Health Department Facing Projected Deficit Of $6 Million - The Associated Press and Santa Fe New Mexican
The state health department is facing a project deficit of nearly $6 million.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the department had a $27 million surplus only two years ago and its practice of contracting with private nursing services may have contributed to budget problems.
State Rep. Luciano "Lucky" Varela says the budget shortfall is a result of the system. He says there has been excessive turnover among nurses, so the department has been hiring temporary nursing services to fill the gaps.
The amount spent by the department on nursing services has increased more than four-fold in recent years.
State health officials said Tuesday that their budget woes were caused, in part, by higher bills, litigation costs, a general fund reduction, less money from state funds and inflation.
Lawsuit: Pedophile New England Priest Sent To New Mexico - The Associated Press
A new lawsuit says the Vatican sent a New England priest accused of raping boys and stealing parish money to New Mexico for treatment and that he later abused a boy in that state numerous times.
The lawsuit recently filed in Albuquerque District Court says a religious order in Massachusetts wrote the Vatican seeking to fire the Rev. John George Weisenborn. However, the Vatican instructed the diocese to send Weisenborn to New Mexico in 1964 where he was later hired as a full-time priest.
According to the lawsuit, Weisenborn abused a boy more than 50 times as a priest at St. Francis Xavier in Albuquerque beginning in 1968.
Court documents say Weisenborn also was detained three times in Washington, D.C., for having sex with boys before coming to New Mexico.
Proposed Medical Marijuana Farm Near Roswell Gets OK – The Associated Press
A medical marijuana growing facility near Roswell has been given the green light.
The Roswell Daily Record reports that Roswell-Chaves County Extraterritorial Commission voted late Tuesday to change the zoning use to allow the facility to go up.
Kevin Cheney, a consultant for Pecos Valley Pharmaceuticals, says the approval boost the chances of the company receiving a license from the New Mexico Department of Health to grow medical marijuana.
But he says it does not ensure that a cannabis growing facility will be built at the site of the former Nature's Dairy.
Officials say the proposed facility would grow up to 450 marijuana plants indoors. It also won't be allowed to sell marijuana to the public and will have tight security.
Figures Show New Mexico Economic Outlook Stabilizing - The Associated Press
Despite weak oil and natural gas prices, New Mexico's budget picture is stabilizing with personal and corporate income taxes largely driving an increase in anticipated revenues.
The latest estimates show that revenue for the current fiscal year is expected to increase by $136 million to $6.25 billion as compared with a February forecast.
State financial analysts are trying to figure out what's driving the uptick in those taxes but say it's generally attributable to the improving economy.
They caution that the estimated increase in revenues doesn't equate to new money that could be available to spend in fiscal 2017 because hard numbers won't be available until after July 1, the start of fiscal year 2016.
New Mexico Regulators Reject PNM Request For Rate Hike - The Associated Press
New Mexico regulators have rejected a proposal by the state's largest electric utility to raise rates and charge more for new solar customers to connect to the grid.
The Public Regulation Commission voted unanimously Wednesday in Santa Fe.
The vote follows a hearing examiner's recommendation that the utility's application be denied over concerns that it was incomplete.
Environmentalists argued that PNM failed to provide regulators with enough information to justify a 12 percent rate hike.
The utility says it's disappointed and accused the commission of being inconsistent in applying standards related to such rate cases. PNM could either appeal or file a new application.
The utility had said the increase was needed to help cover the costs of new solar-power generating stations, pollution controls and other infrastructure.
Inmate At An Albuquerque Jail Dies; Cause Isn't Known Yet - The Associated Press
Authorities say an inmate at an Albuquerque jail is dead.
Bernalillo County Sheriff's officials say 46-year-old Vincent Torres died just before 6 a.m. Wednesday.
They say the cause of death hasn't been determined yet.
The Metropolitan Detention Center was placed on lockdown until the county medical examiner's office was able to take the body.
The lockdown was lifted at 8:30 a.m.
Jail officials say Torres was booked into the detention center on March 31 on a warrant for failure to appear in court on possession of a controlled substance charge.
Revenue Plan For Spaceport America Gets Go-Ahead - The Associated Press
Spaceport America is launching a new business plan to bring in more revenue and prove itself worthy of New Mexico's tax dollars.
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority's board of directors officially approved Wednesday the five-year plan proposed by Spaceport America CEO Christine Anderson.
The plan outlines goals to lure resources in fields within and outside of aerospace.
Officials say they want to see a rise in suborbital spaceflight activities starting in 2017.
The spaceport also proposes obtaining 30 percent of its revenue from non-aerospace sectors by 2020.
The project has cost more than $200 million so far.
Mountainair School District Votes On Shortening School Week - The Associated Press and KRQE-TV
A New Mexico school district has voted to attend fewer days of school.
KRQE reports that students in the town of Mountainair will go to school Monday through Thursday, but the days will be longer.
The school board says the change will improve academics and attendance because more kids will come to school if they only have to go for four days.
One parent says she has concerns about parents having to leave kids at home alone because most people in the district are living below the poverty line and can't afford to get a baby sitter.
Mountainair High School junior Joseph Mosely says the free day will give parents a chance to schedule other appointments.
The district says the new move will also save the school money.
AG: Insufficient Evidence To Charge Bernalillo County DA – The Associated Press
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas says there's insufficient evidence to prosecute the district attorney of the most populous county in the state for bribery or intimidation of witnesses.
But Balderas is criticizing Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg and the Albuquerque Police Department for their actions in connection with two pending investigations of Brandenburg's son.
Balderas says there were "identifiable leadership failures to which both agencies can take immediate corrective action."
In a letter sent Thursday to Police Chief Gorden Eden, Balderas called the referral of Brandenburg's matter to his office politically motivated.
He also says Brandenburg's conduct clearly created an appearance of impropriety.
Brandenburg grabbed national headlines when she charged two Albuquerque police officers earlier this year with murder in the 2014 shooting death of a homeless man.
Workers Seal Storage Bunker At Nuclear Waste Dump – The Associated Press
Officials say workers have sealed off the first of two storage bunkers affected by a radiation leak at the federal government's underground nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Energy says about 85 percent of the containers packed with waste similar to the one that caused the leak have been isolated with the closure of the area known as Panel 6.
Workers used salt mined from another area of the repository, chain link and brattice clothe to build barriers on each end of the storage bunker. Air monitors have been installed.
Work to seal off a second bunker, where the radiation breach occurred, is ongoing. Officials say that should be complete in June.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has been closed since the February 2014 leak.
Former Officer Appeals Firing Over Excessive Force Arrest – The Associated Press
The Albuquerque personnel board is holding off on deciding whether to rehire an officer who stood by while his partner reared back and kicked a suspect repeatedly during an arrest.
KOAT-TV reports the Albuquerque Police Department is defending itself against a police brutality lawsuit stemming from the February 2011 incident, and Officers John Doyle and Robert Woolever are both appealing their firings.
Doyle kicked the suspect, but Woolever was fired for not intervening and for omitting part of the story from his report.
A city lawyer said APD was within its rights when it fired the officers.
Former APD officer Thomas Grover is defending Woolever, and said upholding the firing sends a message to law enforcement that they should let bad suspects go instead of chasing them.
Albuquerque Official Holds Private Meetings With Councilors – The Associated Press
The man who monitors the Albuquerque Police Department's agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice held private, closed-door meetings with six city councilors.
KOB-TV reports that DOJ monitor James Ginger on Monday afternoon held 30-minute, closed-door briefings with councilors Diane Gibson, Trudy Jones, Klarissa Pena, Isaac Benton, Dan Lewis and Don Harris.
The private meetings come just a week after councilors questioned why Ginger wouldn't answer their questions publicly.
New Mexico's Foundation for Open Government's Greg Williams says that if all the councilors met, one in a row, to talk about public business, the discussion should have been held at a public meeting.
Williams says it appears they tried to get around open meeting laws by holding individual meetings.
The city says the meetings were informal and not subject open meeting requirements.
California Man Sentenced; Failed To Register As Sex Offender – The Associated Press
A California man has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender in New Mexico.
Prosecutors say 37-year-old Eric Leo Alexander, of Anaheim, received a 46-month prison term Thursday and will be on supervised release for five years.
Alexander was arrested in Anaheim in January 2014 on a criminal complaint and extradited to New Mexico.
Prosecutors say Alexander didn't register as a sex offender in New Mexico's Dona Ana County while living in Las Cruces in September 2013.
He was convicted of the charge last September.
Authorities say Alexander was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor and sentenced to four years in a California prison.
He was released in August 2013 and registered as a sex offender in California only.