State Auditor takes legal action over audit findings

Hector Balderas

The New Mexico State Auditor is taking legal action against Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration after being denied the ability to review an audit commissioned by the NM Dept. of Health and Human Services. 

The audit claims mental health providers around the state defrauded Medicaid by overcharging to the tune of $36 million.  NM State Auditor Hector Balderas asked to review the findings, but Cabinet Secretary Sidonie Squier, NM Dept. of Human Services, denied Balderas. 

Eyewitness News 4 asked Gov. Martinez why the administration refuses to provide the audit to the State Auditor.  She replied "the state auditor himself doesn't do audits." 

Santa Fe District Court judge Sarah Singleton signed off on a court order filed by Balderas’ office to force Squier to release the documents by Monday morning at 10 a.m.  

Squier didn’t comply with the court order.  

State Auditor takes legal action over audit findings

AG gives two answers to same sex marriage in NM

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says a state prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. 

King told the state Supreme Court on Monday in written arguments that it should invalidate the gay marriage ban if the justices agree to consider a lawsuit filed by two Santa Fe men who were denied a marriage license. 

However, King also said the lawsuit isn't properly before the high court and the justices should deny the men's request to order the Santa Fe County clerk to issue them a marriage license. 

King said New Mexico law effectively doesn't allow gay marriages although there's no statutory provision that specifically prohibits or authorizes gay couples to be married. But he also said the prohibition on gay marriage violates the state constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.

AG gives two answers to same sex marriage in NM

Rain uncovers mystery hole in backyard

From KRQE-TV.com - by Chris McKee - LBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Friday's heavy downpour created a mystery in an Albuquerque backyard. After a lot of rain fell in a short time, the earth opened up revealing a deep underground pit at the home of Alex Sanouvon.
     "I've been here 25 years and I have never seen anything like that," said Sanouvon. "Then suddenly, I just hear this collapse and all of the water rushed down and I came to look at it, and there was that hole.” Sanouvon said.
     The hole is a little less than 10 feet deep and about 3 ½ feet wide. Cinder blocks show the hole was built by someone and a large pipe sits at the bottom. Sanouvon said when he moved in to the house decades ago, the hole wasn't mentioned.. "No, we never knew anything about it," he said.
     His neighbors were just as surprised. "When he pointed this out to me, I was really concerned about this sinkhole here because of all his grandkids that he has come over,” said Efrain Madrid, who lives close by.
     Madrid called the City Planning Department and a water utility authority for answers but had no luck getting answers. On Monday afternoon, a city plumbing inspector went to the house and solved the mystery. Turns out the hole is actually an abandoned septic tank, not some menacing natural collapse of the yard. Now that Sanucon knows that, he said he’ll fill it up.More

Rain uncovers mystery hole in backyard

Flood waters hit Santa Clara Pueblo

From KOB-TV.com - By: Mike Anderson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - The Santa Clara Canyon got more than two inches of rainfall yesterday, sending a nine foot wall of water downstream toward the Santa Clara Pueblo. Homes weren’t hit and no one was injured, but the water caused major damage throughout the canyon.
     KOB Eyewitness News 4’s Chopper 4 flew overhead Sunday afternoon to survey the damage. Floods knocked down trees and washed away parts of roads near the intersection of Tribal Roads 601 and 602.
     Flash flooding is always a concern in the area because of the Los Conchas Fire burn scar.
     The tribal sheriff says he’ll likely ask Santa Clara Pueblo’s governor to declare a state of emergency. That would allow them to use emergency money for cleanup and damage control.
     On Monday, crews will send heavy equipment into the canyon to clear debris. It is closed to the public until further notice More

Flood waters hit Santa Clara Pueblo

Swickard: Cheating the test, cheating the society

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. School grades for New Mexico public schools are out. Here is the problem: the mania for testing has no real value for the students. Further, teachers must stop teaching more of their time and prepare for tests to evaluate the school. This has no educational basis. It supports a bloated school administration and nothing else.
     What is the purpose of education in New Mexico? To create citizens who have the skills, abilities and knowledge to thrive in our society. This is the one goal, the only goal. There is no other legitimate purpose for public school education. Know this: education should not be primarily a jobs program for adults.
     For students their purpose is not to get high scores, attend college or to win academic awards. Again, their purpose is to become productive members of our society. Scores, college and awards may help but they are not the purpose. Graduation rates and college attendance are interim goals, not the purpose.
     Sadly, the purpose of the accountability testing in New Mexico is to label public schools B or D as if it makes any difference for students becoming productive members of their society. Show me the study saying going to a D school keeps students from becoming a productive member of the community. There are none.
     The dirty little secret is that the avalanche of testing is harmful to students and teachers alike. Students will never get a job taking tests and have no lasting need for test-taking skills. Students spend an inordinate amount of time on tasks of no long-term value for themselves.
     For teachers the testing mania is a never ending nightmare. Administrators demand results because their jobs are on the line. Adults are trying to protect their jobs. Whole school staffs have been fired when a school does poorly on the tests.
     But if you swap the entire staff of a low-performing school with the staff of a high-performing school the next year will look essentially the same, it is not the teachers that make the biggest effect. Yes, good teaching is great, but schools have a long history tied to the parents.Read full column

Swickard: Cheating the test, cheating the society

Spaceport America gets private loan

Spaceport America got a green light Wednesday to take out a $20.8 million private loan to build two visitor centers in southern New Mexico, a move supporters described as an important business step for the commercial space flight venture. 

Members of the state Board of Finance, including Gov. Susana Martinez, voted 7-0 to authorize the loan, which spaceport officials said could be completed within 30 days. Construction of the visitor centers could begin soon after. 

However, several Board of Finance members expressed concern Wednesday about the possibility state funds will have to be used to pay back the loan if the spaceport’s visitor estimates prove to be overly optimistic. 

Already, $209 million in state money has been appropriated to pay for construction of the main Spaceport America facilities.

Spaceport America gets private loan

AG says behavioral health audit investigation could take months

 Attorney General Gary King says it could take several months for his office to complete an investigation of overpayments and possible fraud by behavioral health providers in New Mexico's Medicaid program. 

King told the Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday that his office hasn't made a determination about the allegations forwarded to his office by the Human Services Department. The department froze payments to 15 nonprofit groups last month after an audit found what the agency said was a high rate of billing problems. 

Human Services Secretary Sidonie Squier defended her agency's action in testimony to the committee and assured lawmakers that steps were being taken to prevent an interruption of mental health and substance abuse services to patients.

AG says behavioral health audit investigation could take months

Free roaming cattle creating problems in Rio Rancho

From KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - A problem straight out of the old Wild West is troubling a Rio Rancho neighborhood these days – free range cattle. Trouble is, these cows take the “free” part of free range pretty seriously. They come and go as they please in the North Hills subdivision, leaving behind frequent and fragrant reminders that they were here. Cow flops.
     North Hills is plastered with them. They’re on the sidewalks. They’re in the parks. They’re even in your front yard! And that’s not the dangerous part about this herd of 8 or 9 cows. “When you’re driving along the road and they just come popping out of the arroyo or something, it’s bad,” said North Hills homeowner Edward Kisner. “There’s cars going both ways. One will swerve into the other one’s lane. I’ve had close calls where I've almost made ground beef!”
     We found the cattle shading themselves beneath a scrawny-looking juniper tree on the open range right next to the subdivision. Open range means the owner of the cattle doesn’t have to fence them in, It’s up to other property owners to fence them out – and North Hills is not exactly a walled fortress.
     For now, Rio Rancho cops keep herding the cattle out of the neighborhood with their patrol cars, and the cows keep coming right back in search of fresh grass and water. Neighbors say police officers tell them they have to tolerate the visitors.
     “It’s a nuisance,” said Kisner, who’s lived in North Hills for 17 years. “I’m sick and tired of it. They’re unpredictable. This is my neighborhood. I shouldn't have to smell cow poop in the morning!” Read more

Free roaming cattle creating problems in Rio Rancho

APD officer bumps into wall, shoots another officer in leg

From KOB-TV.com - By: Elizabeth Reed, KOB.com - lbuquerque police have released more information about an officer shooting late Monday. Police were searching for an armed person near Gonzales and Old Coors when Sgt. Darcy McDermeit bumped into a wall and her gun went off. The bullet hit officer Scott Maher in the lower leg.
     Officials tell KOB Eyewitness News 4 he is expected to make a full recovery. Sgt. McDermeit will be on administrative duty until the investigation is over. MORE

APD officer bumps into wall, shoots another officer in leg

Green Energy’s Too Expensive

From Townhall.com - by Marita Noon - On Wednesday, July 10, the House passed H.R. 2609—which Bloomberg News called a “$30.4 Billion Energy-Water Spending Measure.” The 2014 Energy-Water Development appropriations bill will cut spending on renewables and other green energy programs in half and was passed mostly along party lines—with 4 Republicans voting against and 7 Democrats for it.
     Democrats offered amendments to the bill aimed at restoring funding to renewable energy programs, which failed. Republicans’ amendments focused on cuts: Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan sponsored an amendment that would eliminate spending for a national media campaign promoting alternative energy, and Rep. John Fleming, M.D. of Louisiana sponsored an amendment to stop a $3.25 billion green energy loan program—both were approved.
     While many of the different taxpayer funded green energy programs introduced in the 2009 stimulus bill —which have produced more than 50 bankrupt, or near bankrupt, projects—have now expired, the Fleming amendment draws attention to a pot of money that is, currently, largely unspent. Fleming describes this remaining boondoggle: “The Obama 2009 stimulus bill cost taxpayers about $830 billion, and much of it was wasted on growing government and administration giveaways, like a $3.25 billion loan program that put taxpayers on the hook for failed green energy projects. A company could take a government loan and walk away from a project without paying taxpayers back, even if the company remained in business. In a free market economy, companies may turn to banks and investors to borrow money, but the government should not force taxpayers to be lenders, even as it gives borrowers a pass on paying back their loans.” Read full column

Green Energy’s Too Expensive