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.
State Auditor Hector Balderas announced a special audit of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office after former Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano admitted stealing supplies and selling them on the internet. Solano resigned after the admission, and the state police said they had been investigating the embezzlement for months.
Santa Fe County asked for assistance from Balderas’ office on the special audit to determine how much had been taken.
“The alleged activity publicly disclosed by former Sheriff Solano is very troubling,” Balderas said in a statement. “My top priority is to assess the total loss of taxpayer dollars and prevent any further losses.”
Balderas and county officials are working to find an independent audit firm that will “conduct special procedures related to the Sheriff’s Department and the County’s overall internal control structure.” The independent audit firm will be approved by Balderas.
“During the last few years I have taken these vests and sold them online — mostly to military personnel who wanted them for extra protection overseas,” Solano wrote in his resignation letter last week. “I sold vests and several other items such as old cell phones left over from when we replaced department issued phones, flashlights, police belts and holsters.”
