+News Archives - City Desk ABQ

Albuquerque City Councilor Brook Bassan, co-sponsor of a resurrected $113 million gross receipts tax increase. The council voted 5-4 on June 15 to kill the measure, keeping the massive tax hike out of voters' hands this November. (Jesse Jones)

Denied again: Why the ABQ City Council killed the same sales tax hike twice

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueño voters will have one fewer question on the November ballot after the City Council narrowly rejected a proposed $113 million gross receipts tax increase, marking the second defeat for a measure that had already been revived once. The City Council voted 5-4 Monday to kill Resolution R-26-43, a […]

An APD officer-involved shooting near I-40 and 6th street in 2024. A spike in late May 2026 shootings has city leaders questioning why the Albuquerque Community Safety department is not being dispatched to some high-risk mental health calls. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/The City Desk. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/The City Desk

After three police shootings in five days, City Councilor questions APD, ACS mental health response rules

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Imagine calling 911 for help during a mental health crisis only to have the encounter end in death. That happened in May when the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) shot and killed a man after his family called for help because he was threatening to harm himself. The shooting was […]

Pictured is the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, where Dr. Rebecca Fastle previously managed medical operations before stepping into her new countywide healthcare role. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/City Desk Abq

After years of issues at MDC, Bernalillo County adds a new piece to the healthcare puzzle

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — For years, Bernalillo County has poured millions of dollars into fixing healthcare at the Metropolitan Detention Center, bringing in a new medical provider and overhauling its behavioral health system. Despite millions of dollars in new investments, turbulence continues at MDC. The facility has cycled through three wardens since 2022 […]

Albuquerque’s record $1.5 billion budget heads to the state, without Keller’s signature

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños and city workers can breathe a sigh of relief as the city’s new $1.5 billion budget becomes law without the stroke of the mayor’s pen. The plan avoids resident trash fee hikes, locks in funding for core community services from public safety to senior programs and includes upcoming […]

Civic Plaza in downtown Albuquerque with the City Hall building pictured in the background. (Roberto Rosales)

Why did the city cancel 311 on Sundays? Councilor quizzes mayor’s office after getting no answer

City Desk ABQ: How that story came together Jesse Jones is a local government reporter with City Desk and The Paper. This column covers his work uncovering what’s behind a news tip he received about City Hall. Whether you’re reporting graffiti, looking for a swimming pool schedule, seeking homeless services or trying to track down […]

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)

How a new zoning ordinance could send future Burque smoke shops up in smoke

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Smoke shops and cannabis dispensaries have become a common sight in many Duke City shopping centers, but city leaders may soon make that boom go up in smoke. Concerned about the increasing concentration of 21-and-over shops, a city councilor is proposing new zoning rules that would limit how many […]

Bernalillo County @ Alvarado Square, Downtown Albuquerque. (Jesse Jones, The Paper.)

BernCo balanced its budget, expands free programs without raising taxes

by Jesse Jones June 4, 2026June 8, 2026

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — For Bernalillo County families already stretched by rising costs, the new county budget aims to lighten the load, with no tax hikes and more free programming at community centers. Faced with an $8.5 million budget gap, county leaders balanced the $857.7 million budget without raising taxes or cutting services, […]

City Councilor Brook Bassan, co-sponsor of the revived proposed gross receipts tax increase that would go before Albuquerque voters in Novembe. (Jesse Jones)

ABQ councilors try again on tax hike — but this time, voters will decide

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Following the defeat of a similar measure in March, a pair of City Councilors are reviving a nearly half-percent sales tax proposal to fund neighborhood improvements and city services. The measure would ask Burqueños to pay slightly more in exchange for neighborhood infrastructure upgrades and higher pay for city […]

Pictured is a Bosque fire near the river and Montano Bridge. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/The City Desk. January 12th, 2024.

Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Local Government

Planning for the 4th of July? What you need to know about ABQ’s fireworks rule

by Jesse Jones June 3, 2026June 8, 2026

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — As Burqueños prepare to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial — the United States’ 250th birthday — they’ll have to navigate Albuquerque’s rules on what fireworks can legally be set off in their neighborhoods. Recent wildfires across New Mexico and within city limits may have firefighters on alert, but city fire […]

An Albuquerque Environmental Health Department employee deploys a mosquito surveillance trap. The city's five-person Urban Biology team uses data collected from these traps to monitor roughly 20 local species and track high-priority public health threats like West Nile virus. (CABQ)

Return of the ‘ankle-biters’

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Duke City residents looking forward to patio season may think they got through an unusually quiet spring bug season unscathed, but Albuquerque — currently ranked 38th on Orkin’s Top 50 Worst Mosquito Cities List — local health officials expect to see a spike in mosquito populations very soon. The […]