+News 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 […]

Can New Mexico, not Blackstone, just buy PNM? It turns out, we can’t. Here’s why.

With more than $70 billion available to invest for the benefit of New Mexico, why doesn’t the State Investment Council just buy PNM instead of letting them sell to Blackstone, a private equity company? This story was originally published at New Mexico Political Report, a nonprofit news service covering politics and policy in the Land […]

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 […]

A quartet of ABQ City Councilors raises alarm White House plans to let political staff cancel local grants

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños who rely on local housing, transit and community services could see programs lose federal funding if a proposed rule were to give political appointees new power to freeze or end grants over vague standards tied to federal policy. Four Albuquerque City Councilors, led by Stephanie Telles and joined […]

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 […]

Council tees up ballot question to reduce mayor’s control over two big city jobs

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueño voters will decide in November whether to take away the mayor’s sole power to hire and fire the city attorney and city clerk. The Albuquerque City Council approved companion measures sponsored by Council Vice President Dan Champine on Monday, Aug. 3, to place a charter amendment on the […]

Should taxpayers fund campaigns? Bernalillo County vote could send question to voters

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Voters in Bernalillo County may get a chance to decide this November whether their tax dollars should help fund campaigns for county offices. The Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing and final vote Tuesday, Aug. 11, on three companion measures. The package would place a […]

A storefront for Smokers Town sits across from the University of New Mexico campus along Central Avenue. Under a newly proposed city ordinance, future smoke shops would face strict buffer zones preventing them from opening near existing cannabis dispensaries or other nicotine retailers. (Jesse Jones)

Bill to restrict cannabis, smoke shop locations goes up in smoke

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Smoke shop and cannabis dispensary owners rolled into the Albuquerque City Council chambers Monday, Aug. 3 and watched a zoning bill that would have separated the two businesses go up in smoke. City councilors voted 6-3 to reject Ordinance O-26-39, sponsored by Councilor Renée Grout at the request of […]

New protections approved for ABQ workers speaking up at City Hall

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque city workers who report fraud or wrongdoing at City Hall now have stronger legal protections after the City Council unanimously approved two overhauls Monday to protect whistleblowers and strengthen the city’s fraud watchdog. Councilors unanimously approved the Accountability in Government Ordinance, which Councilor Brook Bassan sponsored. The measure […]