Downtown Affordable Housing projects secure $7.5 million - Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
Albuquerque residents can expect 175 new affordable apartment units in Downtown and Barelas in the coming years, thanks in part to funds appropriated by the City Council on Monday.
The City Council approved the use of $7.5 million in capital outlay funds from the state for projects ranging from iconic Downtown building renovations to a new apartment campus in Barelas.
“These projects represent a significant investment in our community, directly addressing the critical need for affordable housing,” said Councilor Joaquin Baca, who carried the resolution. “By leveraging state funding, we are supporting innovative developments that not only provide homes for our residents but also contribute to the economic and social vitality of the Downtown and Barelas neighborhoods.”
Albuquerque has a significant shortage of units for low-income renters, a recent study by Root Policy Research found. It estimated that Albuquerque is 13,000 to 28,000 units short of meeting the demand for housing. Meanwhile, the mayor’s office estimates that 5,000 people are living on the streets in Albuquerque.
Over the past two decades, rent and house prices have risen faster than income nationwide, meaning low-income Americans are getting priced out and spending, at times, more than 30% of their paycheck to keep a roof over their heads, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
While the promised development in Downtown will fill a gap, some community members said, it doesn’t help those on the bottom of the income ladder, who, they argued, are most in need.
Glowing green on the city’s skyline, the old Wells Fargo building at Third and Lomas is on the cusp of major redevelopment — though it’s set to lose its iconic lighting.
That being said, developer Adam Silverman hopes to “keep an homage to the past, but modernize it.”
Silverman’s Geltmore LLC development firm aims to keep the building’s original charm by holding on to furniture from the old Wells Fargo executive suite and leaving an intact vault, without disturbing future residents with bright lights.
Geltmore is partnering with California-based Lincoln Avenue Communities to turn the 13-story building into mixed-use housing.
Twelve stories of the building are dedicated to affordable housing, which will include 60 one-bedroom apartments and 40 two-bedroom apartments. The ground floor will be renovated into office and retail space, Silverman said.
“To become a 21st-century city, we need to have a good, functioning downtown,” Silverman said.
If all goes to plan, residents may be able to move in by the end of 2026, Silverman said. The apartments will be priced for those who make 70% of Albuquerque’s median income and capped at 80%, which for one person stands at $51,200 a year, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines for 2025.
Some worry that pricing is still too high to benefit those most in need.
“Let’s try to avoid rewarding wealthy developers who already profit off of middle-class workers without our tax subsidies,” said Janus Herrera during a public comment period. “I am support(ive) in moving forward with this project, but do hope to see additional projects looking at our very low-income renters.”
The Romero
Overlooking the Railyards at Second and Santa Fe, the planned three-story apartment complex will provide 69 units at varying rates of affordability, ranging from 30% to 80% of the city’s median income.
That range means that a person who makes around $18,000 a year and a person who makes nearly three times that will be living side by side.
The City Council awarded the project more than $1.9 million.
“The Barelas Community Coalition and Palindrome are thrilled that the City Council, led by Councilor Baca, passed legislation to provide this necessary first piece of the financing puzzle to support a high-quality affordable housing community in our Barelas neighborhood,” said Karina Ortiz, president of the Barelas Community Coalition Board of Directors, in a statement. “We are excited to now turn to applying to Housing New Mexico to complete the funding package and move forward with this transformative development.”
The Portland-based developer, Palindrome Communities, estimated the total project cost to be $20.8 million.
The gallery and studio space, Sanitary Tortilla Factory on Second, is getting a major upgrade with six housing units to boot.
Sheri Crider, who founded and directs the gallery known for hosting eclectic art shows Downtown, plans to renovate the vacant Gizmo building on Central into a hub for artists from all walks of life.
The 53,000-square-foot, four-story building will house two galleries, 24 artist studios, a library, an art supply store, a print shop and six apartments for Crider’s reentry program.
The arts-based program hopes to help former inmates from the Metropolitan Detention Center readjust to life outside jail bars.
Though the more than $630,000 the council appropriated isn’t enough to renovate the upper floor into housing, it’s a jumpstart to getting the long-vacant building operable again.
“The funds for the elevator are amazing because it’s a huge ticket item, and I’m a small business owner trying to pull off this great big project,” Crider said. “Funds making those elevators functioning are essential.”
The funds will also be used to give the building’s exterior a facelift, without stuccoing over the space’s vintage charm.
“I’m looking at it kind of like a historic preservationist,” Crider said.
The Gizmo was once a J.C. Penney, which drew thousands of visitors on the day of its grand reopening in 1949, according to Journal archives.
Though the City Council has appropriated the funds, the developers await final approval from the State Mortgage Finance Authority and the New Mexico Department of Finance.
NM Health Department: Drink plenty of water amid early-August heat wave - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Health Department is warning New Mexicans to monitor their health and stay hydrated amid a somewhat unusual early-August heat wave, especially as forecasters warn that no monsoons are in sight in the coming weeks.
Chelsea Langer, who leads the state health department’s Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau, told Source New Mexico on Wednesday that high temperatures across the state will prompt the department to release a public service announcement Thursday telling New Mexicans what to look out for in terms of heat-related illnesses, and where to find shelter.
The health department has established a hotline for, among other services, residents to call for the latest information on local cooling centers. In addition to drinking lots of water, Langer recommended residents try to stay inside; keep windows and doors closed; be mindful of heat illness-related symptoms; and be extra careful not to leave children or pets in hot cars.
“Generally in July, we see the peak, but it’s not uncommon to have heat waves in August, or, the last few years, even into September and October, like unseasonably, record-breaking heat, unfortunately,” Langer said.
Rio Rancho, Albuquerque and Las Cruces in May topped a USA Today analysis of cities with the largest increase of high-heat days — 90 degrees and upward — since 1985: 39, 36 and 31 more such days, respectively.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued heat advisories for most of eastern New Mexico and around Bernalillo County, along with areas in the northwest and southwest corners of the state. Temperatures were expected to hit as high as 106 degrees, and 100 degrees in the Albuquerque metropolitan area.
The heat advisories are in effect Wednesday until 7 p.m. Forecasters also already issued a heat advisory from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
State-level data about the heat’s impact this summer on public health, including emergency room visits and heat-related deaths, was not immediately available Wednesday.
However, Langer noted that the state tracked 80 heat-related deaths last summer, which is the highest on record, she said. In 2023, the state tracked 66 heat-related deaths, she said.
The early August heat comes amid renewed bleak drought predictions across the Southwest. August is, on average, the wettest month of the year, but a monsoon outlook did not appear promising, according to experts.
“August is when we expect to be getting a lot of rain in the Southwest. At least up to this point, that is not what we’re seeing,” said Russ Schumacher, a professor and climatologist at Colorado State University, during an Intermountain West Drought and Climate Webinar on Wednesday.
What the Health Department recommends during the heat wave, especially for people at high risk like outdoor workers, children and infants, adults over 65 and people with existing health conditions or no access to air conditioning:
- Staying cool inside and/or in shade when possible.
- Keeping window shades drawn during the day to help keep the heat out.
- Drinking plenty of water and avoiding alcohol. Just as water hydrates you, alcohol dehydrates you.
- Wearing lightweight, loose-fitting, light-colored clothing.
- Scheduling outdoor activities for cooler times of the day.
- Pacing yourself.
- Never leaving children or pets in the car.
- Having a plan to get somewhere with air conditioning, such as a library or friend’s house especially for older adults and people with medical needs.
NMDOH hotline to find cooling shelters: 1-833-SWNURSE (1-833-796-8773)
Medical community heartbroken after fatal plane crash on Navajo Nation - By Josh Funk and Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Federal investigators on Wednesday were trying to piece together what caused a medical transport plane to crash on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, killing the four people on board and leaving the medical community in neighboring New Mexico heartbroken.
The two pilots, flight nurse and paramedic who were onboard were based out of Albuquerque and had worked with hospitals throughout the area. While authorities had yet to release their names, colleagues and friends shared condolences and prayers on social media.
Many shared details about the crew's dedication to patients and the incredible void left by the tragedy.
The crew was on its way to pick up a patient from the federal Indian Health Service hospital in Chinle when the plane crashed near the airport there, Navajo authorities said. The plan was to return to Albuquerque.
The Beechcraft King Air 300 was owned by CSI Aviation, which said in a statement it was devastated and that the four were more than just colleagues.
“Their courage, care, and dedication will never be forgotten,” the company said. “Our hearts are with their families, friends, and loved ones.”
According to CSI Aviation's website, the nationally accredited carrier never had an accident or incident and never had any FAA sanctions. It provides medical flights in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and South Dakota.
Medical transports by air from the Navajo Nation are common because most hospitals are small and do not offer advanced or trauma care. The Chinle airport is one of a handful of airports that the tribe owns and operates on the vast 27,000-square-mile (70,000-square-kilometer) reservation that stretches into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — the largest land base of any Native American tribe.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who is a former NTSB and FAA crash investigator, said it is difficult to say what caused this crash in a remote area like Chinle because so few details are readily available.
The high altitude of Chinle, which sits just over 5,500 feet above sea level, and the high temperatures Tuesday around 95 degrees can make it harder for a plane to get the lift it needs to fly. But Guzzetti said that is usually more of an issue at takeoff — rather than landing — and this kind of Beechcraft Super King Air plane has plenty of power with its twin turboprop engines.
The plane also shouldn’t have been overweight because it had already burned off fuel during its flight and hadn’t yet picked up the patient.
At the time the plane was trying to land, the wind was gusting up to 28 knots, which could have made landing difficult at the Chinle airport, which has a narrow, 60-foot-wide runway.
“Gusting crosswinds to 28 knots can make things a little bit challenging,” Guzzetti said. “The winds might have been an issue.”
Aside from examining the wreckage, NTSB investigators will be reviewing flight data, any air traffic control communications, aircraft maintenance records and weather conditions at the time as they try to determine what caused the crash.
Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and will send it to NTSB headquarters in Washington for analysis.
___
AP Transportation Writer Josh Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
Advocates call for the release of DACA recipient from ICE custody – CBS42, KUNM News
At a vigil last night in El Paso, advocates demanded the release of an activist detained Sunday by federal immigration officials.
CBS42 reports Catalina “Xochitl” was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol Agents around 4 a.m. as she waited to board a domestic flight from El Paso Airport.
Santiago was carrying a work authorization document as a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. That’s according to friends and colleagues who have started a GoFundMe account for her legal fees. It has raised nearly $59,000.
A release from the organization La Mujer Obrera notes Santiago works with the group and was on her way to a conference. They’re asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Santiago.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told Border Report that Santiago is a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico” who has been previously charged with trespassing and possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said DACA recipients are not automatically protected from deportation.
Santa Fe city councilor sues SFPS, former superintendent for alleged sexual harassment - Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe city councilor and former Santa Fe Public Schools assistant principal is suing the school district and its former superintendent, Hilario “Larry” Chavez, over alleged sexual harassment.
Amanda Chavez made the allegations in February, which led to the resignation of Larry Chavez later that month. The two are not related.
Amanda Chavez is seeking unspecified “compensatory damages” and attorneys’ fees, according to the lawsuit filed in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe on Monday.
Amanda Chavez’s attorneys declined to make her available for an interview or comment on her behalf Wednesday.
The suit alleges that “the sexual harassment of Ms. Chavez by Superintendent Chavez began in the spring of 2021, when she first met Superintendent Chavez” and that “Ms. Chavez repeatedly declined all of the multiple sexual advances by Superintendent Chavez as well as his efforts to establish a personal, romantic relationship within their workplace.”
Another allegation made was that the first time they met, Larry Chavez told Amanda Chavez that she shared his wife’s name, which was “triggering to him” because his wife was a “nightmare.” It also states that after Amanda Chavez rejected advances from Larry Chavez, “she began to notice that all her paths for advancement within SFPS were being gradually shut off.”
Amanda Chavez resigned from her job at SFPS on Feb. 14.
“SFPS has not been served with a complaint by Ms. Chavez to this date and therefore cannot comment,” school district spokesperson Tara Melton said Wednesday.
Larry Chavez himself is suing the school district and school board, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, over the way they handled the allegations against him — claiming they violated state law.
Larry Chavez did not respond to a request for comment and Tom Clark, the Santa Fe-based attorney representing him, could not be reached for comment.
SFPS hired a new superintendent in May to succeed Larry Chavez, who had headed the district since 2020.
NM higher ed faces more than $100 million in federal funding cuts - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
New Mexico’s public colleges, special schools and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center are facing approximately $102 million in canceled federal research grants, stop work orders and delayed research projects, state Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez told Source NM Tuesday at the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe.
Nationwide, since April, President Donald Trump has frozen between $6.9 billion and $8.2 billion in university research funding, according to data cited by the Center for American Progress.
Rodriguez, who also was slated to visit the Institute of American Indian Arts on Wednesday, said her agency is gathering information about federal impacts from across the state and sharing it with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office and the Department of Finance and Administration to inform the executive branch’s budget recommendations next year.
“The state is going to have to make a lot of decisions on where to prioritize, where we’re going to fill those gaps because of the federal shortfall,” Rodriguez said. She anticipates the state will address the issue in the 2026 30-day session, not the special session expected either later this month or in September.
The top three impacts from frozen federal funds in New Mexico include: $32 million at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; $19 million at New Mexico State University; and $18 million at New Mexico Highlands University, according to a breakdown an HED spokesperson provided to Source NM.
Capital outlay college tour
In addition to discussing federal funding, this week’s tours also focused on state dollars. Rodriguez’s campus visits this week marked the end of annual school visits to assess infrastructure needs and requests — called capital outlay — to bring to the Legislature in next year’s session.
While the School for the Deaf is not a college, it is one of New Mexico’s three “special schools” that HED oversees along with traditional colleges and universities. The school is not a research institution, so the federal cuts’ overall impact is minimal, Superintendent Jennifer Herbold told Source NM in an interview.
This cycle, HED received nearly $500 million in capital outlay requests, and only has approximately $300 million to give out, Rodriguez said. “So lots of tough decisions in the pike,” she said.
Rodriguez said the school is asking for approximately $6.5 million to renovate its main academic building, Dillon Hall, which houses its middle school and high school departments. Herbold said the hall needs upgrades to its heating and air conditioning system and replacement of old windows that no longer open and a stucco exterior cracked by moisture and the intense summer heat.
Herbold guided HED Capital Projects Director Joe Brown and staff from the Legislative Finance Committee on a tour of the campus in the center of Santa Fe on Tuesday afternoon. She showed them ongoing cleanup efforts from flooding the prior Thursday, and walked them through multiple buildings that lack air conditioning.
They also saw the school’s football and track field, which Herbold said “is in pretty bad shape” and sits above the campus’ drainage pipes. Rodriguez said the school is asking for approximately $5 million for upgrades.
Afterward, Herbold told Source NM that her school’s campus faces challenges preserving and maintaining its buildings, which continually flood with water that drains from the state capital’s northern neighborhoods. The school temporarily moved offices and classrooms to keep the campus running, she said.
“It’s a very delicate balance of figuring out what students need right now, and also trying to preserve some of our historical buildings of the past,” Herbold said through an interpreter.