Albuquerque Journal

MARCH MADNESS

Several thousand fans have filtered through the Pit this week to watch the best high school teams in the state battle for court supremacy. The top boys and girls teams — one from each of the state’s five classes in each gender — will be crowned...

A FEW MORE TURNS

TAOS SKI VALLEY — As the season wears on here, the airy swish of powder has given way to the watery squish of slush earlier and earlier in the day. But that hasn’t kept the skiers away, at least not at one of North America’s most renowned and...

VIVA LOBO VEGAS UNM FANS CHEER THE CHERRY

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — “Man, these people are really getting into it!” Such was the reaction of two passersby taking a stroll down the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday. What drew their attention in a place well known for its sensory overload? A raucous crowd...

‘THE BLASTS KEPT COMING’

Three Albuquerque residents were sightseeing at the Al Fatez Mosque in Manama, Bahrain, late morning on Feb. 28 when they heard an explosion. As they toured the mosque, Suzanne Horning said she heard a “bam!” The explosion struck near the U.S. Navy’s...

In ABQ, lowrider culture finds its next generation

Eight years ago, Albuquerque became the first major city to repeal its ban on cruising. Cruising — driving slowly along main streets to show off a deckedout car — is a mainstay of lowrider culture, said Rob Vanderslice, an Albuquerque native, lowrider...

Amy Coney Barrett talks about Supreme Court as dozens protest

SANTA FE — Hundreds of people came to The Lensic Performing Arts Center on Sunday — some to judge and others to hear from a judge. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was in Santa Fe on Sunday to speak about the court and the Constitution during a...

There's still a lot of life left in THESE OLD BONES

The lobby of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science is bright with a fresh coat of paint. Workers bustle around making finishing touches, protective paper lining the floors. A sign tacked to the doors says the museum isn't extinct, just...

One dead and another injured in plane crash at Los Altos Golf Course

A small aircraft crashed into Los Altos Golf Course while attempting to make an emergency landing Friday, leaving one person dead and another injured, authorities say. Albuquerque Fire Rescue was dispatched to the scene, near Eubank and Interstate 40,...

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Roadrunner Food Bank received a big donation Wednesday — one of 250 nationwide deliveries commemorating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States. The delivery is part of the America Gives initiative, a collaboration among America250, The...

LEADING ROLE

He attended basketball camps at the University of New Mexico as a young boy. He did laundry for the Lobo men's basketball team as a student manager. He was an ace student in UNM's Anderson School of Management, the university's governor-appointed...

Albuquerque City Council settles dispute over firefighter staffing

After a year of tense debate and legal strife, the City Council voted on a staffing policy for Albuquerque Fire Rescue on Monday night. “This is the winding down of a lot of drama,” said sponsor Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn. The resolution revisited...

Hundreds honor fallen Bernalillo County sergeant

An American flag waved gently in the air as police sirens blared in the background to honor the life of Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Michael Schlattman Monday morning. Hundreds of people, a majority of whom were law enforcement, filled the...

National Nuclear Security Administration memo urges increased plutonium pit production at LANL

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s deputy administrator for defense programs argued in a memo this month that Los Alamos National Laboratory should increase its annual production of plutonium pits. “Strategic deterrence is as critical to...

Trump: Iran’s supreme leader dead

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the...

Olympic gold draws crowd to Albuquerque ice rink

More than a decade ago, a little girl in Española watched TV coverage of the Olympics — dazzled by figure skaters dancing, spinning and leaping across the ice in glittering getups. That little girl grew up to be 26-year-old Danekah Johnson, who, after...

NAME OF THE GAME

The six-decade-old arena, dug 37 feet into the New Mexico dirt at the corner of Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Avenue in southeast Albuquerque, has never been called “the Pit.” At least not officially. On the books, it’s a facility known as...

FALLEN DEPUTY

Mike Diehl lays flowers on a law enforcement vehicle to honor Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Michael Schlattman, who was killed Monday afternoon during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 near Carnuel. The memorial has been set up in front of the...

Trump says nation ‘stronger than ever,’ but NM lawmakers disagree

Breaking his own record for the longest State of the Union speech, President Donald Trump delivered a dramatic one hour and 48 minutes of prime-time television on Tuesday night, replete with the awarding of two Medals of Honor and two Purple Hearts,...

WINTER HEAT WAVE AHEAD

‘If you don’t use it, you lose it’

Use it or lose it. That was the mantra that many repeated Saturday during the USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championship. A collection of track athletes from across the world, ages 25 to 97, gathered in the Albuquerque Convention Center for the...

Medical malpractice reform predicted to gradually improve doctor shortage

After years of controversy, the latest overhaul of New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws took just 28 days this legislative session. Under a reform bill expected to be signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham: ■ Hospitals will benefit from a first-ever...

Sadie’s matriarch remembered as ‘true icon’

Sadie’s of New Mexico matriarch Betty Jo Stafford understood the restaurant business like the back of her hand. That knowledge followed her everywhere, making it nearly impossible to dine out without instinctively evaluating every aspect of the...

Gov. highlights achievements and setbacks post 30-day session

SANTA FE — Over her seven-plus years as New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham hasn’t always gotten what she wants from state lawmakers. But as her final regular session as governor wrapped up Thursday, Lujan Grisham sounded a largely upbeat tone...

SENATE PASSES MEDICAL MALPRACTICE BILL

SANTA FE — The Senate voted 40-2 late Tuesday in favor of a bill that would limit punitive damages in medical malpractice cases for the first time in New Mexico's history, sending it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has voiced her support for the...

Senate OKs budget bill after outcry over stripped-out raises

SANTA FE — The Senate signed off Monday on a $11.1 billion spending plan that would fully fund a landmark universal child care initiative announced last year by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. But bill sponsors faced questions — and suggestions of...

Amid partisan strife, Senate passes election bills to bar troops, concealed firearms from polling places

SANTA FE — The Senate voted to approve a politically-tinged election bill on Sunday, sending it on to the House with just a few days left in this year’s 30-day legislative session. The measure, Senate Bill 264, would make it a state-level crime for...

Medical malpractice bill passes House on overwhelming vote

SANTA FE — With just a few days left in this year’s 30-day session, a high-profile legislative tourniquet aimed at stabilizing New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws is headed to the state Senate. The House voted 66-3 on Saturday to approve legislation...

Industry says kids' safety not 'black and white' as lawmakers weigh new cannabis packaging

SANTA FE- As a lifelong cannabis user and family man, Pharmers Quality founder Don Romero says he always knew his kids might take an interest in the substance at the center of his business and off-duty downtime. The solution, he said, was to treat...

Malpractice bill moves to House floor

A measure to rein in high-dollar medical malpractice awards in New Mexico is due to hit the state House floor for a vote, which could give the Senate a tight deadline for considering the complex issue. Proponents portray the bill that emerged from the...

LEGISLATURE 2026 Clear Horizons Act rejected by Senate amid concerns over economic impact

SANTA FE — A hotly debated bill setting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in state law was voted down by the state Senate on Wednesday, dealing a searing defeat to climate change activists and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration. The...

Following the nectar

An endangered bat species has traveled farther north in New Mexico than previously known, scientists confirmed by testing agaves and hummingbird feeders for bat DNA. “Having (environmental DNA) as a tool is invaluable to our understanding of this...

Senate passes gun bill after lengthy debate

After a sometimes heated six-hour debate and a few failed amendments, the New Mexico Senate passed a gun bill that aims to stop firearms from getting into the wrong hands and ban the sale of certain types of weapons. With a 21-17 vote, Senate Bill 17...

Hundreds turn out to oppose proposed TXNM Energy sale

It was standing room only inside the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission meeting room in Albuquerque on Thursday as hundreds showed up to oppose the sale of the company that runs New Mexico's largest electricity provider to a New York-based private...

Gov. signs fast-tracked bills and urges deal on medical malpractice

SANTA FE — For the second year in a row, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law a bushel of fast-tracked bills passed by state lawmakers during the opening stanza of a legislative session. But whether those bills end up being the defining...

HALFWAY THERE

SANTA FE — The clock is ticking at the Roundhouse. Lawmakers reached the halfway point of the 30-day legislative session on Wednesday, with high-profile bills dealing with immigration and road funding already headed to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's...

Clear Horizons Act clears first hurdle after lengthy hearing

SANTA FE — The highest-profile climate change bill under consideration during this year’s 30-day legislative session passed its first Senate committee hearing Tuesday, but only after weathering a broad blast of opposition from business and industry...

ACEQUIAS, LAND GRANTS CELEBRATED AT ROUNDHOUSE

“¡Que vivan las acequias!” was the repeated call in the Roundhouse Rotunda Monday. Acequia Day and Guadalupe of Hidalgo Treaty Day at the New Mexico Legislature highlighted some of the state's oldest and smallest government bodies: acequias and land...

PIT count: A look into life on Albuquerque’s streets

Tents behind freeway barricades, back alleys and arroyo beds are makeshift homes for people living in the fringes of society. Their obscurity poses a unique challenge for the scores of volunteers that must find these people and tally them for the...

In Mora County, the hunt for water contaminants is ongoing

MORA COUNTY — Outside a home tucked down a dirt road in Mora County, environmental engineer Tom Brown dumped out a 5-gallon bucket of well water, then another, tracing a path from a well-cared-for wooden wellhouse to the nearby pines. Brown was...

Thousands of Albuquerque protesters fill Civic Plaza to condemn ICE killings

Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Downtown Albuquerque on Friday to condemn the killing of two people in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents this month, joining a nationwide movement that saw people from across the country walk out of...

Medical malpractice reform could hinge on limits to punitive damages

SANTA FE — While no final deal has been struck, negotiations between hospital executives, trial lawyers and other stakeholders on possible changes to New Mexico's medical malpractice laws have yielded some areas of agreements — and some potential...

GUN BILL SPARKS EMOTIONAL DEBATE AT ROUNDHOUSE

SANTA FE — New Mexico lawmakers' latest push to keep guns out of dangerous hands is causing a ruckus at the Roundhouse. A Senate committee heard emotional pleas from supporters and opponents alike Wednesday on a Democratic-backed bill aimed at slowing...

Bill increasing penalty for violent crimes against law enforcement clears first legislative hurdle

SANTA FE — Backers of a proposal to increase the penalty for certain violent crimes against law enforcement officers in New Mexico are hoping the fourth time is a charm at the Roundhouse. The bill, House Bill 61, passed its first assigned House...

APS walking school bus programs will expand with $2.7 million federal grant

A walking school bus is one Albuquerque neighborhood’s solution to the hazards children reported on their route to school. The Albuquerque Public School district was awarded a $2.7 million federal grant to add walking school buses across the district,...

Bill that could shut immigration detention facilities in NM advances in the House

A woman shot in the head by a federal agent, widespread protests, families separated and American citizens unlawfully detained. State Rep. Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque, described these scenes before introducing House Bill 9, which could shutter...

‘Public safety is not a partisan issue’

SANTA FE — Republican lawmakers say this is the year New Mexico makes meaningful strides toward reducing crime rates that have for years outpaced national averages. Their confidence owes much to the backing of a Democratic governor hoping to change a...

‘NOT A VICTORY LAP’

SANTA FE — In her last and longest address to state lawmakers, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday touted the strides New Mexico has taken since she took office in 2019 to reduce poverty and improve its fiscal footing. But the governor said her work...

TACKLING MALPRACTICE REFORM

Responding to doctors' concerns that New Mexico's malpractice system is making it hard to practice medicine, leading lawmakers hope to rein in tactics lawyers use to win awards for injured patients. The bills they are crafting are highly technical,...

‘I’M OVER THIS’

Afew months into his immigration detention at the Cibola County Correctional Center in rural New Mexico, Damian Soto, 31, almost gave up the fight. Baby-faced with a closecropped mustache, he’d been trying to tell the authorities, in his...

Could a tax bill boost affordable housing projects, even in pricey Santa Fe County?

On a chilly morning in Santa Fe, developers and state officials broke ground on a large-scale affordable housing project that will put 312 apartments on the market in a city long known for its high cost of living. The project could be buoyed, however,...

Putting Albuquerque ON THE BOARD

The Duke City's real estate market is getting a twist in 2026, thanks to an iconic board game. The city of Albuquerque will have its own official Monopoly game come November, and Top Trumps USA — the company licensed by Hasbro to make city-specific...

Former ABQ mayor dies

David Rusk is remembered for championing urban equity, helping the city acquire land that would become the Elena Gallegos Open Space, and just doing “what was best for the community” during his one term as Albuquerque's Democratic mayor. Rusk died on...

Could the streaming giant’s takeover bid bring more productions, jobs to the state?

For boom operator and sound mixer Eric Olvera, working in film is a lot like what he imagines it’s like to be a pirate. “Always jumping on the next bus, the next crew — we’re basically like pirates running around, going in one area, taking it over,...

`HE LOVED THE PEOPLE OF NEW MEXICO'

Roberto Mondragón, a former Democratic lieutenant governor who was known as a “singing politician,” promoting New Mexican culture, and advocating for land grant justice reform and the elderly, died from natural causes Tuesday. He was 85. “Maybe to a...

See-through backpacks are now required at six APS middle schools

Bombs, knives and firearms. These are just a few of the items middle school students said they are hoping will never make their way onto campus after five Albuquerque middle schools — Wilson, Kennedy, Hayes, Washington and Cleveland — opted in to a new...

NM DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Flu is on `rapid' rise

The holiday season may be over, but flu season is in full swing across New Mexico and the rest of the country. In the state, “all the charts are showing a rapid increase in flu-related numbers,” New Mexico Department of Health spokesperson David Barre...

US plans to ‘run’ Venezuela and tap its oil reserves, Trump says

CARACAS, Venezuela — Hours after an audacious military operation that plucked leader Nicolás Maduro from power and removed him from the country, President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States would run Venezuela at least temporarily and...

2025: ABQ’s hottest year on record

Last year was the hottest on record for the Albuquerque Metro Area, according to the National Weather Service. The average temperature this year was 60.8 degrees, nearly four degrees warmer than the climate normal, said NWS meteorologist Matt...

How New Mexicans rang in THE NEW YEAR

From eating weird foods to running a half-marathon, New Mexicans went into the new year with a wide array of resolutions. Some vowed to maintain sobriety while others would simply like to take their dog for a walk more often. From adults to children,...

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NOON

`FIGHTING BACK'

Trickles of sweat poured down Richard Meth's face as he threw jabs and hooks into a punching bag at Rock Steady Boxing in Northeast Albuquerque. The Guess Who's “No Time” played in the background as he pounded the bag. After a few minutes, Meth, 76,...

LOVO LEAVING

The University of Colorado has hired Fernando Lovo to be the Big 12 school's new athletics director. The 37-year-old Lovo spent the past 13 months in the same position at the University of New Mexico — overseeing a period of great success on the field...

‘Protected in perpetuity’

A big-game ranch with an even bigger story to tell is no longer on the market. The MIRR Ranch Group said last week that the 50,000-acre Dawson Elk Valley Ranch — once home to the historic New Mexico coal town of Dawson and two of the nation’s...

Bosque Brewing announces the closure of all its taprooms

Bosque Brewing announced last call Friday at all its New Mexico taprooms following a decision by a federal judge this week to toss the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The first to close is Bosque's Nob Hill Public House taproom, which was slated...

Winter warmth

Sam Isom and his young son spent Thursday afternoon at North Domingo Baca's dog park, watching their three pups play with about a dozen others on an “extremely warm” day. Coats at home, Isom and his son were enjoying a rare Albuquerque Christmas — one...

SANTA'S IN TOWN

Elijah Baca, 4, reacts with his brother Cisco Baca, 6, as they visit with Santa Claus at the Bugg house in Albuquerque on Friday. Joyce and the late Norman Bugg started their elaborate decorations in 1971.

IT'S THE LIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

In a sea of twinkling Christmas lights, it was the motion of a light-decorated miniature Ferris wheel that enamored Natalee Maxwell's 1-year-old daughter, Lilia, as the two perused a residential Christmas display in Albuquerque last week. “It's a...

A luminous celebration

Red or green? Luminaria or farolito? The National Hispanic Cultural Center hosted the 2nd Annual Luminito Celebration earlier this month — a cultural experience grounded in New Mexico's lively luminaria vs. farolito debate. The free event on Dec. 14...

Police shootout: Radio blocks bullet from hitting officer, suspect shot

An Albuquerque police officer and a man were shot on Sunday afternoon during an arrest at a motel on Coors and Iliff NW — and the police chief said the officer's life was saved when the bullet struck his police radio. The officer was not seriously...

Gov. slams Albuquerque leaders over results of National Guard help

Six months and $7 million later, the New Mexico National Guard is leaving its “emergency” deployment with the Albuquerque Police Department as city and state officials spar over whether the mission was a success. The departure of the National Guard,...

A `STEPPING STONE' FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES

When Katrina Weaver packed her bags and headed home to New Mexico, she not only became a single mother — she also became homeless. For four months, Weaver and her children, 8 and 14, had nowhere to rest their heads. But that changed when Weaver was...

Medina: I'm retiring on a high note

Crime's down. Recruitment is up. The Albuquerque Police Department has fully complied with a legal settlement mandating hundreds of court-approved reforms to improve accountability and prevent the use of excessive force. It's not a bad time to retire,...

`DIFFICULT DECISION' Bosque Brewing closes two ABQ locations days after sweeping Santa Fe

Bosque Brewing Co. announced Tuesday further closures, this time in Albuquerque, as one of New Mexico's largest brewers continues to face financial challenges. The affected locations include the San Mateo Public House at 6220 San Mateo NE and Bosque...