When a city councilor who represents some of the most impoverished areas of the city recently tried to update the city’s minimum wage law, she inadvertently created an opportunity for one of her colleagues to lower the city’s minimum wage for tipped employees. Councilor Nichole Rogers in an interview with City Desk ABQ said she […]
Andy Lyman
Andy Lyman is an editor at nm.news.
He oversees teams reporting on state and local government. Andy served in newsrooms at KUNM, NM Political Report, SF Reporter and The Paper. before joining nm.news in 2023.
Posted inNew Mexico Statewide News, Westside Albuquerque
WQCC commissioner will abstain from final produced water rule vote
By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico A New Mexico water board member with ties to the oil and gas industry announced Monday she will abstain from a final vote on statewide rules developing additional uses of oil and gas wastewater. The Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC), an oft-overlooked body of 13 members tasked with shaping […]
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Still-closed Route 66 Visitors Center will get a commission
Editor’s note: To read the first in our series on the visitors center — A visitors center with no visitors: When will the taxpayer-funded project open? — click here. The second installment — Former city councilor on the still-closed visitors center: ‘It’s a boondoggle and a money pit’ — is available here. Toward the end […]
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E-bikes on trails, scooter rentals get city council’s approval
Albuquerque residents will soon be able to ride e-bikes on Open Space trails and may eventually see electric rental scooters around town thanks to two different pieces of legislation passed by City Council. The legislation will still need to be signed into law by Mayor Tim Keller. After a month-long summer break, city councilors spent […]
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City beefs up bus security
The Albuquerque Transit Department has announced a new campaign to improve safety aboard buses and at stops. The effort will include ABQ RIDE personnel, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Metro Security Division and contracted security. The safety initiative includes: “This elevated security presence is proactively helping us curb incidents at bus stops and shelters that […]
Posted inNew Mexico Statewide News, Westside Albuquerque
FEMA reaches $1 billion in payouts, settles seven lawsuits for northern NM fire victims
By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico The federal agency tasked with distributing nearly $4 billion to victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire announced a milestone last week: $1 billion in compensation paid for the April 2022 fire. The Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Claims Office also recently settled seven lawsuits with several law firms representing thousands […]
Posted inNew Mexico Statewide News
The Paper., City Desk ABQ appoint new editor, welcome new staff
Albuquerque — Andy Lyman, a 14-year veteran of New Mexico newsrooms, has been appointed as the editor of City Desk ABQ, the city’s new nonprofit digital news source, and The Paper., Albuquerque’s most-read arts, culture and alt-weekly newspaper. Lyman is leading a new and growing newsroom team covering Albuquerque and Bernalillo County government, arts, culture […]
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Former city councilor on the still-closed visitors center: ‘It’s a boondoggle and a money pit’
Editor’s note: To read the first in our series — A visitors center with no visitors: When will the taxpayer-funded project open? — click here. There’s still no opening date for the decades-in-the-making West Central Route 66 Visitors Center, though construction was completed years ago. Even so, one former city councilor thinks the long delay […]
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ABQ has more than 150 vacant positions on advisory boards and commissions
Boards and commissions act as advisory bodies helping local governments make decisions on important issues — whether that is advocating for visual arts or affordable housing. But many of Albuquerque’s boards and commissions are short members. Nearly 80% of Albuquerque’s boards and commissions have empty seats — ranging from one vacant position to 10. Of […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News
Gov. Lujan Grisham about ABQ street corners: ‘God help you if you’re out there at night’
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will be in Albuquerque Monday night for the second of three public safety town hall meetings. Following an anticlimactic special legislative session earlier this month aimed at combating crime in the state, Lujan Grisham announced a string of town halls across the state focused on public safety. The first town hall […]