ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There’s a local man who’s been skyrocketing to stardom, simply by making videos about New Mexico’s unique culture.

Phrases and things only New Mexicans know. Johnny James is sharing with the world:

• “Down here in New Mexico, we got our own way of doing things. And we DEFINITELY got our own way of saying things.”
• “You wanna go check out that new chicken place that just opened up real quick, errr what?”
• “The classic New Mexican phrase…ombers.”

Johnny James is an unintended influencer, having some fun with his own culture. He started making videos on social media during the pandemic. There’s a certain unfiltered authenticity that has garnered him hundreds of thousands of followers.

“I started making videos from a real point of view, from us down here, for us down here. And it just cracked off,” he said.

Johnny’s life hasn’t always been something you’d want to share online.

“Totally fair to say. Straight up, I’ll be all the way honest… from like 13 to when it was done, I grew up in the streets selling dope,” he said. “I got kicked out of school in the 11th grade. Had my ‘jito when I was 16. I always kinda credit him for shifting my trajectory.”

Now, at 39 years old, Johnny has four boys and has a career in music, podcasting, cannabis and, one that he hates to admit, influencing.

He knows having an influence can be a good thing.

“If I can be like, look… we have similar backgrounds but if you take a different route, look where we are now,” he said.

Johnny is using it good. Recently, he started a GoFundMe to raise money for people affected by the Ruidoso fires and flooding. As expected, New Mexicans have turned out, raising more than $70,000.

People know Johnny. When we cruised Central with him in his ’64 Impala lowrider, many people spotted him from a mile away so we had to stop a few times.

See the full cruise and story in the video above.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved a stipulated agreement which is expected to result in a rate increase for customers.  The stipulated agreement is between New Mexico Gas Company and various consumer and environmental advocates. The gas utility initially asked for the ability to collect nearly $49 million in additional revenue from customers. The […]

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved a stipulated agreement which is expected to result in a rate increase for customers. 

The stipulated agreement is between New Mexico Gas Company and various consumer and environmental advocates. The gas utility initially asked for the ability to collect nearly $49 million in additional revenue from customers. The stipulated agreement reduced that to $30 million.

The rate increase will go into effect in October.

Commissioner James Ellison said he supports the stipulated agreement. He also expressed concerns that this is at least the fourth time in eight years that a rate case involving NM Gas Co. has been resolved through a stipulated agreement.

“I do think it’s also reasonable to ask how many stipulations in a row would we like to see before we’d like to have a litigated case,” he said.

He said the advantages of a stipulation is that it provides a mutually acceptable resolution, especially in cases where there are multiple intervening parties. That makes it unlikely that any party will appeal the ruling.

“But I do think with the litigated case, there is more scrutiny,” he said.

Commission Chairman Patrick O’Connell said he believes there’s value in both litigated cases and in stipulated agreements.

“If you just settle, settle, settle, who knows what’s buried in the trajectory there,” he said.

He said the best way to learn all the details is to have the transparency that a litigated process brings.

“Having said that, I think probably, if we have concerns about that, I think we’ll want to somehow signal that ahead of when they file their next case,” O’Connell said.

Ellison said that NM Gas Co. has indicated that the lower increase in revenue will mean that some of the projects it is undertaking, such as replacing meters, will be done more slowly. However, he said, the utility is not canceling any projects required for pipeline safety or compliance with federal regulations.

“I do take the company at its word here that they’re going to replace the 90-year-old uncoated steel pipeline first, and if they need to delay something, they’re going to delay projects that are more discretionary like the meter replacements,” he said.

Commissioner Gabriel Aguilera said that there is not 100 percent visibility about which projects will be performed using the $30 million additional revenue and which ones are going to be delayed because of the reduced amount in the stipulated agreement.

“But I received some assurance from the explanation that the projects that are needed for reliability and safety will be the ones that will be pursued here,” he said.

At the same time, Aguilera said that he does not anticipate that the projects NM Gas Co. initially requested money for will go away. He said those projects will now be delayed due to the smaller revenue increase.

“I anticipate that they will be back before us with similar if not the same projects,” he said.

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.