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.
Joe Baca, the former superintendent of West Las Vegas Schools, has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor fraud charge in a corruption case involving the misuse of public money, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
Baca and other West Las Vegas school officials were indicted in 2007 by the office of Attorney General Gary King, who alleged that federal bilingual education money had been used to pay for parties and other frills.
Earlier this year the school’s former bilingual coordinator, Roberta Vigil, was found guilty of fraud over $2,500 and conspiracy to commit fraud, both felonies. She is the wife of state Rep. Robert Vigil, D-Ribera.
Baca’s plea agreement results in a misdemeanor instead of a felony, which is much more serious.
Here’s an excerpt of the Journal story:
Baca pleaded “no contest” to fraud of $250 or less, a petty misdemeanor, and agreed to pay the state $2,750 in restitution.
The fraud, according to the plea agreement, occurred between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2006.
First District Judge Stephen Pfeffer accepted the agreement, giving Baca a conditional discharge and placing him on unsupervised probation for six months, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
