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.
New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has joined a national task force that is investigating the third-party marketer scandal that is spreading across the nation.
Attorneys general in more than 30 states have joined the task force, and King spokesman Phil Sisneros confirmed to The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell that King is one of them. However, Sisneros said he doesn’t yet know what the level of participation will be from the state AG’s office.
“The question is how much this is affecting New Mexico,” Sisneros was quoted as saying.
The New York and New Mexico AG offices were in touch late last month about the possibility of King joining the probe of the scandal that began in New York but has spread to several other states, most prominently New Mexico.
N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office has charged several people with crimes related to the massive pay-to-play scandal. He says he is “disclosing a national network of actors who often acted in concert and did this all across the country.”
In New Mexico, the scandal has led to the firing of Aldus Equity, which advised the State Investment Council and Educational Retirement Board, and the disclosure for the first time of many of the third-party marketers investment firms employed in their dealings in New Mexico. Aldus’ founder is facing criminal charges in New York.
Third-party marketers are people such as lobbyists and public-relations firms that help investment firms win investment contracts. They’re paid by the firms, not with public dollars, but they are often well-connected politicos and, in New York, are alleged to be the critical link in criminal pay-to-play dealings.
