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Pearce wins chairmanship
It's safe to say neither Steve Pearce nor the Republican party insiders who elected him to lead the state Republican Party were glad he was available for the job. But after getting, as Andrew Oxford at The New Mexican put it, "a walloping at the the polls last month," the party is looking to revitalize its base and recruit voters from unexpected parts of the electorate. It overwhelmingly chose Pearce at its state convention Saturday ($).
Lawsuit details more trouble for archdiocese
A new legal filing says the Archdiocese of Santa Fe made an agreement in the late 1960s with John Feit, head of the infamous Servants of the Paraclete, to provide pedophile priests to diocesan parishes without telling parishioners of the dangers they posed. Feit, who was recently convicted of murdering a Texas parishioner, apparently documented the deal with the archdiocese, creating a potential legal bombshell as the Catholic Church's largest diocese in New Mexico deals with bankruptcy protection. Colleen Heild details the story at the Albuquerque Journal.
Ensuring insurance
A state judge agrees with four doctors who say the state's insurance superintendent illegally struck deals to allow hospitals and outpatient clinics to access New Mexico's malpractice fund to pay claims. The doctors say John Franchini did so without a public hearing, unfairly putting the fund's solvency at risk ($) by incorporating high-risk facilities without determining if their premiums were calculated properly. An insolvent fund means it's harder to attract much-needed doctors to New Mexico.
Justice in Indian Country
A new report from the Justice Department shows US Attorneys failed to prosecute one third of the crimes referred to them from Native reservations. The finding underscores much of the reporting that's been done by the AP's Mary Hudetz, who's based in Albuquerque. US Sen. Tom Udall says Native victims "continue to fall through the cracks" of the country's justice system.
Rule one
Don't operate with dirty equipment. Seems like a basic rule for hospitals. A federal investigation showed that 169 times over a two-year period, the Albuquerque Veterans Affairs hospital did follow that rule, canceling surgeries because it didn't have sterile surgical tools. The hospital is working to improve low staffing in its sterilization processing group, as well as improve record-keeping policies regarding the training its workers receive.
Safe keeping
Prisons are designed to keep the people on the outside safe from those on the inside, but they're also designed to keep the people on the inside safe. Earlier this month, two inmates in separate solitary confinement cells at the state prison in Los Lunas hanged themselves. One of them was there for a medical issue, the other hadn't even been convicted of a crime yet. KOB's Chris Ramirez has the story.
Slow, deliberate, meaningful
If you find yourself on the south side of Santa Fe and have a few minutes to spare, check out the mandala construction by the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery, founded in India by Tibetan exiles. The painstaking construction of the sand painting takes place over nine days at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
They said it
SFR's annual writing contest winners grace the cover and pages of this week's edition. Our theme—"I shouldn't say this, but…"—produced inventive entries in both fiction and non-fiction. They're presented in deliciously consumable form; perfect for lunch or coffee breaks.
Thanks for reading! The Word thinks everyone should take a creative writing class at some point. Even more so if it's free.
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