Latest news with #BernalilloCounty
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Jury convicts Albuquerque woman of stealing Civil War-era revolver, shooting it at owner
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A jury convicted an Albuquerque woman of stealing a Civil War-era revolver and shooting the gun at its owner, according to the Bernalillo County District Attorney. Janice Kowalchuk broke into a man's van near Coors Boulevard NW and Pheasant Avenue NW and stole the 1860 Colt revolver in July 2022. The man followed Kowalchuk, and when she saw him, she shot toward him at least five times, according to court documents. Story continues below News: UNM issues shelter in place as shooting leaves 1 dead, 1 injured on Albuquerque campus Trending: VIDEO: Albuquerque bus driver stabs passenger after fight on the bus Community: What's happening in New Mexico July 25-31? Lavender in the Village Festival and more The man said he went up to Kowalchuck, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and hit her in the face while Kowalchuck fired another shot, and it missed the man's waist but hit his flashlight holder, court documents state. Kowalchuck was later found at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on Redlands Road NW and arrested. A jury convicted her of aggravated assault (deadly weapon), aggravated burglary, larceny, and negligent use of a deadly weapon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge sides with Bernalillo County Commission in hiring dispute
Jul. 22—A state district judge ruled that Bernalillo County Treasurer Tim Eichenberg violated an in-house rule when he hired former County Clerk Linda Stover one day after she left office. Stover left office Dec. 31, and the next day had a job offer for the position of deputy treasurer, under Eichenberg. Bernalillo County commissioners argued that this violated a mandatory "cooling-off period" of one year before an elected official could be rehired at the county. A judge agreed. The order was supposed to put an end to a monthslong hiring dispute between Eichenberg and the county commission. Instead, Eichenberg said Tuesday that he is ready to appeal. "I just don't believe the commission has the right to tell me who I can or can't hire," Eichenberg said. Prior to her appointment as deputy treasurer, Stover had served as county clerk for eight years. Stover was offered a $128,265 salary, a 30% pay bump from her position as county clerk. Stover did not say whether she would resign due to the order. "I am very, very disappointed," Stover said of the decision Tuesday. When Eichenberg announced he would hire Stover one day after Stover reached her term limit, Commissioners Barbara Baca and Eric Olivas raised ethics concerns. In February, the commission filed a complaint with the County Code of Conduct Review Board seeking an ethics investigation. The board ruled on May 13 that Stover violated the county's code of conduct in accepting the position. A week and a half later, Eichenberg filed a petition in 2nd Judicial District Court arguing that state statute allowed him to hire Stover. Eichenberg also argued that the supermajority clause, which required a 4-1 vote to appeal or change the cooling-off rule, violated the state Constitution. On July 10, Judge Joshua Allison ruled that both of Eichenberg's arguments were "without merit." However, with the appeal on the horizon, Stover's fate at the county is uncertain. "I felt matters were resolved," Olivas said. "That (appeal) is a frivolous use of taxpayer money to have a treasurer suing the commission multiple times when he's already lost in three different arenas." Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Yahoo
New Mexico law enforcement leaders demand stricter juvenile crime laws
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Demanding action from state lawmakers, prosecutors and New Mexico's top law enforcement leaders say the time is now to change the state's juvenile crime laws. Albuquerque has grabbed headlines for problems with juvenile crime, but on Tuesday, police chiefs from all over the state said they're seeing the same problems. Story continues below News: Forest road rule in New Mexico faces potential change Trending: Former Hope Christian School teacher to remain behind bars through trial Weather: Stormier day with drop in temperatures KRQE Investigates: Drones in Blue: Albuquerque police deploying autonomous tech to 911 calls 'If you know there are no consequences for your actions, and you are put into a rehabilitation program, but you reoffend. Juveniles tell us in the back of my deputies' patrol units, 'we're not worried about it, we will be released, and we will get around the system,'' said Sheriff John Allen, Bernalillo County. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman gathered police chiefs from Farmington to Española to Las Cruces to make a point about minors committing crimes. 'It isn't, unfortunately, until they are charged with murder that they finally face any real consequences, and then it's too late,' said Bregman. While lawmakers walked away from a juvenile crime reform bill in the last 60-day legislative session, police said they're still seeing a trend of kids committing violent crimes. In Las Cruces, teens took part in a mass shooting, killing three people and wounding 15 others. In Española, two 15-year-olds are charged with shooting at people near a homeless shelter. Las Cruces police chief Jeremy Story shared a video of a teen, who has a record, firing an automatic pistol. 'I hope that we can all agree that once we get to this point, once we get to the point where a juvenile has been arrested 16 or 17 times or charged with 40 separate offenses, we failed as a society. We failed that child,' said Chief Story. Leaders held Monday's news conference in part because they want to give lawmakers plenty of time to review their legislative proposals ahead of the next session. They're advocating to extend the time someone sentenced as a juvenile can be held in jail, from 21 to 25 years old, and they want to see a new crime making it illegal to sell or give a gun to a minor. Bregman said that in the past few weeks, they've charged six juveniles with first-degree murder. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
City, county to invest $4 million in smaller substance-abuse service providers
Jul. 16—Some of the money from a massive opioid settlement should soon begin flowing to nonprofits that provide services to people with substance use disorders. The city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County plan to award $4 million in grants to build capacity in local behavioral health providers, officials said Wednesday. The initiative marks the first time the two local governments have pooled funds accumulated from the opioid settlement to pay for a joint project. Each chipped in $2 million to pay for the grant program for behavioral health providers. "The purpose of this money is really to help the smaller nonprofits to be better positioned to be sustainable," said Dr. Wayne Lindstrom, Bernalillo County deputy manager for behavioral health. New Mexico brought lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and retailers and reached settlements in 2022 and 2023 that were expected to bring up to $1 billion to the state to repair damage caused by the opioid crisis. Albuquerque and Bernalillo County are expected to receive more than $150 million as their portions of the settlements. The city so far has received about $30 million and county about $24 million, with incremental annual funding expected to continue through 2038, officials estimated Wednesday. So far, the two governments have spent a portion of the funding. In April, Albuquerque allocated $4.5 million to three Gateway Center projects — intended to alleviate drug use and homelessness. Bernalillo County has allocated about $1.2 million for a public awareness and education initiative called Keep New Mexico Alive. The joint request for proposals marks the first substantive appropriation for the county and the first joint initiative with the city of Albuquerque. The city and county last week issued a joint request for proposals inviting small-and mid-size nonprofits with an annual operating budgets of $2 million or less to submit proposals. The intent of the initiative is to "grow, train and sustain services here locally to alleviate the impact of the opioid epidemic," said Ellen Braden, Albuquerque's deputy director of special projects and innovations. "The City Council and the County Commission were real clear in their legislation that this pot of money is really intended for capacity building." Nonprofits have until Aug. 7 to submit their proposals. The process of scoring the proposals and selecting the winners could take up to 90 days, Lindstrom said. "We would hope that, by the fourth quarter of the calendar (year), this money will be out the door," Lindstrom said. The money could be used for training staff, building capacity or other uses, he said. For example, nonprofits that serve Medicaid patients but aren't set up to receive reimbursements could use the money to pursue the complex process of becoming Medicaid providers, Lindstrom said. The city has spent substantially more of the settlement money than the county. In May, Mayor Tim Keller signed legislation that allocated $4.5 million from opioid settlement money to fund three Gateway Center projects intended to alleviate drug use and homelessness in Albuquerque. The largest allocation, $2.25 million, was designated for a Medical Sobering Center to provide detoxification services for up to 50 people. That facility is expected to open later this summer. Another $1.4 million was allocated to the First Responder Receiving Area, a facility where police and other first responders can transport individuals in need of drug and mental health services outside regular hours. Another $950,000 was allocated to Gateway Recovery, a city-owned community of 46 tiny homes where individuals recovering from addiction can reside and receive treatment for a year. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bernalillo County properties see increase in value
BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – Some Bernalillo County property owners could be in for sticker shock when they get their tax bills this year. This, as the county assessor catches up on years of uncompleted property assessments. 'On average, we had about a 76% increase in the values of our commercial properties,' says the owner of Alien Sigman Real Estate Group, Lance Sigman. He is one of the many commercial property owners who have seen an increase in the value of their properties, and high values can mean higher taxes. 'There's a trickle-down effect that's not just property taxes, but all these other costs that I've mentioned, they all build up. They all multiply to then impact the small business, which in turn impacts the consumer,' says Sigman. Increases to some taxes and fees in New Mexico go into effect on July 1 These higher property values come as counties in New Mexico kick up efforts to evaluate all properties accurately. 'We're doing a better job than was previously done before,' says Bernalillo County assessor Damian Lara. He says it may seem like a dramatic change, but it's the result of their office following state law to calculate values. 'So we knew that many non-residential, particularly commercial properties had been undervalued for over 10 years,' Lara says. His office, prioritized residential assessments over commercial properties, as they dealt with years of staffing shortages. But now, with the office finally at full staff, Lara says they're catching up. Albuquerque City Councilors approve tax abatements for two redevelopments sites He says of the 20,000 commercial properties they assessed, a little less than half saw an increase in value. But NAIOP New Mexico, which represents commercial real estate owners, says some of those amounts were shocking. 'There's a lot of folks who are deeply concerned and frustrated when they get a letter that says their property has gone up 704%. That is not something that can be absorbed in a single year,' says Rhiannon Samuel, Executive Director of NAIOP New Mexico. Assessor Lara says while property valuation is one factor in determining property taxes, a value increase does not always lead to a tax increase, and there are other factors as well. 'If the state, the county, all of the municipalities, the school board, all of the other taxing authorities, they typically ask for a little bit more money each year than they did last year,' says Lara. For residential properties, there is a cap preventing property taxes from increasing more than 3% per year. Commercial properties do not have any such cap. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
