Albuquerque Archives - City Desk ABQ

Empower Health Service’s overnight shelter operates out of the former Ramada by Wyndham Albuquerque Airport at 2300 Yale Blvd. SE. The shelter opened in November 2025 without a required permit. (Jesse Jones)

Council sets up public hearing over accidentally-approved homeless shelter near the Sunport

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Neighbors and nearby business owners along Yale Boulevard near the airport will get their say on an overnight drug treatment shelter after city officials accidentally allowed it to open without a required permit. The Albuquerque City Council rejected a recommendation that would have allowed the shelter to move forward […]

Albuquerque city councilors vote on a motion to override Mayor Tim Keller's veto of R-26-30 during Monday's meeting. (Jesse Jones)

Albuquerque Council fails to override Mayor’s veto, killing proposal to make city clerk, attorney independent

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños will not get a chance to weigh in this November on removing the mayor’s sole power over the city attorney and city clerk after councilors failed to override Mayor Tim Keller’s veto, which warned the change would effectively create a new branch of city government. During Monday’s Albuquerque […]

Global quantum computing firm Quantinuum plans to open a roughly 13,263-square-foot research center in Albuquerque with high-tech optical lasers and equipment to support 25 scientific and engineering jobs averaging $150,000 a year. (Courtesy of Quantinuum)

Albuquerque weighs $3.1M in incentives for cybersecurity, quantum and space jobs

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — The Duke City could see more than 200 high-tech jobs and tens of millions of dollars in private investment if the City Council approves $3.1 million in city and state incentives for three local companies in cybersecurity, quantum computing and aerospace. The three proposed Local Economic Development Act projects […]

The former airport-area hotel at 2300 Yale Blvd. SE now houses an overnight drug treatment program. The Albuquerque City Council will vote Aug. 17 on whether to uphold its permit and require the 210-bed facility to make security improvements within 60 to 90 days. (Jesse Jones)

The City accidentally approved a new 95,000 sq. ft. homeless shelter. Now neighbors want it closed.

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Southeast Albuquerque residents and business owners near the airport are demanding answers about how an overnight drug treatment shelter has been allowed to operate without a required permit since November after city staff gave “incorrect advice,” setting up a fight before City Councilors who get to decide if the […]

Interim City Attorney Lauren Keefe listens to discussion of a proposed charter amendment during the City Council’s Aug. 3, 2026, meeting. Days after an Office of Inspector General report cleared Keefe of misconduct, councilors voted to put a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that would let voters decide how the city attorney and city clerk are appointed and removed. (Jesse Jones)

Watchdog clears Albuquerque’s top lawyer in probe, but dispute with Council persists

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque’s city watchdog found no legal or ethical misconduct by Interim City Attorney Lauren Keefe, but the report paints a picture of confusion inside City Hall. Interim Inspector General Peter Pacheco released the final special investigation report July 31 on allegations of legal and ethical misconduct by Interim City […]

A tangle of copper wiring. The City Council approved new rules for recycled metal sales aimed at reducing the market for stolen copper and catalytic converters. (Pexels)

City Council cracks down on stolen copper, brass sales

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños whose catalytic converters get stolen or whose streetlights go dark because of stripped copper wiring have a new tool aimed at fighting the market for stolen metal after the City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to toughen the city’s recycling laws. The council approved the Sale of Recycled […]

The Albuquerque City Council met at City Hall on Aug. 3, 2026. Councilors voted 7-2 to block a proposed gross receipts tax increase from appearing on the November ballot. (Jesse Jones)

Procedural mutiny: ABQ City Councilors overrule Council President to block tax ballot measure

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Taxpayers in the Duke City will not see a proposed gross receipts tax increase on their November ballots after city councilors used a procedural move to stop the measure before it reached a vote. During the Aug. 3 City Council meeting, Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn used a parliamentary challenge to […]

APS Superintendent Gabriella Durán Blakey speaks at a press conference on Monday. (Rodd Cayton)

Albuquerque, Education

Keeping it cool: A/C conversion part of APS strategy to fight rising temps

by Rodd Cayton August 4, 2026

By Rodd Cayton It’s hot, and that’s not ideal for learning, Albuquerque Public Schools officials acknowledged Monday. Therefore, the district has been working on a variety of initiatives to keep kids cool. “We are overstaffed for the beginning of the year in terms of having all hands on deck to address any work orders,” Antonio […]

A makeshift tarp tent stands among debris, bicycles and a solar panel at a Bosque encampment before crews cleared the site. (Courtesy Bernalillo County)

Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Environment, Conservation & Climate, Local Government, NM.news

Bosque cleanup hauls off 16 tons of debris near Rio Bravo

by Jesse Jones August 3, 2026August 3, 2026

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Mattresses, tents and scorched brush piled up along the Rio Grande this month as crews worked through Burque’s Bosque between Rio Bravo Boulevard and Interstate 40, clearing fire hazards from the river corridor during a historically dry summer. The third annual, multiagency cleanup wrapped up this week after crews […]

Pictured is Albuquerque city hall in Downtown

ABQ Council looks to rewrite city’s fraud watchdog rules

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burque municipal workers exposing government fraud could soon face fresh ground rules, as could the taxpayers who rely on City Hall’s watchdog agency. The City Council votes Aug. 3 on two companion ordinances born from a feud between city investigators and municipal leaders. The measures mark the first full […]