Disgraced New Mexico Politician Gets 30 Days In Jail – By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
After making a tearful plea for leniency, former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail for siphoning money from her election account to fuel a gambling addiction.
Duran pleaded guilty in October to a felony embezzlement charge and four misdemeanor counts while resigning from office under an agreement with state prosecutors.
District Judge T. Glenn Ellington handed down the final sentence Monday in a packed Santa Fe courtroom. He suspended all but a month of the 7.5-year sentence and ordered Duran to report to jail Friday, denying a motion that would have allowed her to spend time with her family over the holidays.
Ellington also ordered Duran to pay nearly $14,000 in restitution, serve five years of probation, write numerous letters of apology and make regular public appearances for the next three years to educate school children and others about her career and the crimes she committed.
New Mexico Gov. Martinez Eyes Tougher Penalties For DWIs – The Associated Press
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has announced proposals aimed at toughening penalties for those who have four or more drunken driving convictions.
Martinez unveiled Monday in Albuquerque another legislative push to increase mandatory minimum sentences for repeat drunk drivers.
The Republican governor has blamed the Democratic-controlled Senate for failing to act on similar GOP proposals to strengthen New Mexico's drunken driving penalties. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez says Martinez is attacking the Senate to distract voters from her efforts to ignore poverty.
Martinez announced new executive orders last week aimed at arresting repeat drunken drivers.
She toured the state to discuss plans for increased patrols on the state's most dangerous highways and an aggressive effort to arrest drunken driving suspects who violate their parole or probation.
Feds Say 34 Face Charges In NM Meth Trafficking Probe – The Associated Press
Federal and tribal authorities say an investigation into methamphetamine trafficking on the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico has netted federal charges against 18 suspected drug traffickers.
Officials also say another 16 people face prosecution in tribal court on drug-related charges brought as a result of the probe.
The U.S. Attorney's office for New Mexico announced results of the 18-month-long investigation on Monday, saying officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs and other agencies coordinated after a rise in drug-related violent crime on the reservation, about 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez says methamphetamine accounts for up to 40 percent of violent crime on reservations.
Authorities say the 18 suspects facing federal charges include 13 non-tribal members.
Albuquerque Police Report Spending On Use Of Force Issues – The Associated Press & KOB
A quarterly report shows that a large portion of the money Albuquerque police are spending to fix use of force issues is going to the Department of Justice's independent monitor.
KOB-TV reports that the report shows that the department has spent more than $700,000 on those efforts in the past three months, with the largest chunk going to DOJ monitor James Ginger.
Ginger has been credited with fixing use-of-force issues at several police departments. He told KOB in November that his team is expensive because he brings in people at the top of their fields.
The spending report shows that money also went toward changing procedures, tracking the use of force, crisis intervention programs and recruiting.
Officials say the process is expected to take at least four years.
New Mexico Campus Bans Gun Sales, Raffles At Its Facilities – The Associated Press & The Alamogordo News
The Alamogordo branch of New Mexico State University will no longer allow groups to rent its facilities to sell or give away guns.
The Alamogordo News reports that NMSU-A Interim President Dr. Ken Van Winkle announced the ban on Wednesday. It puts an end to the fundraiser gun shows that the Alamogordo Evening Lions Club and Western Frontier Gun Shows have been holding on the campus since 2011.
The new policy will also prohibit National Rifle Association banquets if the NRA has a gun raffle with the firearms present at the banquet.
In a statement, Van Winkle cited recent acts of mass violence, including the attacks in Paris and shootings at an Oregon college.
He said a college campus isn't an appropriate place for gun sales.
Santa Fe Losing $2 Million In Taxes From Unlicensed Rentals – The Associated Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican
A study shows Santa Fe is losing at least $2 million annually in uncollected taxes from unlicensed vacation rentals for tourists and short-term residents.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the study presented to the City Council concludes that at least 600 unlicensed rental units are available inside city limits on a regular basis, despite a city law that caps the number of short-term rentals and requires annual inspections.
The city doesn't know if the units' owners pay the state-mandated gross receipts tax.
But the report assumes most licensed units are organized as businesses and pay the taxes, while those that are unlicensed probably don't.
There's pressure from hotels and bed-and-breakfast businesses who say unlicensed owners bring unfair competition because they can offer lower prices while evading taxes.
NM Drops To 37th In National Health Rankings – Albuquerque Journal
High poverty and crime rates pushed New Mexico to 37th in the nation for health rankings, a decline from previous years.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the America’s Health Rankings Report looked at 30 factors to create the ranking, a drop from the 33rd spot last year. Those factors included high rates of drug deaths, diabetes and children living in poverty.
Poor access to prenatal care and a high rate of mothers with drug addictions are behind the high rate of babies born underweight.
United Health Foundation, which issued the report, did offer some good news as well. It found the state has low rates of cancer and cardiovascular deaths, as well as low rates of excessive drinking. And it found that while violent crime increased in 2015, it was still lower than rates in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Santa Fe Losing $2 Million In Taxes From Unlicensed Rentals – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
A study shows Santa Fe is losing at least $2 million annually in uncollected taxes from unlicensed vacation rentals for tourists and short-term residents.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the study presented to the City Council concludes that at least 600 unlicensed rental units are available inside city limits on a regular basis, despite a city law that caps the number of short-term rentals and requires annual inspections.
The city doesn't know if the units' owners pay the state-mandated gross receipts tax.
But the report assumes most licensed units are organized as businesses and pay the taxes, while those that are unlicensed probably don't.
There's pressure from hotels and bed-and-breakfast businesses who say unlicensed owners bring unfair competition because they can offer lower prices while evading taxes.
Industrial Consumers Protest Renewable-Energy Costs Decision – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
Some industrial energy consumers in New Mexico are protesting a move to make large-scale electricity customers pay for fuel savings they now enjoy from Public Service Co. of New Mexico's investments in renewable energy.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that about two dozen industrial energy consumers could be hit with a $1.5 million annual bill if state regulators stand by their decision to make large-scale electricity customers pay for the fuel savings.
A hearing examiner for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission had concluded that large-scale industrial and institutional consumers receive a disproportional share of those savings while enjoying legal protections that either limit or fully eliminate the amount they must pay to support PNM's renewable investments.
The commission agreed.
New Mexico Industrial Energy Consumers is appealing the decision.
NMSU Moves Toward Requiring Freshmen To Live On Campus – Las Cruces Sun-News, Associated Press
Officials took the first step toward requiring most incoming freshmen at New Mexico State University to live on campus for one year.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the university's Board of Regents approved a resolution Friday in support of requiring incoming freshmen to live in student housing.
They also expressed interest in possible exemptions from the requirement, such as students who live within a certain distance of campus and military veterans who are attending college for the first time.
University President Garrey Carruthers indicated that the requirement could open the door for the university to enter into public-private partnerships with companies to provide additional on-campus housing.
Regent Kari Mitchell expressed concern that the university was mandating a market for a potential public-private partnership.
NM Child Support Forms Add Safeguard For Abuse Victims – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
The head of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department has approved adding a new box to child care assistance forms that parents can check off to indicate to state workers that contacting a former abuser for support would endanger their family.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the decision comes after single parents and members of the OLE Working Parents Association testified before the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee and held a demonstration in front of a CYFD office in Albuquerque.
The Olé Working Parents Association said before the change to the forms was announced that the organization had heard from dozens of women who said applications for state child-care assistance came with conditions that required domestic violence victims to get a restraining order against their former partners and to sue abusers for child support.
Albuquerque Police Union Leader Pleads Not Guilty To Abuse – Associated Press
The president of the Albuquerque police union has pleaded not guilty to charges of child abuse and intimidation of a witness.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Officer Stephanie Lopez made her first court appearance on Saturday.
She was arrested Thursday after authorities say she repeatedly struck a teenage relative during a dispute over a utility notice.
She was released from jail upon posting a $5,000 cash-only bond.
A criminal complaint filed by a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy said the teen reported the abuse to a school official, who contacted authorities.
Lopez, who is 40, has been ordered not to possess a firearm or contact the teenager in the case.
She went on leave Friday from the police department and as president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association.
NMHU Partners With Dine College On Distance Learning – Associated Press
New Mexico Highlands University is using federal funds to expand opportunities for Native American students through a new distance-learning system.
The effort calls for the installation of new technology that will allow students at six Dine College locations in Arizona and New Mexico to access advanced classes offered by Highlands University, which is hundreds of miles away.
Nearly a half-million dollars is being provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development through a distance-learning telemedicine program.
New Mexico Highlands University also recently announced the creation of an indigenous knowledge center within its school of social work. The goal is to recruit more indigenous students.
Highlands officials say Native American students now make up nearly 8 percent of the school's undergraduate population.
UNM Baseball Field Gets New Name – Associated Press
The University of New Mexico's baseball field is getting a new name.
School officials say the Santa Ana Pueblo-owned Tamaya Enterprises is giving the school $1 million over the next 10 years for naming rights to the field, which will be named Santa Ana Star Field.
The school says the money will help pay for a new Lobo clubhouse at the baseball stadium.
The field's previous name was Lobo Field.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the UNM regents approved the sponsorship deal and new name on Friday.
UNM's baseball season starts in February.