The candidates competing for the opportunity to lead district nine are incumbent city councilor Renée Grout and challenger Colton Newman. Former candidate Melani Buchanan Farmer will appear on the ballot, but has withdrawn from the race. Grout declined an interview with the Daily Lobo, citing a full schedule.
The city council election in Albuquerque’s district seven will see incumbent Tammy Fiebelkorn face write-in challenger Jaemes Shanley. The district makes up Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights, including parts of the University of New Mexico.
Incumbent councilor Dan Lewis and challenger Athenea Allen are running to represent district five of the Albuquerque City Council. The district represents the northwest side of Albuquerque, located west of the Rio Grande river. Allen could not be reached for an interview in time for publication.
The city council election in Albuquerque’s district three sees challengers Christopher Sedillo, Teresa Garcia and incumbent city councilor Klarissa Peña. Garcia could not be reached in time for publication. District three represents the southwest side of the city.
The city council election in Albuquerque’s district one presents a unique challenge: all candidates on the ballot are challengers. The race is without an incumbent, as previous councilor Louie Sanchez is running for mayor. Those vying for the district one seat — which represents the central west side of Albuquerque — are Daniel Gilber Leiva, Ahren Griego, Joshua Taylor Neal and Stephanie Telles.
Like spidery cracks along the shell of a hatching egg, wire fences and hard-hat zones criss-cross the University of New Mexico Main Campus. The crumbling of walls has become another ambient sound between Zimmerman Library and the Student Union Building, and blocked roads and pathways have become common occurrences. Students are surrounded by the signs of change. UNM Main Campus has four active construction projects: the Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology, the Humanities and Social Sciences Facility, a new UNM Police Department Headquarters and a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Track, according to UNM Facilities Design and Construction.
Albuquerque’s under-construction Rail Trail project — a seven-mile loop connecting Downtown, Old Town and the Bosque — lost $11.5 million in federal grant money. New Mexico was one of at least six states to receive a letter from President Donald Trump’s administration stating that funding for pedestrian and bike trail projects has been withdrawn, according to The Associated Press. City of Albuquerque Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Director Terry Brunner said the letter he received on Sept. 9 stated that the Rail Trail project “runs counter to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s priority of focusing on projects that promote vehicular travel.”
Around 200 graduate workers stopped traffic and rerouted shuttles while picketing at the intersection of Yale Boulevard and Las Lomas Road on Friday, Oct. 3. The picket was organized by United Graduate Workers of the University of New Mexico in conjunction with their final bargaining session that ended with graduate workers earning a 6% raise; one percentage point higher than their previous bargaining negotiation. The union also won an article that protects international workers from disclosing their immigration status information. Noah Mertz, a graduate worker and member of UGW, said that the Union’s actions have worked in creating change with University administration.
As the weeks tick down for Albuquerque citizenry to pick their mayor for the next four years, the wide field of candidates met on stage twice to let constituents hear their stances on issues including crime, homelessness, small businesses and immigration. All six candidates still in the race were present at the first forum on Tuesday, Sept. 30: Mayling Armijo, incumbent Mayor Tim Keller, City Councilor Louie Sanchez, Alex Uballez, Eddie Varela and Darren White. White did not attend the second forum due to a family emergency. Former candidate Daniel Chavez, whose name will appear on the ballot, dropped out of the race and did not participate in the forums.
At the start of the fall semester, the University of New Mexico’s Parking and Transportation Services implemented a free bike valet program, encouraging students and staff to make a greener commute to campus, while deterring the frequent amount of bike theft that occurs on campus. There are 128 slots available for UNM staff and students to keep their bike or other mode of transportation safely secured and monitored at the bike valet. The bike valet is located across from the Student Health and Counseling Center, in between the Student Union Building and the northeast corner of Popejoy Hall.
On Sept. 9, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released their 2026 College Free Speech Rankings report, which ranks the University of New Mexico at 139 out of 257 universities. This ranking is up from last year, when UNM was ranked 219 out of 251. This year, UNM received an overall score of 57.0 out of 100, and an “F” grade for free speech climate. Both scores are based on student surveys, campus policies and speech-related controversies, according to the FIRE website. FIRE was founded in 1998 by University of Pennsylvania history professor Alan Charles Kors and civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate to advocate for the rights of college students and faculty on matters of freedom of speech and expression, according to the FIRE website.
A decade-long wait is finally over, as the University of New Mexico Hospital Critical Care Tower is set to begin receiving patients on Sunday, Oct. 5. University and Hospital leadership alongside state and federal authorities gathered on Friday, Sept. 26 for a celebration and official ribbon cutting ceremony. The 570,000-square-foot tower features a 68 bed expansion to the Adult Emergency Department, 96 new intensive care beds, a surgical suite with 18 operating rooms and a second helipad. UNM Hospital is the state’s largest teaching hospital and only level I trauma center. The fourth floor of the Critical Care Tower is inaccessible to patients and visitors and will serve as a multi-use space with private rooms, lockers and eating lounges; but much of the space will also be dedicated to meeting rooms for educational purposes.
While most of the space is still in boxes with maps and informational flyers strewn about, there will soon be a new Public Lands Interpretive Association Discovery Center opening its doors in Old Town Albuquerque. PLIA is a non-profit that supports public lands throughout the Southwest and partners with federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Its mission is to make sure that people have the resources, tools and information they need to explore public lands, Aryn LaBrake, PLIA’s executive director, said. The organization helps staff BLM and Forest Service sites and visitor centers. PLIA also provides, sells, and creates maps of public lands, memorabilia and educational publications, on topics such as hunting, camping, hiking and rockhounding.
On Thursday, Sept. 18, a press conference was held in front of the Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse in light of the expired one-year deadline set by the United Nations General Assembly to enforce the International Court of Justice advisory opinion that declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal. During the press conference, New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Bernalillo) and emergency physician Clayton Dalton, who worked at a Gaza hospital in January, condemned Israel’s military actions. The press conference was sponsored by the Southwest Coalition for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace Albuquerque and the New Mexico Alliance for Justice in Palestine.
After serving as president of the University of New Mexico for eight years, Garnett Stokes will be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 school year. She announced her retirement in an email to the campus community on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Stokes is the 23rd president of UNM since the University’s founding in 1889. She is the first female president of the University in its 136-year history. Stokes assumed the role on March 1, 2018, after previously serving as provost, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and Interim Chancellor at the University of Missouri along with positions as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and interim president at Florida State University.
Albuquerque Mayoral candidate Alex Uballez conversed with passing students who approached him with questions and campaigning on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the University of New Mexico Student Union Building. Uballez told the Daily Lobo he was spending time talking to people on campus because he feels elections are losing voters to cynicism. “When people don’t believe that their vote counts, when people don’t get engaged in their local politics or their national politics, when people don’t believe their government serves them,” Uballez said.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, students and community members gathered on the grass of the University of New Mexico Duck Pond during a memorial for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Participants, including students from the UNM chapter of Turning Point USA, left flowers, candles and photos of Kirk at an altar and delivered speeches to commemorate him. Turning Point USA, a nationwide right-wing political organization with many college chapters, was founded by Kirk in 2012. The event Kirk hosted at UVU was part of the “American Comeback Tour,” organized by TPUSA and headlined by Kirk.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced in a press release, on Sept. 2, a partnership between the state of New Mexico and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to accelerate the development, testing and validation of emerging quantum computing technologies. With the partnership comes the establishment of the Quantum Frontiers Project, which will bring New Mexican private-sector innovators, national laboratories and universities to expand upon quantum computing research, according to the press release. In an interview with the Daily Lobo, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said that the state is putting “skin in the game.” “Usually cities chase a growing industry. That’s what we do in economic development. We’ll be like ‘Oh, renewable energies, we should try to build a work force for that,’” Keller said. “Quantum computing offers a rare opportunity that you almost never see, which is the chance to lead in something that is the source of a bunch of other industries.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, over 100 University of New Mexico graduate workers, including United Graduate Workers of UNM union members, held a work-in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., as part of a demonstration to present their bargaining priorities, including higher wages, protection for international workers and dental and vision benefits. Workers and students conducted their routine research and coursework in the hallway outside the office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs in Scholes Hall. Some graduate workers held their class office hours seated on the hallway floor and went over assignments with undergraduate students who came to ask questions. A group of UGW members also met with UNM Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Rodriguez to speak about their priorities.
It has been five years since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told New Mexico schools to close for three weeks, which then became 13 months of isolation, forcing students and teachers to move online and participate in school solely through online tools. Jill Holtz, a behavioral health psychologist, said that paranoia about contamination and health was very common at the start of quarantine. Losing loved ones, having limited freedom at home, and moving to online school, altogether, caused great stress for many of the adolescents she worked with at the time, she said.
Solutions by The State News
