Albuquerque's budget is a major focus this week, as Mayor Tim Keller proposed a $1.47 billion budget with a $35 million shortfall and 272 job cuts driven by federal funding reductions [4], while also pitching new fees for out-of-town visitors at city amenities like the BioPark and golf courses to help offset the gap [1]. A hate crime investigation made headlines after a Muslim mother was spat on and harassed in Old Town, and APD has since charged a local man in connection with the incident [10][6]. On the land use front, a zoning official denied Maverik's bid to build a gas station on the former Whole Foods site at Carlisle and Indian School [5], and New Mexico's Attorney General asked the state Supreme Court to invalidate Otero County's contract to hold ICE detainees [11].
