Officials at the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department are firing back after the state auditor raised questions about senior-level officials inappropriately exerting influence over tax matters. Department spokesman Ben Cloutier says the allegations are nothing more than unsubstantiated claims being driven by disgruntled former employees. He also accused State Auditor Tim Keller, a Democrat, of playing politics. Keller announced Thursday that he forwarded allegations of wrongdoing to the state attorney general's office. Keller didn't release many details, but his office looked into whether officials used their positions to pressure employees to obtain differential treatment for a certain taxpayer. Other questions included whether these actions were taken to protect a high-level official from individual liability stemming from previous work for the taxpayer and whether the state lost revenue as a result. KSFR spoke with Keller yesterday. He says findings from his initial investigation are troubling. INS KELLER-1 :18 New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller.
State Attorney General Hector Balderas says he doesn't want New Mexico communities to be pitted against one another as water resources dwindle and an interstate legal challenge over the Rio Grande looms. So Balderas announced Thursday during a visit to Las Cruces that his office is partnering with the Water Resources Research Institute at New Mexico State University. Balderas says the goal is to be more innovative when dealing with water planning and the use of water in general. He also wants to find a reasonable resolution to the fight with Texas over the Rio Grande but still protect the rights of New Mexico citizens. As part of the partnership, the attorney general's office is investing $1 million from its consumer protection fund in the water research institute.
A man awaiting trial in the fatal shooting of a Rio Rancho police officer has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for violating his probation. Prosecutors say 28-year-old Andrew Romero was given the maximum sentence Thursday. They say Romero has a lengthy criminal history that includes a manslaughter conviction. He originally was charged with receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle in November 2013. Court records show Romero also has faced charges of drug trafficking and armed robbery. Romero could get life in prison without parole if convicted in the May 25 shooting death of Officer Gregg Benner. He's pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and nine other charges. At the time of the shooting, Romero was wanted for failing to participate in a court-ordered drug treatment program.
The New Mexico Court of Appeals has ruled that workers aren't entitled to overtime pay under New Mexico's minimum wage law for travel between their homes and job sites. The case involved workers who were based in Artesia but who traveled at least an hour a day to and from job sites in the Permian Basin oil field in southeastern New Mexico. The Court of Appeals' June 25 decision upheld a trial judge's pretrial ruling in favor of the workers' former employer, J.W. Drilling Inc. The workers contended they were entitled to overtime because the travel required them to work over 40 hours a week. The appellate court rejected the argument, ruling that it would expand the state minimum wage to include requiring employers to compensate workers for travel time.
The New Mexico Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of an injured worker in a medical marijuana case. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the recent decision marks the third time in a year the court has sided with a medical marijuana patient in a workers' compensation claim. According to the ruling issued in late June, a patient in the medical marijuana program who is injured on the job must be reimbursed by an employer for the expense of marijuana used for treatment. Appellate Judge James Wechsler wrote that a workers' compensation judge was correct in ruling that American General Media, which owns several radio stations in New Mexico, had to reimburse Sandra Lewis of Albuquerque. The company had argued that the state's medical marijuana law created a conflict with federal law.
Federal officials will host a series of public meetings this summer on the U.S. government's coal program after criticism that corporations are profiting off publicly-owned reserves of the fuel at the expense of taxpayers. Thursday's announcement comes as coal companies and their allies in Congress have tried to thwart the Obama administration's initial attempts to change longstanding industry practices. That includes recent legislation from Montana U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke that would block an Interior Department proposal to overhaul coal royalty payments. Under rules in place since the 1980s, companies can sell coal to affiliates and pay royalties to the government on that price, then turn around and sell the coal for more overseas. One of the public meetings will take place in Farmington on August 20th. Other public meetings are planned in Washington, D.C., Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
In national news…
Today, the confederate flag that has flown in front of the South Carolina Statehouse since 1961 will be taken down. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley says she's proud of how her state responded to the shooting deaths of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston last month. Haley told NBC's "Today" show Friday morning that she'll be thinking of the shooting victims as the flag is removed at a 10 a.m. ceremony. Haley said South Carolinians honor tradition and history but the Confederate flag belongs in a museum where people can honor it appropriately. Haley said: "No one should ever drive by the Statehouse and feel pain. No one should ever drive by the Statehouse and feel like they don't belong."
American Samoa stands as the only U.S. territory to hold out against the recent Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage. But as the Pacific island's attorney general reviews the decision, legal observers and gay rights advocates are saying it should go into effect immediately. As of Thursday, no one has applied for a same sex marriage license in American Samoa, according to the island's Office of Vital Statistics. But Rose Cuison Villazor, a professor at University of California, Davis' law school and an expert on territorial law, says the lack of marriage license applications by same-sex couples shouldn't be taken to mean no one in American Samoa desires gay marriage.
And the weather in Santa Fe: Chance of thunderstorms today is 40%, the high today, 77 degrees. Tonight, that chance of thunderstorms continues, with an overnight low in the mid-50s. On Saturday and Sunday, the chance of rain drops to 30%, dropping to 20% on Monday.