News New Mexico: News New Mexico Team

Vanessa Dabovich

NewsBreak New Mexico News Director Vanessa Dabovich was born and raised in Raton, NM. She began her radio career at the age of 14 working as a music DJ at KRTN under New Mexico broadcast legend Jim Roper. She immediately felt comfortable behind a microphone and that’s where she’s been ever since. After graduating from Raton High School she attended New Mexico State University where she majored in Journalism and Mass Communications with an emphasis in broadcasting and a minor in English-Literature studies. Dabovich was hired on as a student employee at NPR affiliate KRWG-FM while in college and was hired on professionally in 2009. At KRWG public radio she served as host of “All Things Considered”, “Morning Edition”, and created her own local show called “Fronteras: A Changing America” that focused on the U.S-Mexico border and Hispanic issues. With a longing to both return commercial radio and have a state-wide presence she joined the News New Mexico team in June 2012. Dabovich writes, edits and produces hourly newscasts for distribution to our NewsBreak affiliates and appears on the News New Mexico morning show. Dabovich is active in several local music and performing groups. She enjoys singing, acting and writing and is never far from a stage, studio or microphone. Vanessa Dabovich can be reached at news@newsnm.com.

Bob Endlich

News New Mexico Meteorologist and Climate expert Robert W. (Bob) Endlich brings a wide variety of Meteorological experience to the state. Bob spent 21 years in the Air Force, including over 4 years as Staff Meteorologist for the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque working on the Air Force Laser in the 1970s. Bob flew as a C-130 crew member both in Vietnam and as a scientist doing weather research into airborne aerosols and their effects on visibility in the military. Bob is also a glider pilot-- with over 500 hours flying sailplanes without an engine! After retiring from the Air Force, Bob was Meteorologist in Charge of providing laser propagation and toxic corridor support to the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range, where he wrote numerous High Energy Laser Atmospheric Test Reports and technical papers on calibration and inter comparisons of meteorological instruments. Bob instructed Army and Air Force operators in the operation of weather and weather effects software used in military command and control systems as well as being lead software test engineer in validating computer weather forecasts and testing weather effects software before it left software development laboratories at White Sands Missile Range, Ft Hood, Texas, and New Mexico State University. Bob is a graduate of Rutgers University with a major in Geology, an honors graduate of the Basic Meteorology class at Texas A&M University, and has a Masters in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. These days, besides being on News New Mexico, he presents classes to students and talks to civic groups on the non-problem of human-caused CO2-Fueled Catastrophic Global Warming.

Rob Nikolewski

News New Mexico regular Rob Nikolewski, is the managing editor of Capitol Report New Mexico. Nikolewski makes regular appearances on News New Mexico from Santa Fe. The three-time Emmy Award-winning television anchor and reporter shifted his focus from TV to the Internet in recent years and is now covering public policy, economics, and New Mexico politics directly from his office in the media room at the Roundhouse. During his television career, Nikolewski focused on sports, where he covered such events as the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the NCAA Final Four and wrote a weekly column for www.msnbc.com. He has worked in such TV markets as New York, Boston, Pittsburgh and Reno, where he was named the Nevada Sportscaster of the Year twice. During Rob’s stint in Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described him as “the best sports anchor in this market.” Nikolewski has also worked for international public relations, corporate strategy and communications companies as a speechwriter, copy editor, and opinions writer. He edited and helped write an op-ed piece about African peace-making by Romano Prodi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, that was published in The Washington Times and wrote a speech for the CEO of the largest energy company in Scandinavia in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate summit. Rob moved to Santa Fe, where he lives with his golden retreiver, Willow, who is a registered independent.

Garrey Carruthers

News New Mexico Contributor Dr. Garrey Carruthers is the former Governor of New Mexico (1986-90). Carruthers makes frequent guest appearance on News New Mexico. Carruthers currently serves as Dean of the College of Business at New Mexico State University. He has one of the most impressive resumes of any guest to appear on our show. He was Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1974 to 1975, director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute at New Mexico State University, State Chair of the Republican Party Of New Mexico from 1977 to 1979, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Land and Resources from 1981 to 1984, the 27th Governor of New Mexico from 1987 to 1991, and was President and CEO of the Cimarron Health Plan from 1993 to 2003. Carruthers has a Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University. Always an engaging speaker with a great sense of humor, Carruthers discusses many topics of interest to listeners each month.

Brad Beasley

News New Mexico contributor Brad Beasley is a Certified Public Accountant and partner in the accounting firm of Beasley, Mitchell, and Co. He has several years of radio experience as a color commentator on the BTK Network in Las Cruces. Brad has made the call on several state championship games and is a former Division I baseball player at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas. Beasley was the captain of the state championship football team at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces in 1995. Brad appears weekly on the show Thursday mornings to share his insights on the state and federal tax laws.

Marita Noon

Marita Noon is the executive director for Energy Makes America Great Inc. and the companion educational organization, the Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE). Together they work to educate the public and influence policy makers regarding energy, its role in freedom, and the American way of life. Combining energy, news, politics, and, the environment through public events, speaking engagements, and media, the organizations’ combined efforts serve as America’s voice for energy. Marita’s twentieth book, Energy Freedom, has just been released.

Gary Barham (right)

Dr. Gary Barham has been a practicing orthopaedic surgeon in New Mexico for five decades. Barham flew F-100's during his stint of military service. He remains an avid aviator to this day and is an expert marksman with target pistols. Each Friday morning Dr. Barham shares his experiences in medicine and reflects on the evolution of challenges presented to physicians operating a medical practice in New Mexico.

Michael Swickard, right with Jim Spence

Dr. Michael Swickard was born at Holloman AFB in 1950. His grandmother came to New Mexico from upstate New York in 1908 to teach in rural schools of New Mexico. His grandfather, Horace Swickard came to New Mexico with the Montana National Guard and was part of the troops who pursued Pancho Villa in 1916. Michael’s father was in the Air Force and he lived in many places including Japan, Florida, California and Colorado but returned to Alamogordo where Michael graduated in 1968. Michael earned a Ph.D. in Educational Administration with a specialty in Distance Learning from New Mexico State University in 1998. He has extensive radio experience having hosted the award-winning Morning Show with Michael Swickard on KSNM for five years and was awarded Talk Show Of The Year by the New Mexico Broadcaster’s Association in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Michael professionally works in association with McComas and Associates, a company specializing in educational consulting on literacy and numeracy issues in public schools.