After weeks of public hearings, Committee of the Whole Chairperson Renée Grout introduced the City Council’s substitute budget for the 2027 fiscal year, and opening the process for final council-sponsored amendments to finalize the budget before a June 1 deadline. Grout’s version follows Mayor Tim Keller’s budget proposal from earlier this year, but includes changes […]
■ Albuquerque
Posted inLocal Government
City Council considers stricter repair timelines for ‘Bad Actor’ landlords
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — City councilors and landlords all agree that a handful of “bad actors” are giving landlords citywide a bad image, but a proposal before the city council to increase fines and require faster repairs by the worst offenders faced challenges in it’s first hearing. The city received more than 2,111 […]
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 inJobs, Workers & Economy
STEM Educator Shelly Gruenig and her robots are a ‘force for good’
By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper. – Shelly Gruenig did not set out to build one of New Mexico’s most impactful STEM organizations. Twenty-one years ago, she was simply a homeschool mom looking for something fun for her son to do. “I stumbled across this robotics competition, and I was like, ‘Oh, we could do that. […]
Posted inLocal Government
South Valley gets new “microtransit zone” with new bus lines and door-to-door service
South Valley residents relying on public transit, or wanting to, will soon see more buses as a part of an expansion of the city’s ABQ RIDE Forward program creating a “microtransit zone” for the area. Changes Starting May 16: “This phase will better connect the South Valley,” said Transit Director Leslie Keener. “The area will greatly […]
Posted inLocal Government
As City works to plug budget hole, County approves record $1B budget with surplus
By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Unlike councilors in the City of Albuquerque who are trying to plug a $30-ish million budget hole tied to slower economic activity, Bernalillo County will start the year on stable financial footing, having closed an $8.5 million budget shortfall. Correction: An earlier version of this article […]
Posted inCourts & Justice
Feds. sue New Mexico, Albuquerque to block anti-ICE laws
Albuquerque — The U.S. Department of Justice late Friday sued the state and City of Albuquerque to pause enforcement of local legislation the federal government says would impede federal immigration enforcement in the state. Federal officials asked a federal judge for an injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing House Bill 9, the “Immigrant Safety Ordinance” […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Food & Drink, NM.news
Church closes popular food truck park, sending vendors, foodies scrambling
By Pat Davis and Devin O’Leary, The Paper. — Instead of prepping french fries and warming up the grill for a hungry weekend crowd, vendors at the ABQ Food Park in the Far Northeast Heights spent last weekend looking for a new home. On Sunday, May 3, vendors began posting notices to social media that […]
Posted inCity Desk ABQ
Keller veto holds: Council leaves rules requiring better A/C for renters in limbo
By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — On Monday, the Albuquerque City Council failed to override Mayor Tim Keller’s veto of changes to a controversial renters’ rights cooling ordinance, falling one vote short of the six votes required. Council President Klarissa Peña and Vice President Dan Champine, along with Councilors Brook Bassan, Renée […]
Posted inCity Desk ABQ
Albuquerque’s new ‘Safety Zones’: A boost for business or a crackdown on poverty?
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — A new Albuquerque ordinance hands the mayor power to surge police and city services along commercial corridors, a move supporters call a boost for local business and critics blast as a crackdown on the city’s most vulnerable. On Monday, the Albuquerque City Council voted 6-3 to approve the “Enhanced […]