By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
ALBUQUERQUE – Maybe Winston Brooks should just stay away from Twitter altogether.
The superintendent of the largest school district in New Mexico may have had his share of clashes with the state’s Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and her administration’s education chief in the past but on Tuesday he really stepped [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — In a wide-ranging case where allegations of $36 million of alleged fraud have been leveled against 15 New Mexico behavioral health providers, the state’s Human Services Department reauthorized Medicaid funding to two organizations on Monday — but only after they agreed to pay a combined $4.24 [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — Some eyebrows were raised — and maybe a few harrumphs uttered — in the past week as news came out that former  Gov. Bill Richardson has been named to the Governors Fiscal Leadership Council, a new group aimed at addressing the country’s fiscal crisis.
“We are honored [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — By the end of this month, Gov. Susana Martinez will decide on a replacement for a state representative who died in August.
“She will select someone from the candidates she has available to her at that time,” Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said in an email to New [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — Two major national labs based in New Mexico have so far avoided the brunt of the partial government shutdown that, by estimates, has affected 17 percent of the federal budget.
But absent a deal on Capitol Hill, it appears as though it will only be a matter [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — Three associates of former New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil have been convicted on charges related to $2.5 million in stolen voter education funds that were assigned to the state by the federal government.
But Vigil remains a free woman, unindicted in the federal case. State [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
Gov. Susana Martinez met with national Republican figures Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor earlier this week at a gathering sponsored by conservative political donors Charles and David Koch.
The twice-annual meeting sponsored by the Koch brothers was held at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort outside Albuquerque.
Politico reported that Rob Tappan, [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — In one corner are allegations that some $36 million has been misspent by behavioral health providers in New Mexico.
In the other corner are the providers, who say it’s unfair their Medicaid funding was suspended while the state’s Attorney General’s office — and possibly other law enforcement [...]

The executive order by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez was clear: If you’re haven’t turned in your audits and can’t show you’re in decent financial shape, you don’t get any capital outlay money.
But now that some communities and entities slated for state dollars are seeing delays, a number of Democrats say the order is too restrictive and Senate Majority [...]

The state’s largest newspaper on Sunday (July 7) picked up on the story New Mexico Watchdog reported late last month concerning per-pupil spending for the state’s public schools.
While New Mexico’s results in a number of scholastic studies have consistently ranked among the lowest in the nation, we reported how the state finishes
exactly in the middle — [...]