A months-long fight over transparency erupted at Albuquerque City Hall last fall after nine Inspector General fraud investigations were completed. Of those investigations, the public has only seen two final reports; four remain unreleased and one was formally rejected. The controversy began in April when the Albuquerque Accountability in Government Oversight Committee deferred six reports, […]
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Albuquerque council to revisit rental protections ordinance
City Councilor Nichole Rogers said Thursday she plans to keep pushing a rental practices ordinance after the Albuquerque City Council deferred the measure, citing concerns that state tenant protections lack local enforcement. At a press conference, Rogers said the delay exposed a gap in the enforcement of New Mexico Senate Bill 267, which took effect […]
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Metro crime-fighting tools highlighted as federal funding package clears Congress
A package of federal appropriations bills that cleared both houses of Congress this week contains hundreds of millions of dollars for New Mexico, with a heavy emphasis on public safety in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján issued news releases Friday detailing the legislation, which now heads to President […]
Posted inOpinion & Analysis
Against the odds: APD’s DWI unit rises from the ashes
When I first heard about the sprawling corruption scandal that gutted the Albuquerque Police Department’s DWI unit in 2024, I, like a lot of people, assumed the specialized unit was finished. A decades-long bribery scheme involving nearly the entire squad, hundreds of dismissed cases, officers on the district attorney’s “Brady list” of untrustworthy cops, it […]
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DWI cases rebound in Bernalillo County court after APD corruption scandal
DWI cases filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court reached a multiyear high in 2025 and APD arrests are on the rise following a decades-long corruption scandal that has decimated its specialized DWI unit, a City Desk investigation found. The court recorded 2,404 total DWI filings in 2025, consisting of 2,360 misdemeanor and 44 felony cases, […]
Posted inLocal Government
The future with Fred
Fred Hashimoto’s mayoralty of Corrales is starting to take shape. Hashimoto, who was sworn in Jan. 2, told the Corrales Comment he has been preparing for the job by meeting with various local organizations and with councilors and others in village government. “I’ve spent the last two months meeting with a lot of people,” he […]
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
County rejects federal cut, maintains housing assistance for low-income families
Bernalillo County commissioners approved an item Tuesday to keep housing voucher rates unchanged for 2026, rejecting a federal decrease that officials warned would harm low-income renters. The county will maintain current subsidy levels, which average 2.9% above the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fair market rents, to help tenants stay competitive in a […]
Posted inLocal Government
Bernalillo County moves to regulate AI data center expansion
With Project Jupiter, a controversial campus of data centers slated for Doña Ana County, in the works, the Bernalillo County Commission took a first step Tuesday toward imposing some of the state’s strictest regulations on data center development, introducing a resolution that would tie taxpayer-funded incentives to aggressive hiring, wage and environmental standards. Sponsored by […]
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Albuquerque’s Gateway Center hits a turning point in homelessness response
The City of Albuquerque announced Tuesday that the Gateway Center reached full capacity for the first time since its late-2025 expansion, placing nearly 200 people on a path toward stable housing through intensive support services. The Gibson location now serves 192 residents — 100 women and 92 men — who commit to behavioral intervention and […]
Posted inLocal Government
New leadership takes the gavel in Bernalillo County
The Bernalillo County Commission elected the new chair and vice chair of the commission in its first meeting of the 2026 calendar year, where Adriann Barboa took over as the commission chair with Frank Baca as her vice chair. The commission voted 5-0 for Barboa to take over the gavel from outgoing chair Eric Olivas. […]