Transparency

Pizza, bag lunches, lobbyists and New Mexico state lawmakers

By Trip Jennings, New Mexico In Depth | June 8, 2015

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2020/2021 Fellows:

Claudia Silva

Currently a journalism student at New Mexico State University, Claudia Silva recently obtained her associate’s degree from El Paso Community College and is the former lead editor of their student-run newspaper the Tejano Tribune. Claudia grew up along the Texas, New Mexico, and Mexican border and is passionate about the issues affecting the area. She spends much of her free time doing photography, advocating for mental health, and human rights as well as covering the nightlife in El Paso. She is a huge animal lover and considers herself a dog mom. Claudia hopes to one day become a well-rounded journalist and public figure that holds truth and integrity above all else.

Bella Davis

Bella Davis is a student at the University of New Mexico studying journalism and international studies who will graduate in December 2020. She is a senior reporter at the Daily Lobo, UNM’s student newspaper where for the past several months she’s covered protests and police violence. Having decided to study journalism with the hope of eventually doing investigative reporting, she’s excited to develop those skills through her work at In Depth.

2019/2020 Fellows:

Leah Romero

Leah Romero is a native Las Crucen entering her fourth year at NMSU. She will graduate in May 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies as well as minor degrees in government and music. She has been on staff at The Round Up, NMSU’s student newspaper, since March 2018. This year she is serving as news editor for the publication. Leah is an ardent reader, a movie buff and loves to travel when she can get away. After graduation, she plans to continue reporting on issues impacting New Mexico communities on both the local and national level. She is excited to work with NM In Depth and grow as a journalist this year.

Bianca Hoops

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Bianca Hoops is a junior at the University of New Mexico studying to become a multimedia journalist, with a double major in Spanish. She has a passion for writing news, meeting new people, and learning new information. In addition to her fellowship with New Mexico In Depth she’s a contributing multimedia reporter for the campus newspaper, The Daily Lobo. In her free time she loves hiking in the Sandia foothills, creative writing, and landscape photography.

2018/2019 Fellows:

Ximena Tapia

Ximena Tapia is a senior at New Mexico State University double-majoring in Journalism and Spanish. She was raised in Las Cruces and loves New Mexico. During her free time, Ximena likes to do photography, play guitar and hang out with friends. A very important part of Ximena’s life is her faith. At NMSU, she is involved in a campus ministry called Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, in which she loves to serve God and others. Ximena is excited to learn more about being a journalist through her fellowship with NMID.

Anthony Jackson

Anthony is a native New Mexican. He is a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in political science at the University of New Mexico and wants to continue reporting after he graduates.His favorite quote is by Robert Capa: "If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough."

2017/2018 Fellows:

Melorie Begay

Melorie was NM In Depth's 2017 People, Power and Democracy intern, through which she helped cover the 2017 legislative session. Originally from Gallup, she wrote for UNM-Gallup’s campus newspaper, and volunteered at KGLP before transferring to Albuquerque.As a journalist she’s interested in creating informative and engaging content through all forms of media. Outside of journalism her interests include drinking coffee, listening to podcasts, and accruing random facts from the internet.

Xchelzin Peña

Xchelzin holds bachelor’s degrees from New Mexico State University in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a double major in Spanish. She graduated in December 2016. Since then she has worked for the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, and is currently doing freelance reporting for What's Up El Paso.

2016 Inaugural Fellow:Robert Salas

Our inaugural fellow, Robert Salas, majored in multimedia journalism and political science at the University of New Mexico, graduating in May 2017. Robert was also the President of the Society of Professional Journalists, UNM Chapter. During his fellowship, Robert reported on the burgeoning movement to legalize recreational cannabis in the state. He concluded his fellowship by looking at the issue of youth exodus from New Mexico, which included qualitative data analysis drawn from interviews with over thirty students.

If you look closely you can see the white bag lunches provided to members of the New Mexico House of Representatives by several lobbyists.

Several lobbyists, including former Democratic lawmaker Al Park, paid for sack lunches for the House of Representatives as they met Monday for what is expected to be a one-day special session.

Other lobbyists helping to pay for the meals were Scott Scanland, Dan Najjar and

Luke Otero. (The links here are to a page on the Secretary of State’s website that show who each of the lobbyists work for — their employers.)

In the Senate, lobbyist Usually, during a legislative session, lobbyists are required to file reports of their expenses within 48 hours, but since the special session is expected to last one, at most, two days, we’ll see when the expense reports are filed — this week or later this year.

New Mexico In Depth - Smart. Investigative. Journalism for New Mexico.

Transparency

Pizza, bag lunches, lobbyists and New Mexico state lawmakers

By Trip Jennings, New Mexico In Depth | June 8, 2015

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