ABQ man arrested for threatening posts toward Trump, Musk, others - By Nicole Maxwell, New Mexico Political Report
An Albuquerque man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly threatening President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and others on social media.
As first reported by Court Watch, federal court records show Tyler Miles Leveque, 37, is accused of threatening to kill Trump, Musk and other unnamed CEOs.
The posts included references to Trump’s rally scheduled for Jan. 19, the day before Trump’s inauguration, according to a criminal complaint.
The posts began Jan. 3 and a federal case was filed Jan. 8, according to court documents.
The criminal complaint states Leveque was interviewed by U.S. Secret Service on Jan. 6, where he admitted to buying a firearm from an unnamed Albuquerque business.
Leveque posted to Facebook, under the handle tycodancer, that he had just bought his first gun and wrote, “Hey world hey America hey trump hey ceos get rich we are hunting you down! Hahaha I’m getting ready myself! Here we come it ends now,” court records show.
Leveque has not been officially charged with a crime yet and no hearings have been scheduled.
Court records show the criminal complaint against him was for his alleged threats against someone from across state lines.
Leveque has a minimal criminal record with the most recent charge being a traffic citation in 2019.
Is this the year the state’s rent control prohibition ends? — Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
A vocal coalition that includes state lawmakers will once again try to get New Mexico’s prohibition on rent control repealed at the legislative session that begins Jan. 21 in Santa Fe. The group hopes a longer 60-day session this year will give the effort more legs after it failed to gain traction during last year’s 30-day schedule.
Supporters see removing the statewide prohibition as a crucial way to stabilize a situation thousands of New Mexicans find themselves in — sky-high rents that put renters on the edge of eviction and homelessness. Removing the prohibition would allow local municipalities to decide for themselves whether to craft legislation for debate and a potential vote.
New Mexico is one of about 35 states that prohibits cities and counties from enacting rent control laws.
Mayor Tim Keller’s administration released its legislative priorities last week, but didn’t mention rent control. When asked about it, a spokesperson said in an email to City Desk ABQ: “The City of Albuquerque supports defending and expanding renter protections at the local and state level. In general, we always appreciate having more flexibility to try different ways to make housing affordable for families.”
It’s unclear whether Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham supports the repeal. A request for comment from her office wasn’t returned.
Meanwhile, City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn thinks it is a mistake that the city isn’t pushing for the repeal, and she knows how hard it is to pass tenant protection measures of any kind. Now entering her fourth year on the Council, just one of four measures she’s proposed have passed.
A residential tenant protection ordinance and a landlord database measure she crafted both failed last year, and a non-binding resolution — known as a memorial — to urge the state Legislature to repeal the prohibition failed on a 2-7 vote in 2022.
Fiebelkorn’s latest measure to ensure residents have proper cooling systems installed in their households narrowly passed 5-4 last December.
“I get an email or a phone call from someone in my district every week who is being priced out of their home,” she said. “They’ve been living in an apartment for six months, four years, two decades, and the rent is going up. I’m not talking about 5%. I’m talking about 30%, 40%, 70% increases. People can’t pay that.”
Bex Hampton of the Peoples Housing Project hosted a rally supporting the prohibition’s repeal in Albuquerque on Saturday, and is scheduled to host another in Santa Fe on Jan. 25 at the Roundhouse. She’s worked with Sen. Linda M. López, D-Albuquerque, who’s once again introducing a bill to repeal the prohibition, and Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, who’s also in favor of the repeal.
Lopez previously said she was alarmed by an increase of Albuquerque Public Schools students and their families becoming unhoused, as well as two or three families living in the same house, because of high rents.
“Some are living in a hotel,” Lopez said to City Desk ABQ last year. “You talk to these families and it’s because they can’t afford the cost of rent – a first and last month deposit, plus a security deposit.”
Hampton said rent control is necessary not only to address the housing crisis, but to prevent further gentrification of Albuquerque’s historic neighborhoods and the displacement of its original residents.
“Private development is driven by profit, not community needs,” she said. “Repealing the prohibition would expand democratic rights. Rent control wouldn’t stop investment, but would provide an option for local governments.”
Hampton said that despite a Democratic majority in Santa Fe, many lawmakers are themselves property owners and landlords, which she said may influence some of the opposition to the repeal.
Fiebelkorn thinks some of the pushback can also be explained by the perception that rent control is a draconian measure, similar to New York City’s enacted in the 1970s.
“That’s not what anyone’s talking about,” she said. “My dream would be to have the authority to say, ‘In the city of Albuquerque, we’re putting a cap on rent increases of something reasonable, like 10% a year.’ I know that sounds like a lot, but it’s so much less than what people are experiencing right now, and I do think that that’s the role of government — we should be protecting our citizens. Having that kind of stabilization of rent in our city is not going to keep anyone from making money on their investments.”
County casitas restrictions loosened - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
More Bernalillo County residents can now build casitas on their properties, after county commissioners Tuesday approved zoning changes.
Zoning administrator Maggie Gould said the measure will simplify the approval process for owners of one-acre or larger lots, and allow owners of smaller lots to seek special permits to erect casitas.
She said the new rules include relaxed requirements for some property owners, including those in the East Mountains whose land is limited by topography — changes in elevation around the property.
“Maybe the primary house is here on a flat spot, and the secondary house is going to be over here on another flat spot, but they are farther apart [than previous code allowed],” Gould explained.
Gould said the new rules will not permit manufactured homes as casitas.
“The idea is that you’re building kind of a long-term quality residential unit,” Gould said. “They have to be a conventional stick-built home or a modular home.”
Marble Brewery name, beer intact after shakeup — Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
Albuquerque takes its breweries and beers seriously, and the industry employs hundreds of people. It explains why there were months of public handwringing over the potential fate of one of its oldest and most popular: Marble Brewery.
After 16 years in business, there were rumors it would file for bankruptcy or close its three locations. Employees were worried about their jobs and beer drinkers wondered how a seemingly booming brewery with award-winning beers could be having such a hard time.
Enter Bert Boyce and Jarrett Babincsak, Marble’s new owner-operators as of Jan. 3. They said this week that the business needed to be “tightened up and cleaned up,” and have ensured about 70 employees that their jobs are secure. The pair have a message for loyal patrons, too: The brand, beer, store distribution and its taprooms aren’t going anywhere.
“Obviously there’s so much love and affinity in the community, it would be silly to change,” Boyce said.
City Desk ABQ sat down with the pair at its flagship location (on Marble Avenue) just north of Downtown on Monday to find out more. They were most recently immersed in the beer business for the better part of a decade at Santa Fe Brewing Co. — Babincsak, 44, as vice president of sales and marketing, and Boyce, 49, as brewmaster. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
City Desk ABQ: Are the two of you from Albuquerque?
Babincsak: I’m from northwest Indiana, just outside of Chicago. I started in the industry at 21 at Miller Brewing Company, but we live in Albuquerque. We love Albuquerque, so we want to invest in resources and energy here, in the brewery and in this community.
Boyce: I left San Diego when I was 19 and have been doing this forever. I met my wife in Boston, but she’s from Albuquerque and we came back for the job at Santa Fe Brewing. I’ve been coming to Marble for 15 years.
Did you have any apprehensions in taking on this venture?
Boyce: It happened very quickly. A lot of people asked if we were nervous once we got the keys, but we’re not nervous at all. The bones are here. This is an amazing organization, it’s an institution, it has such a great brand, such a great presence. Our goal is to provide some structure, resources and leadership.
Babincsak: Both of our parents ran their own businesses. We grew up in entrepreneurial households. This has been the goal forever, wanting to find something that we could do like this together.
How did Marble find itself in trouble? Overleveraging? An oversaturation of breweries in Albuquerque? Management issues?
Boyce: I mean, isn’t the truth kind of always somewhere in between? There’s not one factor that we could point to that could say why anything is in the position that it’s in. The younger generation isn’t drinking as much; everyone knows that running a business is hard — all of those things. It just needed a reinvigoration of energy.
Babincsak: There’s always a combination of factors. Something that we talk about a lot in organizations, kind of like a person — you have to constantly be evolving and changing to the landscape. We’re stepping in now to steward this kind of next evolution of Marble Brewery. We want to see growth.
How’s the relationship with employees?
Boyce: I think that was our first priority: Let the whole organization take a big, deep breath and exhale. We have a plan, we have a vision, your jobs are secure. I think collectively, hopefully at this point now, the nervous system is starting to settle down. They see a path forward — seeing us here every day working alongside them, doing the work to stabilize things and get the trajectory back where we want it to be.
Anything coming this year that you’d like readers to know about?
Babincsak: Just stay tuned, because we’re going to do some really fun and innovative and cool things. I think we’re going to give people a lot of compelling reasons to want to come to the tap rooms, to want to buy our products off the shelf. We’re going to hold ourselves accountable, always be evolving and growing along with our consumers, listening to what people are telling us.
Boyce: Running your business is taking care of your people, asking your consumers what they want and then don’t over-complicate things. I feel like my job right now is just fixing the cracks in the concrete, building the confidence back up here that not only are we still here, but we intend to grow.
More information on Marble is here.
Federal agency provides $120 million for Navajo-Gallup Water supply project — Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A project to bring drinking water to Gallup, the Navajo Nation and the Jicarilla Apache Nation received a lifeline of $120 million in federal funding for the next year, but more approvals are needed from U.S. Congress to continue construction in future years.
The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project will divert water from the San Juan River to bolster water supplies for about 250,000 in three communities who rely on a rapidly depleting and poor-quality aquifer.
The project has been under construction for more than a decade. It was anticipated to be completed in 2024, but the deadline was extended to 2029 after the parties decided to look at further storage and energy generation.
The U.S. Department of the Interior confirmed it allocated $120 million for the next year for the project, in a letter Sunday.
The water project upholds the federal government’s responsibility to financially assist tribal nations and protect treaty obligations, said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) in a written statement. She sponsored five settlements to end litigation and support water projects with tribal nations last year.
Federal officials had spent up to the maximum amount allocated by Congress earlier last year and faced a shortfall on the Navajo-Gallup water supply project, without further required approval.
In December, U.S. lawmakers passed the continuing resolution, which allows the government to operate until mid-March. The temporary spending bill included a line allowing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to spend up to $1.6 billion on Northwestern New Mexico water projects, nearly double from the previous $870 million cap.
“We worked hard to raise the funding ceiling for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project in the contentious end of year funding fight because we knew this $120 million would get us a step closer to delivering clean, reliable water to communities on the Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation, and across northwestern New Mexico,” Ledger Fernández said, adding that she would fight for continued funding for infrastructure projects.
A proposed settlement sponsored by Leger Fernández last year requested $725 million to finish the project, putting the total bill to $2.1 billion.
The six settlements with tribal communities over New Mexico water rights proceeded through a crucial committee hearing, but were not passed this congressional session.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren’s office did not respond to an email requesting comment before deadline.
Nygren has appeared before U.S. lawmakers multiple times emphasizing the importance of the project, and celebrated the additional funding in stopgap spending bill in a December social media post.
“Securing funding for the Navajo-Gallup project has been a top priority for us,” Nygren wrote. “We needed to extend its timeline to ensure this water project serves our communities without interruption.”
Rio Rancho mayor ‘weighing options’ on running for governor - By Kevin Hendricks, New Mexico Political Report
The mayor of Rio Rancho is considering running for the Republican nomination for governor of New Mexico.
While Gregg Hull is in the middle of his third term as mayor and has yet to confirm or deny that he will run for reelection in 2026, rumors are swirling that he has bigger plans.
Hull told the Sandoval Signpost that he has been contacted about running for governor but has yet to decide.
“I’ve been approached by a lot of individuals to look at the possibility and I’m currently weighing all of my options,” Hull said.
Hull was elected as Rio Rancho mayor in 2014, his first foray into politics after a lengthy career in business. Rio Rancho is the second most populous city in the state.
Republican sources, who are not authorized to speak publicly, told the Signpost that Hull is gauging support among Republicans for a run to replace Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is term-limited and cannot run again in 2026.
Republicans have not won a statewide election in New Mexico since 2016, when Judith Nakamura won reelection to the state Supreme Court.
Republican Susana Martinez won two terms as governor before Lujan Grisham’s time in office. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich are each reportedly exploring a run for the Democratic nomination for governor.
NM Health Department: Suicide rates dropped for women, Indigenous People - By Source New Mexico
New Mexico’s suicide rates for women and Indigenous people dropped steeply in 2023, the state health department reported today. Specifically, data for that year — the most recent available — shows a 42% decline for New Mexico women who died by suicide, from 116 in 2022 to 67 in 2023. In the Indigenous People demographic, rates declined for both males and females who died by suicide: by 43% during the same time period: from 77 deaths in 2022 to 44 deaths in 2023.
According to a news release, the male suicide rate had no significant change.
“Suicide is a serious public health problem that can have lasting effects on communities,” Dr. Miranda Durham, NMDOH chief medical officer, said in a statement. “Preventing suicide requires many strategies, but everyone can help by learning the warning signs, promoting prevention and working to foster healthy connections and safe environments.”
The state’s overall suicide rate decreased by 9% in 2023, the department said, noting that while the decline, “is a positive sign, it does not yet indicate a sustained trend. The state’s suicide death rate is still 9% higher than it was a decade ago.”
Find helpFor anyone struggling or in need of help, call or text New Mexico’s 988 Lifeline for 24/7 free and confidential emotional, mental health and substance use support.
Find more resources online from the New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition and from the state health department.
FEMA to close Roswell offices Saturday; at least one spokesperson headed to California fires - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Federal officials will wrap up their offices in Roswell as at least one employee heads to California to respond to ongoing fires.
In a press release, FEMA said it would continue working with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The application period for federal disaster assistance from the Roswell floods closed on Thursday, Jan. 2. However, residents have an additional 60 days to provide a late application, but an explanation for the delay must be provided “by phone, in writing or in-person,” according to the website. Those applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
DETAILS ON ROSWELL OFFICE CLOSURE The Disaster Recovery office in the Roswell Mall will close permanently after 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18.
For assistance visit the FEMA page for Roswell resources (or DisasterAssistance.gov/es para español) or call the FEMA live helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585) seven days a week between 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
TALKING DISASTER
Maria Padron, who’s worked for FEMA for 25 years, managed public affairs for the South Fork and Salt fires and the destructive Roswell floods.
Padron announced her reassignment to the California fires, in an email Tuesday, writing. “My city needs me. I had been redeployed to Los Angeles.”
In a call with Source NM, she said hers is the only reassignment she knows of.
SOURCE NM: The U.S. experienced a near-record number of destructive storms, and that’s poised to escalate, considering the effects climate change is having. Do you have anything to say to the people experiencing disasters, many for the first time?
PADRON: Always be prepared, have a prepared kit in your car, because you never know when a disaster is going to strike. People need to be aware of what’s going on with the climate, and their surroundings at all times.
SOURCE NM: In your departure letter, you said ‘your city needs you,’ and you went to school in Carson, California. How do these fires personally affect you?
PADRON: I live in – not quite the Valley. I live in a safe place, away from the hills. I have two friends, they’ve lost their homes, one in Pasadena the other in Pacific Palisades. So even though I wasn’t affected, I’m affected indirectly.
SOURCE NM: Is there anything you learned from Roswell or Ruidoso that you think is going to inform your work in LA?
PADRON: You know, it’s a different ball game. This one is a catastrophic event. There were 1,000, maybe – I forgot how many houses were destroyed in Ruidoso – but this one is miles and miles of destruction. Every disaster is a different ball game, but lessons learned: If you live close to the mountains, in the woods, you need to be prepared all the time for emergencies.
Source NM note: more than 1,400 structures including more than 856 homes were destroyed in the South Fork and Salt Fires.