Morning Word: Former Tax Secretary Received Rent From Payday Loan Firm

Padilla Rental Income Explained

A payday loan company says it paid rent for commercial space leased to them by former New Mexico Tax and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla and that

being investigated by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.

Junk Food Rule Proposed for Food Stamp Recipients

New Mexico Sen. Cliff Pirtle pre-filed legislation that would

by more than half a million New Mexicans receiving supplemental nutrition benefits. But not everyone supports the idea to bar things like ice cream and sodas and insist the state should not become the “food police.”

State Electors Back Clinton
Donald Trump may have won the Electoral College vote Monday, but all five of New Mexico’s electors cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton. Congress will verify the Electoral College votes on January 6. 

Obama Shortens Sentences at Record Rate 
In a nation of second chances, President Barack Obama granted 78 people “Christmas” pardons.  He continues to shorten the length of federal prison sentences for scores of nonviolent offenders.  During his presidency, Obama and has shortened the sentences of 1,176 people, including 395 serving life sentences—more than the past 11 presidents combined. 

Lab Sued by Fired Manager 
A former senior manager is suing Los Alamos National Laboratory. John Tapia claims he was forced to resign in April because "lab officials feared fraud accusations stemming from his position with a local electric co-op might harm negotiations with the US Department of Energy over the lab’s management contract."

John Tapia, who had worked for the lab since 1988, says in a breach of contract lawsuit that the lab gave him the option to quit or be fired months after he became embroiled in a Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative Inc. controversy over fraud claims that later were deemed unsubstantiated.

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