The Town of Bernalillo Fire and Rescue Department is reminding the community that its Safe Haven Baby Box is an emergency resource and should not be treated like a curiosity. A recent post on the department’s Facebook page mentioned several incidents in which the door of the Baby Box was opened unnecessarily. “Please remember that […]
Courts, Justice & Safety
Posted inMountainair
Three dead, 18 first responders hospitalized after hazmat incident at Mountainair home
By Kevin Hendricks — The Paper. Three people are dead and 19 others are hospitalized — including 18 first responders — after an unidentified substance was discovered at a Mountainair residence Wednesday, triggering a major hazmat response from state and county agencies. New Mexico State Police responded around 11 a.m. to an address on Hanlon […]
Posted inSandoval County
‘Sandoval Star’ identified: Woman found dead in 2023 named Victoria De La Rosa
The woman whose body was found in the Cibola National Forest three years ago and known only as “Sandoval Star” has been identified as Victoria De La Rosa, a Mexican national who lived and worked in the Albuquerque area before her disappearance, Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office announced at a press conference May 20. Sandoval County […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Beyond the badge: How ‘Steele Got Your Six’ is mobilizing the Rio Rancho community to support police families
By Kevin Hendricks – The Paper. A Rio Rancho woman who spent decades watching law enforcement families quietly struggle in crisis launched a nonprofit to change that — and in less than two years, it has already reached nearly 400 people. Laci Steele founded Steele Got Your Six in December 2024 after years of funding […]
Posted inSandoval County
Pentagon taps Sandoval County missile maker for hypersonic weapon contract
By Kevin Hendricks – The Paper. The Pentagon has signed a first-of-its-kind production deal with Castelion Corporation to manufacture its Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile — and Sandoval County’s Project Ranger facility will be where those weapons get built. The Defense Department — which the Trump administration refers to as the Department of War — announced […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Rio Rancho honors fallen officers at annual memorial ceremony
A large crowd gathered Thursday morning at Veterans Memorial Park in Rio Rancho to honor three police officers killed in the line of duty, with city and state officials calling on newer officers to learn the names and stories of those who came before them. The Rio Rancho Police Department’s annual Fallen Officer Memorial ceremony […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
NMDOJ agrees to stop enforcement of HB9 in response to USDOJ lawsuit against New Mexico anti-ICE laws
A lawsuit by Federal officials to block New Mexico’s new law forcing the closure of ICE detention centers scored its first victory Wednesday afternoon when New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a stipulated motion agreeing to stop pursuing enforcement of the law against the sprawling Otero County Detention Center while the federal suit continues. […]
Posted inCity Desk ABQ
ABQ moves to permanently fund new safety branches without a rate hike
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque voters may soon decide whether to modernize how the city’s Public Safety Tax is spent, all without seeing any increase in their actual tax rate. We all already pay the Public Safety Tax – 1/4 of 1%, or 25-cents on each $100 transaction – as a part of […]
Posted inRio Rancho
‘Nothing burger’ vs. legal pattern: Stoddard’s gun dispute and dismissed domestic battery case
A former Rio Rancho councilor now running for Sandoval County Commission pulled a revolver and threatened to shoot a hotel manager during a dispute over hot tub water temperature, according to a Truth or Consequences police report. Daniel Stoddard called the incident a “nothing burger.” Court and police records show it was not his first […]
Posted inPlacitas
Man charged with strangling wife four times, kicking puppy during domestic dispute
A Sandoval County woman survived four separate strangulation attacks — losing vision and nearly losing consciousness — before escaping a Placitas home and flagging down help on May 3, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo Magistrate Court. Sandoval County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the address at approximately 8:24 p.m. and arrested a 40-year-old […]