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Thursday, July 18, 2013
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Cop files suit over mental hospital stay Los Alamos officer with bipolar disorder was involuntarily taken to facility, seeks damages
By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
Brian Schamber is a Los Alamos police officer who suffers from bipolar disorder. Last December, his commanders forced him to go to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, N.M., where he involuntarily stayed for 10 days before he was released and cleared for
“He was cleared,” Jamie Sullivan, a lawyer representing Los Alamos County, said Wednesday. “We think he is a very good law enforcement officer.” But Schamber’s lawyer, John Day, said his client can’t go back to patrol duty because of a federal law that prohibits him from possessing a firearm because he was committed to a mental institution. “It’s ironic that at first they were anx-
active duty as a police officer by a policecontracted psychiatrist. In the seven months since his release, Schamber has returned to work, though he has been working from home, doing work that doesn’t require him to carry a gun. Today, both Schamber and the Los Alamos Police Department agree that Schamber is fit to be back on regular duty — gun and all.
ious to get him off of the street, and now they’re anxious to get him back on the street,” Day said. Sullivan argues that Schamber never was “committed” formally to a mental facility because his stay in Las Vegas was only an evaluation. The matter now is in federal court. Los
Please see SUIT, Page A-4
Judge grants Balderas access to behavioral health audit
FIELD OF DREAMS 60-YEAR-OLD GETS CHANCE TO PITCH
Human Services secretary denied auditor’s request to see report By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
State Human Services Secretary Sidonie Squier has refused to give State Auditor Hector Balderas a copy of the special audit that she says found evidence of alleged overcharging and possible fraud on the part of 15 behavioral-health providers. But on Wednesday, Balderas got a state district judge to subpoena the audit. Meanwhile, on Wednesday a federal judge in Albuquerque heard arguments by lawyers for Human Services and eight of the providers whose Medicaid funding was frozen because of the special audit. The eight firms are seeking an injunction to force Human Services to resume payments to the providers. However, U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo took no immediate action on the request. “It is necessary that my auditors fully review the report issued by Public Consulting Group Inc. in order to assess the risks to public funds and the potential impact on the Human Services Department’s financial affairs,” Balderas said in a written statement. “I formally requested the report from Secretary Squier pursuant to state law, but unfortunately the Department refused to comply with my lawful request. I am disappointed that I have been forced to take legal action to prevent the obstruction of a thorough audit of these taxpayer dollars.”
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INSIDE
fter a 33-year hiatus from baseball, Paul Risso, a 60-year-old Los Lunas resident, got the chance to pitch one inning for the Raton Osos against the Santa Fe Fuego on Wednesday at Fort Marcy Ballpark. “This is a 40-year dream come true,” said Risso, who allowed a single in his inning of work. See story in Sports, B-1
Program to use texts to help fight drug trafficking By Robert Nott The New Mexican
Federal, state, and county law-enforcement agencies are asking for the public’s help in reining in drug trafficking in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties by reporting anonymous tips via a new texting service that immediately connects the texter to a Drug Enforcement Agency agent. Community leaders and law-enforcement representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque, the El Paso division of the DEA and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, among others, joined to stage a news conference Wednesday to draw attention to the new TIP 411 program. They gathered on the shoulder of U.S. 84/285 in Pojoaque, right below a new billboard advertising the program in Spanish (Reporte el tráfico de droga anónimamente). A second billboard, printed in English, stands nearby. “There is sometimes no better information than what comes from the public,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales, a Pojoaque native. Joseph Arabit, a DEA agent for the El Paso division, said similar programs in El Paso and Albuquerque have netted a total of about 500 anonymous reports, many of which have led to arrests, convictions or at least a “disruption” in drug trafficking activities. He acknowledged that sometimes such calls are so vague that they are of little help, and said sometimes
Please see TEXTS, Page A-4
Index
Please see AUDIT, Page A-5
JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
Calendar A-2
Classifieds B-5
Comics B-12
u Attorney general says investigation into behavioral health providers could take months. PAGE A-5
Gone forever?
Merari Santos, a tutor from New Mexico School for the Arts, reads Wednesday with Damian Bustamante, 8, of Santa Fe at Santa Fe School for Arts & Sciences’ Reading Camp.
Romanian woman whose son is accused in art heist says she burned seven multimillionaire dollar paintings. NATION & WORLD, A-2
Pasapick
LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO THE NEW MEXICAN
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Addison Rowe Gallery 229 E. Marcy St., 982-1533. Works by early 20th-century Santa Fe artists known as the Transcendental Painting Group, reception 5-7 p.m., through Sept. 6.
Camp helping kids discover joy in reading By Robert Nott
Obituaries
The New Mexican
Arthur B. Baca, July 12 Thomas F. Eaton III, 66, Santa Fe, July 14 Alfredo Esquibel Jr., July 14 Josephine Ipiotis, 86, July 14 Hernanda Angelina (Angie) Medina, 87, July 13 Josephine M. Sanchez, 80, Santa Fe, June 27 Jose Abdon Varoz, 92, July 15
Amanda Pierce’s two children have both struggled with reading. Despite having good teachers at Turquoise Trail Charter School and a mom who reads to them regularly, they just didn’t find reading to be fun. Last year Pierce enrolled her daughter, Leila, in Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences’ Reading Camp, a two-week intensive program involving one-on-one tutoring, group reading sessions, and
Partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms. High 81, low 57. PAGE A-12
PAGE A-10
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word and reading games designed to engage children in reading. Pierce’s daughter gained increased confidence at the camp. “All of a sudden, she wanted to go to the store and look at books and read,” Pierce said. So this year, Pierce enrolled her son, Julian. “With my son, he didn’t seem to have the interest [in reading],” Pierce said. “It seemed more like a chore, like the last thing he wanted to do.” This first-come, first-served program, now in its second year, is
Please see JOY, Page A-4
Two sections, 24 pages 164th year, No. 199 Publication No. 596-440