Medicaid Spending Crunch Raises Tensions In New Mexico—Associated Press
Health care workers are raising concerns about closed-door meetings as New Mexico forges a plan to rein in spending on Medicaid by some $400 million under a new state budget.
An advisory group is scheduled to deliver its first recommendations Friday on reducing Medicaid reimbursement rates for medical procedures to health care providers.
Union representatives say they were shut out of a meeting of the advisory group this week, as tensions rise over cost containment measures needed by July.
The state has underfunded Medicaid by $85 million between now and mid-2017, and will forgo more than $300 million in federal matching funds as a result. The Human Service Department that oversees the state Medicaid program says recommendations by stakeholders will be made public — though meetings were kept closed.
1 Of New Mexico's Top 15 Wanted Fugitives Is Arrested—Associated Press
Federal authorities say one of New Mexico's top 15 most dangerous wanted fugitives has been arrested.
The U.S. Marshal's Service announced Friday that 41-year-old Julian Jesus Garcia was in fugitive status since March.
He was wanted for a parole violation and for failure to comply with conditions of probation.
Authorities say Garcia's original charges were negligent arson, tampering with evidence, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm against a household member and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Members of the South West Investigative Fugitive Task Force and Las Cruces Gang Task Force located Garcia on Thursday.
While being arrested, officers say they also found drugs on Garcia.
Garcia was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center and is facing additional felony charges for possession of a controlled substance.
Nuclear Dump's Emergency Operations Center Officials Opens—Associated Press
A new state-of-the-art emergency operations center at the federal government's nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico is officially open.
Politicians, senators, congress members, community officials and employees of the Carlsbad plant gathered Thursday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The center is housed with the U.S. Department of Energy's Carlsbad Field Office inside the Skeen-Whitlock Building. It was remodeled over the past several months to include the new operations center.
Upgrades include new computers, wall-mounted monitors and interactive message boards.
Software changes will allow for the sharing of information between the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and state and local public safety agencies.
Caucasians' Shirt Sales Jump After ESPN's Jones Appearance —Associated Press
Sales of "Caucasians" shirts, depicting the Cleveland Indians' mascot as a caricature of a white person, skyrocketed one day after ESPN's Bomani Jones wore one on a show.
Shelf Life Clothing's Brian Kirby told The Associated Press on Friday that he has sold more than 2,000 of the T-shirts since Jones sported one Thursday while co-hosting the network's "Mike & Mike" show.
Kirby said traffic to his website got so heavy that it crashed the site.
Jones, who is black, said those who were offended by his shirt should also be offended by the Indians' Chief Wahoo logo. He also called the Washington Redskins name a slur.
Indian Country Today writer Sheena Louise Roetman says the episode has revived the debate over Native American mascots.