http://www.sfreporter.com/articles.sec-4-1-local-news.html As the projected costs for a mysterious “ghost town” skyrocket, questions about the company’s financials, size and seemingly vague, unrealistic business plans pile up. ]]> “DOH is sick and only you can make it better,” says a robovoice at the end of a voicemail greeting on the local Bullying, Abuse, Retaliation and Fraud Tip Hotline. The unofficial hotline, created last fall for the New Mexico Department of Health employees, is just one of many examples of ongoing dysfunction at the state’s largest agency.]]> To most who pay attention, Dist. 3 Public Regulation Commissioner Doug Howe is a marked improvement over former commissioner Jerome Block, Jr. Block resigned last September after pleading guilty to various felonies and is currently on probation.
]]> Behind the push toward a national set of “common core” standards in English and math is the attractive idea that every kid in the nation should be more or less reading, writing and arithmeticking at the same level at the same age.]]> Voters in House District 46, which stretches from Santa Fe up through the northern pueblos to Española and includes parts of White Rock and Chimayó, have grown accustomed to power. Outgoing New Mexico House Speaker Ben Luján, who represented the district for more than 35 years, possessed a legendary ability to control the Legislature and defend northern New Mexico. But by next session, all of this will change.]]> On May 15, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission voted to grant a protest, lodged by a branch of the federal Department of Energy, that questions whether New Mexico Gas Company is adequately prepared for another weather event like last winter’s deep freeze—and whether it could have prevented the major service interruptions that devastated much of the state last year.]]> The campaign to unseat longtime state Sen. Phil Griego, D-Los Alamos, is heating up with allegations that Griego used campaign contributions for illegitimate purposes—NFL tickets, golf, personal credit card bills and new tires for his car. In 2010, Griego didn’t even have an opponent—yet according to challenger (and former Santa Fe County Commissioner) Jack Sullivan, he raked in and then spent tens of thousands of dollars.]]> In attempting to fill the vacancy left by outgoing president Sheila Ortego, Santa Fe Community College has narrowed down the field of applicants to six promising candidates—though a closer look at some casts their accomplishments in a different light.]]> He may live in one of the safest counties in one of the safest states in the country, but that doesn’t stop Gary Slider from carrying a handgun with him everywhere he goes. He’s been doing so for the past 35 years.]]> On an anti-rape video, file cabinet o'drugs, and NM ghost town.]]> Blue Cross Blue Shield New Mexico may get one last rate hike just under the wire, before new state health insurance transparency rules take effect.]]> In the aftermath of last summer’s Las Conchas wildfire—the largest in New Mexico history—a wall of black, muddy, log-choked water came roaring down Bandelier National Monument’s Frijoles Canyon. The National Park Service had prepared for the Aug. 21 flood, wrapping the historic visitor center in heavy plastic and erecting concrete barriers to deflect the waters.]]> I’ve officially lived in Santa Fe for nearly a year now (I’ve been here longer, but I waited nearly two months to get a driver’s license) and I thought I’d done a pretty fair job of sightseeing—Loretto staircase, check; Plaza markets, check; Roundhouse, double-check. So when I decided to start a Santa Fe bucket list, I was surprised at how much I had missed.]]> Jagged shards of busted glass greet visitors at the northeast entrance to the second floor of the Railyard’s Market Station building. Inside, undeveloped rooms have been sitting vacant ever since construction ended in 2008.]]> It’s an entrenched piece of pop-science wisdom: Overuse of antibiotics in medicine is the reason bacteria evolve into antibiotic-resistant superbugs. But deep inside four-million-year-old Lechugilla cave in southern New Mexico, a population of isolated bacteria are calling that notion into serious question.]]> If you don’t know who we’re referring to when we talk about attracting innovative, young entrepreneurs to Santa Fe, have a look at seven graphic arts students at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Then ask yourself if it’s telling that they don’t plan to stay on the mesa. ]]> When Gov. Susana Martinez gave her first State of the State address on Jan. 1, 2011, she emphasized two priorities: improving education and keeping businesses in New Mexico. But SFR has found that, in the 15 months since Martinez took office, the New Mexico Public Education Department has paid out more than three times as much in professional service contracts to out-of-state education contractors than to those located in New Mexico. What’s more, it’s unclear whether some of them have produced tangible results.]]> Nine years after the state approved a new rural public transportation district, nearly two-dozen free bus routes crisscross Santa Fe, Taos, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. Last year, the district provided roughly 374,000 rides.]]>  On SFPD's boob fetish, man who stores sewage, and swan-icide.
]]> Six months ago, SFR reported on allegations that some New Mexico Public Education Department officials had improper educator’s licenses. Since then, PED has maintained that there’s never been a licensing problem. But prominent officials are raising questions about whether PED adequately dealt with employees’ concerns and urging better oversight in one of the state’s largest departments.]]>