New Mexico
Student podcast focuses on gun violence in Albuquerque
We’ve seen school threats cause lockdowns at campuses surrounded by police, and a handful of students are facing charges. That includes three metro teens accused of bringing guns on campus.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – We’ve seen school threats cause lockdowns at campuses surrounded by police, and a handful of students are facing charges. That includes three metro teens accused of bringing guns on campus.
Now, a group of teens is more than ready to have very grown-up conversations.
“It’s a really amazing way to help us spread awareness on how many youths and how many of us have been killed throughout our state and everywhere around the world,” said Briana Salazar, a college freshman.
Kaery Camacho and Salazar are just two of about 20 New Mexico students launching a new podcast series called “Aimed At Us.”
“Having experienced it, you always now have in mind in the back of your head, what if it will happen again?” said Salazar.
Before Salazar started college, she had already experienced a school shooting.
“There was two male students, and they had a confrontation with each other, and one of the male students pulled out his gun and unfortunately killed the other student, and it was right in front of our school,” Salazar said.
Camacho argues even if students haven’t gone through a shooting, many of them live with that potential fear.
“You’re not even safe at your school anymore,” Camacho said.
They both believe this podcast will give them and other students the chance to finally share their thoughts, worries, and ideas on what has become a continuous problem in New Mexico.
“They don’t want to listen to us, you know, like we’re the ones who are getting affected the most. We should be able to speak our truths,” said Camacho.
They plan on tackling all angles of the teen gun violence epidemic, speaking to people connected to both sides of the trigger.
“We are interviewing people who have been affected with gun violence, or people who have done gun violence, and see how that changed their lives and affected it, and how they’re doing better in their lives,” Camacho said.
New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence is backing the effort and paying the students on the podcast.
“They’re deciding who they want to interview. So it’s not us. We’re just kind of helping in the background,” said Miranda Viscoli, co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.
Viscoli says she hopes the podcast provides an outlet for New Mexico students who are on the frontlines of this state and national debate.
“Hear what these youth are going through, what these youth want to see changed, because they have real ideas. They have good ideas. and they’re extremely intelligent,” said Viscoli.
The podcast is supposed to launch in November. if you are a student who would like to be part of it, or know of one, just fill out the contact form on the New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence website.
New Mexico
State funding awarded to southwest New Mexico utility will bring high-speed internet to rural areas • Source New Mexico
Three southwest New Mexico communities will gain access to high-speed internet next year through a multi-million dollar state grant provided to Valley Telephone Cooperative.
The state’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion awarded more than $5.6 million to the utility company, which services parts of Arizona and southwest New Mexico below Interstate 10. Animas, Cotton City and Hachita, located in Grant and Hidalgo counties, are largely rural communities.
“This project will have a generational impact for residents in this rural corner of the state. No one should lack access to broadband, and this important connectivity is a sign of real progress,” said Drew Lovelace, acting director of the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, in a news release.
According to the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, the grant will fund 135 miles of fiber broadband construction to 324 homes and 101 businesses.
The grant was awarded through the department’s Connect New Mexico Fund, which has allocated more than $40 million to broadband expansion projects in areas such as Peñasco Valley, Picuris Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo and Isleta Pueblo.
The office said the full project in Grant and Hidalgo counties will connect high-speed internet to 170 unserved locations and 255 underserved locations.
Heather Floyd, regulatory affairs specialist for Valley Telephone Cooperative, said the company is working to approve a contractor by the end of November, then permitting can begin. Floyd said the plan is to start construction in early January 2025.
The Office of Broadband Access and Expansion said the project could be completed by spring 2025. However, Floyd said the company’s goal is to complete the project by the end of June 2025, which is when the state’s reimbursement eligibility ends.
“Even nine months to do a project’s pushing it. Usually a project is about a year timeframe,” Floyd said.
She said the three communities are currently served by copper wiring. This will be replaced with broadband fiber, or fine glass strands, which can deliver more data.
Floyd said Rodeo, New Mexico is the other community in the company’s service area that needs to be upgraded from copper wiring. She said the construction in Rodeo is scheduled for 2027, but could possibly start sooner if the company receives funding through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program.
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