Four acute hepatitis A infections confirmed in Albuquerque area

The New Mexico Department of Health is investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A in Bernalillo County. NMDOH reported Nov. 19 that since the end of October, four acute hepatitis A virus infections have been reported in adults ranging in age from 34-53 years.

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis A virus. It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months.

Hepatitis A is usually spread when a person ingests fecal matter, even in microscopic amounts, from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by the feces...

Policy imposes work requirements for insurance eligibility

WASHINGTON D.C. — President Russell Begaye took a hard stance against a Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services policy that imposes work requirements on individuals as a condition of eligibility for health insurance Nov. 15.

The CMS in January unveiled a policy requiring work or community engagement from “non-elderly, non-pregnant adult Medicaid beneficiaries who are eligible for Medicaid on a basis other than disability.”

In a letter to tribal leaders, the CMS claimed that allowing policy waivers would violate federal civil rights laws that bar discrimination based on race or national origin.

In his statements to...

Secures hundreds of thousands of acres in Eastern Navajo Agency

ALBUQUERQUE – President Russell Begaye joined New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn Nov. 16 to close on a historic land exchange that solidifies hundreds of thousands of acres of checkerboard land within the Navajo Nation’s Eastern Agency.

For decades, Navajo people living in the Eastern Navajo Agency have faced unresolved obstacles when seeking rights of ways and accessing culturally significant State Trust Land.

“Lands in the Eastern Agency are checkerboard with private, county, state and allotted land, which makes it difficult to work on roads and to install power and water lines,” Begaye said...

UPDATE: Two men charged for I-40 homicide

Staff Reports

As a New Mexico Department of Transportation road crew worked along the I-40 corridor the afternoon of Nov. 20, with the scenic Hogbacks in the backdrop, they stumbled upon a grisly discovery near the shoulder.

Near mile-marker 24, south of the eastbound lanes, laid the body of man, who has been identified as Gary Bennett, 46, of Pinedale, N.M.

Gallup Police Department officers arrived at the scene shortly after 1 pm, and diverted traffic to Highway 66 as detectives combed the scene looking for clues into the man’s death, which they deemed suspicious.

Around 6:30 pm the same day, the Gallup Police Department received an...