kevinabqnews, Author at City Desk ABQ

More restrictions or fewer rules?: New Mexico lawmakers introduce competing visions on guns

by kevinabqnews January 21, 2026January 25, 2026

New Mexico legislators are weighing four bills that would significantly reshape the state’s gun laws, with proposals ranging from permitless carry to enhanced penalties for felons and new restrictions tied to juvenile offenses and domestic violence protection orders. The bills, introduced during the 57th Legislature’s second session in 2026, reflect competing visions for firearm policy […]

Against the odds: APD’s DWI unit rises from the ashes

When I first heard about the sprawling corruption scandal that gutted the Albuquerque Police Department’s DWI unit in 2024, I, like a lot of people, assumed the specialized unit was finished. A decades-long bribery scheme involving nearly the entire squad, hundreds of dismissed cases, officers on the district attorney’s “Brady list” of untrustworthy cops, it […]

DWI cases filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court have reached a multiyear high in 2025, even as the Albuquerque Police Department remains silent on its arrest data following a decades-long corruption scandal that has decimated its specialized DWI unit. (Roberto E. Rosales)

DWI cases rebound in Bernalillo County court after APD corruption scandal

DWI cases filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court reached a multiyear high in 2025 and APD arrests are on the rise following a decades-long corruption scandal that has decimated its specialized DWI unit, a City Desk investigation found. The court recorded 2,404 total DWI filings in 2025, consisting of 2,360 misdemeanor and 44 felony cases, […]

Albuquerque’s downtown saw a large presence of anti ICE protesters marching throughout downtown in June 2025. Many holding signs and chanting demanding that ICE gets out of Albuquerque. Pictured are protesters in downtown Civic Plaza. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales / The Paper

Keller blasts federal policy after deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller calling federal immigration policies “dangerous” following a fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. “This incident raises serious questions and reflects a dangerous pattern that we are seeing across the country because of the president’s divisive policies,” Keller said in the statement posted on social media. “My […]

Traffic across Rio Grande crossings in the Albuquerque metropolitan area has reached record levels, with approximately 580,000 vehicles crossing daily on average weekdays, according to 2024 data released by the Mid-Region Council of Governments in November.

Westside commuters aren’t wrong: Rio Grande crossing times keep climbing, data shows

Traffic across Rio Grande river crossings in the Albuquerque metropolitan area has surged to record levels, jumping from approximately 500,000 vehicles daily in 2014 to nearly 580,000 in 2024, according to 2024 data released by the Mid-Region Council of Governments in November. The 16% increase over the past decade represents the highest river crossing volumes […]

New Mexico secures $211M for rural hospitals

New Mexico will receive about $211 million over five years to expand rural health care access under a new $50 billion federal program, though state officials have not yet said which hospitals or communities will benefit when funding begins in 2026. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Jan. 5 that New Mexico secured […]

Thousands of New Mexicans face new work requirements for food benefits

Nearly 56,000 New Mexicans will need to work, volunteer or participate in job training for 80 hours each month to maintain food stamp benefits under new federal requirements taking effect Jan. 1, 2026. The changes stem from federal legislation Congress passed in July that expands work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. […]

A federal judge in Albuquerque on Dec. 15, 2025 ordered ICE to immediately release Hamid Ziaei, an Iranian man held for the last six months at the Torrance County Detention Facility. (Courtesy Innovation Law Lab)

Federal judge orders Iranian bodybuilder’s release from New Mexico jail

This article was originally published by Source NM. By Patrick Lohmann A federal judge in Albuquerque on Monday ordered the immediate release of an Iranian man held at an Estancia immigration lockup for the last six months, agreeing with his lawyers that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was not acting quickly enough to deport […]

Vasquez warns funding crisis endangers Bosque del Apache’s vital role in local economy

U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., visited the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on Dec. 6 to assess the impact of federal budget cuts and staffing shortages on the site. Vasquez met with Deputy Refuge Manager Bernard Lujan, refuge staff and leadership from the Friends of the Bosque to discuss operational challenges facing the 57,000-acre […]

The day after: White expresses no regrets, knows what’s to blame

What initially looked like a thrilling election night in Albuquerque ended with a whimper less than an hour after polls closed when mayoral candidate Darren White took the podium at his watch party and broke the news to the large crowd of supporters that he had just called Mayor Tim Keller to congratulate him on […]