I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A former state workers’ compensation judge has been suspended from practicing law for harassing a woman involved in a mediation he was overseeing, The Albuquerque Journal reports.
Thousands could live on the southern edge of Santa Fe and hundreds could work there after the City Council approved plans for a huge development late Wednesday night, The Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
Also, a now-defunct Albuquerque nursing home was convicted Wednesday of criminal charges stemming from a case in which a resident died after he was allowed to lie on a bedpan for more than 24 hours on Christmas Day 2005, the Journal reports. For those who don’t subscribe, here’s an excerpt of the story:
The charges — abuse of a resident resulting in substantial pain or incapacitation and an alternative charge of neglect — are more commonly leveled against individual defendants. Because corporations can’t be incarcerated, District Judge Neil Candelaria will decide on a fine when he imposes sentence.
The jury, which has spent the past two weeks hearing evidence stemming from the death of Richard Gerhardt, 76, cleared Laurel Canyon LLC of a separate count of abuse resulting in death.
The case was prosecuted by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office as a Medicaid fraud on the theory that the facility had received payment for services it hadn’t rendered in caring for Gerhardt.
The conviction will be appealed, defense attorneys said.
“This is a new area in terms of corporate criminal liability,” said Cammie Nichols, co-counsel with Peter Schoenburg for the nursing home. “There are unsettled issues that call for appellate court resolution.”
Nichols said it was important to note that the jury absolved the facility of responsibility for Gerhardt’s death.
