New Mexico
Plans for empty lots across from Presbyterian hospital
If you’ve been to Presbyterian hospital downtown, you’ve seen the empty lots across from it. They’ve been sitting that way for decades.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – If you’ve been to Presbyterian hospital downtown, you’ve seen the empty lots across from it. They’ve been sitting that way for decades.
The Springhill Suites hotel went up on the corner a few years ago in the first phase of a massive project called The Highlands.
Now, with one vote of approval from Albuquerque city councilors, we could see progress continue on that part of Central.
“People love food halls. They like the variety,” said Terry Brunner, director of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency.
It’s one of the next steps in the multiphase The Highlands Project.
“They are filling in vacant spaces, vacant lots with no buildings on them, and really providing an economic development opportunity for that part of Central,” said Brunner.
The Springhill Suites opened in 2021. The next phases include a food hall market, a long-term residence for hospital workers on assignment or family of hospital patients, and an apartment complex.
“It really will get a lot more people out into that area. That’s why they need the food hall is they should have people staying in that long-term stay area, people that are at the hospital now have dining options and things like that. So it should amplify the activity in that area,” Brunner said.
Brunner says this is the kind of growth Albuquerque needs in historically blighted areas.
“You had some older buildings, not much in a commercial way, or hotels or anything in that area for 20 plus years. And so it’s nice to have somebody take the opportunity to redevelop it,” said Brunner.
Brunner believes finances and interest rates have played a role in the timeline for the local developer on the project.
City councilors could make that aspect easier for them with the approval of tax abatement at an upcoming meeting.
“It just means they won’t be reassessed. It means that the assessor can’t come in and now assess that property as if there was a large building on it,” said Brunner.
Brunner says that break will save this local developer about a million dollars.
“Because we will freeze the taxes at the level they’re at for seven years, which gives them a lot more revenue or a lot more cash, in a sense, on the front end of the development. They’re not paying an increased property tax because there’s a new facility on that property,” Brunner said.
Incentivizing one project for the sake of the whole area.
“This whole corridor down Central from the University of downtown, we hope is changing and for the better,” said Brunner.
New Mexico
Grants cancels Christmas parade due to shootings
GRANTS, N.M. – The City of Grants is canceling this year’s annual Christmas light parade, citing the safety of the public and their own officers.
Dozens of floats were supposed to roll down Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday night, but Grants police are holding off until next year after three incidents where someone shot at law enforcement officers.
“It was definitely a difficult decision, but due to the incident that took place on December 8, where law enforcement was shot at in the area of Santa Fe Avenue, we made that decision to protect the citizens of Grants,” says Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte.
She says a New Mexico State Police officer was shot at while making a traffic stop. The officer walked away uninjured, but this was too much for the chief.
“We’ve had three different incidents where law enforcement was shot at. One was May of 2025, the other one was August of 2025, and then the recent event of December 8 of 2025,” says Monte.
It’s not a risk the chief wants to take, and points out people would be standing exactly where the last shooting happened.
“We have a lot of citizens that attend our parade, and our main concern was that they were out in the open in the middle of the night, and in the same area that our latest shooting took place.”
Grant residents will be able to see the floats during the day on Saturday. But even some daylight isn’t convincing some residents.
“I’ll be staying home,” said Amy Brigdon. “There’s too many people in the world that want to see bad things happen to other people. I’m not one of them.”
Police still don’t have a suspect for this week’s attempted shooting. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with the Grants Police Department.
New Mexico
Colorado wolf rereleased in Grand County after crossing into New Mexico
Colorado Parks and Wildlife rereleased a wolf into Grand County this week after it had traveled into New Mexico, according to a news release.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish captured gray wolf 2403 and returned the animal to Colorado.
Colorado wildlife officials decided to release the wolf in Grand County yesterday because of the proximity to “an unpaired female gray wolf,” nearby prey populations and distance from livestock, according to the release.
“Gray wolf 2403 has been returned to Colorado and released in a location where it can best contribute to CPW’s efforts to establish a self-sustaining wolf population while concurrently attempting to minimize potential wolf-related livestock conflicts,” said acting director of CPW Laura Clellan, according to the release.
The wolf was once a member of the Copper Creek pack but departed from it this fall.
A memorandum of understanding between Colorado and Arizona, New Mexico and Utah requires that any gray wolves that leave Colorado and enter those states be returned. That was created in part to maintain the integrity of a Mexican wolf recovery program.
“We recognized during the planning process that we would need to have consideration and plans to protect the genetic integrity of the Mexican wolf recovery program, while also establishing a gray wolf population in Colorado,” said CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell, according to the release.
New Mexico
New Mexico man sentenced to nearly 20 years for distributing meth
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A judge sentenced a New Mexico man to nearly 20 years in prison for distributing meth and having guns in his possession to use while doing so.
Court records indicate 43-year-old David Amaya sold meth from a trailer on his parents’ property in Anthony throughout July and August 2024. Agents executed a search warrant Aug. 22 and found 1.18 kilograms of meth, two firearms and ammunition in the trailer and a makeshift bathroom.
Amaya pleaded guilty to possession of meth with intent to distribute it. A judge sentenced him to 235 months in prison.
Once he is out, Amaya will face five years of supervised release.
The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office and the Las Cruces Metro Narcotics Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams prosecuted it.
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