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-2018, 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.
Animal Welfare Seizes 56 Roosters From Albuquerque Home – Albuquerque Journal
Officers with the city of Albuquerque’s Animal Welfare Department seized 56 roosters from a home in northeast Albuquerque contending they were being prepped for cockfighting.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the birds were not severely injured but they did have their combs, spurs and wattles cut off, which is common for birds used in cockfighting.
They also found knives typically attached to roosters’ legs for fights and syringes for injecting them with vitamins.
Under city ordinances, residents cannot keep more than one rooster and they cannot own or care for cockfighting roosters. The man cited in a search warrant, Hector Garcia-Salas, has not yet been charged but will likely be cited for violating those local laws.
Nuclear Dump's Emergency Operations Center Officials Opens – The 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.
UNM Begins Process Of Integrating Main Campus, Med School - The Associated Press & The ABQ Journal
The University of New Mexico is working to integrate its main campus with the hospital and medical school.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that University President Bob Frank announced Thursday that the Health Sciences Center will be restructured so the main campus has oversight. The Health Sciences Center is a $1.7 billion operation that includes the medical school and the hospital.
Frank in a schoolwide memo said the university will be studying four areas for the integration immediately, including legal counsel, information technologies, communications departments and health care facility needs.
It is unclear if the changes mean any staff reductions at either campus.
The Board of Regents voted last month to restructure oversight of the Health Sciences Center, a move that critics characterized as a "power grab."
New Mexico Commission Appoints Interim Chief Public Defender – The Associated Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican
A Santa Fe public defender will be the interim chief of the state Law Offices of the Public Defender.
The New Mexico Public Defender Commission has appointed attorney Bennett Baur to replace Jorge Alvarado as the commission continues its search for a permanent replacement.
Alvarado resigned last month, saying he faced resistance and unreasonable expectations.
He had pushed for more funding for 13 public defender offices that he oversaw across the state, saying more money was necessary to serve 70,000 defendants.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Baur will oversee the state's public defender's officer for a year, and is seeking to fill the position permanently.
Baur is a former president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Attorneys Association.
Prosecutors Insist On Legislative Records In Criminal Probe – Associated Press
New Mexico's attorney general is stepping up pressure on administrative staff at the Legislature to turn over subpoenaed documents in a criminal corruption investigation of former Sen. Phil Griego.
The attorney general's office filed a rebuttal Thursday to the continued refusal to release records by the Legislative Council Service. The council service helps lawmakers draft legislation and says it is duty-bound to protect correspondence with legislators and other documents to preserve the integrity of the legislative process.
Griego has pleaded guilty to charges including fraud and bribery. Prosecutors allege he used his role as a senator to arrange a $51,000 commission on the sale of a state-owned building in downtown Santa Fe.
The tussle over access to legislative records is taking place at the outset of the court case.
Pellet Gun Fired At 3 Police Officers In Las Cruces – The Associated Press
Authorities in Las Cruces ae offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that helps identify a person who fired a pellet gun at three police officers, striking one of them on the leg.
The city Police Department says no officers were injured in the Thursday evening incident that occurred as the officers investigated two drivers' reports of their windows being shattered.
Police they believe the shots might have been fired from or near a nearby business' parking lot, but no suspect description is available.
According to police, the shooter could possible face a fourth-degree felony charge of battery on a police officer.
Albuquerque Police Union Survey Shows Understaffing Huge Concern – Albuquerque Journal, KOB-TV
A new survey of Albuquerque police officers finds that nearly all of respondents believe there are not enough officers to meet the public’s needs and that is having an impact on officer safety as well.
KOB-TV reports the survey by the Albuquerque Police Association also finds pay is an issue in retaining officers. The union is pushing for the city to spend $1 million to recruit more officers.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the survey was sent to 650 officers and 329 responded. About 77 percent said they have “seriously considered” taking a job outside the police department.
The city’s chief administrative officer, Rob Perry, issued a statement saying the city has give officers a total of about 20 percent in pay increases over the last six years and is proposing a 1.5 percent raise this year.
New Mexico Commission Appoints Interim Chief Public Defender – Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press
A Santa Fe public defender will be the interim chief of the state Law Offices of the Public Defender.
The New Mexico Public Defender Commission has appointed attorney Bennett Baur to replace Jorge Alvarado as the commission continues its search for a permanent replacement.
Alvarado resigned last month, saying he faced resistance and unreasonable expectations.
He had pushed for more funding for 13 public defender offices that he oversaw across the state, saying more money was necessary to serve 70,000 defendants.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Baur will oversee the state's public defender's officer for a year, and is seeking to fill the position permanently.
Baur is a former president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Attorneys Association.
Sheriff: 1 Arrested After Shots Fired In Road Rage Dispute – The Associated Press
Authorities say they have arrested a man suspected of firing a weapon during a road-rage dispute that prompted a lockdown at an Albuquerque elementary school.
No one was reported injured in the dispute Thursday that Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy Felicia Romero says started when one vehicle cut off another near a busy intersection.
She said Friday that 28-year-old Vincent Lobato has been arrested on several charges, including shooting from a vehicle.
Authorities say a blue Nissan Pathfinder and a white Buick were linked to the dispute. Investigators are still looking for two people who were inside the Buick.
An elementary school nearby was placed on a lockdown, which was later lifted.
Dona Ana County Official To Resume Work After Charges Tossed – The Associated Press
Dona Ana County's jail administrator will be going back to work in the wake of dismissal of felony charges accusing him of misspending money from an inmate-welfare fund.
County Manager Julia Brown says Detention Center Administrator Christopher Barela will return to his post Monday.
Barela has been on paid administrative leave since Dec. 8. That's when Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department personnel arrested Barela and assumed temporary control of the jail.
Brown says the allegations against Barela proved to be spurious and that she's delighted to have him back on the job.
The District Attorney's Office has said it dismissed fraud and embezzlement charges against Barela because of insufficient evidence.
USPS To Feature Bandelier National Monument On Stamp – Associated Press
The U.S. Postal Service has announced it will commemorate Bandelier National Monument on a forever stamp his summer.
The stamp image was previewed Thursday as the fourth of 16 stamp images to be revealed over a three-week period to celebrate the National Park Service's 100th anniversary.
Other National Park forever stamps unveiled feature Acadia National Park, Arches National Park and Assateague Island National Seashore.
Tucked into northern New Mexico's ancient canyons, Bandelier has a long human history that stretches back more than 11,000 years. It is located near present-day Los Alamos.
Woman Ordered To Pay Back $11,000 In Unemployment Benefits – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
A New Mexico woman has been ordered to pay back more than $11,000 in unemployment benefits.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the state supreme court last month ruled that Nancy Garduño is responsible for paying back the money she received after her former employer successfully appealed her benefits.
Garduño was fired from Albertsons in February 2010 for giving other employees deep discounts. The state Department of Workforce Solutions originally determined she was eligible for $402 in weekly benefits, which are available to employees who lost their job through no fault of their own.
Albertsons appealed the award and won in March but Garduño wasn't notified until August. She appealed the ruling, saying she wasn't notified in a timely manner.
New Mexico Treasurer Hands Out Raises To Top Employees – KRQE-TV, Associated Press
New Mexico's state treasurer has handed out a few sizeable raises despite cuts to his department's budget.
KRQE-TV reports that Treasurer Tim Eichenberg gave pay hikes to nearly a dozen employees during his first year on the job. Some employees say their salaries increased by 20 percent and the chief financial officer's salary was boosted by 46 percent in ten months.
Meanwhile, two-thirds of the office's employees are doing the same work for the same pay and some jobs have been vacant since Eichenberg became treasurer.
He told KRQE that he plans to stick with his strategy of rewarding employees for extra work, extra training or extra value to taxpayers. Eichenberg says he plans to hand out 11 more raises in his next 15 months on the job.
Colorado Congressman Has Doubts About Superfund Mine Cleanup – Associated Press
A southwestern Colorado congressman says a Superfund designation isn't the best way to clean up leaking mines in his district but that he won't stand in the way after local leaders endorsed it.
Republican Rep. Scott Tipton said Thursday a Superfund cleanup would be overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which caused an August mine spill that prompted the cleanup.
Tipton says it would be better to fund the effort another way. He didn't offer specifics.
The EPA on Wednesday proposed adding the Gold King Mine and other sites to the Superfund list. Officials in Silverton and San Juan County and Gov. John Hickenlooper have endorsed it.
An EPA-led cleanup crew inadvertently triggered a spill at the Gold King that sent tainted wastewater into Colorado, New Mexico and Utah rivers.