By Andy Lyman/The Paper. Photos by Roberto Rosales. Anyone living in Albuquerque who doesn’t at least recognize Don Schrader either hasn’t been around long enough or isn’t paying attention. His usually barely clothed, tan body is nearly as recognizable as the city’s skyline. There are few whose faces are plastered on postcards. Some might know […]
Albuquerque
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety, Downtown
Watch: APD Take Downtown Shooting Suspect into Custody
Officers were nearby and able to respond quickly when two men began shooting at each other in Downtown Albuquerque on Saturday evening. The first suspect was captured and arrested shortly after the shooting, while the second suspect, a minor, turned himself in the next day. The APD Police Chief Harold Medina posted the body camera […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Education
WHAT TO EXPECT: APS board to discuss dropping enrollment
Enrollment in Albuquerque Public Schools is expected to drop — again — for the coming academic year. School board members will meet Wednesday to face numbers that show a projected enrollment of 64,995, down roughly 2% from the 66,321 students this year. Since 2016, enrollment will have fallen by 20,341 students (or about 23.8%), if […]
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WHAT TO EXPECT: No confidence vote in police chief on the table
A no-confidence vote in the police chief will be on the table for the Albuquerque City Council at its Wednesday regular meeting. Strike Out or Home Run Councilor Louie Sanchez has failed a couple of times to get a message of no confidence off the council table and onto the mayor’s office. The city’s Finance […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety
APD relaunches popular cold case series
After a brief hiatus, the popular crime series Duke City Case Files, has relaunched. After the Albuquerque Police Dept. launched the video series in 2021, the Homicide Unit solved four of the seven cold cases featured. The first case highlighted with the relaunch is the September 2021 homicide of 22-year-old Brittany Ramirez. Ramirez was left […]
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How does the mayor’s proposed budget stack up against last year’s?
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s administration released a $1.4 billion proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 on Tuesday. The 2.3% increase over last fiscal year focuses on big picture categories like public safety, housing, homelessness, behavioral health, jobs, the economy and more. The city said in a news release that the budget takes into consideration post-pandemic […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety
911 calls detail aftermath of police chief’s crash
On Feb. 17, Todd Perchert called 911. He’d just been hit by a black truck at the intersection of Alvarado Drive NE and Central Avenue. He was driving his gold 1966 Ford Mustang — which was his uncle’s and his dad’s before his. Struggling to talk, Perchert told the 911 operator that he had been […]
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Homeless sobering center would take pressure off emergency rooms
When an intoxicated homeless person needs to get sober, they often end up in one of Albuquerque’s emergency rooms. But officials say it’s an untenable situation that places a further strain on already stressed health care workers and maxed out ERs. The city hopes to alleviate some of the load through a new medical sobering […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety, Westside
Watch: APD horse-mounted cops chase down shoplifter
Shoppers outside a West Central Walgreens got a vision of old-fashioned wild west law enforcement last week. Officers from APD’s horse-mounted unit were on patrol near Coors and Central on March 20 when an employee of a nearby Walgreens alerted them to a man who had just shoplifted from the store. Three officers (and their […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Education, Housing & Homelessness
Cuidando Los Niños sounds alarm on child homelessness
The picture of homelessness for many Albuquerque residents is likely one of a panhandler at an intersection or bus stop who is almost always an adult male. But that picture is woefully incomplete, says Ashley Martinez, because it should include children and families too — a group that has been increasing in number. “It is […]