By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — The Albuquerque City Council rejected a conditional use permit for an overnight shelter near the Sunport last week that originally opened under incorrect city advice. But the shelter’s doors remain open while the council prepares to approve its findings. Councilors voted 6-3 during a Sept. 9 council meeting to […]
Category: City Desk ABQ
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Bernalillo County wants to be a good neighbor when it builds housing
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Housing projects can raise concerns in a neighborhood long before the doors open. Bernalillo County wants to start those conversations on day one, bringing developers, property managers and nearby communities to the table through a new Good Neighbor Policy. Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution establishing the BernCo Builds Communities […]
Albuquerque gets serious about AI with new citywide rules
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Residents in the Duke City will soon be able to track the artificial intelligence tools used by city government, voice concerns to a new advisory board and see new AI rules for city tech vendors after the City Council approved a trio of ordinances targeting AI in city government. […]
New city attorney, same old power struggle at City Hall
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — ‘Burque has a new city attorney. The City Council confirmed Mayor Tim Keller’s pick, then turned around and overrode his veto of a measure aimed at giving the council more oversight of the city’s legal department. Councilors unanimously confirmed Joshua Boone on Wednesday night. Boone previously served as chief […]
$700 million Pajarito Mesa energy project seeks tax break under Bernalillo County’s new community benefits rules. What does it do?
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — One of the nation’s largest energy infrastructure developers and builders wants nearly 3.5 square miles of land on the Pajarito Mesa in Bernalillo County for a solar and battery project, promising hundreds of jobs, millions in new revenue and a boost to the region’s power grid in exchange for […]
Council to try to override another Keller veto in ongoing power struggle over city attorney
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — With Monday’s Labor Day holiday pushing City Council’s meeting to Wednesday, councilors face an agenda heavy on technology alongside another fight with the mayor over who oversees the city attorney. Councilors will get another chance to take a crack at O-26-54, deciding whether to override Mayor Tim Keller’s veto […]
An old idea is back: Keller quietly floats a city-county merger
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Mayor Tim Keller stood before Burqueños weeks ago and laid out his vision for Albuquerque’s future in his first State of the City address of his third term. But one idea drafted in his speech never made it to the microphone: an “honest conversation” about merging the city and […]
The FBI says ABQ had 75 homicides last year. APD reported only 65. Who is right and why can’t they agree on this big crime stat?
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — When Burqueños look at local and federal crime reports, they might be surprised to find that Washington and City Hall disagree on exactly how many people were murdered in Albuquerque last year. We wanted to know why that is and we found that even APD isn’t entirely sure why […]
Burque sues big tobacco to clean up its butts from city parks, drains
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque is suing some of the biggest names in tobacco to make them pay for the cleanup of cigarette butts that clog city storm drains, litter public parks and reach the Rio Grande. The city alleges the companies have known for decades that their plastic filters create pollution and […]
Parents raised concerns about APS recording children’s voices using AI. The district responded.
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Parents across the Duke City pushed back against Albuquerque Public Schools’ use of artificial intelligence to record, analyze and store elementary students’ voices without explicit parental consent. The district listened and is now changing how it handles those recordings. At the center of the debate is Amira AI, an […]
