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
New Mexico taxpayers’ $209 million investment in Spaceport America soon will be part of a reality show on NBC-TV but it isn’t clear how prominently the facility will be featured and what kind of economic impact the show will have.
Plus, while the reality show highlighting Virgin Galactic blasting well-heeled [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — A long-running court case surrounding an alleged fake documentary that aired on New Mexico’s largest Public Broadcasting System affiliate will continue.
Judge Nan G. Nash on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss filed by attorneys for KNME-TV and other defendants in a case that has dragged on [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
In 2012, Jim Scarantino of New Mexico Watchdog ran a series of stories about a controversial program that aired on KNME-TV, the state’s flagship public broadcasting television station, and the lawsuit the program sparked.
It’s been a year since those stories were posted and fully six years since the program [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – New Mexico’s economy has been struggling for years, and the Land of (Dis)Enchantment’s woes are put into sharp relief by an interactive graphic called the Bloomberg Economic Evaluation of States, which ranks the economic health of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
The chart begins [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – As the controversy continues over allegations of $36 million in potential misuse of funds, a former Green Party candidate for statewide and national office said she has a sense of déjà vu.
“I haven’t read the audit” of the providers in question, “but I do have concerns [...]

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 Navajo Nation is about to wade into the heated debate over a horse-meat processing plant in Roswell and will support Valley Meat Co. becoming the first horse slaughterhouse in the U.S. in seven years.
“They’re eating up the land and drinking all the water,” Erny Zah, spokesman for Navajo Nation President Ben Shelley told New [...]

A U.S. Senate report claims taxpayer dollars are being wasted at the Small Smiles dental chain and the company should be thrown out of the Medicaid program.
The 1,517-page report came out this week after a two-year investigation and charges that the chain encouraged dentists to perform unnecessary procedures, overbilled patients and produced low-quality work.
The corporate [...]

The battle over the first horsemeat processing plant in the U.S. in seven years is heating up, with a court hearing in Albuquerque fast approaching.
The facility in Roswell is scheduled to open in two weeks but in the latest development, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has joined a lawsuit trying to stop the slaughterhouse  from opening its [...]