Ex-Senator Clings To Campaign Funds Amid Scandal – Associated Press
Former New Mexico Sen. Phil Griego is keeping a political campaign account open even as he fights criminal fraud and bribery allegations linked to his tenure as a lawmaker.
Griego filed a campaign finance report this week with state election officials that shows no contributions or expenditures since six months ago, when his account had a $42,000 balance.
New Mexico politicians can keep campaign accounts open for years on end without actually running for office as long as they file periodic reports.
Griego resigned from the Senate in March 2015 after acknowledging constitutional violations. The Secretary of State's Office has flagged several campaign account expenditures by Griego last year for possible violations.
Viki Harrison of Common Cause New Mexico says the situation "makes a joke out of our elective process."
In New Mexico, Appointments Times Lag For Medicaid Patients – The Associated Press
State government analysts say low-income Medicaid patients in New Mexico are waiting on average from three weeks to nearly two months to get an appointment with a doctor.
The Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday published a survey on appointments for new patients enrolled in Medicaid. It says the results and other studies raise concerns about barriers to health care access among the poor and disabled.
Medicaid enrollment has grown by two-thirds in the state's main metropolitan area since Republican Gov. Susana Martinez agreed to expand coverage in 2014 under the federal Affordable Care Act. In some rural areas, enrollment has doubled.
Recent state reports show that Medicaid patients are increasingly resorting to hospital emergency rooms for relatively minor conditions that can be treated at urgent care clinics or doctor offices.
Paramedic Accused Of Stealing, Using Dead Man's Credit Card – The Associated Press
Authorities say a New Mexico paramedic stole a debit card from a man getting treatment and used it to spend more than $11,000 after the patient died.
Police arrested Michael John Harcharik after Allan Pearson's daughter noticed multiple purchases on her father's account, including of a riding lawn mower.
Police believe Harcharik stole the card when paramedics went to Pearson's Santa Fe home after he was found unresponsive March 25.
Rebecca Pearson says she'd written her father's PIN number on his debit card.
Harcharik was arrested Monday on suspicion of theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Joseph Walsh, an attorney who represented Harcharik during an initial court appearance, declined to comment Wednesday on the allegations.
A call to a phone number listed under Harcharik's name wasn't immediately returned.
Company Proposes Nuclear Waste Storage In New Mexico – The Associated Press
An energy equipment company has taken steps toward opening a long-term storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico.
The News-Sun reports that Holtec International has submitted a letter of intent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about its bid to open a $5 billion Consolidated Interim Storage Facility in Lea County.
Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb says the formal notice to the NRC is the latest development in a years-long process.
Holtec is proposing a long-term facility that could have a lifespan of 100 years. Company officials have said they anticipate initial licensing for the first 40 years.
The company's letter to the NRC says it hopes to submit a site-specific license application by the end of November.
Small Plane Makes Emergency Landing On I-40 Near Tucumcari – The Associated Press
Authorities say a small plane made an emergency landing on Interstate 40 in eastern New Mexico.
State Police say no one and no damage was reported.
Circumstances of the emergency landing aren't immediately known.
The plane was moved into the highway's median until it can be removed.
Audit Of Governor's Social Fund Notes Oddities – Associated Press
An annual independent audit of finances at the office of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has taken note of a peculiar, century-old fund used for social events that is off limits from review.
State Auditor Tim Keller highlighted results Tuesday of the independent audit that shows excess balances in the governor's so-called contingency fund are rolled over from year to year without legal justification.
Public accounting firm Axiom LLC was chosen by the governor's office to perform the audit for fiscal year 2015. It says an excess balance of $66,000 was rolled over into the current fiscal year and recommended unspent funds be returned to central state coffers instead.
A spokesman for the governor's office says no audit has raised the issue before and that the governor follows longstanding precedent.
Daniels Sworn In As New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice – Associated Press
Charles W. Daniels is the newest chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court.
Daniels was sworn for a two-year-term Monday. The chief justice serves as both a judge and an administrator, presiding at hearings and conferences but also overseeing personnel, budgets and general operations at all state courts. The lead justice also advocates for the judiciary before the legislature.
Justice Barbara J. Vigil had held the title since 2014.
Daniels joined the court in 2007 and also served as chief justice from 2010 to 2012. Before joining the court, he worked for 38 years as a lawyer and taught at The University of New Mexico Law School.
Border Patrol Union Local Ratifies Trump Endorsement – El Paso Times, Associated Press
A local union of Border Patrol agents narrowly voted down a motion to break from the National Border Patrol Council's endorsement of presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The El Paso Times reports Local 1929 in El Paso voted 14-13 Tuesday night to support the union's national endorsement and reject a proposal to take a neutral stance in the presidential election.
The GOP hopeful has drawn criticism for a pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and launch mass deportations of an estimated 11 million immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.
The local represents about 1,700 agents — about 10 percent of the union's total membership — in the Border Patrol's El Paso sector, which covers New Mexico and West Texas.
Senate GOP To Subpoena EPA Chief In Colorado Mine Spill – Associated Press
Senate Republicans are vowing to issue a subpoena to force the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to appear at a field hearing next week in Phoenix about a toxic wastewater spill that fouled rivers in three Western states and on lands belonging to two Native American tribes.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso said the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will vote Wednesday on a plan to subpoena EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Barrasso chairs the Indian Affairs panel, which is conducting an April 22 hearing on the 3-million gallon spill at Colorado's abandoned Gold King Mine. The Aug. 5 spill contaminated rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, as well as in the Navajo Nation and Southern Ute Reservation.
A federal investigation said an EPA cleanup accidentally triggered the spill.
Attorney General Wants Methodone Clinics To Report Patient Use – Albuquerque Journal
Attorney General Hector Balderas joined 32 other state attorneys general seeking regulations that would require methadone clinics to track patients getting narcotic painkillers.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Balderas sent a letter to the Health and Human Services Secretary urging that federal officials require methadone clinics to report patients to the state.
In New Mexico, prescribers must report patients who receive prescriptions for opioids to a database, but methadone clinics are exempted from that requirement under federal law.
New Mexico had the second highest rate of drug overdose deaths in 2014. West Virginia was number one.
New Mexico Man To Keep Road Kill Mountain Lion As Trophy – KOB-TV, Albuquerque Journal
State officials are letting a New Mexico man take a road kill mountain lion to a taxidermist.
KOB-TV in Albuquerque reports New Mexico Game and Fish Department recently gave the OK for Arcy Vigil to keep the big cat after he found it dead along Interstate 25 in northern New Mexico.
State officials took the cat after he called to report it. Officials say the cat appeared had died from injuries from a vehicle.
New Mexico law prohibits residents from picking up a trophy animal without reporting to authorities first.
Vigil says after getting the cat back he took it to a taxidermist and will likely put it on a full mount.
Ex-Navajo Lawmaker To Be Sentenced In Tribal Slush Fund Case – Associated Press
A sentencing hearing is set Wednesday for a former Navajo Nation lawmaker who pleaded guilty to misusing tribal funds.
Young Jeff Tom is the first of more than a dozen former and current lawmakers to be sentenced in criminal cases stemming from a years-long investigation into the Tribal Council's use of discretionary funds.
Tom had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in February. He faces up to six months in jail and probation. He also could be ordered to repay up to $13,750, the amount he was accused of misusing.
Tom said in court documents that he conspired with five former colleagues to provide tribal funds to each other's family members, even though he knew it was illegal.
He'll be sentenced in the tribe's district court in Dillon.