Morning Word: PNM Ordered to Hand Over Documents

Transparency in the coal-replacement case is in the public interest

It's Monday, July 20, 2015

A Public Regulation Commission’s independent hearing officer has ordered the Public Service Company of New Mexico to turn over any communications it has had with commissioners and a financial market analyst who met with them. Steve Terrell has the scoop.  Gov. Susana Martinez, who’s headed to the

in Aspen, Colorado , told reporter Ryan Luby she wants lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty. See it at KOB.com  Naloxone, a life-saving drug that is credited with reversing hundreds of heroin overdoses every year, is getting harder for nonprofit groups participating in a Department of Health program to distribute because of a conflict with state pharmacy board rules. Read it at the Santa Fe New Mexican.  It looks like more students are opting out of Pearson’s GED test and studying for the HiSET, a cheaper alternate paper test approved by the public education department in February and recognized by the federal government and 17 other states. Read it at the Las Cruces Sun-News.  Surging Medicaid enrollment rates in New Mexico continue to concern state lawmakers because of its impact on future budgets. Some lawmakers warn the price of expanding the health care program for poor and lower-income Americans could mean less money available for other state services, including education. Read it at the Santa Fe New Mexican.  Airports around the state are getting $6.1 million in federal grant money for much-needed upgrades. Zuni Pueblo will use its share to build an airport.

Read it at the Los Alamos Daily Post. 

Meanwhile, more than two dozen state road and transportation projects are getting an $11 million cash infusion from federal grants, including $2 million for Santa Fe’s downtown transit center and Sheridan Avenue improvements. Read it at the Albuquerque Journal.  A few months after Native American actors walked off his film’s set, Adam Sandler says he wasn’t trying to offend anyone. Read it at the Santa Fe New Mexican.  Edward Romero, a former ambassador to Spain, and former Albuquerque mayor Marty Chavez are officially Hillblazers. That means each man has raised over $100,000 for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner. Read more on Joe Monahan's blog. Sandia National Labs continue to develop the innards of new nuclear bomb design despite President Barack Obama’s pledge in 2009 to stop work on new atomic weapons. A good long read at the Center for Investigative Reporting's Reveal site.  The New Mexico Business Coalition is calling House Majority Leader Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, a bully. Gentry says Carla Sontag, the group’s executive director, is upset with his attempt to compromise on a “reasonable minimum wage increase.” Read it at Roundhouse Roundup.

Two Santa Fe restaurants are being accused of wage theft.

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