January 2015

This week’s installment of Earth Matters features EM coproducer Donna Stevens and her guest Deb James discussing the PNM 20 Year Plan that is now being considered by the PRC / NM Public Regulation Commission.  The outcome of these deliberations will decide whether New Mexico steps boldly into the future as a national leader in alternative energy or remains saddled by a coal, gas and nuclear future.

Earth Matters airs Tuesday & Thursday at 10am and 8pm
Or listen at your convenience via the link below
Earth Matters / Deb James

On January 20, the NM State Legislature begins a 60-day session with the Republicans in control of the House for the first time in 60 years.    With this new political landscape, what are the implications for New Mexico’s land, air, water and wildlife?

Earth Matters co-producer Allyson Siwik interviews two veterans of the Roundhouse:

  • Dan Lorimier
    Conservation Chair of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club
  • Representative Jeff Steinborn
    District 35 in Doña Ana County

They discuss the range of water, renewables, wildlife, trails and transparency bills that will be discussed in the 2015 session, including Steinborn’s bill to ban coyote-killing contests and legislation to provide solar and electric vehicle tax credits.

For additional info as the 2105 session develops, visit

  • New Mexico Legislature – nmlegis.gov
  • Protect New Mexico – Your source for environmental information during the NM legislature – protectnewmexico.org
  • New Mexico In Depth – They’ve created a guide aimed at examining how the NM Legislature can be more transparent, accessible and responsive – and what’s keeping that from happening.  New Mexico InDepth Legislative Guide

Earth Matters airs Tuesday & Thursday at 10am and 8pm
Or listen at your convenience via the link below
Earth Matters / 2015 NM Legislative Preview

The School Boards of the Silver Consolidated School District and the Cobre Consolidated School District each have two positions to be decided in the election of Tuesday 3 February 2015.

Panel on education in the Silver and Cobre Schools
Panel on education in the Silver and Cobre Schools –
CD host, Jamie Newton, Sharon Bookwalter, Cheryl Holland, Gillian Sherwood, Justin Wecks, Fred Baca

In anticipation of the pending elections, Civil Discourse host Jamie Newton and a panel of five experienced educators gathered on 6 January 2015 to discuss a range of issues that illuminate current conditions locally, statewide and nationally which will be helpful to prospective voters as they evaluate the candidates and their positions, including:

  • District policies and administrative practices that affect the quality of education.
  • Conditions in the schools that influence the effectiveness of education for students and the work environment for teachers.
  • Appropriate and inappropriate approaches to testing students as a means of evaluating both students and teachers.
  • Budgets and fiscal responsibility.
  • Transparency of decision making by boards of education and school administrators.
  • The importance of the school board election to all Grant County residents, including those who do not have school-age children.

Our guests were five active and retired teachers with long experience as educators in Grant County Schools:

  • Fred Baca
  • Sharon Bookwalter
  • Cheryl Holland
  • Gillian Sherwood
  • Justin Wecks

Election day is February 3, 2015. Early voting ended on Friday January 30th. Voters, please refer to the maps below for district boundaries and if you reside close to either side of these boundaries, call the office of the Grant County Clerk at 575.574.0042 and give them your residence address. They can then confirm whether you are in one of the contested districts and thus eligible to vote on Tuesday February 3rd. Click on the map images below to view or download them.

Silver Consolidated Schools District Map 1 Silver Consolidated Schools District Map 2 Silver Consolidated Schools District Map 3

Voters in the Cobre District, where School Board members are elected at-large, will vote for one candidate in each of the two races, and also on the Public School Capital Improvements (2 Mill) Tax Question. Voters in the Silver District, where School Board members represent a specific district within the School District, will vote for one candidate in the race of the district where the voter lives. The County Clerk’s office can tell you which district you live in.

We also encourage you to listen to a related Civil Discourse presentation –
Silver Consolidated Schools Candidate Roundtable – that featured all four candidates for the two contested seats.

Civil Discourse / Silver & Cobre School Board Election Issues will air on:

  • Thursday 8 January 2015 / 9pm
  • Friday 9 January 2015 / 8pm
  • Saturday 10 January 2015 / 10am following Travelers in the Night
  • Sunday 11 January 2015 / 10am following Travelers in the Night
  • Monday 12 January 2015 / 10am
  • Tuesday 13 January 2015 / 9pm
  • Wednesday 14 January 2015 / 10am
  • Monday 19 January 2015 / 10am

Or listen to the podcast via the following link at your convenience…

On Tuesday 3 February 2015, Silver Consolidated Schools will hold elections for two of the five seats on its governing board.  On Wednesday 14 January, Civil Discourse host Jamie Newton held a roundtable discussion with the four candidates – Incumbent Trent Petty and challenger Frances Vasquez in District 3  and recently appointed incumbent Anthony Gutierrez and previously appointed challenger Michael McMillan in District 5.

Left to Right... Jamie Newton, Frances Vasquez Anthony Gutierrez, Trent Petty, Michael McMillan
Left to Right… Jamie Newton, Frances Vasquez Anthony Gutierrez, Trent Petty, Michael McMillan

Questions posed to the candidates included…

  • Goals for the future
  • Perceived deficiencies
  • District finances
  • Projected enrollment
  • Transparency
  • Open Meetings Act
  • Perceived hostile work environment and
  • Hiring process and vetting of the superintendent

Election day is February 3, 2015.  Early voting ended on Friday January 30th.  Voters, please refer to the maps below for district boundaries and if you reside close to either side of these boundaries, call the office of the Grant County Clerk at 575.574.0042 and give them your residence address.  They can then confirm whether you are in one of the contested districts and thus eligible to vote on Tuesday February 3rd.  Click on the map images below to view or download them.

Silver Consolidated Schools District Map 1 Silver Consolidated Schools District Map 2 Silver Consolidated Schools District Map 3

Voters in the Cobre District, where School Board members are elected at-large, will vote for one candidate in each of the two races, and also on the Public School Capital Improvements (2 Mill) Tax Question. Voters in the Silver District, where School Board members represent a specific district within the School District, will vote for one candidate in the race of the district where the voter lives. The County Clerk’s office can tell you which district you live in.

Please visit this page again as School Board election day for both the Silver and Cobre school systems approaches – Tuesday 3 February 2015 – as we will post additional information on the elections, district boundaries, polling places and more as it becomes available.

We also encourage you to listen to the previous Civil Discourse presentation –
Silver & Cobre School Board Election Issues – that featured several local educators discussing some of these same contentious issues and describing their direct experiences.

Civil Discourse / Silver Consolidated Schools Candidate Roundtable will air on:

  • Thursday 15 January 2015 / 9pm
  • Friday 16 January 2015 / 8pm
  • Saturday 17 January 2015 / 10am following Travelers in the Night
  • Saturday 17 January 2015 / 8pm
  • Sunday 18 January 2015 / 10am following Travelers in the Night
  • Monday 19 January 2015 / 8pm
  • Tuesday 20 January 2015 / 9pm
  • Wednesday 21 January 2015 / 10am
  • Sunday 1 February 2015 / 7pm

Or listen to the podcast via the following link at your convenience…

In this week’s edition of Earth Matters, the co-hosts of the program, Nathan Newcomer, Allyson Siwik and Donna Stevens provide a review of conservation efforts in 2014 and what we can look forward to moving into 2015.

Among the issues discussed are the Gila River Diversion, 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, Wild & Scenic designation for the Gila River, Travel Management, Hardrock Mining reforms, and USFS Planning Revision.

Earth Matters airs Tuesday & Thursday at 10am and 8pm
Or listen at your convenience – as soon as the podcast is ready –
via the link below
Earth Matters / 2014 – The Year in Review