The Paper. Archives - City Desk ABQ

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 […]

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)

Councilor slams push to revive defeated tobacco-cannabis zoning ordinance

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque smoke shop and cannabis dispensary owners could soon have far fewer places to open after Councilor Renée Grout revived a bill she sponsored by request, just days after a City Council committee recommended rejecting it. Planning Director Alan Varela told the Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee on […]

The West Mesa Aquatic Center (Courtesy of City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation)

City Launches “Operation Cooldown” as triple digits hit ABQ

By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper. – With triple digit temperatures expected across Albuquerque this week, the City is once again rolling out Operation Cooldown, an initiative designed to help residents cool off by activating sprinklers at neighborhood parks. The Parks and Recreation Department will turn on park sprinklers from 1 to 1:30 p.m. each day […]

The vacant alley between Hollywood and Edna avenues NW, where the city plans to build a segment of the Rail Trail. Photo courtesy of Debra Montoya

Could NIMBY neighbors derail city’s rail trail plans?

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — A small group of West Old Town residents is challenging the City of Albuquerque over a segment of the ABQ Rail Trail, a multimillion-dollar marquee project. Although the group wants to halt the planned extension through their neighborhood, the city owns the property, forcing residents to navigate municipal bureaucracy […]

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 […]

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 […]

Renée Grout was reelected chair of the Committee of the Whole on Monday, a role that oversees the city's $1.5 billion budget and capital improvements program. Grout previously served as council vice president in 2023 and 2024.

ABQ tries to break its heavy metal habit with new copper theft law

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Drivers and pedestrians are navigating dark stretches of East Central Avenue after copper thieves have ripped wiring from streetlights, prompting a pair of city councilors to tighten Albuquerque’s scrap metal recycling laws in an effort to curb the vandalism. Rather than creating a new law, Councilors […]

Albuquerque approves $3M deal to land space energy startup

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Most people do not notice the thunderbird on Albuquerque’s flag in the top left corner, but its late-’60s design reflected the city’s role in the nuclear and Space Age. Nearly 60 years later, that vision is still unfolding, and could mean almost 200 high-paying jobs for Albuquerque residents. On […]

From curbside to containers: Why Albuquerque is rethinking how it recycles glass

It looked like the glass would finally be picked up with the rest of our trash and recycling we all hoped for, but the reality was that it was not to be, at least not yet. Editor’s note: For years, the city has fielded requests to add glass to “blue bin” curbside recycling, so when […]