Fees for fun things in ABQ won’t be raised

Albuquerque City Councilors have dropped proposed fee increases from Mayor Tim Keller’s draft budget for fiscal year 2024-2025. At the May 16 Committee of the Whole meeting, members voted to make a few changes to Keller’s $1.4 billion budget.  Among the amendments was allocating an additional $250,000 for the ABQ BioPark, eliminating the need for […]

Posted inPolitics & Elections, Westside

Battle for the Westside

By Andy Lyman / The Paper. It wouldn’t be primary election season without barbs, jabs and accusations within one political party.  That’s the case in one state Senate district on the Westside.  The triangular-shaped Senate District 26 hugs a southern section of the Bosque and stretches west to Atrisco Vista Boulevard. The district’s Democratic incumbent […]

Council provides ‘basic human rights for almost everybody’

Albuquerque City Councilors passed an amendment to the city’s Human Rights Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, or conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth.   The amendment is an update to the city’s Human Rights Ordinance to match the State of New Mexico’s Human Rights Act, Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn […]

Albuquerque Is Throwing Out the Belongings of Homeless People, Violating City Policy

This story is published in partnership with ProPublica as a part of our commitment to bringing you the best in independent news coverage that matters to Albuquerque. By Nicole Santa Cruz | ProPublica ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power, co-published this story with New Mexico in Depth. On a recent morning, Christian Smith ran […]

Push for more Albuquerque duplexes falls short

Those hoping the city would allow more duplexes to be built in Albuquerque were disappointed Wednesday night when a proposed zoning amendment was voted down 3-2.  The consideration before the land use, planning and zoning (LUPZ) committee would have allowed duplexes, once authorized under city zoning, to be constructed from single-family homes located in certain […]

Posted inAlbuquerque, Politics & Elections

Once Friendly, Now Foes

By GWYNNE ANN UNRUH / The Paper. Democratic Sen. Bill O’Neill is facing his first primary opponent after representing Senate District 13 for more than a decade — and it’s someone he’s worked with closely before. His opponent, former Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, says she decided to go up against O’Neill because he hasn’t […]

200 seniors, 90 veterans housed at Westside shelter — some for years

The city’s Westside Emergency Housing Center (WEHC) is home to about 200 seniors and 90 veterans seeking shelter among hundreds more who are experiencing homelessness. While the number who sleep there fluctuates throughout the year, during the winter months officials say it’s not uncommon to reach its capacity of 600. City officials and advocates for […]