Senators demand the USDA fix its backlog of food distribution to Native American tribes - KUNM News, Associated Press
A group of bipartisan senators including New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich is demanding immediate action from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack after several tribal nations reported that a federal food distribution program they rely on has not fulfilled orders for months. In some cases, it has delivered expired food.
The federal program provides food assistance to 50,000 Native American families across the country.
Last spring, the USDA made the decision to use a single contractor to distribute food to Indian Reservations.
In a letter sent to Vilsack on Friday, the senators expressed concern that that those who rely on it are experiencing “extreme disruptions.”
The senators wrote that,“Participating households have not had consistent food deliveries for over four months,” and that, “This is unacceptable.”
Director of the Food Distribution for the Spirit Lake Nation, Mary Greene-Trottier said, “Imagine showing up at the grocery store during COVID or a winter blizzard, and the shelves are empty. That’s the feeling that they get.”
In a July letter to Secretary Vilsack, she and other tribal officials expressed skepticism that the remaining contractor, Paris Brothers Inc., would have enough time to transition into being the sole provider for food deliveries to dozens of tribal nations. The Kansas City, Missouri-based food wholesaler was given only four weeks to prepare for the increased workload, according to the letter.
In a statement, Paris Brothers Inc. said it is “actively addressing” the recent challenges.
The USDA has made $11 million in federal aid available and is helping the company scale up.
Tribal leaders say the change has increased food insecurity for some of the country's most impoverished communities.
Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office is interested in using AI chatbots to write crime reports - By Sean Murphy and Matt O'Brien Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Police officers are starting to use artificial intelligence to help write crime reports.
Pulling from the sounds of an officer's body camera, an AI tool sold by Axon is based on the same technology as ChatGPT. It can churn out the first draft of an incident report in seconds.
Officers who've tried it in Oklahoma City and other police departments are enthused about the time-saving technology.
Some prosecutors, police watchdogs and legal scholars have concerns about how it could alter a fundamental document in the criminal justice system that plays a role in who gets prosecuted or imprisoned.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is looking into the technology in hopes of cutting down on deputy paperwork, allowing for more time to be spent on policing.
Spokesperson Jayme Gonzales told the Journal that the sheriff’s office is still in the research phase and that testing the technology is still “well over a year out.”
Gonzales said deputies spend around 40% of their hours writing reports. He called the potential of AI doing that work a “game changer,” as long as the roll-out is done well.
The Albuquerque Police Department and New Mexico State Police, which both use Axon body-worn cameras, did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
Local DA’s office uses DNA analysis to create an image of a man whose remains are unidentified - El Paso Times, KUNM News
Investigators in Otero County are turning to new technology in hopes of solving a years-old cold case. New Mexico’s Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office has released an image of what a man whose remains were found in 2021 may have looked like.
The El Paso Times reports the DA’s office worked with Virginia-based ParabonNanolabs to create a model of the victims’ face using DNA and genealogical analysis.
The office says it’s unclear how old the person was when he died or how long he’d been deceased. The generated image approximates what he’d look like as a 40-year-old, which is around the middle of a range of ages he could have been.
The person may have been from New Mexico, surrounding states or California, according to the office.
Anyone who recognizes the individual in the image or has other information is encouraged to contact Special Agent Kyle Graham with the Otero County DA’s Office.
This website lets you compare health care costs in NM - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
If you’ve ever had a health issue and wondered how much it might cost to treat it, New Mexico state health officials have launched a website where you can find and compare costs that others have already paid for it.
It’s called the All Payer Claims Database.
It was introduced to all New Mexicans on Monday during the Legislative Health and Human Services interim committee.
For example, in New Mexico a COVID-19 test costs $33 on average but can cost up to $125, according to the database.
You can search the database for a specific medical treatment or by a specific provider. Add your zip code and you can see what the database says it would cost for anyone that lives in Gallup, Clovis, Mora or Chaparral. Really anywhere in the state.
The website’s purpose is to make medical billing more transparent and identify trends about how much people are using and paying for health care. Some lawmakers hope the data behind the website will help them control health care costs in the future.
The database contains data from 160 million health insurance claims made by nearly 1.5 million people in New Mexico between January 2020 and March 2024, according to a presentation by the state’s Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen on Monday.
State law requires providers like clinics and hospitals, and payers like insurance companies to hand over the data to state officials.
Providers can use the database to compare themselves to others, insurance companies can use it to compare their costs to a statewide average, and policymakers can use it to understand how putting public money in a particular part of the health care system will work, Allen told the committee.
CONTROLLING HEALTH CARE COSTS
While the public-facing portal tries to answer more simple and straightforward questions, the full database is much more detailed and could be made available to the committee to help them make decisions, Allen said.
Sen. Martin Hickey (D-Albuquerque) asked Allen if he’s sharing the data with the Legislative Finance Committee, which controls the state budget.
He asked Legislative Finance Committee officials to ensure they get all of the raw data from the state department of health, so they can eventually figure out what’s driving the rising costs of health care and try to find ways to control it.
Hickey pointed to the Oregon Health Authority’s Sustainable Health Care Cost Growth Target Program as an example, where Oregon officials can penalize insurance companies or providers whose prices increase by more than a target rate of 3% per year.
“We want to be sure that we’re doing everything we can to put the spotlight on costs in care so that we can, as in other states, succeed in getting toward that 3%,” Hickey said. “But LFC has to have that data. They have the talent to be able to do the analysis.”
New Mexico’s Department of Health isn’t sharing the data with state finance officials at the LFC, Allen said, “but we should be able to.”
Hickey pressed Allen to commit to sharing the data, and Allen said it would be “subject to conclude an appropriate data use agreement.”
Lawmakers need to do their own analysis of how public money is being spent so they can validate it and make policy from it, Hickey said, “and not just depend on the executive’s interpretation of it.”
YEARS IN THE MAKING
The New Mexico data come from 21 private insurance companies and the publicly run health coverage systems Medicare and Medicaid, according to the presentation to lawmakers on Monday.
“I know from previous discussions, you all have been thinking and working on this for a really long time,” said Allen.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed him to the post last year.
The New Mexico Department of Health wrote an initial plan for the database in 2016, the presentation states. The Legislature set aside money to build the database in 2019, and state agencies asked for the data from providers and insurance companies in 2023.
Allen said his agency will be working to get more complete data, and update the public portal to add a Spanish version.
The database does not include claims made under federal public health insurance, employer-sponsored insurance, workers’ compensation, charity, self-paid or uninsured.
There have been other attempts by lawmakers to make health costs more transparent.
In 2019, the House of Representatives passed a bill that was intended to prevent patients from getting charged for “out-of-network” care even when they went somewhere in their insurance network.
That bill died before it could reach a vote in the Senate.
BernCo launches dashboard to track water levels - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
Wondering about water levels below the ground’s surface around Bernalillo County and how they’ve changed over time?
County officials on Monday launched an interactive tool that allows the public to view up-to-date water level measurements at wells across the county.
Kristen Ferguson, a county spokesperson, said water professionals, well drillers, developers and homeowners will find the dashboard useful. She said she also hopes the dashboard will raise awareness of water conservation opportunities.
“Community members, including domestic well owners, have expressed interest in increasing the accessibility of these data and having data that is as up to date as possible,” Ferguson said.
“The dashboard is a valuable addition to BernCo’s Natural Resource Services’ ongoing efforts to provide transparent and accessible water level data,” according to a county news release.
Explore the Bernalillo County Groundwater Public Dashboard here.
According to the release, the dashboard aims to:
- Improve access to groundwater data and the public’s understanding of groundwater resources within the county.
- Encourage awareness of natural resources and promote the protection and conservation of those resources.
- Modernize water data and establish the public availability of water measurement information, current and historical.
The dashboard is part of the county’s compliance with New Mexico’s 2019 Water Data Act, which mandates that local governments make water data available to the public. Ferguson said the data was previously shared in spreadsheet form on the New Mexico Water Data Initiative website database.
The dashboard works on mobile phones and desktop computers, the release states, but the desktop version provides more robust functionality.
The site includes a map of well locations and a list of wells by name. Clicking on a well allows the viewer to see its water level over time. The list also shows the elevation, permit numbers, and current depth of each well.
Another button allows the viewer to filter the list of wells by which aquifers serve them.
The dashboard also includes a link to the New Mexico Groundwater Dashboard, which has information on 2,323 wells across the state.
According to the county’s 2021-2025 water conservation plan more than 300 wells are monitored up to three times a year. The plan says trend analysis concludes that water levels in the East Mountains area are declining at an average rate of almost 2 feet per year on average, with some wells declining by 6 to 10 feet per year.
It’s difficult to accurately estimate the number of domestic wells, the plan says, because many wells lack permits.
Kroger and Albertsons defend merger plan in federal court against US regulators' objections - By Dee-Ann Durbin and Claire Rush, Associated Press Writers
Supermarket chain Albertsons told a federal judge Monday that it might have to lay off workers, close stores and even exit some markets if its planned merger with Kroger isn't allowed to proceed.
The two companies proposed what would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history in October 2022. But the Federal Trade Commission sued to prevent the $24.6 billion deal, alleging it would eliminate competition and raise grocery prices in a time of already high food price inflation.
In the three-week hearing that opened Monday, the FTC is seeking a preliminary injunction that would block the merger while its complaint goes before an in-house administrative law judge.
"This lawsuit is part of an effort aimed at helping Americans feed their families," the FTC's chief trial counsel, Susan Musser, said in her opening arguments on Monday.
Musser said Kroger and Albertsons currently compete in 22 states, closely matching each other on price, quality, private label products and services like store pickup. Shoppers benefit from that competition, she said, and will lose those benefits if the merger is allowed to proceed.
Customers also are wary of the merger, the lawyer said. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, for example, 278 shoppers wrote to the FTC to express their concerns about a combined Kroger and Albertsons, which would own five of the city's eight supermarkets.
But Kroger and Albertsons insist the FTC's objections don't take into account the rising competition in the grocery sector. Walmart's grocery sales totaled $247 billion last year compared to $63 billion in 2003, for example; Costco's sales have grown more than 400% in the same period.
"Consumers are blurring the line of where they buy groceries," Albertsons attorney Enu Mainigi said.
Mainigi said Albertsons' customers now spend 88 cents of every dollar at competitors that range from Aldi and Trader Joe's to Dollar General. Albertsons can't compete with larger rivals that have national scale, but joining forces with Kroger would help it do that, she said.
Kroger attorney Matthew Wolf also defended the proposed merger.
"The savings that come from the merger are obvious and intuitive. Kroger may have the best price on Pepsi. Albertsons may have the best price on Coke. Put them together, they have the best price on both," Wolf said.
The two sides also disagree on Kroger and Albertsons' plan to sell 579 stores in places where their stores overlap. The buyer would be C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands.
The FTC says C&S is ill-prepared to take on those stores. Laura Hall, the FTC's senior trial counsel, cited internal documents that indicated C&S executives were skeptical about the quality of the stores they would get and may want the option to sell or close them.
But Wolf said C&S has the experience and infrastructure to run the divested stores and would be the eighth-largest supermarket company in the U.S., if the merger plan goes through.
The commission also alleges that workers' wages and benefits would decline if Kroger and Albertsons no longer compete with each other.
Before the hearing, several members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International union gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland to speak out against the proposed deal.
"Enough is enough," said Carol McMillian, a bakery manager at a Kroger-owned grocery store in Colorado. "We can no longer stand by and allow corporate greed that puts profit before people. Our workers, our communities and our customers deserve better."
The labor union also expressed concern that potential store closures could create so-called food and pharmacy "deserts" for consumers.
For people in many communities across the U.S., when a grocery store shutters, "their only source of food actually is walking to the nearest gas station," said Kim Cordova, the president of UFCW Local 7, which represents over 23,000 members in Colorado and Wyoming.
Mainigi argued the deal could actually bolster union jobs, since many of Kroger's and Albertsons' competitors, like Walmart or Costco, have few unionized workers.
U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson is expected to hear from around 40 witnesses, including the CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons, before deciding whether to issue the preliminary injunction. If she does decide to temporarily block the merger, the FTC's in-house hearings are scheduled to begin Oct. 1.
But Nelson's decision will seal the merger's fate, according to Wolf. He said the FTC's in-house administrative process is so long and cumbersome that merger deals almost always fall apart before it's through. Earlier this month, Kroger sued the FTC, alleging the agency's internal proceedings were unconstitutional and saying it wants the merger's merits decided in federal court.
The attorneys general of Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming all joined the case on the FTC's side. Washington and Colorado filed separate cases in state courts seeking to block the merger.
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith's and Harris Teeter. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw's. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people.
Social platform X edits AI chatbot after election officials warn that it spreads misinformation - By Christine Fernando, Associated Press
The social media platform X has made a change to its AI chatbot after five secretaries of state warned it was spreading election misinformation.
Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to Elon Musk complaining that the platform's AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
The secretaries of state requested that the chatbot instead direct users who ask election-related questions to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Before listing responses to election-related questions, the chatbot now says, "For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit Vote.gov."
Both websites are "trustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials," the five secretaries of state said in a shared statement.
"We appreciate X's action to improve their platform and hope they continue to make improvements that will ensure their users have access to accurate information from trusted sources in this critical election year," they said.
Grok is available only to subscribers of the premium versions of X. But the five secretaries of state who signed the letter said election misinformation from Grok has been shared across multiple social media platforms, reaching millions of people. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said. The platform did not respond to a request for comment.
The change promoting a link to an official voting website does not seem to address Grok's ability to create misleading AI-generated images related to elections. People have been using the tool to flood the platform with fake images of candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Grok debuted last year for X premium and premium plus subscribers and was touted by Musk as a "rebellious" AI chatbot that will answer "spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems."
Social media platforms have faced mounting scrutiny for their role in spreading misinformation, including about elections. The letter also warned that inaccuracies are to be expected for AI products, especially chatbots such as Grok that are based on large language models.
Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it to X, watchdog groups have raised concerns over a surge in hate speech and misinformation being amplified on the platform, as well as cuts to the staff that had been moderating content.
Experts say the moves represent a regression from progress made by social media platforms attempting to better combat political disinformation after the 2016 U.S. presidential contest and could precipitate a worsening misinformation landscape ahead of this year's November elections.
NM is failing to use Medicaid dollars to fund home visiting programs, according to recent LFC meeting – Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
Lawmakers at a recent Legislative Finance Committee meeting pointed out that enrollment is down for the state’s home visiting programs, especially for those paid for with Medicaid dollars.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports home visiting connects families with regular planned visits with a child development or health expert in hopes of improving child well-being and preventing mistreatment. Any family with a child under five, or who is expecting a baby, is eligible.
While just 400 families are expected to be served this year, Over 15-thousand children will likely be born under Medicaid.
Secretary of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department Elizabeth Groginsky says her agency is serving more than 400 families, but that the state doesn’t have a strong Medicaid claiming system. That’s resulted in $18-to-20 million dollars being left on the table.
The department is now establishing deadlines for providers to ensure those who aren’t eligible for Medicaid reimbursement use a new system by December 1st.
Lawmakers expressed skepticism, since the process of becoming a Medicaid provider is tricky, and highlighted departmental staffing issues, saying the home visiting division has seen an “entire turnover.”
Groginsky committed to having a plan to provide assistance and training to providers to meet a goal of serving 15-hundred patients.
UNM Hospital to host community listening session in International District - By Taylor Velasquez, KUNM News
The University of New Mexico hospital will hold a Community Listening session in the International District Monday night. Residents of Bernalillo County’s District 3 will have the opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns, and suggestions with hospital representatives since a vote to determine if the hospital’s mill levy will be extended will happen in November.
The mill levy is an important piece of funding that supports the hospital in providing comprehensive healthcare to the community.
The hospital will have translators available during the event so all residents can share their feedback that will help the hospital allocate funding to resources that are helpful to the community and to enhance the patient experience.
CEO of the hospital Kate Becker said, “We understand the importance of language access in ensuring that all patients receive the care they deserve, and we are committed to making our services accessible to everyone”.
District 3 Commissioner Adriann Barboa said the listening session is a vital opportunity for residents to share their concerns in order to shape healthcare to better serve them in the future.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the International District Library.