Mark Fischer, chair of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, has been recommended by his colleagues to fill an open New Mexico Senate seat. During a special meeting on Monday, Lincoln County Commissioners Samantha Serna, Timothy Prather, and MP Chavez voted to send Fisher’s name to the governor for consideration as their choice to fill […]
Category: Communities
Posted inNM Legislature
Special session bill would add $192 million to fund fed SNAP gap
Federal cuts to SNAP benefits that 459,500 New Mexicans depend on for food assistance could soon be offset by $192 million in state dollars, under the bill that will be taken up during Monday’s special legislative session. The announcement came on Monday during a press conference held by New Mexico House Democrats and came just […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Everything Albuquerque voters need to know about the December runoff
Albuquerque voters will head back to the polls Dec. 9 to decide the mayoral race between the incumbent Democrat Tim Keller and the Republican challenger Darren White and two city council races in Districts 1 and 3. The city charter required a runoff because no candidate got more than 50% of the vote in the […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov.
Heinrich, Luján stand firm for health insurance cost fix as Senate moves forward with deal to reopen government
New Mexicans anxious about missing SNAP benefits or federal paychecks may get soon get some relief after a handful of Senate Democrats joined Republicans over the weekend in a deal to reopen the government, though New Mexico’s two U.S. senators did not go along, saying the deal abandons hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans facing […]
Posted inNew Mexico Legislature #nmleg
State DOT will seek 25-35% hikes on vehicle registration, new EV car fee to fund road repairs
New Mexico motorists could pay more to keep their vehicles registered and on the road under a proposal from the state Transportation Department, part of a plan to boost its revenue amid rising construction costs and projected declines in annual revenue. Ricky Serna, the New Mexico Transportation Secretary, told lawmakers on the Transportation Revenue and […]
Posted inLocal Gov.
A mom’s mission: After losing her daughter in a cycling crash, ABQ mom convinced city council to make traffic laws better for bikes, pedestrians
Days after 19-year-old Kayla Vanlandingham was struck and killed while cycling across Carlisle Boulevard in July, her mother, Melinda Montoya, met with District 7 City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn to ask, “How do we make things better for others?” That question sparked a four-month push that ended Wednesday, Nov. 5, when the Albuquerque City Council unanimously […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
The runoff strategy: Keller plans bipartisan outreach in runoff — while linking White to Trump
Editor’s note: As the dust settled on Tuesday night’s election, City Desk reached out to both mayoral candidates headed to the Dec. 9 runoff election to ask how they plan to forge a path to a majority following a deeply divisive general election. On Thursday, we shared responses from Darren White. Today, we feature Mayor […]
Posted inAlbuquerque
Albuquerque pilot among three killed in Louisville UPS plane crash
An Albuquerque pilot was among three crew members killed when a UPS cargo plane crashed at Louisville International Airport on Tuesday. UPS identified the crew of Flight 2976 as Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond. Truitt was a resident of Albuquerque who previously worked at Bode Aviation […]
Posted inNM State Gov.
New Mexico lawmakers call for commission to probe alleged Epstein crimes at Zorro Ranch
New Mexicans may soon learn more about the alleged crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, even as efforts to get additional information about the disgraced financier and convicted sex abuser have stalled at the federal level. On Thursday, state lawmakers presented a proposal to the Courts, Corrections and Justice Interim Committee to create a commission to probe […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Aztec state senator joins gubernatorial race, focuses on education, rural New Mexico
Sen. Steve Lainier (R-Aztec) on Thursday became the second Republican to officially declare his candidacy for governor. Lanier, a retired educator and coach, and a first-term state senator from Aztec, announced his candidacy in a press release posted on Facebook. “As someone who spent my life serving this community – in the classroom, on the […]