Support O-26-14: Bring Safety, Cleanliness, and Life Back to Albuquerque’s Downtown and Central Avenue

Why This Matters Albuquerque deserves public spaces that are safe, clean, and welcoming for everyone—families, workers, shoppers, seniors, and business owners alike. The Enhanced Service and Safety Zone Ordinance (O-26-14) is a practical, targeted step toward that goal. It is important to note: This doesn’t ban homelessness or poverty. Instead, it creates specially designated zones in high-problem commercial areas where blocking sidewalks (in violation … Read More

By Jean Bernstein

Nov 21, 2023      I have been asked by a number of people to share my observations about the 2023 Council race. I’ve always made a point of staying out of partisan politics but in recent years I have become very worried about the future of our Albuquerque. It is clear our local leaders are no longer elected by the … Read More

Corporate Welfare

    By Ramona Goolsby Nov 17, 2023 I have been attending the Bernalillo County Commission meeting for well over a year now and things seem to be moving in the wrong direction. The Bernalillo County Commission and the City of Albuquerque are precariously sitting on a financial slope that the people may have a hard time recovering from.  The financial slope I … Read More

Women Taking Back Our Neighborhoods founder: ‘I see crime getting worse’

By Paige Wagenknecht Oct 30, 2023 Colleen Aycock, founder of Women Taking Back Our Neighborhoods (WTBON ), said the group’s number one goal is to eliminate crime.  The citizen activist group was founded in 2018 in Albuquerque South East Heights to inform the public and demand greater accountability from elected and other civic leaders for preventing crime on Central Ave., in … Read More

Unhoused encampment returns to Central Avenue business: ‘Because the mayor is not enforcing public nuisance laws, they are free to break them’

vagrants camping out on central with no consequences

By Paige Wagenknecht Oct 30, 2023 Businesses along Albuquerque’s Central Avenue are experiencing a constant influx of unhoused citizens despite intervention from the city and law enforcement.  Community activist Colleen Aycock said she was surprised to see five encampments with 10 to 15 people each behind Church’s Texas Chicken (10230 Central Ave. SE) after the city and Albuquerque Police Department had … Read More

Defending the innocent, and holding offenders accountable, should not be a partisan issue – but it is

By Larry Sonntag Apr 20, 2023 During New Mexico’s recent sixty-day Legislative session, numerous bills were introduced to address out-of-control crime in the state. There were some incredible statements made during committee hearings by Democrat lawmakers and progressive trial attorneys who testified against anti-crime legislation. Even print media, which is usually inclined to support progressive agendas, called out the absurdity of … Read More

DEA agent on Fentanyl Awareness Day: ‘We seized more pills than the number of residents in the state of New Mexico’

By Sam Jackson Feb 28, 2023 Local leaders, state representatives and families gathered at the state capitol in Albuquerque recently to share their stories in observance of Fentanyl Awareness Day. “We seized more pills than the number of residents in the state of New Mexico,” Carlos Briano of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Division in El Paso, Texas, said. Briano’s division … Read More

‘Housing First’ fails residents and the community

Sarah Smith January 31, 2023 3 min read It has been widely reported that Las Cruces is struggling with crime and drugs in and near the Desert Hope Affordable Housing Project on Pecos Street, near Solano and Idaho. Desert Hope is a “Housing First” project aimed specifically at providing homes for the homeless, yet residents and nearby neighbors have repeatedly … Read More

Aycock: Albuquerque mayor’s Housing Forward Plan is ‘poorly conceived’

By Sam Jackson Dec 20, 2022 Colleen Aycock believes the city of Albuquerque is doing the local homeless population, and the city itself, a disservice by promoting its “Housing Forward” plan to convert motels into temporary housing, calling the program “poorly conceived.” The OneAlbuquerque Fund has set a goal of adding 5,000 new living spaces to Albuquerque to address the housing shortage, and … Read More

Hotel association backs Safe Outdoor Spaces appeals: ‘SOSs actually increase crime, are harmful to the economy’

By New Mexico Sun Report Dec 14, 2022 Karl Holme, executive director of the Greater Albuquerque Hotel & Lodging Association, fully supports Bob Reule of the Menaul Business Coalition in opposing the implementation of Safe Outdoor Spaces. Reule sent a letter to City Councilor Trudy Jones saying its research suggests “SOSs actually increase crime, are harmful to the economy and in direct conflict … Read More

Fatal shooting of UNM student by NMSU player

By New Mexico Sun Report Nov 29, 2022 Police continue to investigate the fatal shooting of a student from the University of New Mexico by a New Mexico State University basketball player hours before a men’s basketball game between the rival schools that was later postponed. Police said Brandon Travis, a 19-year-old UNM student, was fatally shot by Mike Peake, a member … Read More

Maybe they will realize the citizens have had enough

By T.H. Lawrence Oct 10, 2022 A billboard recently displayed in Las Cruces raised some questions from city residents — along with the hackles of some city officials. The billboard at the intersection of Missouri Avenue and South Solano Drive, sponsored by Juan Garcia of the Coalition of Conservatives in Action, shows a graphic photo highlighting the increase in crime in the city and … Read More