Jesse Jones, Author at City Desk ABQ

Raising dough: Councilor bakes over 1,000 vegan cookies for senior animals charity

Burqueños looking for meaningful holiday gifts can turn to an unlikely source: City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn. When she’s not working on housing policy or climate legislation, she and her partner, Paul Roybal, spend the season in their kitchen baking thousands of vegan cookies for people and dogs. The homemade treats support Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary, […]

Last council meeting of 2025: Sobriety housing plan and renter protections on tap

The Albuquerque City Council will vote Monday during the last meeting of the year on rental protections and an $842,600 plan to house people leaving addiction treatment who agree to stay sober. Councilors are set to give final approval to the Rental Practices Ordinance, O-25-102, which mirrors state law by capping screening fees at $50, […]

Medina’s retirement plans spark social media fight, speculation on who would be ABQ’s next top cop

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina told the Albuquerque Journal in Dec. 2024 that he would retire at the end of Mayor Tim Keller’s current term, but he quickly walked that back by saying he might instead of he would. Fast-forward to Nov. 2025 and Keller confirmed Who will be Albuquerque’s next police chief? Mayor Tim […]

Garcia ends District 3 challenge, vows to continue Southwest Mesa fight

Teresa Garcia called incumbent Klarissa Peña Thursday morning to concede the City Council District 3 race, reversing course from plans to seek a recount after losing by 68 votes in the Dec. 9 runoff election. At a press conference at Alamosa Park, Garcia said she cannot ask supporters — including mayoral candidate Alex Uballez and […]

Keller makes ABQ history: First mayor to win three consecutive terms

Mayor Tim Keller made history tonight, defeating former Sheriff Darren White to become the first Albuquerque mayor to win three straight four-year terms since the city adopted its current mayoral system in the mid-1970s. With all of the absentee and early votes cast, Keller emerged with an early 58%-41% lead according to unofficial results from […]

Your bus route is about to change. Here’s what you need to know

Albuquerque will roll out its biggest bus overhaul in nearly 30 years on Saturday, Dec. 13, when nine routes shift to a new map designed for a new era of the transit system. The changes will affect thousands of riders across the city. Officials announced the changes Wednesday at the Montaño Transit Center, launching Phase […]

Outside groups dump over $100K into runoff elections, and still have lots more to spend

Political Action Committees (PACs) spent more than $132,000 during the three-week runoff election sprint to influence Albuquerque’s three runoff races as early voting kicked off this week, with the mayor’s race drawing most of the outside money just days before voters decide the Dec. 9 contests. The mayoral race drew more than $101,000 in PAC […]

Who is turning out to vote in the runoff? We checked the numbers

With just four days of early voting left before Election Day 2.0, about 32,000 Albuquerque voters have cast ballots in the city’s Dec. 9 runoff election, with Democrats turning out at significantly higher rates than Republicans. Of the 31,926 ballots cast by late afternoon Tuesday, 18,132 came from early voting sites and 13,794 were absentee […]

Dead grass, weeds and a $2 million fix: Will your park get a turf upgrade?

The Duke City’s nearly 300 parks will get up to $2 million for emergency turf repairs after the City Council voted 8-1 on Monday to use leftover money from last year’s budget. The measure, R-25-183, sponsored by Councilor Dan Lewis, passed after two delays since August, while councilors and the administration debated whether dying turf […]

‘Alarm bells of the highest order’: APD chief’s testimony reveals years of deleted police texts to avoid public records

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina testified under oath in a lawsuit that he routinely deletes text messages about official business, a practice legal experts said violates a state law that requires government agencies to keep communications for at least one year. In an October whistleblower case, Medina said he and other high-ranking APD officials have […]