News

The word “Navajo” no longer appears on the Urban Outfitters website. The trendy clothing chain has removed it from numerous product names in the wake of criticism from the Navajo Nation. The tribe has trademarks on the Navajo name. As Laurel Morales reports from the Fronteras Changing America Desk, all this brings up a bigger debate about private business misrepresenting and profiting from Native American imagery.

Each week we catch up on business news from around the state. KUNM's Elaine Baumgartel spoke with Megan Kamerick, Senior Reporter with the New Mexico Business Weekly.

Close to 700 thousand international students study on U.S. college campuses and the majority of those students head home after they graduate.  But the federal government wants to keep many of them here, especially those in the so-called STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. From the Fronteras Changing America Desk, Jill Replogle reports on recent efforts to expedite the visas process.

A New Mexico company rejects tax incentives to leave the state and the solar industry takes a hit in the international market. 

Undocumented immigrant convicts in Texas prisons are applying for parole so they can be deported home under a new state law.  Fronteras Changing America Desk correspondent Hernán Rozemberg reports.

Occupy Wall Street protests have been reported in more than 100 American towns and cities – including Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Diego, and San Antonio.  On Saturday, the protest goes to Arizona with occupations planned in Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff.  Protesters say they represent the 99 percent of Americans who have been left behind by the country’s economic growth.

Peace begins with me.  It’s a familiar refrain… and it’s the title of tonight’s benefit event put on by the Albuquerque non-profit PeacePals.  The organization promotes international correspondence and service projects. 

One of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in Albuquerque’s South Valley is set to become a National Wildlife Refuge, one of few to be located in an urban area.  

Fights over drawing new political districts are heating up in several states. In Nevada, the redistricting issue is in the courts. As Jude Joffe-Block reports for the Fronteras Changing America Desk, a state district judge has appointed three citizens to draft the district maps.

Over the weekend, California Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills important to undocumented immigrants. The bills are also expected to impact the state's economy. From our Fronteras Changing America Desk, Ruxandra Guidi has our story.

Foreign-owned manufacturing factories along the border in Mexico have been hailed as an economic blessing. But there’s another side to that story.

Each week we take a look at business news from around the state.  KUNM’s Elaine Baumgartel checked in with Megan Kamerick, Senior Reporter for the New Mexico Business Weekly.

As Las Vegas Nevada grew in recent years, so too did its Jewish population. But that can lead to problems during the High Holy Days.

As part of a program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, the federal government created a program to subsidize loan modifications by lenders. The Home Affordability Modification Program is funded by tax-payer dollars, but a new report from the non-profit journalism organization ProPublica says government oversight for the program has been ineffectual and weak.

A Las Vegas jury has found a San Diego based Navy SEAL guilty on multiple federal weapons charges. The illegal firearms in the case include 30 assault rifles that were likely smuggled from Iraq. Jude Joffe-Block reports from the Fronteras Changing America Desk.

Next month the last of the world’s largest coal-slurry plants will literally implode. The Mohave Generating Station in Laughin Nevada closed in 2005 after a series of conflicts with environmentalists and the Navajo Nation over pollution and water use.

Did you miss the KUNM Call-In Show this week on attitudes about conservation?  You can stream it online now!  Recent polls show some surprising results about the perspectives of Hispanic/Latinos in New Mexico and young people.  You can email callinshow@kunm.org with your comments.

International child abductions are on the rise, according to the U.S. State Department and Mexico is the number one destination. As Ruxandra Guidi reports for the Fronteras Changing America Desk, 65% of all cases of American children being taken away by one parent end up south of the border.

The Supreme Court has ruled against a Southern Arizona rancher who once held a group of illegal immigrants at gunpoint. As Michel Marizco reports for the Fronteras Changing America Desk, the Court says the rancher must pay 87-thousand dollars. 

Arizona manufacturer First Solar will not get a 1-point-5 billion dollar federal loan guarantee to back a large energy project in California. As Peter O'Dowd reports for the Fronteras Changing America Desk, the company says it missed a deadline to finalize the deal.

A study released this week highlights severe problems among police in the violent Mexican border city of Juarez. From the Changing America Desk, Monica Ortiz Uribe reports half of the officers admit to engaging in corrupt acts.

Record high temperatures, severe dust storms and catastrophic wildfires have plagued much of the southwest this year. And as Laurel Morales reports for the Fronteras Changing America Desk, climatologists predict there won't be much relief any time soon.

Hundreds of Hispanic Republicans are gathering today in Albuquerque hoping to build momentum ahead of next year's presidential election. As Monica Ortiz Uribe reports from the Fronteras Changing America Desk, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic voters in the country.

Each week we take a look at business news from around the state. This week, KUNM's Elaine Baumgartel spoke with Dennis Domrzalski.

Green jobs are coming to Imperial Valley. At least that's what local leaders and renewable energy executives have been saying for the past several years. Many projects have experienced delays, and the jobs have been trickling in very slowly. But now the pace is picking up. Fronteras Changing America Desk correspondent Jill Replogle reports that may be because the deadline for California utilities to get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources is getting closer.

Elderly Latinos in Southwestern states would have the most to lose from potential cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits. From our Fronteras Changing America Desk, Ruxandra Guidi has more.

Thurs. 10/6 at 8am: Are you having trouble paying your mortgage?  Do you have friends or family who have lost their homes to foreclosure?  What does the recent increase in foreclosures mean for New Mexico?

On the KUNM Call In Show this week we'll discuss foreclosures and what some organizations are doing to slow the trend.  We'd like to hear from you!  You can send us an email at callinshow@kunm.org, or call in live during the show: 277-KUNM or toll-free 1-877-899-5866.

Southern California was once a critical manufacturing center for the defense and aerospace industry. But as costs have gone up, much of that production has moved across the border to Tijuana. According to the Mexican government, the amount of aerospace parts that Mexico manufactures and exports has grown more than 15 times in the last 10 years. That output is expected to double again by 2015. In this second story in our series on the maquiladora industry, Ruxandra Guidi reports from the Fronteras Changing America Desk.

American-owned manufacturing plants in Mexican border cities, called maquiladoras, have been around for more than four decades. Business has not been great in recent years with low wage jobs shifting over to Asia and the U.S. recession devastating sales. But now many maquiladoras that survived this downturn are on the rebound, adding new jobs all along the U.S. Mexican border. The Fronteras Changing America Desk launches a new series that looks at what's working for the maquiladoras, and why. Hernan Rozemberg begins, with a little history.