#Albuquerque Archives - City Desk ABQ

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 […]

A tangle of copper wiring. The City Council approved new rules for recycled metal sales aimed at reducing the market for stolen copper and catalytic converters. (Pexels)

City Council cracks down on stolen copper, brass sales

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños whose catalytic converters get stolen or whose streetlights go dark because of stripped copper wiring have a new tool aimed at fighting the market for stolen metal after the City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to toughen the city’s recycling laws. The council approved the Sale of Recycled […]

The Albuquerque City Council met at City Hall on Aug. 3, 2026. Councilors voted 7-2 to block a proposed gross receipts tax increase from appearing on the November ballot. (Jesse Jones)

Procedural mutiny: ABQ City Councilors overrule Council President to block tax ballot measure

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Taxpayers in the Duke City will not see a proposed gross receipts tax increase on their November ballots after city councilors used a procedural move to stop the measure before it reached a vote. During the Aug. 3 City Council meeting, Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn used a parliamentary challenge to […]

A makeshift tarp tent stands among debris, bicycles and a solar panel at a Bosque encampment before crews cleared the site. (Courtesy Bernalillo County)

Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Environment, Conservation & Climate, Local Government, NM.news

Bosque cleanup hauls off 16 tons of debris near Rio Bravo

by Jesse Jones August 3, 2026August 3, 2026

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Mattresses, tents and scorched brush piled up along the Rio Grande this month as crews worked through Burque’s Bosque between Rio Bravo Boulevard and Interstate 40, clearing fire hazards from the river corridor during a historically dry summer. The third annual, multiagency cleanup wrapped up this week after crews […]

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 […]

Native wildflowers bloom in a pollinator garden at Quigley Park, part of Albuquerque's effort to expand pollinator habitat citywide. (Julian Paras)

How Albuquerque is turning city medians into wildflower havens for bees

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Across the Duke City, medians, parks and other green spaces are buzzing with more than people. Thanks to conservation efforts, bees, butterflies and other pollinators are finding more places to thrive. Albuquerque is doubling down on its status as the first Bee City USA in the Southwest, according to […]

A trench cut through a residential street for fiber optic installation.(CABQ)

No notice, damaged sidewalks: How City Hall plans to hold broadband providers accountable

by Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Homeowners in Burque tired of unannounced fiber internet crews tearing up lawns and sidewalks or blocking driveways can look to a new proposal putting neighborhood protections front and center. Sponsored by Councilor Dan Champine, the ordinance includes several new requirements for internet providers, including notifying residents 30 days before […]

A blue recycling bin sits along an Albuquerque street as the City Council will consider a proposed ordinance that would expand recycling access to all apartment renters and municipal buildings (Jesse Jones)

City Hall doesn’t have to recycle. One councilor wants to fix that and make all landlords provide recycling, too.

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — A proposed City Council ordinance tackles two recycling gaps at once: expanding recycling access to renters in smaller apartment buildings and requiring city-owned buildings to provide recycling services. Current city code only requires apartment buildings with 25 or more units to provide recycling, leaving many renters without guaranteed service. […]

Affluent neighborhoods that blocked PNM substation now face summer power outage warnings

By Pat Davis, The Paper. — For seven years, residents of some of Albuquerque’s most affluent neighborhoods have successfully fought to stop PNM from building a substation the utility said would eventually be needed to meet increased demand on a local part of the grid those expanding neighborhoods created. This week, ongoing development and higher […]