#Front Page - Rio Rancho Archives

Crews drill Rio Rancho’s Well 9 overnight. The city plans to bring the redrilled well online by winter of fiscal 2029. (Courtesy City of Rio Rancho)

Well within limits: Rio Rancho pumps less than half the water it’s allowed

by Kevin Hendricks, Editor 7 hours agoNovember 9, 2026

Editor’s note: Every drop from a Rio Rancho tap starts hundreds of feet underground. The city runs entirely on groundwater. On Oct. 20, the city’s utility managers, its water rights attorney and state geologists walked the Governing Body and the new Public Infrastructure Advisory Board through how the system works. They also covered what it […]

Superintendent Robert Dodd and three top administrators introduced the proposed name, Horizon 2040, at last week’s school board meeting. The plan would run from 2027 to 2032 while looking ahead to the Class of 2040, today's 4-year-olds in early childhood programs.

■ Education

RRPS brings Horizon 2040 planning to Rio Rancho High tonight

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — Missed last week’s Horizon 2040 kickoff? Rio Rancho Public Schools serves up a second helping tonight. The district hosts the second of four community conversations on its next strategic plan Thursday, Nov. 5, from 6-7 p.m. at Rio Rancho High School. Parents, students, staff and community members can share […]

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., left, Sandoval County Commissioner-elect Frank Smith Jr., center, and then-gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland pose at the Veterans Integration Center in Albuquerque on Oct. 25. Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, moderated a veterans roundtable with Kelly and Haaland. (Courtesy Frank Smith Jr.)

■ Politics & Elections

Flipped by 334 votes: Democrats take the Sandoval County Commission

By Kevin Hendricks — A 334-vote margin just handed Democrats control of the Sandoval County Commission. Democrat Frank Smith Jr. edged out Republican Edwin Linson 7,983 to 7,649 for the District 3 seat Tuesday, according to unofficial results. Smith replaces term-limited Republican Commissioner Mike Meek, and his win flips the board to a Democratic majority. […]

Deb Haaland, left, and Gregg Hull talk before a forum for gubernatorial candidates on April 28 in Rio Rancho. (Kevin Hendricks)

■ Politics & Elections

Sandoval County’s guide to every race, question and voting site for Election Day

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — Sandoval County voters will pick a new sheriff Tuesday, decide two county commission seats and vote on whether to spend $22 million on a secure storage building for the office that runs the election. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at 42 voting […]

Sandoval County voters head to the polls Tuesday for the June 2 primary — and more than 16,300 ballots are already in the books after early and absentee voting closed Saturday, May 30.

■ Politics & Elections

Drug-tainted absentee ballots cleared, every vote will count in Sandoval County

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — Sandoval County voters whose absentee ballots got caught up in a drug scare at the county’s election warehouse can stop worrying. Every one of those votes will count. County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero announced that the ballots involved in the Oct. 16 incident are clear and none will be spoiled, […]

The city will host a community open house at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at Loma Colorado Library. Residents can browse conceptual designs and informational displays and leave feedback. No formal presentation is scheduled, according to a city announcement.

■ Local Government

Full-court press: Rio Rancho wants your two cents on $76M rec center

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — Rio Rancho residents get a first look Nov. 9 at a proposed $76 million recreation center planned for the old Stapleton Elementary site. The city wants their two cents before it spends the millions. The city will host a community open house at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at […]

■ Local Government

Bernalillo council approves $82K ransom payout after cyberattack

By Rodd Cayton — Town councilors in Bernalillo have made a move they hope will let the City of Coronado move on after a cyberattack earlier this month. The council unanimously voted to extend an offer of $82,000 to the threat actor behind the attack. Mayor Jack Torres told the Sandoval Signpost that the action […]

UNM Health patients can keep their Tuesday appointments. Clinics reopened Oct. 27, a day after a cybersecurity event knocked systems offline and cancelled appointments across the health system.

■ Courts & Justice

UNM Health clinics reopen Tuesday after cybersecurity event; health sciences classes stay cancelled

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — UNM Health patients can keep their Tuesday appointments. Clinics reopened Oct. 27, a day after a cybersecurity event knocked systems offline and cancelled appointments across the health system. That included Sandoval Regional Medical Center in Rio Rancho. UNM Hospital and Sandoval Regional are both open, and all clinics resumed […]

The Luxe has its zoning. The Rio Rancho City Council voted 5-1 Thursday to rezone a Lomas Encantadas corner and a slice of neighborhood park for 55 apartments and two small shops. Fourteen residents had lined up to ask councilors to kill it.

■ Local Government

The Luxe is in: City Council approves Lomas Encantadas apartments 5-1, with the neighborhood’s own councilor voting no

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — The Luxe has its zoning. The Rio Rancho City Council voted 5-1 Thursday to rezone a Lomas Encantadas corner and a slice of neighborhood park for 55 apartments and two small shops. Fourteen residents had lined up to ask councilors to kill it. Councilors David Mann, Karissa Culbreath, Jeremy […]

Didi Okpareke, a Rio Rancho pharmacist, is the Republican nominee for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. (Courtesy of the Okpareke campaign)

■ Politics & Elections

Okpareke’s ads don’t add up on her federal campaign finance report

By Kevin Hendricks — Didi Okpareke’s congressional campaign paid for Facebook and Instagram ads that popped up on screens more than 150,000 times this summer, mostly in New Mexico. That was one of at least 3 different paid campaigns Facebook political ad tracker captured from here campaign during the most recent federal campaign finance period, […]