Elise Kaplan, Author at City Desk ABQ

Low-income homeowners to get help with heating and cooling upgrades

Albuquerque has received a grant that city officials say will help improve the health and finances of low-income homeowners. The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department awarded the city $1.7 million to expand its retrofitting efforts in improving work energy efficiency. Through the Community Energy Efficiency project, income-qualified homeowners will receive free energy […]

City Council hears from the public — and some stuffed animals — at Monday meeting

A packed chamber greeted the Albuquerque City Council for a five-hour meeting May 6 where the council spent some money, approved getting some grant money and heard heartfelt public comments about immigration policies in the city. Standing Room Only More than a dozen residents turned out to voice their concerns about a proposed amendment that […]

City record keepers are bringing the clerk’s office into the digital age

Last year, the Albuquerque City Clerk’s Office digitized over a million public records in order to make them more accessible to citizens who file Inspection of Public Records Act requests, as well as city departments that need access to records. And they’re still going. “Currently we have 9,000 boxes and we also have 58 pallets […]

AFR ambulance gets a new home — in Ukraine

The city of Albuquerque is sending one of the fire department’s decommissioned ambulances to its sister city of Kharkiv in Ukraine as the country continues to face Russian attacks. The 2011 Ford F6G ambulance is in good working condition, said Sara Mannal, a city spokesperson. She said city leaders and community members wrote messages of […]

Fresh eyes and new technology: Digging into the cold case killing of a rookie cop in Mountainair

It was the evening of May 7, 1988, and while most of the town of Mountainair attended a talent show at the high school, a rookie cop remained at the police department — in a cramped room atop a narrow staircase above town hall. Stephen Sandlin, a 21-year-old who had joined the four-man force a […]

BCSO arrests ‘Al Capone’ of retail theft

A man who sheriff’s deputies say was at the center of Albuquerque’s largest organized retail crime operation was arrested earlier this month. Raul Fernando Garcia, 42 — dubbed the “Al Capone” of retail theft by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office — was arrested on April 15. He is facing multiple charges including organized retail crime, […]

ACLU-NM speaks out against UNM campus protest arrests

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico is investigating this week’s arrest of university students who were protesting the Israel-Hamas war. “Students have the constitutional right to peacefully protest, speak, and express their opinion,” said Peter Simonson, executive director for ACLU-NM in an emailed statement. “The New Mexico Constitution extends even greater protections in […]

Bernalillo County’s Tiny Home Village hits a stride

Progress didn’t come easy, but Bernalillo County officials say the Tiny Home Village withstood a rocky start to emerge as a project with promise in an area of Albuquerque that desperately needs it. Now, three years in, the county is fielding questions from Albuquerque officials who are in the early stages of a similar undertaking […]

Lawsuit alleges woman overdosed in jail while guard watched YouTube, played games

The mother of a woman who died of a drug overdose at the Metropolitan Detention Center filed a lawsuit against Bernalillo County last week alleging a corrections officer failed to complete required checks and also broke the jail’s computer use policy by watching videos and playing games during his shift. “This case is about MDC […]

City Council wants to hear your thoughts on the mayor’s proposed budget

Have some opinions on how the city should budget its money? The public is invited to share its thoughts with Albuquerque city councilors at two upcoming meetings — one this Thursday and another next Thursday. The Committee of the Whole will meet May 2 and May 9 to hear resident input on the mayor’s proposed budget […]