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Walmart Shuts Down All Gun Sales in New Mexico After State Expands Background Check Requirements

Big box retailer Walmart will no longer sell firearms in its New Mexico stores after a universal background check measure went into effect in the state on Monday, requiring federally registered firearms sellers to facilitate gun sales between private parties.

Instead, the company opted to drop the federal licenses for its New Mexico locations altogether, preventing Walmart from selling guns within state lines.

The New Mexico law, enacted in March after Democrats captured the reins of statewide government for the first time in eight years, expanded background check requirements for firearms sales to include transactions between private parties, a level of scrutiny that federal law does not require.

To facilitate these sales, the new law mandates that federally licensed gun sellers such as Walmart, who are already required to conduct background checks by querying the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), assist private sellers by conducting background checks on their behalf.

"As a general merchandise retailer and grocer, Walmart is not currently designed to conduct background checks for private-party transfers under New Mexico’s new firearms law," Walmart’s director of communications Tiffany Wilson told Newsweek in a written statement. "The company has decided to surrender its [licenses] and no longer sell firearms in our New Mexico stores."

Wilson cited fears that the law would require Walmart employees "to handle and potentially store handguns and modern sporting rifles," which she said were firearms that the retailer "does not sell" and that employees are "not trained to handle."

Walmart has decided to halt gun sales in the State of New Mexico after the passage of a universal background check bill.

When Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill in March, her office hailed the measure as a way to improve public safety.

"Background checks reduce the rate of women killed by an intimate partner; background checks reduce suicide rates; background checks reduce the rate of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty; background checks, very simply, keep firearms and individuals with demonstrated dangerous histories separate," Grisham said in a press release at the time. "The work we do to make our communities safer is never complete, but this legislation represents a tremendous step forward. I thank the tireless advocates and legislative sponsors who worked so hard to see this day, and I thank the law enforcement officers who have acknowledged this legislation as a useful and productive change."

While universal background checks increase the regulatory burden for those who are prohibited from owning firearms, the effectiveness of expanding checks alone has been called into question.

In June, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research released a study which found that, by themselves, universal background check requirements did "not decrease lethal gun violence." The report concluded that the only effective way to screen prospective gun owners was to establish a licensing program, which could be implemented in conjunction with expanded background checks.

According to the study, after Connecticut required gun owners to first obtain a license from the state in 1995, a 40-percent drop in gun homicides and a 15-percent drop in gun suicides were attributed to the new rules.

The New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association staunchly opposed the background check bill before its passage. In a cache of e-mails obtained by the gun-violence prevention group Brady that was seen by Newsweek, Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace wrote in a message that was distributed to dozens of county sheriff’s offices: "Our only chance is for EVERY Senator to be flooded with emails and phone calls opposing Senate Bill 8 or their universal background will be NM law. Call and write now. SPREAD THE WORD NOW."

The New Mexico Governor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

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Orange signs promote city’s homeless housing initiative

Video

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – The mayor’s office is working toward tackling Albuquerque’s homeless problem with housing vouchers and wants to get that message across by posting signs throughout the city.

Bright orange signs to be posted near the interstates and at busy intersections encourage people to donate to the city’s housing voucher program.

"It’s basically help with paying the rent," Housing and Homeless Deputy Director Lisa Huval explained. "Some is short-term, some is longer term, plus case management services…Our hope is that folks choose to invest in the One Albuquerque Housing Fund versus giving to panhandlers at intersections."

The orange signs replace the campaign from the Mayor Richard J. Berry administration, which had people call 311 to donate to local service agencies instead of giving money directly to panhandlers. That program raised $30,000 in just under three years.

"We just prefer the One Albuqueruqe Housing Fund because we feel it’s a little bit more of a targeted approach," Huval said.

In just over six months, Mayor Tim Keller’s campaign has raised $9,000, soon to be distributed to the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico, Huval added.

"I’ve been off and on homeless for the last…better part of the last decade," said Jay Geirisch, who stated he would look into the program to find housing so that he can work toward locking down a stable job.

"It would help me, it would be the number one thing that would help me," he added.

However, local homeless shelter Joy Junction CEO Elma Reynolds believes people should seek out treatment or case management services before getting set up with housing, if needed, to help keep them from falling back into homelessness.

"Most of the homeless in the street are dealing with drugs and alcohol and it’s just like giving them a home, it will just make it worse because they have their own privacy to do what they want," Reynolds said. "Put them in a program and deal with whatever problem they are dealing with so they will be responsible when they have their own place."

The two orange signs near Rio Grande and I-40 are among the first of 27 to go up. They cost about $10,000 in total and that comes from the Department of Municipal Development’s budget.

The housing voucher program accepts any size donation to cover the costs of move-in supplies, up to a year of rental assistance, and case management support.

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New Mexico unemployment rate declines in April from March

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined in April, dipping to 5% from 5.1% in March.

The unemployment rate in April 2018 was 4.9%, and the state Department of Workforce Solutions reports that total nonagricultural payroll employment grew by 13,000 jobs, or 1.5%, between April 2018 and April 2019.

The department says the growth in the private sector accounted for all of the year-over-year employment increase as the public sector lost 800 jobs.

In the private sector, goods-producing industries added 5,800 jobs and service-providing industries were up by 8,000 jobs.

Mining and construction reported the largest employment increase with a gain of 5,500 jobs, or 7.7%.

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California man reunited with dog lost in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– A California man has been reunited with his best four-legged friend, Shane, after nearly four months of being apart.

Gary Duvall is the owner of the Chihuahua mix. As we waited for his dog inside Wild Pet Food Plus on Menaul, he said Shane was lost during a trip from California to Arkansas.

When they were loading up the car in Albuquerque, Shane’s leash was hanging from out the back door, pulling Shane to the door. Duvall stopped the car and checked on it. When he opened the door, Shane ran out and headed towards the bushes.

Duvall said he and his family looked for Shane but had to continue their trip without him.

"My wife has severe anxiety and she’s an epileptic, so he’s kind of a very…a comfort animal for her," said Duvall, now holding Shane in his arms.

Duvall kept looking for Shane and found a picture of him on Petfinder.com. Turns out, Shane was found wandering in Los Lunas by Valencia County Animal Control.

"He had a dislocated leg and a broken leg. Broken pelvis, so he was pretty injured," said Lap Dog Rescue of New Mexico President, Brian Spence.

Because of his injuries, Spence said Shane faced being euthanized but Lap Dog Rescue took him in.

Spence said he is happy Shane is back with his family, but he could’ve been found sooner had he been microchipped.

Microchips usually cost less than $50 and last a lifetime. But Spence said owners need to registers the chip with the manufacturer and update information if their address changes.

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How to Find Albuquerque Apartments Online

Are you searching for the best Albuquerque apartments online? It is easy to find the right apartment on the internet, but you must know where to look. If you want to find the right apartment online, check out online real estate listings, websites of the best real estate agents and companies in Albuquerque, and online forums.

Once you have found several apartments online, do not rent or buy them. Visit these apartments, especially if you want to learn more about these apartments.

People who rent apartments without visiting them make mistakes. They end up hating their apartments. They look for another apartment after a few months.

The following are the best ways on how to find the best Albuquerque apartments.

Online Real Estate Listings

Start with online real estate listings. They usually have a list of different apartments in different parts of the country. Landlords, property managers, real estate agents and companies use these websites to promote their vacant apartments.

How do you find these listings?

Search them on your favorite Search Engine. Visit websites that have these listings. Go through different online real estate listings if you want to find the best apartments.

Write down the names of the best apartments in Albuquerque. Contact the owners to find out if the apartments are still available. Visit apartments that are vacant.

Online Forums

There are several online real estate forums. These forums are great, especially if you are a new real estate investor. There are experienced real estate investors in these forums. They share their experience and they help new real estate investors.

Join several forums. There are some forum posts that talk about real estate investing in Albuquerque. Read these posts. You are looking for the best apartments, so you must be willing to go through all the posts in these forums.

If you cannot find the best apartments in these forums, ask the members of these forums if they know good apartments in Albuquerque.

Some of the members of these forums live in Albuquerque. They may know the best apartments. If they know, they will reply to your questions. And they will tell you the best apartments. They might even tell you the best real estate companies that have the best apartments in this place.

Blogs and Websites

There are so many real estate websites and blogs. Real estate agents usually have their own blogs and websites that they use to promote real estate properties. They create a blog because it helps them get new clients. Their blogs are informative and they rank in the Search Engines.

Visit these blogs. Read their blog posts. Check if they have a list of apartments in Albuquerque. If they do not, contact them. Most of the blog owners have a huge connection. So, they can recommend the best apartments in Albuquerque.

You now know how to find the best Albuquerque apartments online. Do your own research if you want to select the right apartment. Want to be happy in your apartment? Rent an affordable apartment. And make sure that the apartment is conveniently located.

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Travel blog calls Albuquerque a ‘coffee mecca’

If the aroma doesn’t sweep you off your feet, the sounds, and intricate techniques that go into one cup of coffee surely will.

"I think it smells and feels like New Mexico," said Madison Rumbaugh, the business development manager for New Mexico Pinon Coffee.

For more than 20 years, New Mexico Pinon Coffee has cultivated a coffee connoisseur culture.

"Coffee in Albuquerque really has a long history, you know, and it’s definitely has a moment right now where you saw the breweries start to build up steam a few years back, coffee is really starting to do that here," Rumbaugh said.

Recognized in a travel blog as a new coffee mecca, the Albuquerque local coffee industry is booming with more people enjoying a home-grown taste and more roasters capitalizing on a refined flavor, Rumbaugh said. From Humble Coffee, Red Rock Roasters, Java Joes, and Satellite Coffee, take your pick.

"It’s a great way to get people who are more familiar with going to chains and stuff to get to experience locally roasted coffee and the difference it makes and tastes," said Avery Edwards with Satellite Coffee.

Rumbaugh said there’s a reason.

"The millennials or Gen Zs care about where their products come from in general and what they’re putting in their bodies. They really like to support local," she said.

In addition to the coffee boom bringing more business, jobs and opportunity to the metro, local coffee shops are giving back.

"Just recently we were able to do a nice donation to a lot of teachers in the area," Edwards said.

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Hometown honors Southwest Airlines pilot from New Mexico

TULAROSA, N.M. (KRQE) – The Tularosa native who landed last month’s Southwest Airlines flight following an engine explosion got a big honor Tuesday from her hometown.

"Tammie Jo displayed nerves of steel as she made an emergency landing where she safely landed the plane carrying 144 passengers. Now, therefore, I, Margaret Trujillo, Mayor of the Village of Tularosa, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, May 15, 2018, Tammie Jo Shults Day."

Pilot Tammie Jo Shults graduated from Tularosa High in 1979. Back then, she was Tammie Jo Bonnell.

On board that Southwest flight, was Jennifer Riordan from Albuquerque, who was killed when her window blew out. Other passengers credit Shults’ skills as a pilot and quick thinking in saving everyone else on board.

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Anonymous Owner, LLC: Why it has become so easy to hide in the housing market – Albuquerque Business First

Editor’s note : This story is available as a result of a content partnership with The New York Times. Subscribers will see stories like this every day on our website (and in our daily emails) as an added value to your subscription.

When Sean Hannity, the popular Fox News host, was revealed this month to be a property owner and landlord of considerable scale, it highlighted how opaque the housing market has become.

Owning real estate in limited liability companies, as The Guardian reported that Hannity does, is a perfectly legal and increasingly popular practice. But the whiff of secrecy — and the umbrage Hannity has taken after the secret got out — speaks to the growing role of LLCs in the nation’s housing market.

LLCs shield property owners from personal liability while obscuring their identities. In some cases, so much anonymity also enables money laundering, and it can mean that tenants struggle to hold landlords accountable, that cities fail to fix blight and that researchers can’t answer basic questions about the housing market.

As much as people may want to keep their financial dealings private, the housing market has long been an unusually transparent place.

“We basically have a property system where you’re supposed to be able to look up who owns what property,” said Dan Immergluck, a professor at Georgia State University. “Our English system of property recording doesn’t really give you that privacy. People can look up what my property taxes are any time they want.”

LLCs have eroded that expectation. There is little good national data tracking the rise of LLCs But in 2015, according to the Rental Housing Finance Survey from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 15 percent of all rental properties were owned by LLCs, limited liability partnerships or limited partnerships. That represented one-third of all rental units, and that can include single-family houses or apartment buildings.

Put another way: 92 percent of rental properties in the United States back in 1991 were held by individual owners whose names tenants could easily know. By 2015, that number had fallen to 74 percent, driven largely by the growth of LLCs, although the market today includes other kinds of institutional investors as well.

In the single-family market, which includes investors who built rental empires after the housing crash and others who’ve used empty properties to store wealth, about 9 percent of home sales last year were to LLCs, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data company. That’s twice the share a decade ago. The rent-to-own company Vision Property Management, for example, has bought homes across 24 states through nearly two dozen LLCs.

In his own research, Immergluck tried to identify the largest buyers of foreclosed properties in the Atlanta area. But because one unidentified buyer could be behind many LLCs, it’s hard to know who is acquiring the most property, or which property owners are behind the most code violations or the most evictions.

That makes it impossible for city officials to aim scarce resources at the most problematic owners. And it makes it hard for researchers to know, for example, if property has become concentrated among fewer owners.

Because the stakes are so high and the spillovers significant, there has always been a public element to private property, said Susan Pace Hamill, a law professor at the University of Alabama who has written about LLCs since the late 1980s.

“Should tenants have a right to know who they’re renting from?” she said. “Should cities have a right to know who owns the property? The answer is a resounding yes.”

LLCs today hide what should be public information, she argues.

“I am quite disturbed by that,” she said. “Having participated in the evolution of LLCs from their early days, I feel like they’re being abused.”

Wyoming passed the first LLC statute in 1977 at the prodding of oil and gas interests, creating an entity with the liability protections of a corporation without the tax responsibilities of one. Hardly anyone took advantage of the tool, and few states followed until the IRS blessed LLCs a decade later. They then quickly became the entity of choice for all kinds of businesses, and by the mid-1990s, all 50 states had LLC laws.

In Milwaukee, according to research by a Harvard doctoral student, Adam Travis, LLCs have grown to about a quarter of the rental market in the two decades since they became legal in the state.

The original idea was never specifically about real estate, and anonymity wasn’t particularly the appeal. But over time, Hamill said, state laws have made it easier to conceal who’s behind LLCs. So they have simultaneously grown more common and less transparent.

LLCs are required to list a registered agent who can receive legal and government notifications, but they’re often not required to name the people who financially benefit from the investments.

The downsides of all of this have become clear, at both high and low ends of the market. In expensive cities like New York and Miami, LLCs have helped foreign investors launder money through luxury condo purchases. In poorer cities like Memphis and Milwaukee, they have enabled investors to walk away from vacant properties and tax bills.

For renters, or tenants mired in rent-to-own contracts, these entities mean they often don’t know whom they’re dealing with — or who’s evicting them.

These consequences worry even real estate lawyers who advise their clients to use LLCs.

“The lawyer in me that represents clients says ‘privacy, secrecy, keep my people out of the papers,’” said William Callison, a lawyer in Denver who specializes in LLC and affordable housing law. “The policy guy in me says, ‘Well, wait a second.’”

Why? “Because good things happen in the light,” he said, “and bad things happen in the dark.”

In Memphis, parcel surveys of the city have revealed that a majority of the most blighted properties belong to LLCs. Many have effectively gone out of business without selling the homes, leaving their ownership in limbo. When the city has tried to hold some responsible, there is no one to contact — the duties of those listed as registered agents having expired along with the companies.

“The liability protections we’re talking about are liability protections from external forces,” said Steve Barlow, a Memphis lawyer who directs Neighborhood Preservation, Inc., a group trying to fight blight there. LLCs are supposed to personally shield owners from, say, a tenant who breaks an ankle on the property. “It shouldn’t be a protection from you, yourself abandoning it,” he said.

There should be a way, he and Hamill believe, to keep the liability and tax benefits of LLCs without all the secrecy. Unless or until there is, cities like Memphis are left with properties no one wants to buy and frustration from the public.

"I hear that in community meetings all the time: ‘What’s being done with this property? Why can’t you guys do something with it?’” said Robert Knecht, director of public works in Memphis. “You have to explain to them our job is to get the owner to court.”

But it is no easy thing to get a faceless company to court.

© The New York Times [2018]. All Rights Reserved NYT and New York Times are trademarks of The New York Times. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.

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Reduction of sports on the table at University of New Mexico

University of New Mexico regents have voted in favor of a budget proposal that includes a reduction in sports and other measures as the athletic department looks to get its finances under control.

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Housing Developers See New Opportunities With Old Motels

Legend has it in the mid-1970s two young computer programmers, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, stayed at a New Mexico motel where they came up with a little-known computer program called Microsoft that would later change the world.

The two men would move out and eventually become multibillionaires, but The Sundowner Motel along Albuquerque’s Historic Route 66 fell into disrepair. In the coming decades, the motel attracted vagrants, crime and prostitution until another visionary turned the property around.

In 2014, New Life Homes CEO John Bloomfield turned the dilapidated 110-room motel into a 71-unit mixed-use affordable housing development with 3,400 SF of commercial space.

“When we came in, it was a big mess,” Bloomfield said. “Now, it’s one of our success stories.”

The Sundowner is one of many motels nationwide that has been converted into affordable housing over the years, and the trend is gaining momentum.

In Orange County, Newport Beach-based affordable housing builder Community Development Partners recently opened The Orchard, a 72-unit development for chronic homeless individuals in Santa Ana.

Other cities nationwide are continuing to either look into converting or creating pilot programs to test the water. Lake Tahoe is converting a motel into workforce housing; Salt Lake City wants to tear down a motel for affordable housing; and in Orlando, a developer is buying up old motels and converting them into affordable workforce housing.

As the homeless population grows nationwide and the housing affordability gap continues to widen, especially in large metros, cities across the country are grappling with how to provide shelter for homeless and lower-income residents.

A 2017 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported the U.S. has a shortage of 7.4 million affordable and available rental homes for extreme-low-income renter households. These households, known as ELI households, have income at or below the national poverty guidelines or 30% of the area’s median family income. For example in high-cost Orange County, a family of four with a combined annual income of $84,450 or less qualifies as low-income.

With housing labor and land costs skyrocketing, new ground-up affordable housing projects are harder to come by, experts say.

A mural on the exterior of The Orchard, Santa Ana’s largest permanent supportive housing project

This is where the conversion of motels could help with the nationwide affordable housing crisis, Atlas Hospitality President Alan Reay said.

Once a staple of American lodging, many roadside motels have become aged, dilapidated and have been supplanted by other forms of lodging such as three-star hotels, Airbnb or some other form of short-term rentals.

From its peak in 1964 to 2012, the number of operating motels nationwide fell 73% from 61,000 to 16,000, according to the Smithsonian. That number continues to decline.

Reay said some motels can be easily converted to affordable housing units because the infrastructure is already in place. However, in the past, when affordable housing developers approached him about buying motels or hotels and converting them into affordable housing, his company was reluctant to engage in that type of business.

“You have to go in and change the zoning and the cities were reluctant to allow it because they would lose transient occupancy tax,” Reay said. “But because of all the stories that we are reading tied into low-income wages and not enough wages, affordability and the homeless situation … we are now seeing cities are a lot more receptive of this."

Over the past several years, the city of Anaheim has been purchasing old rundown industrial warehouses and motels and partnering with nonprofits and developers to build affordable housing.

Anaheim has one of the largest homeless populations in Orange County. City staff has said previously that more than 25,000 people are on a six- to eight-year waitlist for Section 8 affordable housing. The city stopped issuing vouchers in 2017.

In 2016, the city opened Rockwood Apartments, a former warehouse, and developed it into a 70-unit affordable housing apartment building for homeless families and for people living with disabilities and mental illness.

The following year, the city spent $3.5M to purchase the Sandman Motel — described by staff as a troubled motel with a history of police service calls — to build affordable housing for seniors.

“Some motels have outlived [their] use and turning them into affordable housing is a good solution,” Anaheim city spokesman Mike Lyster said.

Lyster said the city is planning to build 12 affordable housing communities in the coming years.

In Los Angeles, motel conversion is a hot topic. The city in 2016 approved a deal to allow nonprofits and developers to convert problem motels into supportive housing for homeless veterans. The city is now looking into creating an ordinance to convert more motels into affordable housing.

‘This Isn’t For The Faint-Hearted’

"It’s a viable model that works," said Community Development Partners President Kyle Paine, whose company with help from the city of Santa Ana and nonprofit Mercy House converted an old motel into The Orchard, a permanent supportive housing project for the homeless. "It can be operationally functional and could help build a sustainable community.

"The impact is plentiful," he said. "You’re cleaning up the property and helping the community. This will have a positive impact and reduce the homeless population."

There are plenty of obstacles developers face when trying to convert a motel. First, motel owners are sometimes reluctant to give up a profitable and at times all-cash business.

Second, cities have to change local zoning to adapt to the conversion, Reay said.

Third, neighborhood associations — fearing a decrease in property values and an increase in crime — complain to the city about having an affordable housing project next to their neighborhood.

The biggest challenges are financing and time, said Bloomfield, the New Mexico affordable housing developer. It could take years to line up multiple grants, financing, tax credits and city approvals, assess the quality of the motel and receive an environmental impact report, he said.

"This isn’t for the faint-hearted," Bloomfield said. "You have to be comfortable with risk and persevere. You can’t do this if you want to make a quick buck."

But the human payoff at the end is worth it, Bloomfield said.

In New Mexico, Bloomfield builds affordable housing for the neediest segment — those with special needs, the mentally ill and the homeless. His projects have won national awards. He repurposed a historic motel site, Luna Lodge, and transformed it into an award-winning affordable housing solution.

"A lot of these people have nowhere to go or even family," he said. "Most tenants stay and die here and we’ll have a service for them on [the] property."

Reay, the hospitality expert, said the biggest challenge is facing the neighborhood opposition.

"I think as a resident, do I want to live next to a motel that brings in transients or people who do criminal activities or residents who are basically working and doing everything they can to get out of their situation?" he said.

Bloomfield said he makes it a point to hold as many community events and outreach sessions so residents understand the project.

"We need to dispel the myth that affordable housing is a blight and reduces property values or brings in crime," Bloomfield said. "Affordable housing is good for the neighborhood. These are quality developments."

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Albuquerque woman named New Mexico Mother of the Year

American Mothers Inc. has selected Michelle Schroff for the prestigious award.

She is the founder of two non-profit organizations that help children and young adults.

Over the past three years, Schroff has mentored more than 150 young women who are victims of abuse.

She also has ten children, six of them are adopted.

Schroff will be honored in Washington D.C. next month where the National Mother of the Year will be named.

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Albuquerque Lawmakers Considering Marijuana Decriminalization

“New Mexico is sort of behind the curve when it comes to marijuana reform,” admitted the director of the state’s Drug Policy Alliance, Emily Kaltenbach in a recent interview. “It’s been needed for many years,” she said. But burgeoning public support and a mayor’s office controlled by a Democrat seem to be nudging the needle forward. On Monday, Albuquerque lawmakers considering marijuana decriminalization announced their proposal to amend the city’s criminal code. But skeptics doubt whether the proposal will really decrease demands on law enforcement as proponents claim.

Albuquerque Lawmakers Considering Marijuana Decriminalization

On Monday, city councilors Pat Davis and Isaac Benton introduced their proposal to change the way the Albuquerque handles minor cannabis possession violations. The proposed changes would replace punitive criminal convictions for marijuana possession with civil infractions.

Under the current criminal code, possession of up to an ounce of cannabis or of “paraphernalia” would strap a first-time offender with a $50 fine and a maximum of 15 days in jail, leaving the punishment largely up to the arresting officer. Fines and jail time for repeat offenders increases, up to 90 days.

The conviction also goes on the offender’s criminal record. As a result, a single arrest can hurt a person’s chances of getting housing or student loans for college. Marijuana convictions can even threaten a person’s chance of adopting a child, a consequence only in New Mexico and a handful of other states.

The proposal submitted Monday, however, would reduce penalties for possession to a $25 ticket with no prospect of jail time. In other words, possession of paraphernalia and/or up to an ounce of marijuana would result in a simple civil infraction. And nothing would go on a person’s record.

The last time a similar proposal came out of the Albuquerque city council was in 2015. The measure passed the council on a 5-4 vote, but Republican Mayor Richard Berry ultimately vetoed it. The city of Santa Fe had better luck in 2014 when it decriminalized small quantities of cannabis.

Councilmen Davis and Benton still need to bring their proposal to a vote in the council, and mayor Tim Keller, a Democrat, has to sign it if it passes. The proposed measure has support from the Albuquerque police union, according to the AP.

Albuquerque Officials Say There’s No Problem With Cannabis Crime

There are many arguments in favor of decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of cannabis. But the argument Davis and Benton are making, that their proposal will free up resources and time for law enforcement, is under fire from Republican state lawmakers.

Rep. Monica Youngblood, a Republican from Albuquerque, opposes decriminalization on the grounds that the state has more pressing concerns.

“I don’t see that people are being arrested or rearrested or that the justice system is being packed with all of these low-level possession crimes,” she said.

Albuquerque police data shows that a recent 12-month period saw 177 instances of marijuana possession offenses. These arrests and citations consume hours of police time, argued Davis, a former cop himself.

In addition to Democratic lawmakers and the city’s police union, the people of Albuquerque are in favor of decriminalization. More than 50 percent of voters in all nine city districts voted to decriminalize possession up to an ounce.

Albuquerque lawmakers considering marijuana decriminalization will have to consider this broad coalition of support when they vote on the new proposal.

Georgia Seeks To Reduce Penalties For Marijuana

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Property Details for 2801 New Mexico Ave NW Ph 1

2801 New Mexico Ave Nw Ph 1, Washington, DC 20007 2801 New Mexico Ave Nw Ph 1, Washington, DC 20007

2801 New Mexico Ave Nw Ph 1, Washington, DC 20007 is a condo/townhome/row home/co-op for sale, and has been listed on the market for 4 days. 2801 New Mexico Ave NW Ph 1 is in the Cathedral – Wesley Heights – McLean Gardens neighborhood, which has a median listing price of $1,095,000. The median listing price for Cathedral – Wesley Heights – McLean Gardens is 22% greater than Washington at $569,508, and 22% greater than DC at $569,508. Nearby neighborhoods like have a median listing price of $699,949. The schools near 2801 New Mexico Ave NW Ph 1 include Stoddert Elementary School, Hardy Middle School, and Wilson High School, which are all in the SchoolDistrictName: District Of Columbia Public Schools. There are similar and nearby condo/townhome/row home/co-ops for sale include 2704 Dumbarton St NW, 3251 Prospect St NW Apt 412, and 4431 Volta Pl NW.

‘Basic Listing Information: 2801 New Mexico Ave NW Ph 1 is more than just a Washington, DC address. It is a home with 3 beds, 3 baths, and 1,892 square feet. At $$1,095,000 it is a Washington property for sale.’

Make your life easier when you search for properties with realtor.com® by registering so that you can save your searches and go back to them whenever you’re ready. When you’re registered, you can also make sure that you are notified when there is a change to one of your listings or a new listing relevant to you is added. In addition, you can take advantage of the resources on the site like the Learning Center, or find a REALTOR® in your area that can help you.

Is 2801 New Mexico Ave NW Ph 1 the right property for you? It might be, but if it’s not, let realtor.com® help you find the one that is. With experienced REALTORS®, great property listings that cover everything from square footage to local schools information, you’re likely to find the property that you’re looking for fast and without a hassle.

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Realtors celebrate 50th anniversary of Fair Housing Act

Community snapshot: Las Cruces’ Connie Hettinga joined members of the Realtors Association of New Mexico and five other New Mexico housing groups at the Roundhouse in January to kick off a year-long celebration of the Fair Housing Act, signed into law on April 11, 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson. The act prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin. In 1974, the Fair Housing Act was amended to prohibit discrimination based on sex. Hettinga, president of RANM, said that real estate professionals initially fought passage of the Fair Housing Act, but have now come to understand and support the legislation. Hettinga said RANM will keep attention focused on the Fair Housing Act throughout 2018 — especially In April (Fair Housing Month) and in September at the New Mexico Housing Summit. To submit an item for community snapshot, email photo and information to news@lcsun-news.com.

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Albuquerque 5th Grader Shares THC-Laced Gummies With Classmates

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — A 9-year-old student at a college prep charter school in Albuquerque brought her grandfather’s gummies to school and shared the candies with several other kids But when one fell ill and others started acting "giggly," the school took a closer look at the candies and discovered they were loaded with THC, a psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, a local news outlet reported.

A fifth grader at the Albuquerque School of Excellence brought the gummies from home earlier this month, Kristi Del Curto, dean of elementary students, told the the Albuquerque Journal. She had to go to the nurses office when she started feeling sick and dizzy in class. When asked what she’d eaten, she told the nurse about the gummies.

Educators pulled the box out of the trash and knew right away they weren’t candies, Del Curto told the newspaper. She said they were actually edible medical marijuana gummies.

Five students were called to the office, some of whom were "giggly," she said.

Parents and paramedics were called, along with the state Children, Youth and Families Department, and local police. The children were sent home. None suffered any long-term effects.

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The Pros And Cons Of Living In New Mexico

Every state in the country has its ups and downs. It is important to understand these when you are looking for a solid place to live. If you are curious about what it is like to live in New Mexico, the following information will be very helpful.

Pro – This is a great place to live if you are someone who is very outdoorsy. There are so many parks and trails in the area that can be used for hiking, biking and anything else your heart desires. There is even skiing available if you are not opposed to driving north to get to the slopes.

Con- The weather there is very humid. When it comes to heat, the dry variety that is common in this area is too much for many people. If you are looking for a cooler, crisper climate, this is definitely not a place that should be on your list of possibilities.

Pro – There is some really good food in the area. Whether you are looking for excellent bar food, great diners or authentic Mexican, you can expect to find them here. People who are fans of solid cooking will have a place here.

Cons – The job market there is not always very bustling. For this reason, people who are young and looking to climb corporate ladders may be disappointed by the jobs that are available to them. This place is more fitting for those who are retired or settled in a steady career that does not require upward mobility.

As you can tell, there are good and bad things about living in New Mexico. Think about all of these points when you are trying to decide whether or not to make this place your new home.

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Al Hurricane, Influential New Mexico Balladeer, Dies at 81

Al Hurricane in 2016. He was called “the Godfather” of New Mexico music and performed at times with his younger brothers.

ALBUQUERQUE — Al Hurricane, an eye-patch-wearing balladeer who forged a pioneering musical style by playfully blending New Mexico folk music with the rhythms of rock, jazz and country, died on Sunday at his home here. He was 81.

His granddaughter Samantha Sánchez said the cause was complications of prostate cancer.

Mr. Hurricane, who was born Alberto Nelson Sánchez, was widely known as the “godfather” of the New Mexico musical styles he helped develop, performing at times with his younger brothers, the musicians Tiny Morrie (Amador Sánchez) and Baby Gaby (Gabriel Sánchez).

In the 1970s and ’80s, a period when Hispanic cultural figures were rising to prominence in New Mexico and other parts of the Southwest, Mr. Hurricane gained fame singing in both Spanish and English, and often in Spanglish, as the Sánchez clan’s most eminent sibling.

As a traveling musician, he performed in nightclubs, at municipal fiestas, in concert halls and on television shows, like the nationally syndicated “Val de la O Show,” produced in Albuquerque.

His original songs included “(El Corrido de) La Prisión de Santa Fe,” about one of the nation’s deadliest prison riots, in which 33 inmates were killed over 36 hours on Feb. 2, 1980, at the now-shuttered Penitentiary of New Mexico.

Mr. Hurricane nurtured longstanding ties with Latin American musical traditions. He put his own twist on genres like the corrido, the borderland ballad of four-line stanzas, and the cumbia, which is thought to have originated on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

He was born on July 10, 1936, in the village of Dixon in northern New Mexico, the eldest of four children of parents who moved around New Mexico, the family in tow, in search of opportunity.

His father, José, was a miner who took the family to the town of Silver City; his mother, Bennie, worked as a department store clerk, seamstress, photographer’s assistant and nurse before focusing on promoting the musical talents of her children.

Mr. Hurricane said he had gotten his stage name when he was a child, an affectionate reference to his habit of running around and knocking things over.

His family moved to Albuquerque when he was 9, and he graduated from Albuquerque High School. He became a troubadour as a teenager, performing at restaurants in Old Town.

While on his way to perform in Denver in 1969, the vehicle he was traveling in flipped over five times. He was thrown out of a window, and a shard of glass embedded in his right eye. With the loss of the eye he took to wearing an eye patch.

He continued to tour and recorded dozens of albums. When not on the road, he often headlined shows at the Far West, the Sánchez family’s own nightclub in Albuquerque.

In 1986 his 2-year-old daughter, Lynnea, died from internal bleeding, and his estranged wife, Angela Sanchez, and her boyfriend, Ruben Lopez, were found guilty of child abuse and sentenced to several years in prison.

Afterward Mr. Hurricane suffered a heart attack, which he attributed, in an interview with the newspaper The New Mexican in 1998, to the stress of losing his daughter.

His marriage to Ms. Sánchez ended in divorce, as did his previous marriage, to Nettie Fleming. In addition to his granddaughter Samantha Sánchez, he is survived by seven children, 14 other grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Mr. Hurricane, center, in 2011 with former Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and former Representative Heather Wilson.

After recovering from the heart attack, Mr. Hurricane returned to writing songs and touring. As he grew older he wore a jet-black toupee. He also campaigned for politicians, including Susana Martinez, the conservative Republican who is serving her second term as New Mexico’s governor.

His last major performance was in May, at a concert in his honor in Albuquerque.

A raconteur who regaled visitors with tales of his childhood and the music business, Mr. Hurricane reveled in his fame. Sometimes he meditated on cultural and economic shifts.

“I am very disappointed, not in the music, but in the fact that the internet’s taking over everything,” he told The New Mexican in 2015. He lamented how challenging it had become for musicians to sell their music.

But he showed an appreciation for newer genres, like reggaeton, which originated in Puerto Rico in the 1990s. “As for the music,” he said, “some of it’s beautiful.”

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