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March 2 First News: Villareal Takes City Council District 1 Seat; Vigil Is Newest Municipal Judge

As predicted, the majority of voters in Tuesday’s municipal election came from District 1 on Santa Fe's north side, where Renee Villareal beat out three rivals to become one of Santa Fe’s newest city councilors.  None of the other council races in town had more than one candidate.  In District 4 on the city’s southside, Mike Harris will be the other new face on the city council. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that about 1 in four people registered to vote actually cast ballots. Villareal, a former city planning commission member, took the race with 65.5 percent.  Her closest competitor was former city councilor Frank Montano, with 13-percent.  In the race for municipal judge, current pro-tem Judge Virginia Vigil won with almost 56-percent of the vote, while the other candidate, Ignacio Gallegos, won 44.3-percent.  The winners will be sworn in at City Hall on Monday night.                           

A former behavioral health provider in southern New Mexico is suing a company that once managed the state's Medicaid dollars. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that La Frontera's lawsuit alleges United Healthcare engineered a cover-up of its own failings by accusing 15 nonprofit providers of fraud in 2013. The lawsuit accuses United Healthcare and its subsidiary OptumHealth New Mexico of fraud and misrepresentation that led to La Frontera losing millions of dollars.  The company seeks more than 33-million dollars in damages. Arizona-based La Frontera had been brought in three years ago to replace some of the nonprofits that were accused of overbilling and possible fraud. Its lawsuit focuses on the first six months that it operated in southern New Mexico. Optum New Mexico’s spokeswoman said the company couldn't comment on the pending litigation.               

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has signed a bill aimed at toughening penalties for drunken driving offenses. Martinez signed the measure during a visit Tuesday to New Mexico State Police headquarters in Albuquerque. The measure makes it a second-degree felony to be convicted of eight or more DWIs, meaning tougher sentencing guidelines would be imposed. The measure also substantially increases penalties for convicted drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes. The proposal was part of the Republican governor's overall public safety agenda this past legislative session. Martinez accused the Legislature of not being tough enough. Some Democrats had questioned why New Mexico needed tougher sentencing guidelines and said state officials should be turning their attention to rehabilitation and job creation. 

An Albuquerque family has filed a wrongful-death claim against that city, arguing their legal team's analysis of evidence doesn't back up officer accounts that a teenager pointed a gun at an officer before she was shot. The family's attorney reviewed police video, ballistics and other evidence. He questions police statements that 19-year old Mary Hawkes, who was a vehicle theft suspect, pointed a gun at Officer Jeremy Dear. That, police say prompted him to open fire, which the lawsuit by the girl’s family, disputes. Hawkes' death in 2014 came amid heightened scrutiny of shootings by Albuquerque police — happening just weeks after another shooting by police sparked protests and a federal investigation described a culture of excessive force among police.      

State and federal wildlife managers want to know what the public thinks about a proposal for restoring native Gila trout and other native fish to Whitewater Creek and its tributaries. Officials in the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico say the public will have through March 25 to comment on the plan. The plan’s goal is to restore the Gila trout to about 24 miles of steam in hopes of establishing a fishable population. The majority of the project would be within the Gila Wilderness. Under the plan, Gila trout and other native fish would be stocked after nonnative fish are removed. The proposal also calls for trail maintenance and reconstruction activities to restore public access to Whitewater Creek. Officials say erosion after a fire in the Gila several years ago damaged all of the trails that provide access to the creek.          

It was a good year for New Mexico's chile farmers. Statistics released Tuesday by state and federal agriculture officials show the acreage planted, the number of tons produced and the value of New Mexico's most well-known crop all increased in 2015. Officials say the value of chile production in 2015 was estimated at more than $41 million.  That’s up from $38.7 million the previous year. Chile used for processing accounted for most of the total, while the fresh crops came in at $7.5 million. A total of 66,700 tons were produced last year, marking the most since 2012 but not as much as the nearly 90,000 tons produced a decade ago. Since then production has fluctuated.