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Headlines: More Nonprofits Sue Over Medicaid Funding, Settlement Helps Navajos ...

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More Nonprofits Sue Over Medicaid Funding Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press

Three more nonprofits forced out of the behavioral health business when their Medicaid funding was cut off have sued the Human Services Department and the state.

The Albuquerque Journal reports The Counseling Center, Easter Seals El Mirador, and Border Area Mental Health Services filed lawsuits last week, bringing the total number of lawsuits alleging the state violated providers' rights to 10.

The nonprofits, which provided services to the mentally ill and addicted, say they hadn't been told what they did wrong.

The department says an audit of 15 providers identified more than $36 million in overbilling. The attorney general finished investigating three providers and has cleared them of fraud.

The first seven lawsuits are now pending in federal court, which is likely where the three lawsuits will end up.

Settlement Over Coal Plant Permits To Benefit NavajosThe Associated Press

The owners of a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation have reached a settlement over complaints that they flouted rules for permits and didn't have the best pollution controls.

The settlement filed Wednesday in federal court includes no admission of guilt. The operator of the Four Corners Power Plant, Arizona Public Service Co., says the upgrades were part of routine maintenance and didn't require permits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disagreed.

The settlement includes $6.7 million that will benefit Navajos living near the northwestern New Mexico power plant and a $1.5 million civil penalty.

Federal officials estimated it would cost $160 million for additional pollution controls under the settlement, but APS says the actual cost above work already required by the EPA is about $30 million.

A judge still must sign off on the settlement.

New Mexico Balloon Fiesta Gets Boost From Canon – The Associated Press & The Albuquerque Journal

Camera maker Canon will be sponsoring the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the first time in more than 20 years.

The Albuquerque Journal reported Tuesday that Canon will be backing the annual event that draws tens of thousands of spectators.

Fiesta organizers made the announcement at a news conference.

Canon USA executive Doris Higginbotham says she was won over after attending her first fiesta last year.

The company has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement.

Fiesta spokesman Tom Garrity says the nine-day fiesta hasn't had a huge sponsor since 2001, when Kodak withdrew.

Canon was the main sponsor from 1980 through 1994.

Canon's involvement will include new events such as a photo contest and interactive displays on how to use their products.

Al Pacino Coming To New Mexico For Take On Salomé – The Associated Press & The Santa Fe New Mexican

Al Pacino is coming to New Mexico with two film productions centered on Oscar Wilde's play Salomé.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the star of The Godfather trilogy will appear onstage in Santa Fe for an interview in tandem with screenings of his documentary Wilde Salomé and Salomé. The latter is a filmed version of the stage play.

Pacino's July 19 visit to the Center for Contemporary Arts coincides with The Santa Fe Opera's production of Richard Strauss' operatic adaptation of Salomé, which premieres July 18.

Wilde wrote Salomé — based on the biblical tale of the woman who agreed to perform the sensual dance of the seven veils for her stepfather, King Herod, in return for the beheading of John the Baptist — in 1891.

Report: New Mexico Needs To Curb Medicaid CostsThe Associated Press

Legislative analysts are warning that the price tag for providing health care to low-income New Mexicans will top more than $1 billion in state general funds by 2020 and steps need to be taken to curb costs.

Analysts with the Legislative Finance Committee released their findings Wednesday during a meeting in Albuquerque.

After a lengthy review of costs related to the state's Centennial Care Medicaid program, it's unclear whether participants are receiving more or less care.

More than 216,000 people have been added to the Medicaid rolls in recent years, bringing the total to nearly 800,000. That's more than double the number a decade ago.

Costs also have doubled, and the report says they're expected to grow by another $273 million in general funds in less than five years.

Lawsuit: New Mexico AG Staffer Bullied Nonprofit - Russell Contreras, Associated Press

A lawsuit says a New Mexico Attorney General staffer bullied nonprofit employees and harassed a female worker on social media while using the name "Mr. Smooth."

Court papers filed Monday in Santa Fe District Court claim Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Casares Owens tried to control the day-to-day operations of the United South Broadway Corp. and prevented staff from doing outreach on foreclosure prevention.

The lawsuit also says Owens invited a female employee for drinks and tried to "friend" her on Facebook while other staffers felt intimidated.

Owens heads an initiative on homeowner consumer protection following a national settlement on mortgage loans.

Attorney General Hector Balderas says the lawsuit is based on frivolous allegations against his predecessor.

The lawsuit comes as Balderas is seeking to audit the nonprofit, which receives public funds.

DEA Asked To Explain Cash SeizureAlbuquerque Journal

Federal officials want more information about a cash seizure from an African-American man that took place in April when his Amtrak train stopped in Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham and two other members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee want to know more about why federal narcotics agents seized $16,000 from 22-year-old Joseph Rivers, who was on his way to Los Angeles.

He was not charged with a crime. But agents seized the money because they said they believed that it was somehow linked to narcotics trafficking. Rivers said he was on his way to LA from Detroit to make a music video with the money, a combination of his savings and gifts from relatives. He said he was the only passenger singled out for a search by DEA agents and the only African-American on his portion of the train.

Lujan Grisham and fellow Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee and John Conyers Jr., the ranking minority member, asked the DEA in a letter this week for more information about the stop and to answer their concerns that it might have involved racial profiling.

Ex-New Jersey Police Officials Part Of Albuquerque Monitor – Associated Press

Former New Jersey and Pittsburgh police officials are part of a court-appointed independent monitor team overseeing Albuquerque police reform.

Independent monitor James Ginger introduced the team Tuesday, which also includes a community activist from Washington, D.C.

In January, federal officials and the city selected Ginger to lead a team to monitor a settlement agreement to overhaul the Albuquerque Police Department.

Ginger and his team will be responsible for independently assessing progress on the agreement and will report on changes to a federal judge. They will have access to documents, personnel, facilities and other information related to the settlement and will engage with officers and community members.

The police department, serving a city of 560,000 people, has faced scrutiny for more than 40 police shootings since 2010.

Ex-Belen Policeman Sentenced For Excessive Force In Arrest – Associated Press

A former Belen police detective has been sentenced to five years of probation and must forfeit his law enforcement certification for using excessive force during a 2012 arrest.

Prosecutors say 42-year-old John Lytle is precluded from working or seeking future employment as a law enforcement officer in any capacity as part of his plea agreement Tuesday.

Lytle was accused of violating a man's civil rights by assaulting him on March 15, 2012.

Lytle admitted that he repeatedly struck the victim, who was handcuffed and compliant during the entire course of the investigative stop.

At one point during the stop, Lytle pulled the handcuffed victim from the back of a police squad car, threw him to the ground and struck him again.

The man suffered injuries to his face and torso.

New Mexico Looks To Impose Requirements For Food Stamps Santa Fe New Mexican, Associated Press

Gov. Susana Martinez's administration has proposed a return to old rules that would expand work, training and job-search requirements for low-income New Mexicans to qualify for food stamps.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports rules proposed by the Human Services Department would require parents of children older than 6 to participate in up to 80 hours a month of specified activities. That could include community service work.

Rules that tie food assistance to activities such as job searches and training are currently imposed on most single, able-bodied adults age 18 to 50. That would be expanded to include 16- through 60-year-olds.

More than one-fifth of New Mexico residents participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. It's unclear how many of them would be affected by the changes.

Accidental Drowning Blamed In Death Of Ex-White House ChefAssociated Press

Authorities say the former White House chef whose body was found submerged in a stream in the mountains of northern New Mexico had drowned.

State medical investigators conducted an autopsy and determined that the nature of Walter Scheib's death was accidental.

State police officers say they found no indications of foul play or any suspicious circumstances.

Scheib's body was found Sunday night after a weeklong search that started when his girlfriend reported him missing. He had failed to return from a June 13 hike in the mountains near the Taos Ski Valley.

Scheib recently moved from Florida to Taos. He was 61.

Scheib spent 11 years leading the White House kitchen under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Watershed Projects To Get A Boost In New MexicoAssociated Press

Watershed restoration work will be getting a $3.5 million boost thanks to the capital spending legislation recently signed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

Martinez visited Rio Rancho on Monday to announce the additional funding.

She mentioned the one-two punch of wildfires and post-fire flooding, saying the work being done in vulnerable watersheds around the state will help make the areas more resilient and protect community water supplies.

The spending in this year's capital outlay bill adds to the $6.2 million secured as part of last year's legislation.

The money is going toward work on more than 12 square miles of high-priority watersheds on public lands. The areas have been identified in the state forest action plan.

The governor's office says six projects are under way and seven more are being planned.

State Health Officials To Test People Exposed To TB Patient Associated Press

New Mexico health officials say they have identified about 100 people in Curry County who may have been exposed to a man who tested positive for infectious tuberculosis.

The state health department made the announcement late Monday. The agency will be offering free screenings Tuesday and Wednesday to those who were potentially exposed.

Health Secretary Retta Ward says her department has contacted people with the most significant exposure to the patient. She says it typically takes hours of sharing the same airspace with an infected person to become infected.

Tuberculosis is an airborne disease caused by germs spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, talks, laughs or sings.

Symptoms include a persistent cough, night sweats, fever and unexplained weight loss.

New Mexico's Public Safety Agencies To Merge Las Cruces Sun-News, Associated Press

State police, motor transportation officers and special investigators will be part of a new streamlined New Mexico State Police Division starting in July.

It will mark the department's first statutory reorganization in its 28-year history.

The merger is the result of legislation passed during the regular session earlier this year and signed into law by Gov. Susana Martinez.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that under the merger, an estimated 150 commissioned officers assigned to the Motor Transportation Police Department and Special Investigations Division will be transferred out of the classified personnel system.

They'll be moved into the New Mexico State Police exempt personnel system, effectively becoming state police officers in the process.

State Police Chief Pete Kassetas says he believes the new management process will create greater equally among officers.