UNM Let Bob Davie’s Attorney Edit President’s Statement

Football coach's lawyer changed official statements about investigation into Davie, football program

Outside counsel

The University of New Mexico let Bob Davie's attorney help draft an official statement that interim President Chaouki Abdallah made on an investigation that seems to have Davie at its center. Daniel Libit at NMFishbowl.com continues to hammer away at the story, which involves allegations of physical abuse of football players and meddling in a sexual assault investigation involving a player. The edits proposed by Davie's attorney were made by UNM. The situation is reminiscent of UNM letting an attorney for former Athletic Director Paul Krebs review and redact emails prior to responding to a public records request by the Albuquerque Journal.

Whip strip

State Senate Democrats vacated the position of majority whip in a Saturday meeting. That means Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, has been stripped of the second-highest party position in the legislative body. Padilla recently dropped out of the race for lieutenant governor after gubernatorial candidate and congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham said two decade-old sexual harassment allegations were inappropriate. Padilla will stay in the Senate; he's been elected twice since voters learned about the allegations.

Navajo Nation sues Wells Fargo 

Just last year, banking giant Wells Fargo settled a case with regulators for $185 million, after the company created thousands of fake accounts for customers to meet sales goals. Often, customers had no idea the accounts existed. Now, the Navajo Nation has filed suit against the bank, alleging Wells Fargo targeted children, the elderly and non-English speakers ($). The tribe says bank accounts and credit cards were created for its members without their knowledge.

Legislature rewrites sexual harassment policy

Lawmakers have released a draft update to the Legislature's decade-old sexual harassment policy. The new guidelines have been criticized because they call for legislative agencies to investigate themselves and set out penalties for false reporting that some fear may discourage legitimate claims. They also don't provide many specifics about new sexual harassment training.

Aztec High School opens

It's back to school this week for students from Aztec. Classes were canceled last week after a 21-year-old shot two students, killing them, before committing suicide. The community held a memorial service for one of the victims over the weekend. The school district plans to have grief counselors available for returning students and staff. It will also rededicate the site of the shootings as an open-learning center.

Public financing pinch 

To ease a series of budget shortfalls, New Mexico lawmakers raided the public financing fund that pays for candidates in statewide judicial elections and the Public Regulation Commission. With elections on the horizon in 2018, the fund is at least $1.5 million short and will likely require an infusion ($) by the same body that scraped the account to help pay the bill for the rest of state government.

Getting colder

Regardless of what you want for Christmas, if you're staying in New Mexico, you're going to get a shot of cold for the holiday. Temperatures are expected to plummet at the end of the week, though that doesn't come with the same dramatic chance for snowfall.

Thanks for reading! The Word is going to toss an extra blanket in the truck just in case there are issues on the way over the river and through the woods.

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