteras Changing America Desk.

We'll explore how Americans' appetite for drugs and Mexico's war against drug cartels impacts our communities. Reporters across the southwest will focus on the prevalence of stash houses, how mainstream banks launder the cartels'money, and the growing "narco" culture in the U.S.

By Devin Browne

Phoenix, AZ – Most illicit drugs arrive in the United States via the southwest border. The drugs are destined for many places like Las Vegas, Omaha, Denver, and Detroit. It's the drug traffickers' job in places like Arizona to get them started on their journey there.

In the second story in our new series The Drug War at Home, Fronteras Changing America Desk reporter Devin Browne profiles one particular drug route north.

By Colleen Keane

Albuquerque, NM – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan gave the commencement speech at the UNM Law School in Albuquerque on Saturday. She told the 2011 graduating class that they should follow three rules during their legal careers.

As KUNM's Colleen Keane reports, some UNM Law School graduates are already working by these rules.

By Elaine Baumgartel

Albuquerque, NM – Albuquerque City Council to discuss budget, library funding.

By Fronteras Changing America Desk

Phoenix, AZ – Join us during Morning Edition on KUNM for a new series, The Drug War At Home from the Fronteras Changing America Desk. We'll explore how Americans' appetite for drugs and Mexico's war against drug cartels impacts our communities.

Reporters across the southwest will focus on the prevalence of stash houses, how mainstream banks launder the cartels' money, and the growing "narco" culture in the U.S.

That's The Drug War At Home series... through May 30th during Morning Edition on 89.9 KUNM.

By Peter O'Dowd

Phoenix, AZ – The violence that's roiling Mexico can at least be partly blamed on U.S. citizens. Even top levels of the federal government now say it's Americans' demand for pot and cocaine that has sparked deadly turf battles at the border.

In the first part of a new Fronteras Changing America Series on the Drug War at Home, Peter O'Dowd reports on this country's thirst for drugs and just how much Americans love to get high.

Sun. 5/22 at 8pm: Double-amputee Aimee Mullins chronicles her adventures with prosthetic legs as an athlete, actress and artist; the mother of a bullied teen tells the story of his suicide; ex-NYC Mayor Ed Koch stands up to his anti-semitic platoon leader while in training for WWII; and three teenagers from Grace King High School in New Orleans share their stories on the theme, Prejudice and Power.

Hosted by Sarah Austin Jenness, Producing Director at The Moth.

Episode #404

Sat. 5/21 at noon: Susan Loubet interviews author Patricia Wells and Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Fri. 5/20 at 8am: We've all had some variation of this experience: you're thinking about someone, the phone rings and there they are. OR...we walk down the street humming a tune and then hear it blaring from a car radio just at the point when you're in sync to sing the chorus. What do we make of these moments? Coincidence? Psychic phenomena? Nothing at all?

Kismet moments on the next Back Roads Radio show.

Sat. 5/19 at 6am: In this dialogue you'll discover how to create a more humane and viable world concerning individual and social evolution.

Thurs. 5/19 at noon: Supersax founder Med Flory talks with Mark Weber and the sax section of Supersax New Mexico.

Wed. 5/18 at 830am:
We visit Canadian, Pecos and Gila River watersheds. Both the Canadian and the
Pecos watersheds in New Mexico provide water for both private and public land
ranchers.

In this program we explore natural characteristics of these watersheds, and also the points of view of agency bureaucrats who reveal something of water law and land management problems. We also look into the Chiricahua Apache point of view regarding Gila watershed homeland.

By Jim Williams

Santa Fe, NM – Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson continues his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Since announcing his candidacy on April 21st, Johnson has spent much of his time back east in New Hampshire. He took part in the first Republican debate of the campaign season last Thursday in South Carolina, on the Fox News Channel.

Sun. 5/15 at 8pm: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Phil Caputo shares how a bullet wound helped him heal his soul; a little girl learns what love is about after surviving a terrible car accident; a young man and and his father succumb to guilt at the animal shelter; and a burnt-out corporate executive tries to shake her A-type personality at art school.

Hosted by Jenifer Hixson, Senior Producer at The Moth.

Sat. 5/14 at 6am: What is the "un-Disneyfied" story of Cinderella and other tales as collected by the Grimm Brothers, and what wisdom can they impart?

By Jim Williams

Albuquerque, NM – The celebrity softball game (to benefit Youth Development Incorporated) begins Sunday at noon at Isotopes Park (followed by the Isotopes game itself). Gates open at 11:30.

See "Breaking Bad"'s Bryan Cranston talk about baseball and Sunday's game:

By Jim Williams

Santa Fe, NM – As much as a quarter of New Mexico's main operating budget each year comes from taxes it collects from oil and gas production in the state: the so-called "severance tax". And with the price of fossil fuels rising rapidly, a now-former state revenue official says it's time to raise taxes on the extraction industries.

By Elaine Baumgartel

Albuquerque, NM – Members of Congress fiercely debated funding for public radio and television in recent months. Leaders in public broadcasting stepped up to defend continued federal funding.

KUNM's Elaine Baumgartel recently sat down with Paula Kerger, the President of CEO of PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service.

Kerger told KUNM that the idea of creating a commercial version of PBS is not new, and past efforts have failed to re-create the core values of PBS.

By Jim Terr

Santa Fe, NM – Theater-goers this weekend in Santa Fe will get another chance to see the story of a talented and innovative drummer's journey to South Korea to pursue the spirit of percussion. As reviewer Jim Terr found, there's a bigger message in the film: that on the other side of suffering, happiness can be found.

Jim Terr is a writer, satirist, and videographer. He lives in Santa Fe.

By Jim Williams

Washington, DC – New Mexico U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today called the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden "very welcome news", and said he looks forward to hearing more details about the operation in coming days. He said the search for bin Laden "has been underway for a very long time." The Democrat Bingaman said the U-S military, intelligence community, and President Obama deserve significant credit because of the high risk involved in the effort.

By Jim Williams

Washington, D.C. – New Mexico U-S Senator Jeff Bingaman says he supports forcing natural gas extraction companies to disclose the chemicals they use in their drilling processes. The Senate is considering proposals to require full public disclosure from all such companies.

Sun. 5/8 at 6pm: KUNM's Radio Theatre joins in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great American playwright Tennessee Williams. Calista Flockhart and Julie Harris star in Tennessee Williams' masterpiece.

Sun. 5/8 at 11am: In this episode, a question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another?

The standard view of evolution is that living things are shaped by cold-hearted competition. And there is no doubt that today's plants and animals carry the genetic legacy of ancestors who fought fiercely to survive and reproduce. But in this hour, we wonder whether there might also be a logic behind sharing, niceness, kindness, or even, self-sacrifice.

Sat. 5/7 at 7pm: We'll hear music of Latin America, Spain and Brazil from Best New Band 2009 winners Baracutanga recorded live in Studio A.

Plus, a few local new releases: Jazz Music from Silver City and Santa Fe, Ska & Post-Rock from Albuquerque.

Sat. 5/7 at 6am:
The Catholic Church is in crisis, but, according to Fox, all is not lost. This crisis may offer an opportunity to press the "restart" button on Christianity.

Wed. 5/4 at 10pm: And guest host, Dick Raichelson takes on a tour of Beale Street with his series, The Real Beale.

Joan Osborne has been collaborating with BSC favorites, The Holmes Brothers, for quite some time now. Way back in 1997, Joan Osborne asked The Holmes Brothers to be her backing band when she was selected to open for Bob Dylan's US tour. They continue to work together and we were very fortunate to catch up with them at the 2011 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise for a truly amazing show.

By Jim Williams

Santa Fe, NM – A key federal agency that manages water supplies around the US has come out with a report that paints a dark picture of the impacts of climate change in the West. The predictions were presented in a field hearing for the Senate Energy Committee in Santa Fe on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The hearing was arranged by New Mexico Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, who chairs the committee.

By Elaine Baumgartel

Albuquerque, NM – Local freelance journalist Laura Paskus has an article on the West Mesa murders in the Spring issue of MS. Magazine.

By Monica Ortiz Uribe

Las Cruces, NM – While a higher than average runoff from the mountains to the Colorado river this spring will make water more plentiful than usual in states like Nevada, California and parts of Arizona, the Rio Grande is getting almost nothing.

That means an extreme drought remains in effect for New Mexico and Texas. The dry conditions are causing dangerous wildfires and are hurting farmers and ranchers across the region.

By Jude Joffe Block

Las Vegas, NV – Making public lands available for renewable energy is a goal of the Obama administration. Now the Bureau of Land Management wants to ensure that clean energy projects don't get trumped by mining claims for the same land.

From the Fronteras Changing America Desk, Jude Joffe-Block reports.