Santa Fe New Mexican, June 21, 2014

Page 1

Steer wrestling not for the faint of heart or limb Sports, B-1

Saturday, June 21, 2014

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www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢

ELECTION AD WATCH

3 activists recognized The Living Treasures program honors seniors over the age of 70 who make a difference in the community. PAge A-6

City attorney chosen Mayor selects interim attorney to fill position permanently. PAge A-6

Attack uses old Medicaid fraud stats GOP cites column from 2011, fails to say King recently recovered $9M By Steve Terrell The New Mexican

Less than a day after Gov. Susana Martinez’s campaign launched its latest ad blasting her Democratic

opponent Gary King, the Republican Governors Association weighs in with a new King attack, the group’s third attack since the June 3 primary. If anything, the tone of the new 30-second spot is even harsher, and the still photographs of King it contains are even more unflattering than those in the group’s previous ads. The topic of the new RGA ad, titled “Medicaid,” is Medicaid fraud

and King’s attempts as state attorney general to recuperate money lost to fraud. This issue was alluded to in the Republican governors group’s first ad aimed at King earlier this month. The state spends nearly $3.5 billion a year for Medicaid and, in recent years, has spent between $1.2 million and $1.8 million to investigate and prosecute Medicaid fraud. About

ON THe WeB u To watch the ad, go to www. santafenewmexican.com.

75 percent of the money used to fight fraud comes from the federal government. The new ad starts out with a female narrator saying, “Scam artists

Please see FrAuD, Page A-4

Recalling 1850s S.F. Woman’s memoirs offer glimpse of the City Different’s past. TrAIl DusT, A-6

Gina Farrisee, a VA spokeswoman, says the department must rely on incentives and awards to recruit the best personnel to serve the country’s veterans.

Woman takes plea in death, burning

VA: 65% of executives were given bonuses

Amid boom, center in Artesia would house those who cross border illegally By Alicia A. Caldwell The Associated Press

By Matthew Daly

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — About 65 percent of senior executives at the Veterans Affairs Department got performance bonuses last year despite widespread treatment delays and preventable deaths at VA hospitals and clinics, the agency said Friday. More than 300 VA executives were paid a total of $2.7 million in bonuses last year, said Gina Farrisee, assistant VA secretary for human resources and administration. That amount is down from about $3.4 million in bonuses paid in 2012, Farrisee said. The totals do not include tens of millions of dollars in bonuses awarded to doctors, dentists and other medical providers throughout the VA’s nearly 900 hospitals and clinics. Workers at the Phoenix VA Health Care System — where officials have confirmed dozens of patients died while awaiting treatment — received about $3.9 million in bonuses last year, newly released records show. The merit-based bonuses were doled out to about 650 employees, including doctors, nurses, administrators, secretaries and cleaning staff. There was confusion Friday about the number of senior executives who received bonuses. During a hearing Friday of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, both lawmakers and Farrisee had indicated that nearly 80 percent of senior executives had received bonuses. Later, however, the committee provided

Please see VA, Page A-5

Jeannie Sandoval, left, receives advice from attorney Tom Clark in District Court on Friday. Sandoval, who is accused of helping set fire to the body of a 75-year-old man who may or may not have been dead already, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and faces up to nine years behind bars. PHOTO BY LUKE E. MONTAVON/THE NEW MEXICAN

75-year-old man choked, doused in oil, set on fire By Phaedra Haywood

The New Mexican

A

32-year-old Santa Fe woman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Friday in a case in which she is accused of helping to set fire to the body of a 75-year-old man who may or may not have been dead already. Prosecutors said the victim, George Ortiz, had been married to Jeannie Sandoval’s late grandmother and had helped raise her. Sandoval was living with him in his apartment at the Luisa Senior Center on Luisa Street when he was killed Oct. 29, 2012.

Obituaries

Today

Alfred F. Romero, 55, El Pueblo, June Robert F. Kelly, 61, 19 Santa Fe, May 20 Felice Levine, 79, Peggy Martin June 13 Gallegos, Pecos, June 5 PAge A-10

Pasapick

Thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 90, low 55. PAge A-12

www.pasatiempomagazine.com

santa Fe Pride 2014 The Pride on the Plaza kick-off parade runs along Old Santa Fe Trail from the Capitol to the Plaza at 11 a.m. Entertainment follows, no charge. The Ladies Pride Dance begins at 8 p.m. at Lodge at Santa Fe, 750 N. St. Francis Drive, $10 cover. For more information, visit santafehra.org. More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

Index

Calendar A-2

Classifieds B-6

N.M. to get immigrant detention facility for families

Comics B-12

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035

Crosswords B-7, B-11

Sandoval obligated to testify against boyfriend

According to news reports at the time, Sandoval told investigators that Ortiz struck her in the throat during an argument. Her boyfriend, Anthony Yepez, then “attempted to intervene on her behalf” and allegedly attacked Ortiz, choking and killing him. The pair, police said, then poured cooking oil over his body and set it on fire before fleeing in Ortiz’s car. Ortiz’s body was found the next day, and Sandoval and Yepez were arrested three hours afterward at a drugstore in Española, according to stories published in The New Mexican. Sandoval originally was

charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. Under the terms of her plea deal, the murder charge was downgraded to second degree and the other charges against her were dropped. She will be obligated to testify against Yepez in his murder trial later this summer and will not be sentenced until after she has done so. The maximum amount of time she could spend behind bars under the terms of her agreement is nine years.

Please see DeATH, Page A-5

WASHINGTON — New detention facilities will be opened to house immigrant families caught crossing the border illegally amid a surge from Central America, the Obama administration said Friday. The first will be a 700-bed family detention facility at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, N.M., the Homeland Security Department said. The training center is home to the Border Patrol’s training academy. Officials had no specific date for the opening, saying it would be soon. The administration was actively looking for additional space to house immigrant families, primarily mothers with young children, caught crossing the Mexican border illegally, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. He did not say how many people the new family detention centers would house or where others would be located. The government operates only one

Please see IMMIgrANT, Page A-4

Immigrant boys wait for medical appointments Wednesday at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center in Nogales, Ariz. ROSS D. FRANKLIN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Battle at border leaves 34 Iraqis dead struggle in which Iraqi army troops were overwhelmed by “hundreds” of fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq BAGHDAD — Sunni militants over- and the Levant. Fighters coming from ran one of the last government-held Syria have been able to cross the descrossings on the Syrian border Friday ert freely for some time, but control of after a fierce battle that left at least 34 border crossings allows easier transIraqi soldiers dead. port of fighters — including suicide The fighting occurred as some clerbombers — and supplies, vehicles and ics during Friday prayers signaled that they wanted Parliament to hasten heavy equipment. “We would have stood and kept the formation of a new government on fighting ISIS, but the government and reach across sectarian and ethnic didn’t send us backup, and we were divides. few in number and they had more Police and government officials fighters,” said Qaim’s mayor, Farhan reached in Qaim, the western border al Qubaisi, who referred to ISIL, also city of about 250,000 near the crossing, described a desperate, bloody known as the Islamic State in Iraq and By Alissa J. Rubin and Duraid Adnan The New York Times

Lotteries A-2

Opinion A-11

Sports B-1

Time Out B-11

Family A-9

BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

Syria, and described a scene of heroic but ultimately futile resistance as the Iraqi soldiers were overrun. Still, a small part of the city and border crossing remained under government control late Friday, according to local officials and a Western military expert. “The 34 soldiers who were killed were real heroes; they were facing hundreds of ISIS,” Qubaisi said, adding that among the dead was the commander of the brigade in charge of Qaim, Col. Majid Al Fedawi. There are at least three main crossings along the long, serpentine border

Please see BATTle, Page A-4

Two sections, 24 pages TV Book, 34 pages 165th year, No. 172 Publication No. 596-440


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Santa Fe New Mexican, June 21, 2014 by The New Mexican - Issuu