The New Mexico attorney general's office is seeking forensic auditors to help with the investigation into allegations of fraud and abuse involving nonprofits that provided behavioral health services to needy New Mexicans. Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Wednesday in Espanola that he has issued a request for proposals in hopes of speeding up the investigation. Balderas' office is continuing to investigate 12 of 15 nonprofit providers as a result of an audit done by the state Human Services Department in 2013. That audit alleged $36 million in state Medicaid funding was mishandled by the providers. That prompted Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's administration to freeze Medicaid payments to the providers while the attorney general's office launched an inquiry. With more resources, Balderas says the investigation could be complete in six months.
Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy—a major opponent and critic of Public Service Company’s plan to replace the power to be lost when two of four units at the San Juan Generating station close soon—today is filing its response to PNM’s request for more time. MarielNanasi, Executive Director of New Energy Economy says the Public Regulation Commission has given the PNM plenty of time to get its plan in place. *****061015-Nanasi-1 :33***** Nanasi adds there are other issues including high costs associated with PNM’s proposal with enormous negative economic impacts for rate payers. And, she says, that doesn’t take into account the negative health, environment and climate impacts.
A New Mexico man accused of fatally shooting a Rio Rancho police officer during a traffic stop has been indicted on federal firearms charges. U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez announced Thursday that a federal grand jury indicted 28-year-old Andrew Romero for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. A criminal complaint says Romero was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition since he previously has been convicted of multiple felonies, including voluntary manslaughter. Romero is facing multiple charges, including murder, in the death of Officer Gregg Benner last month. If convicted, he could face a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. According to a criminal complaint, Romero acknowledged shooting at Benner but says he didn't know whether he struck the officer.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation is close to wrapping-up an update to its Statewide Long-Range Multimodal Transportation Plan. The long-range plan is a blueprint that will guide future decision-making by the agency. The draft plan has been the subject of numerous public meetings and opportunities for citizen input across New Mexico. One of those meetings took place in Santa Fe this week. If you missed it and want to review and comment on the plan, there’s still time. Claude Morelli, the Project Manager for the Plan, says the public comment period runs until June 26th. *****061115-Morelli-1 :32***** Morelli says once the public comment is collected, the final step is approval by the State Transportation Commission at its meeting in Los Lunas next month.
While most of the rest of the United States is seeing a reduction in the housing foreclosure rates, New Mexico's foreclosure rate remained steady in the past year and still ranks in the top ten. A new report by CoreLogic shows New Mexico’s foreclosure rate is just over two-percent, or the sixth worst in the country. Three of our neighboring states have among the lowest rates in the country. Arizona, Colorado and Utah sporting foreclosure numbers of less than one-percent.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81, with a slight chance for showers this afternoon. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 30-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms, the overnight low down to 54. Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy, with the chance for precipitation climbing to 50-percent, tomorrow’s high 77.