Fill in the Blank: “____ has worked for and with every Governor since Gov. Jerry Apodaca,” the press release reads.

Ready for the answer? Dorothy “Duffy” Rodriguez, a former deputy secretary at the Department of Health who earlier this year was at the center of two whistleblowers’ allegations of nepotism and fraud. (Read SFR’s coverage here.) So far, neither allegation has been proven—but when Rodriguez left the DOH in April, many of the comments on SFReeper.com were euphoric.

“Duffy…was a corrupt bully who was feared by all in the agency,” one commenter wrote. Another described the news as “too good to be true!”

But Rodriguez has a brand new job: Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department, where she’ll replace Rick Homans—who in turn will take over from Steven Landeene as director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, according to a press release from the Governor’s office. And the wheel turns.

On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, at least one person in New Mexico was working: attorney Marina Cordova. On May 30, Cordova and her client, a care provider for people with developmental disabilities called Grace Requires Understanding, filed for an injunction against New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil, Developmental Disabilities Supports Division Director Mikki Rogers, Gov. Bill Richardson, Attorney General Gary King and Human Services Department Secretary Kathryn Falls.

Why? GRU claims the DOH acted unconstitutionally by requiring certain disability caregivers to pay back more than they made when they wanted a break. Continue reading »

This strange campaign mailer urges Democratic primary voters to “keep” a slate of appointed judges to the 1st Judicial District Court.

What’s strange about it?

Aside from its endorsement of multiple candidates and somewhat misleading emphasis on their incumbency—only Sheri Raphaelson has been appointed to the bench for more than a few months—there is the matter of the flyer’s provenance.

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Last week, SFR reported that Gov. Bill Richardson discussed possible uranium exports to India, a growing nuclear power and US ally, in a meeting with Susmita G. Thomas, India’s Consul General in San Francisco.

Through a spokesperson, Richardson said he “didn’t recall” that aspect of the meeting. But in an email today to SFR, Consul General Thomas adds another confirmation to the nature of the discussions.

“Some of the potential areas to be touched upon included the possibility of shooting or producing of Bollywood movies in New Mexico and the possibility of uranium exports to India,” Thomas writes. ” You will appreciate that since this was a courtesy call, and there was no need to concretize any outcomes, these remained in the realm of generalities.”

Incidentally, Thomas found Santa Fe “extremely quaint, charming and endearing.” Read her full email after the cut.

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When I first saw this bumper sticker, I thought, “Yes Bill Richardson can!” When I realized it was for California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, I thought, “I’ll bet my money on ol’ Billy, if only  just to lose it for the privilege of seeing the fight of the century.”

Get on those pull-ups and break out the jump rope, Bill. We can’t have your good name sullied by your getting beat by a Republican, a liberal one at that.

Show us what has left the back of your eyelids burning. Send pictures of visual trespass and peculiarities to copyeditor [at] sfreporter.com, subject “eyedropper.”