It’s Manning vs. Luck III in AFC playoff showdown Sports, B-1

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Thursday, January 8, 2015

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Gay rights groups call TV show dangerous

Manhunt in Paris after terror attack

TLC’s My Husband’s Not Gay features two Mormon men who say they’re happily married, and attracted to men. PAGE A-8

The victims: Shooting at offices of satirical newspaper kills 12, including prominent cartoonists

The suspects: One man turns himself in; two brothers linked to terror network remain at large

Panel advances city electric utility measure

Private company helped prompt behavioral health provider shake-up

Despite lingering questions, Public Utilities Committee sends proposal to the full council. PAGE A-6

By Patrick Malone The New Mexican

Cosby returns to the stage Protesters, fans greet comedian in Canada. PAGE A-2

House GOP far from united after speaker vote Boehner takes action against two dissenters; backers want more By Erica Werner The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — House Republicans began the new Congress with old divisions on display Wednesday, bitter fallout from a failed rebellion against Speaker John Boehner. Boehner took swift action against two of the dissenters, knocking them from a key committee. But some of his allies demanded more, furious at the two dozen lawmakers who opposed the Ohioan in Tuesday’s speaker vote. In the process, the GOP is starting the year with party infighting instead of a unified challenge to President Barack Obama. “All of us think that they should have retribution,” Boehner loyalist Devin Nunes of California said of the rebels. “They put the conservative agenda at risk with their wanting to be on television and radio.” The dissidents warned of their own payback if Boehner does take further steps against them. “There’s going to be a fight,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, when asked what would happen if leaders retaliated against lawmakers who opposed Boehner’s re-election. “And it’s going to be real hard to bring the party together like they say they want to do.” The dispute proved a distraction as

Please see GOP, Page A-5

State’s Medicaid head takes job with Optum

An injured victim is transported to an ambulance Wednesday after masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. THIBAULT CAMUS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Elaine Ganley and Lori Hinnant The Associated Press

PARIS — Police hunted Thursday for two heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida in the military-style, methodical killing of 12 people at the office of a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. President Francois Hollande, visiting the scene of France’s deadliest such attack in more than half a century, called the assault on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo “an act of exceptional barbarism.” France raised its terror alert system to the maximum — Attack Alert — and bolstered security with more than 800 extra soldiers to guard media offices, places of worship, transport and other sensitive areas. Fears had been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis trained in warfare abroad would stage attacks at home. French brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, should be considered armed and dangerous, according to a police bulletin released early Thursday. A third suspect, Mourad Hamyd, 18, surrendered at a police station in CharlevilleMezieres, a small town in France’s eastern Champagne region, said Paris prosecutor’s spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre. She did not offer details on Hamyd’s relationship with the men.

Please see ATTACK, Page A-4

INSIDE u In Europe, fears of backlash. PAGE A-4 u Cartoonists among the dead. PAGE A-4

Paris residents captured chilling video images of the gunmen shooting and killing a police officer. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

For irreverent newspaper, no subject is off-limits By Anthony Faiola The Washington Post

Shortly before black-masked gunmen stormed the east Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, an image went out from the satirical newspaper’s Twitter account. Poking fun at Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the militant Islamic State organization, the caricature depicted him speaking into a microphone, offering New Year’s greetings and wishes of good health. The spoof captured the spirit of an irreverent — sometimes crass — French institution that on Wednesday became the site of a national tragedy. The gunmen struck at 11:30 a.m., a strategic time when the weekly paper that had made Islam one of its many targets was holding a key editorial meeting. Within a few violent moments, some of the most provocative voices in French journalism were extinguished — including the paper’s chief editor, Stephane Charbonnier, and some of France’s top cartoonists, including Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac. A paper that for the past several years had bitterly defended its right to lampoon Islam, just as any other juicy target, found itself paying the highest price. “It’s as if Matt Groening of The Simpsons had been assassinated, somebody everybody knows, who makes quips at society,”

Please see PAPER, Page A-4

New Mexico’s Medicaid director, who was involved in the state’s controversial behavioral health shake-up in 2013, is leaving her $103,000-a-year position later this month to go to work for the private contractor that had set the provider overhaul in motion. The head of at least one organization affected by the shake-up sees a conflict of interest in Julie Weinberg’s job change. Weinberg, 46, will step down as MedJulie icaid director at the Weinberg state Human Services Department effective Jan. 16, according to her resignation letter, obtained by The New Mexican. The department confirmed that Weinberg is leaving to accept a job at a division of OptumHealth, a private company that had a state contract to oversee Medicaid-funded behavioral health services in 2013, when suspicions of Medicaid billing fraud prompted the state to terminate funding to 15 providers. Mark Johnson, CEO of Santa Fe-based Easter Seals El Mirador, one of those ousted providers, said Weinberg’s move from state Medicaid director to Optum raises ethical questions. “There certainly would be an appearance of a conflict of interest in [Weinberg] going to work for a contractor that Medicaid contracted with,” Johnson said. The fraud allegations against the terminated providers, which have not been proven more than a year and a half later, originated with OptumHealth’s accusations of Medicaid overbilling. Optum’s allegations spurred an audit that found more than $36 million in suspected overbilling, which Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration cited as the basis for terminating the providers’ Medicaid funding and replacing those organizations with five Arizona companies. Recently, the financial solvency of those Arizona firms has been called

Please see JOB, Page A-5

Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com

Report: In New Mexico, adults trail kids in getting flu vaccine By Bruce Krasnow The New Mexican

Dr. Troy Watson receives his second flu shot of the season at Railyard Urgent Care from nurse Lisa Armijo on Wednesday. As the flu season gets well underway, officials urge residents to get vaccinated. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN

Index

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Comics B-10

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

New Mexico is among the top states in the country for childhood flu vaccinations, but the rate drops for adults ages 18 to 65, statistics show. According to health surveys completed in 2012, New Mexico tied for eighth in the United States with a vaccination rate of 60 percent for school-age children. In fact, New Mexico and Arkansas were the only states west of the Mississippi with a vaccination rate above 60 percent for children during that flu season, the most recent with available data. The flu vaccination rate for New Mexico adults ages 65 and over was 62 percent during

Crosswords B-8, B-9

Lotteries A-2

Opinion A-9

that season, the report says. For adults under 65, however, the state’s rate dropped to 39 percent, which, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is about the national average. Nationwide, there have been 21 flu deaths so far this season, while the entire 2012-13 season saw 109 fatalities. Even though the 2013-14 flu season has been relatively mild in New Mexico, with no reported deaths as of the end of December, officials are redoubling efforts now that students are back in school and temperatures are colder. Data tracking by the state Department of

Please see FLU, Page A-5

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BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

‘The Madwoman of Chaillot’ Santa Fe Playhouse presents Jean Giraudoux’s 1943 satire, special preview 7:30 p.m., Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. DeVargas St., $10, 988-4262, runs ThursdaysSundays through Feb. 1.

Obituaries Mary (Connie) Chavez, 76, Jan. 2 Leonor L. (Martinez) Lucero, Jan. 5 Jane Maes, 85, Dec. 30 Leroy Ortiz, 75, Dec. 31 PAGE A-8

Today Mostly cloudy. High 48, low 23. PAGE B-5

Two sections, 20 pages 166th year, No. 8 Publication No. 596-440