(Photo by Sara Atancio-Gonzales) By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper – After two decades working in healthcare, Tamara Righettini was ready for a change. Today, she spends her days surrounded by pottery wheels, shelves of clay and a growing community of artists at Burque Throwdown, the ceramics studio she founded near Downtown Albuquerque. Righettini first discovered […]
Albuquerque
Posted inLocal Government
Albuquerque moves quickly to remove César Chávez from streets, public honors following abuse disclosures by Dolores Huerta, others
By Jesse Jones, City Desk ABQ in The Paper. — City officials took swift action Wednesday to initiate the renaming of local sites honoring civil rights organizer and Chicano icon César Chávez following disclosures by fellow activist Dolores Huerta that he pressured her for sex resulting in pregnancies. City Councilor Joaquín Baca told City Desk […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Healthcare, The Paper.
Albuquerque-Based School Arms First Responders With Yoga
According to a First Responder Mental Health Needs Assessment conducted in 2025 by the Benjamin Center for Public Policy Initiatives at SUNY, New Paltz, first responder mental health remained at crisis levels, with 94% identifying stress and 90% citing burnout as major challenges. Over 50% reported depression symptoms, 38% experienced PTSD symptoms and 16% reported […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, City Desk ABQ, Local Government
Council kills controversial tax hike after floor amendments slash rate
By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Albuquerque city workers filled the City Council chambers hoping a new tax would fund long-awaited raises, but they left empty-handed. Councilors voted 8-1 Monday night to kill a proposed gross receipts tax increase before the state deadline, shelving a plan meant to fund community projects and […]
Posted inCity Desk ABQ
Council OK’s ordinance to thwart ICE arrests in Albuquerque
By Jesse Jones City Desk in The Paper. — The Albuquerque City Council meeting opened Monday to a packed chamber as officials took up several controversial measures. The crowd thinned as the agenda moved forward, but a large group of community activists and immigrants, many wearing bright blue shirts from El Centro de Igualdad y […]
Posted in+Arts & Culture
Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival Opens with The Sound of Cicadas
By Sara Atencio Gonzales — On Wednesday, March 18, poets and community members will gather at the Albuquerque Museum as the kickoff event for the third annual Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival. The Sound of Cicadas: A Poetry Resolana is designed not just as a reading, but as a conversation. Unlike a traditional poetry reading or […]
Posted in+Arts & Culture, Albuquerque
All Abilities Art Show is changing perceptions of disability and creativity
By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper. — Vehicle designed as an “art piece” that will greet visitors on the way into the exhibit (Photo courtesy ADAC) By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper — The upcoming All Abilities Art Show brings artists with disabilities together in Downtown Albuquerque for a weekend dedicated to creativity, community and opportunity. Hosted […]
Posted inAlbuquerque
Consultants send “preferred plan” keeping State Fair, adding stadium to Fairgrounds board
By Jesse Jones and Pat Davis, City Desk in The Paper. — Consultants tasked with recommending options for redevelopment of the State Fairgrounds will recommend a $240 million multi-year master plan to serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization on and off-site, City Desk has learned. The plan presented in a public meeting Friday evening […]
Posted inThe Paper.
Exclusive: Frustrated with stadium legal delays, New Mexico United open to Fairgrounds “pivot”
By Jesse Jones and Pat Davis, City Desk in The Paper. — Soccer fans may have a new reason to care about redevelopment at the New Mexico State Fair. In an exclusive interview with City Desk, New Mexico United Co-owner and CEO Peter Trevisani says the New Mexico United would be open to moving its […]
Posted inElections & Politics
Whatever happened to Daniel Chavez, mayoral candidate charged with touching staffer?
By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — In September, City Desk reported that prosecutors charged Albuquerque mayoral candidate Daniel Chavez after a campaign staffer accused him of inappropriate touching, a misdemeanor battery charge. Prosecutors have now dismissed the case. The 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office dismissed the case on Feb. 20, 2026, in […]