New Mexico

Man brings cash drops to Albuquerque with 'Get the Cash ABQ'

Published

1 year ago

July 25, 2024

Man brings cash drops to Albuquerque with 'Get the Cash ABQ'

You’ve likely seen it on TikTok or Instagram. The cash gets dropped somewhere in Albuquerque and you’re challenged to go find it. Is it legit? What is it? Who’s the person behind it?

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — You may have seen videos on Instagram and TikTok of someone hiding money around Albuquerque for people to find.

It’s not a bad way to win some fast cash, as long as you know where to look. The clues that “Get the Cash ABQ” posts are quick and mysterious.

You may even wonder, “Is this legit?” We found out, it is.

And it’s drawn in a lot of people, including Vincent Montano. We were there when he found the cash drop one day.

“We woke up, I saw it. I saw he posted a reel, then I just ran down to get in the truck. I didn’t get ready or anything. Didn’t even put my contacts in, and I just ran down here in like five minutes and found it,” Montano said.

Montano said he and his girlfriend have been following the account since it started about a month ago. They hoped to one day find the cash.

“It made me feel all happy. I can’t wait to tell my girlfriend,” he said.

We timed it out, Montano got to the site within 10 minutes of the drop going live on social media. The account creator said it usually takes someone about 10 to 15 minutes to find the cash.

The creator of “Get the Cash ABQ” did something like this in his hometown of Atlanta. When he moved to Albuquerque, he wanted to bring it here to get people outside and earn some cash.

“It’s pretty random, scattered around Albuquerque trying to hit all different corners of the city. And just mainly public areas that are relatively safe. But also discrete, that people may not recognize,” he said. “I’ll either put the cash under a rock or I’ll tape it somewhere private, then show a video clue of where the area might be. Then, I will post a video of it to Instagram and TikTok then challenge people from there. Whoever gets there first will get the cash.”

The cash drop is really about getting people to explore their city, he adds. The money is just an extra incentive.

“This really took off. I hope it provides some entertainment for a lot of people, gets them out of the house, gives them something to do and really challenges to see how well they know their city,” he said.

Since his first run of cash drops, local and nationwide sponsors have joined in on the fun.

Again, you have to be quick. When we were there, we saw a lot of people walking away without the cash.

As for Montano, who won, though…

“I’m going to get some gas. I don’t know. Maybe treat my girlfriend to lunch,” he said.

The creator says he has three to four drops per week. He hopes to keep it going as long as sponsors and participants keep up the support.

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New Mexico

New Mexico deserves speedier game commission appointments

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

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New Mexico deserves speedier game commission appointments

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New Mexico

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

Published

15 hours ago

January 8, 2026

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What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

The governor sets the agenda for the session, including for the budget, so here is what they are looking at so far.

SANTA FE, N.M. — As the regular session of the New Mexico Legislature is set to begin Jan. 20, lawmakers have already filed dozens of bills.

Bills include prohibiting book bans at public libraries and protections against AI, specifically the distribution of sensitive and “Deepfake” images

Juvenile justice reform is, again, a hot topic. House Bill 25 would allow access to someone’s juvenile records during a background check if they’re trying to buy a gun.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sets the agenda and puts forth the proposed budget lawmakers will address during the session. The governor is calling for lawmakers to take up an $11.3 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which is up 4.6% from current spending levels.

Where would that money go? More than $600 million would go to universal free child care. Meanwhile, more than $200 million would go to health care and to protect against federal funding cuts.

There is also $65 million for statewide affordable housing initiatives and $19 million for public safety.

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New Mexico

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

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Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
| Las Cruces Sun-News

After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.

It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.

Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.

Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:

Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).

What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.

That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.

With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.

New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.

But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.

Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.

What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

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