Austin Fisher

Ahead of a final bargaining meeting later this week, members of the United Graduate Workers of the University of New Mexico held a rally on campus for the inclusion of research assistants within the union.

Evacuation centers not managing dual threats of COVID-19 and wildfire smoke

Jered Ebenreck speaks with Austin Fisher of Source NM about climate change, wildfires, COVID-19, and masks.

This is episode 13 of this year’s #YNMG, and it’s a wrap-up show. We hosted a reporters’ roundtable earlier this week on Facebook Live and put the video up on the KUNM and New Mexico In Focus Facebook pages, but we realize not everyone engages with Facebook so we’re giving you the audio here as a podcast episode.We recorded ten days after the session ended. The break gave us a chance to reflect on what lawmakers accomplished this year and to think about topics that we’re likely to see again through the year in special sessions, interim committee meetings, and even in the 2023 legislative session.

Austin Fisher discusses his reporting on the 2/23/22 NMDOH COVID19 update.

There are only a few days left in this 30-day legislative session and it’s starting to feel like a lot is getting done. We are close to a final budget, education and voting bills are moving forward and there has been a lot of movement on anti-crime bills. Crime is up nationwide and we are certainly feeling it in New Mexico. Today on #YNMG we’ll take a look at some of the criminal justice measures considered by the legislature that have broad goals like easing sentencing on minors and increasing penalties for gun crimes, to name just a couple.

The Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County does not have sufficient medical staff for the 1,200 incarcerated people inside, according to attorneys representing inmates. This has been a long-term issue at the jail. Austin Fisher from Source New Mexico is continuing his investigation about this lack of medical staff, which is the second of a two-part series on security and healthcare issues at the detention center.

The Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County has been on lockdown after a county-wide ransomware attack knocked out the jail’s internet, most of its data systems and all of its security cameras last week. The attack also created barriers to inmates contacting their attorneys, which is a constitutional right.

Graduate Students do a large portion of the teaching and related work at the University of New Mexico. Reporter Austin Fisher, with Source New Mexico, told KUNM that UNM’s 1,500 graduate assistants work with as many as 15,000 undergrads each semester, assisting professors, running labs, and even teaching the same courses full-time instructors teach.

It’s local election time with big decisions for voters like mayoral races, city council contests, and bonds, including that controversial stadium bond in Albuquerque. This week on Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll look at how it all went down with journalists covering local issues around the state.