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Sandia Labs Settles With Justice Department With $4.8M Payment, AG Investigates APS Hiring Procedure

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Lab Manager Settles Lobbying Claims With $4.8M PaymentThe Associated Press 

The managers of one of the nation's premiere federal laboratories in New Mexico have agreed to pay nearly $4.8 million to settle allegations of improperly using taxpayer funds to influence members of Congress and others to extend the lab's $2.4 billion management contract.

Sandia National Laboratories issued a statement Monday saying it agreed to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice to put the matter behind it.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General released a report last fall saying the use of taxpayer funds by Sandia was a violation of federal codes and provisions in the contract itself.

The inspector general determined that the lab formed a team and worked with consultants beginning in 2009 to develop a plan for securing a contract extension without having to go through a competitive process.

New Mexico Official Plans School District Probe - The Associated Press 

New Mexico's attorney general is launching an investigation into how the school system in the state's largest city hired a high-level administrator who faces child sex abuse charges.

Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Monday his office will look into why Albuquerque Public Schools' safety protocols were breached and Jason Martinez was hired in June before a background check was completed.

Martinez resigned abruptly last week. It later surfaced that he faces six felony counts of sexual assault on a child in Colorado.

In a statement, Superintendent Luis Valentino said he welcomed the investigation by Balderas and believed the safety of staff and students was important.

Board member Steven Michael Quezada said a vote Thursday will either retain or keep Valentino.

Utility Managers Push For Conservation Even As Drought EasesThe Associated Press 

Severe drought has disappeared from New Mexico, but water managers in the state's largest cities aren't giving up on their push for residents to conserve.

Watering restrictions remain in place in Albuquerque, and the conservation officer for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority says the message about watering wisely will not go away anytime soon.

Water use in Albuquerque by mid-August was 1.1 billion gallons lower than it was last year.

Santa Fe also has recorded its lowest demand in years this summer and has reduced use by a couple million gallons per day during peak times.

Las Cruces is moving ahead with its conservation program. The city marked a new low of 166 gallons per person per day last year and is on track to meet conservation goals again this year.

New Proposal To End Dispute Over White Peak Hunting Ground – The Associated Press

The state's land commissioner is proposing a resolution to the long-running battle between sportsmen and ranchers over access to a popular hunting ground near Las Vegas.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (http://bit.ly/1PMYytn ) Aubrey Dunn sent a letter last week to the state Department of Game and Fish, asking them to consider purchasing 10,000 acres around White Peak owned by rancher David Stanley and deed the property to the state. In exchange, hunters and anglers would have unrestricted access to all state trust lands for 20 years.

The White Peak area has long been surrounded by debate. Ranchers say hunters have trespassed on private property to reach state trust lands, while some sportsmen say the ranchers' claims are exaggerated.

The letter indicates that the property would cost about $27 million.

New Mexico Governor Meeting With Executives In CaliforniaThe Associated Press 

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and a group of economic development officials are visiting northern California for a round of business meetings.

The governor's office said Martinez and the others are meeting with executives from a number of companies as part of an effort to attract business to New Mexico.

The governor is traveling with representatives from the private, nonprofit group Albuquerque Economic Development and the city of Rio Rancho.

The trip was organized in part by the New Mexico Partnership, which contracts with the state Economic Development Department as a one-stop shop for locating and expanding businesses in New Mexico.

Martinez is scheduled to return Wednesday.

Taos Hospital ER Evacuated After Patient Dies From Poison The Associated Press

A New Mexico hospital's emergency room has had to be sealed off after a patient consumed a fatal dose of prairie dog poison.

Officials at Holy Cross Hospital say staff and patients were evacuated early Monday as a precaution.

They say all employees have been cleared of any contamination and are being monitored and no other patients have been affected.

The hospital is continuing to accept patients, but emergency patients are being treated in the day surgery area.

Albuquerque TV station KOB reports the patient's death resulted in the possible release of phosgene gas.

The man reportedly consumed 1 ½ pounds of prairie dog poison at his El Prado home in a suicide attempt.

He was transported to the hospital by his brother.

The man's name hasn't been released yet.