If at first you don’t succeed — try again. Bernalillo County Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Walt Benson will try to get a controversial resolution on the agenda for the commission’s Tuesday meeting to allow it to revisit the process to hire a county manager. The two commissioners will need some help from their colleagues […]
Elise Kaplan
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City seeks input on food ordinance changes
Albuquerque’s Environmental Health Department is seeking the public’s input as the city prepares to update its food service and retail ordinance. Stakeholders and interested parties have the opportunity to review the draft ordinance and accompanying rules document and provide input. The updated ordinance will replace the city’s existing food safety laws ordinances. The new ordinance […]
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Business licenses, permit fees would rise under mayor’s proposed budget
Under Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s proposed $1.37 billion budget, the cost of a business license and some building permits would increase. The proposed increases are estimated to generate about $6 million in revenue from the city’s Planning Department, which oversees permitting, development reviews, code enforcement and more. The proposed fiscal year 2025 budget for the […]
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What to know: ABQ’s first pallet home campus
The city unveiled plans Monday to develop a transitional recovery housing campus with 50 pallet homes, but with just a handful of specifics. Since then, we’ve heard from City Desk ABQ readers wanting to know more so we tracked down some answers. The project — the first of its kind in Albuquerque — was allocated […]
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The mayor said the city needs new 5,000 homes. His budget proposes less than 200.
In 2022, Mayor Tim Keller announced his goal to have 5,000 housing units across the city by 2025 to help with the city’s affordable “housing crisis.” So far 165 affordable units have been built and the next fiscal year’s budget includes funding for 195 housing units — still far short of the goal. Katie Simon, […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety
Mayor’s proposed budget includes 5% more funding for police
Under the mayor’s proposed budget, funding for the Albuquerque Police Department would increase by $13.4 million — 5.2%. The proposed budget of $271.5 million includes funding for 1,000 sworn police officers and 725 civilian employees. Much of the proposed increase has to do with personnel, including cost of living adjustments, an increased cost of insurance, […]
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Councilors hear pleas for ceasefire
City Councilors made some changes to how the city will handle the administrative side of all the grants that it processes. But it was pleas for a resolution calling for an immediate Israeli ceasefire in Palestine that dominated public comment at the April 15 Albuquerque City Council meeting. Read about how city councilors decided to […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety
Can former DWI officers under investigation still work as cops?
As news continues to unfold about the five officers suspected of working with a local defense attorney, Thomas Clear III, to get those accused of driving while intoxicated off the hook, many readers reached out with questions about what happens next. City Desk ABQ tracked down officials to get the answers. The five officers — […]
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Deaths at the Westside shelter are increasing
On Jan. 28, 2023, a 53-year-old woman was staying at the Westside Emergency Housing Center with her husband when she died. According to an incident report, Gina Kirwin’s husband told staff that she was not breathing and when they went to check on her she was already cold to the touch. Kirwin’s husband told police […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Housing & Homelessness
How many homeless die in Albuquerque each year? It’s complicated.
Although it’s hard to get an exact count, advocates say more people experiencing homelessness are dying each year. Neil Greene, a fellow at the University of New Mexico’s Center on Alcohol, Substance Use, and Addictions and a scholar of homelessness, researched the issue for City Desk ABQ — using Office of the Medical Investigator records […]