The Paper. — The Independence Day holiday always keeps Albuquerque firefighters on their toes. Last year, the city’s Fire and Rescue Department spent the days before the holiday responding to a house explosion linked to a large illegal fireworks stash that killed a homeowner and injured two others in the Northeast Heights. This year, they […]
Courts, Justice & Safety
Posted inSandoval County
Sandoval County takes over Cuba’s 911 calls
Cuba residents dialing 911 will now get Sandoval County paramedics and firefighters on scene, not a local ambulance crew, after the county took over emergency response for the area July 1. Sandoval County Fire and Rescue (SCFR) confirmed the change covers the Village of Cuba and northwestern Sandoval County, including parts of the Navajo Nation […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
Governor, AG accuse DEA of letting fentanyl flood NM streets, demand investigation
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. New Mexico’s overdose crisis just got a new villain, according to the governor: the federal agency that’s supposed to be fighting it. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says reporting from the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal revealed the Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills reach New […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
Top New Mexico Republican official charged in fatal hit and run, months after being charged with street racing and speeding
Investigators in Doña Ana County used traffic cameras, GPS and old fashioned detective work to track down the vehicle and driver witnesses photographed leaving the scene of a deadly midday hit-and-run earlier this week. The investigation led them to the door of Kimberly Skaggs, 54, a high-profile New Mexico Republican Party official who was already […]
Posted inAlbuquerque
Albuquerque adds four new speed cameras, bringing citywide total to 34
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Albuquerque’s speed camera network just got bigger — and if you’re still lead-footing it across town, the odds of getting caught just went up. The city activated four new Automated Speed Enforcement cameras this week on Fourth Street near Griegos, Central at 61st Street eastbound and westbound, and Unser near […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Albuquerque man charged with stealing $23K in copper wire from Intel construction site
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. An Albuquerque man faces a felony larceny charge after Rio Rancho police say surveillance video caught him repeatedly stealing copper wire from an Intel construction site — then selling it to Albuquerque scrap metal dealers for nearly $10,500. A criminal complaint filed June 17 in Sandoval County Magistrate Court alleges […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Rio Rancho man charged with child abuse, contributing to delinquency after middle school fight escalates
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. A Rio Rancho man is facing five criminal charges after Rio Rancho police say he encouraged a fight between his middle-school-age daughter and another student, then threatened a group of teenage girls and grabbed one by the arm trying to take her phone. Court records filed June 12 in Bernalillo […]
Posted inNM.news
After three police shootings in five days, City Councilor questions APD, ACS mental health response rules
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Imagine calling 911 for help during a mental health crisis only to have the encounter end in death. That happened in May when the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) shot and killed a man after his family called for help because he was threatening to harm himself. The shooting was […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Speed camera citations more than doubled in May as Unser Boulevard becomes Rio Rancho’s top speeding corridor
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Rio Rancho’s speed cameras issued 7,095 citations in May — nearly triple April’s total — as camera deployment shifted heavily onto Unser Boulevard, the city’s busiest north-south corridor. Data from vendor Verra Mobility shows the Safe Traffic Operations Program monitored more than 1 million vehicle passes in May, flagging 12,996 […]
Posted inSandoval County
20-year-old faces felony charges after 112 mph chase on US 550, crash in Bernalillo
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. A 20-year-old man faces five criminal charges — including a felony — after a Sandoval County Sheriff’s deputy clocked his vehicle at 112 mph on northbound US 550 Monday morning and pursued him through a crash that ended on a dirt road near the Bernalillo border. According to a criminal […]