TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalJudge orders Amarillo orthodontist to forfeit $1.5 million (Medicaid fraud)
An Amarillo orthodontist must forfeit $1.56 million he fraudulently gleaned from the Texas Medicaid program by billing for dental work he never performed.
In a preliminary order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson said the government presented “credible evidence” that Michael David Goodwin, owner of Goodwin Orthodontics, 3629 Wolflin Ave., reaped $1.56 million in ill-gotten gains between 2008 and 2011.
Goodwin, 63, pleaded guilty in December to one count of health care fraud. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced later this year. Under the plea, Goodwin agreed not to challenge the forfeiture.
Prosecutors allege that Goodwin frequently billed for work he never performed and scheduled up to 100 patients daily. Employees and patients likened the scheme to “herding cattle,” court documents show.
More at http://amarillo.com/news/2013-02-12/judge-orders-amarillo-orthodontist-forfeit-15-million .
Fitch: Venezuelan Devaluation Fails to Clear Policy Uncertainty
CHICAGO – Venezuela’s decision to devalue the official exchange rate while scrapping the official parallel market partly addresses existing macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances.
However, Fitch Ratings sees a need for further measures to increase coherence and transparency in the management of fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies, including a tighter fiscal stance, before sustainable improvements in the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals can be achieved.
The announcement by the central bank that the official dollar exchange rate for the bolivar would change from 4.3 to 6.3 effective Feb. 12 is a necessary step to partly ease the currency’s overvaluation, while making it possible to narrow a central government budget deficit that deteriorated further in 2012.
Nevertheless, it remains uncertain how the government will allocate this “devaluation windfall,” as expenditure pressures could remain in 2013 given the growing probability of fresh presidential elections.
More at http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=680520&CategoryId=10717 .
FBI Investigating Public Corruption in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN – The FBI’s new Special Agent in Charge for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands said Monday that his office is investigating cases of public corruption on this Caribbean island.
Carlos Cases, whose appointment was announced last week, said at a press conference at the federal court building in San Juan that public corruption cases in Puerto Rico are a priority for the FBI.
“I can’t go into specific details about the investigations or who is under investigation. What I can say is that we are investigating public corruption at all levels,” he told reporters.
He added, however, that the focus on corruption will not detract from the FBI’s efforts to address street crime in Puerto Rico, where 100 people have been murdered in 2013 amid battles between gangs over control of retail drug sales.
More at http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=680427&CategoryId=14092 .
Mexican Leftist Leader Launches Campaign Against Oil Industry Reforms
MEXICO CITY – Former leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched a national campaign in southern Mexico “in defense of the petroleum industry” and against any privatization plans included in the energy reform plan to be debated by Congress this year, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) said.
The two-time presidential candidate told supporters in the city of Juchitan that the “gang of criminals, who misgovern the country, have a plan to steal, to take, the petroleum that belongs to the people and the nation,” Lopez Obrador’s press team said in a statement.
Lopez Obrador, who organized Morena as a political organization that aspires to become a party, called on his supporters to prepare to fight to stop the privatization of state-owned oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which has a monopoly over the production of crude and distribution of gasoline.
Mexico has a “regime of corruption” under which producing a barrel of crude costs $10, but it is sold at $100, yielding a profit of $90 per barrel, Lopez Obrador said.
More at http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=680001&CategoryId=14091 .
A State Rep. Wants Schools to Offer Gun Classes, Because This is Texas, Goddammit
In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the guns-in-schools debate in Texas has focused on teachers: whether to arm them; what training they should receive; whether it's better to shoot or ask questions first; etc.
But limiting the use of firearms on campus to trained, presumably responsible adults just seems un-Texan, which is why state Rep. James White (R) would like to up the ante. On Friday, he filed legislation calling for gun training to be offered in public schools. To students.
"The origins of liberty in our great nation reside in large part with the idea espoused in the Second Amendment," White said in a statement posted on his website. "As a conservative, I want Texas students to have the option to learn more about both this critical part of our Constitution, and the practical knowledge of how to safely operate the common arms Texans use for hunting and self defense."
Such a course would offer instruction on the Second Amendment, presumably with a heavy emphasis on an individual's right to bear arms, gun maintenance and safety, and, last but not least, hands-on training with "common firearms such as pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns."
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/02/a_state_rep_wants_schools_to_o.php .
[font color=green]What could possibly go wrong?[/font] 
Unions May Be Kidding Themselves by Banking on Getting Jobs Back After Hostess Liquidation
The bakers union's new president has finally broken his silence following the collapse of Irving-based Hostess, baker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies. It was the bakers, after all, who largely sat out the attempted restructuring in a New York federal bankruptcy court, then dynamited the negotiations by striking last November.
The company folded shortly thereafter and some 18,000 jobs were lost -- the subject of last week's cover story.
Now newly elected bakers union President David Durkee seems downright cocksure that his membership will, somehow, come out on top as bidders seek to buy up the pieces of the former baking empire. "From our perspective, the situation in 2012 comes off as a position of strength," he told The Wall Street Journal, expressing easy confidence that the thousands of out-of-work bakers will find employment with new ownership.
There's a difference between being hopeful and deluded, and Durkee is toeing the line of the latter. The lead bidder for Hostess' bread brands is a company called Flowers Foods, baker of Tastykake and Nature's Own bread, which has pledged $360 million to set the floor for bidding. This is not a terribly unionized company, and in the agreement it hashed out with Hostess management, posted on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website, it doesn't sound like Flowers plans on changing that.
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/02/unions_may_be_kidding_themselv.php .
Chorale to Perform in Italy (including St. Peter's Basilica) Over Spring Break
Twenty-nine members of the Southwestern University Chorale will have a once-in-a-lifetime experience over spring break this year: the opportunity to sing in the Vatican.
The concert is part of a weeklong tour of Venice and Rome. In addition to performing at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Chorale will perform at St. Mark’s Basilica and Chiesa degli Scalzi (Church of the Scalzi) in Venice and Chiesa Sant Andrea della Valle in Rome.
Kenny Sheppard, professor of music and director of the SU Chorale, said it was quite a coup for the group to be granted permission to perform at St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Mark’s Basilica.
“Everyone wants to sing there,” Sheppard said. “We had to audition to get to do this.”
The Chorale will sing during a mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 14. Since the performance coincides with Lent, the Chorale will sing pieces that are based on the Liturgical Calendar. Sheppard said the Vatican helped select the pieces to be performed. All the pieces will be performed in Latin.
http://southwestern.edu/live/news/7385-chorale-to-perform-in-italy-over-spring-break
[font color=green]Alumni bragging rights! 
I had the wonderful fortune of being directed by Dr. Sheppard once when the Symphonic Band and the Chorale held a joint performance. In the 1990's the Chorale performed in Austin and I was able to join the group afterwards for fun and food. Although we only spoke briefly, he remembered me when we ran into each other at a homecoming reunion many years later.
The students are fortunate to have Dr. Sheppard as a director and to also have this wonderful opportunity to sing in the Vatican. Southwestern University is a Methodist affiliated liberal arts university.[/font]
New Mexico lawmakers propose changing film and TV subsidies
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico lawmakers are working on a compromise proposal to sweeten a tax subsidy in hopes of drawing more television projects to the state.
A House committee on Monday postponed consideration of a film industry measure after a Democratic legislative leader said more time is needed to reach agreement with the Senate, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the entertainment industry.
"We want to send a unifying message to the industry that the state of New Mexico welcomes and wants the film industry here," House Majority Whip Antonio "Moe" Maestas, D-Albuquerque, told the Taxation and Revenue Committee.
He and other Democrats have proposed revamping the 25 percent tax refund that New Mexico offers for certain film and TV production expenses. His measure would boost the incentive by 5 percent for a TV series that produces at least six episodes in New Mexico.
More at http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2013-02-11/nm-lawmakers-propose-changing-film-and-tv-subsidies .
Judge approves $1.9M settlement in Gregg County Jail inmate death
MARSHALL -- A federal judge this morning approved a $1.9 million settlement agreement between Gregg County and survivors of Amy Lynn Cowling.
Cowling's mother and three children sued the county following her December 2010 death in the county jail. The plaintiffs argued Cowling's death could have been avoided if she had been allowed to take prescribed medicines for bipolar disorder and opiate withdrawal.
Gregg County admits no wrongdoing in the settlement, which will be paid with insurance.
Source: http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/judge-approves-m-settlement-in-gregg-county-jail-inmate-death/article_8779f796-7468-11e2-b370-0019bb2963f4.html
Spaceport: Protect area resource
This El Paso and Southern New Mexico area must keep control over its unique sources of supply, such as a future hotbed for solar energy, as just one example. In this case, it's our wide-open spaces, already conducive to U.S. military operations at White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss. That's 1-million-plus acres of testing grounds.
The focal point today is protecting the investment in Spaceport America, located 45 miles north of Las Cruces. That venture is already a $200 million-plus investment in technology that may someday launch spacecraft with passengers and land them within minutes on the other side of the world.
It is of utmost importance that Spaceport's tenant, Virgin Galactic, along with spacecraft manufacturers and suppliers, have the same liability protections as are now on the books in at least four other states. Without such protections, Virgin Galactic could well depart Spaceport and leave the facility with no tenants.
Whereas this area is perhaps best-suited of all for private spacecraft launches, other states are getting into the game because this field could result in economic booms for surrounding cities -- jobs and tourism as just two of the positives.
More at http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_22561763/spaceport .
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