Audit Slams Bernalillo County Treasurer's Office – The Associated Press
A special audit of the Bernalillo County treasurer's office is alleging violations of state law and has uncovered a pattern of risky investment decisions and preferential treatment for some brokers.
Auditor Hector Balderas' office released the audit Wednesday. The audit questions whether more than $900 million in investment purchases were in the best interest of New Mexico's most populous county.
Balderas said in a statement that the violations of law and abuses of taxpayer resources by the treasurer's office are unacceptable.
In response, county officials pointed to their efforts to clean up the mess left by former County Treasurer Patrick Padilla and his successor, Manny Ortiz. Among those efforts were the hiring of an independent investment officer and the implementation of a new investment policy.
OB-GYN Suspended Over Sex, Drinking On Job Claims - The Associated Press
A New Mexico obstetrician and gynecologist has been suspended following an investigation into claims that he had sex with patients, drank on the job and left patients giving birth "unattended."
The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://goo.gl/QqV4pg) that the New Mexico Medical Board voted last week to suspend Christopher S. Driskill from practicing medicine and said he posed a danger to public safety.
According to a public notice, during one episode the 42-year-old Hobbs doctor was having sex with a patient when he was supposed to be delivering a baby.
The board says Driskill also was under the influence of alcohol during work hours and maintained a "personal cache" of booze in his office.
Driskill did not immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.
Legislators Expect Smaller New Mexico Revenue Gain - The Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico legislators may have a smaller increase in state revenue to divvy up in the next budget year than they expected just a few months ago.
A revenue forecast released in August said about $285 million should be available for spending increases or for tax cuts.
However, key legislators say that increase now apparently will be smaller, in the range of $185 million to $235 million.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the decrease in the size of the expected revenue increase is due to an ongoing dip in oil prices.
State economists will release their official twice-yearly estimates next month.
New Mexico Lawmakers Grill Spaceport Boss - The Associated Press
Lawmakers are demanding more details on how the New Mexico Spaceport Authority plans to recover now that the nearly quarter-billion-dollar Spaceport America stands empty and commercial fights by anchor tenant Virgin Galactic have been delayed indefinitely.
Members of a legislative finance oversight committee grilled spaceport executive director Christine Anderson on Thursday after she handed them a presentation filled mostly with photographs.
Rep. Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup, the committee's vice-chairwoman, questioned the business plan and said the point of the meeting was to cover how the state should move forward. Lundstrom and others called it a serious situation.
Speculation about the spaceport's future has been swirling in the wake of Virgin Galactic's spaceship breaking up over the California desert during an Oct. 31 test flight. One pilot was killed and another was seriously injured.
DA: Review Of Homeless Camper Shooting Near End - The Associated Press
A district attorney looking into the Albuquerque police shooting of a homeless camper, which sparked angry protests around the city, says her review will be completed by late winter.
Second Judicial District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said Thursday that she personally is reviewing the March shooting of James Boyd and will decide if officers in the shooting will face charges.
The FBI also is investigating the shooting.
The 38-year-old Boyd was fatally shot in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains during an hours-long standoff with Albuquerque police. Video from an officer's helmet camera showed police fired on Boyd, who had struggled with mental illness, as he appeared to be preparing to surrender.
Days later, a demonstration that drew national attention turned violent, leading police to use tear gas on protesters.
NM Advocates Preparing For Immigration Changes - The Associated Press
Immigrant rights groups in New Mexico say they are preparing for possible immigration changes with planned legal clinics and by reaching out to oil field workers.
The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center said Wednesday it will launch a text messaging system targeting immigrants around the state. The organization also will use Skype to assist immigrants living in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the Santa Fe-based Somos Un Pueblo Unido says advocates will reach out to workers in the booming oil and gas eastern part of the state. The group says changes could help those workers immediately get higher paying jobs.
President Barack Obama is expected Thursday to reveal a long-awaited executive action to protect many of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally from deportation.
Ex-Las Cruces Policeman Sentenced In Sex Case - The Associated Press
A former Las Cruces police detective has been sentenced to nine years in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage intern while on duty.
Prosecutors say 38-year-old Michael Garcia also was sentenced Wednesday to five years of supervised release, ordered to forfeit his law enforcement certification and comply with federal and state sex offender registration requirements.
Garcia pleaded guilty in the case in April.
He worked with students in a Las Cruces High School program and took the teen girl on a ride-along in his department-issued vehicle to visit a crime scene in May 2011.
He was supposed to drive the intern back to the police station, but prosecutors say Garcia drove her to a secluded location and sexually assaulted her.
Garcia resigned from the police department in August 2013.
Albuquerque Police: Boy Dead In Apparent Shooting - The Associated Press
Albuquerque police say a teen-ager is dead following an apparent shooting.
Police spokesman Tanner Tixier says the 15-year-old boy was pronounced dead at a hospital Wednesday morning.
No one has been arrested, and Tixier says no gun was found at the scene.
No further details are immediately available as police continue their investigation.
Former Guard Pleads Guilty In New Mexico Drug Case - The Associated Press
A former corrections officer at a state prison in southern New Mexico has pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling drugs into the penal facility.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 38-year-old Luis Delgadillo of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges in an August federal indictment.
The indictment charged Delgadillo with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin into the Otero County Prison Facility in Chaparral.
According to the office, Delgadillo was the last of six defendants to enter a guilty plea in this case.
Each of the six defendants faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced. They remain in federal custody pending sentencings which aren't yet scheduled.
The FBI began its investigation after receiving information from the New Mexico Corrections Department.
Missing Plane Found In Southwest Colorado; 2 Dead - The Associated Press and Pagosa Springs Sun
Authorities say a missing single-engine plane with two people aboard has been found in southwest Colorado with no survivors.
Archuleta County Sheriff Rich Valdez tells the Pagosa Springs Sun the aircraft was found in the southern part of the county near the New Mexico border at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Killed were 55-year-old Howard Guthrie and 42-year-old Melissa Watson, both of Albuquerque
The plane left Moriarity, New Mexico, on Friday bound for Pagosa Springs, but had to turn around before landing because of bad weather.
Authorities didn't say who was piloting the Mooney M-20C. Federal Aviation Administration records list Guthrie as the owner.
Three aircraft and three ground teams searched the area Tuesday, while a state police plane searched in New Mexico. A search crew on the ground found the plane.