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Nash Jones, KUNM News

Nash Jones, KUNM News

Nash Jones (they/them) grew up in Albuquerque and returned home in 2017 after 11 years away living in Portland, OR, and Oakland, CA. Storytelling and community education have consistently been at the core of Nash’s varied career and are, in part, what brought them to KUNM, first as a volunteer host with Spoken Word Hour and NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, then as a staff member in the KUNM newsroom, hosting Morning Edition (2018-2021) and reporting. Nash currently hosts NPR's All Things Considered and continues to report for KUNM.

A sign that says "your vote center" at the main gym

Bernalillo County Clerk requests $1.2 million for runoff election

By: - November 21, 2023

Early voting in the runoff election for Albuquerque City Council District 6 begins Tuesday, Nov. 21. The city requires runoffs when no candidate secures more than half of votes cast in the race. Bernalillo County has requested over a million dollars to ramp polling places back up. Deputy County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh said it’s hard […]

Affordable housing is a key issue in the Los Ranchos mayoral race

By: - November 2, 2023

Los Ranchos de Albuquerque is a small village with agricultural roots near the city’s north valley. The semi-rural community is also an expensive place to live. The median home listing was $1.2 million in September, according to Realtor.com. The affordability of housing amid an aging demographic has become a key debate in the four-way contest for […]

NM Republican Party appeals redistricting ruling

By: - October 12, 2023

The Republican Party of New Mexico has appealed a district court ruling on the state’s congressional map, which upheld it as constitutional. Judge Fred Van Soelen last week found Democratic lawmakers “substantially” diluted GOP votes when they split the conservative Southeast corner of the state into multiple districts and moved more Democrats into Congressional District […]

In the foreground is a blurry flag and flowers. Focused in the foreground is Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham who pauses while giving her State of the State speech before the joint session of the 2023 New Mexico Legislature in Santa Fe.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extends and adds to controversial public health order on guns

By: - October 10, 2023

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Friday renewed her controversial executive order to combat gun violence. The original order banned carrying guns in public in and around Albuquerque. Gun advocates filed a slew of lawsuits and a federal judge temporarily blocked the order’s implementation within days. The Governor then narrowed the order to apply only to public […]

Trial over whether Dems gerrymandered NM’s congressional map to begin

By: - September 27, 2023

A trial over the version of New Mexico’s congressional map redrawn in 2021 is set to begin Wednesday in state district court. The Republican Party and other plaintiffs argue Democratic lawmakers diluted GOP votes when they split the conservative southeastern corner of the state into three districts. Democrats argue redistricting is an inherently political process, but […]

NM lawmakers want nicotine prevention funds restored after shortfall halted efforts statewide

By: - September 8, 2023

Earlier this summer, the state’s nicotine prevention and cessation efforts were halted when money the state gets from a settlement with tobacco companies fell millions short of what the Department of Health had projected. Lawmakers overseeing the funds questioned the department about the issue and got a fiscal update Wednesday and said they plan to […]

A package of Suboxone (Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Santa Fe center to boost opioid treatment options in McKinley County

By: - August 24, 2023

Access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction is limited in New Mexico, but particularly in rural communities. The Santa Fe Recovery Center is hoping to change that in northwest New Mexico’s McKinley County with the help of a sizable federal grant. The center is poised to receive $1 million dollars annually for the next three […]

Non-partisan groups offer mixed evidence to judge deciding fairness of NM congressional map

By: - August 17, 2023

New Mexico is the latest state to look to the courts to make a call on whether legislative maps were drawn fairly. A deadline is approaching for a district court here to decide whether the state’s new congressional map egregiously favors Democrats, as the state Republican Party argues. A group of non-partisan advocates and redistricting experts have submitted proposed […]

One year on, a lack of answers haunts the brother of one of four Muslim men killed in ABQ

By: - August 10, 2023

A year ago, the killings of three Muslim men, in addition to a fourth several months earlier, shook the Albuquerque community. Muhammad Syed, who attended the same mosque as the victims, at the Islamic Center of New Mexico, was arrested and charged with three of the murders and is a suspect in the fourth. Muhammad […]

As NM funding for nicotine prevention falters, those most at risk lose out

By: - August 8, 2023

In May, the New Mexico Department of Health’s Nicotine Use Prevention and Control Program gave some bad news to providers who work with Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and LGBTQ communities: immediately stop the prevention work. Two months before their contracts were up, NUPAC said they were out of money and couldn’t keep paying them. The state’s […]

Advocates say court’s redistricting decision is a victory for all voters, not just NM GOP

By: - July 10, 2023

The New Mexico Supreme Court last week sided with the state Republican Party in allowing its lawsuit alleging Democrats politically gerrymandered the new congressional map to be heard in district court. While it may look like a victory for the GOP, nonpartisan advocates for fair redistricting said it’s actually a win for all New Mexicans. […]

100 US dollars. Macro photo of banknotes of money in the US currency one hundred dollars.

Relief payment applications open for NM residents who won’t get a tax rebate this month

By: - June 13, 2023

New Mexico residents with low incomes can apply for state economic relief beginning Monday. The payments are for those who don’t qualify for the tax rebates that start going out next week. Though officials recommend retroactively filing a tax return, and getting access to a rebate instead, if possible. The rebates will automatically go out […]