The managers of the agencies that provide health care and disability benefits to New Mexico veterans say wait times for medical appointments and disability claims have improved. Andrew Welch, New Mexico V-A Health Care System- director, and Chris Norton, regional director for the Veterans Benefits Administration, told the Albuquerque Journal that notable progress has been made in the past two years. Welch says as of last month, the average wait time for a primary care appointment was about seven days. Norton says his office has cut the wait time for veterans' disability claims from more than a year to about 130 days. An Associated Press report identified New Mexico as one of the worst- ranked states for delayed appointments.
With less revenues for the City of Santa Fe from gross receipts taxes a consistent fact since the great recession, city leaders face a number of tough decisions looking ahead to the task of crafting next year’s budget. And, in 2016, Mayor Javier Gonzales wants the city to stop transferring budget funds without a “legitimate transparent reason.” *****083115-Gonzales-2 :24***** Gonzales says with very limited funds left-over after public safety, the city’s parks and recreation centers as well as its senior centers, decisions will have to be made on whether to cut services or raise revenues. And, the mayor says he’ll begin the budget development process earlier next year. *****083115-Gonzales-1 :24***** Gonzales says the city budget for years has been both crafted and approved in a very short time span.
An Albuquerque police officer is suing the lieutenant who shot him in a botched undercover drug bust. An attorney for Jacob Grant, who says he will need medical care for the rest of his life, filed a lawsuit in state District Court last week against Lt. Greg Brachle, Albuquerque police and the city. In the lawsuit, Grant says Brachle shot him nine times during the January bust outside a McDonald's restaurant. The documents allege that Brachle continued firing despite pleas from a wounded Grant, who was crawling away from him. Grant also says Brachle has a history of erratic behavior. City Attorney Jessica Hernandez says officials take Grant's claims very seriously but they have a duty to defend themselves against the allegations. Grant is seeking an unknown amount of punitive damages.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent call for mass deportation of millions of immigrants is similar to a large-scale removal that many Mexican-American families faced 85 years ago. An estimated 500-thousand to one-million Mexican immigrants and Mexican- Americans were pushed out of the country during the 1930s repatriation, as the removal is sometimes called. Neighborhoods in cities such as Houston, San Antonio and Los Angeles became empty. Scholars say about 60 percent of those who left were American citizens. U.S. citizenship to those born in the United States is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
The latest scratchers from the New Mexico Lottery will feature Day of the Dead images created by Albuquerque artist Sean Wells. The Albuquerque Journal reports that Wells created six different paintings for the lottery. The colorful art shows skeletons doing quintessentially New Mexican things, like riding in a hot air balloon. Wells sells her prints at the Albuquerque Railyards on weekends and says she also teaches classes about the origins of the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. The Santa Fe-raised Wells says she didn't get her start drawing skeletons: growing up, she presented traditional retablo paintings at the Spanish market. Wells has also created images for Day of the Dead-themed beer label Cerveza de los Muertos, a Mexican craft beer sold internationally, and for wine label La Catrina Vino.
Santa Fe Weather: Partly sunny today and tomorrow with highs both days in the low-80s. Tonight: mostly cloudy with the overnight low, 50. There’s a 30-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms today through tomorrow.