Good morning, this is Albuquerque Local Pulse for Friday, December twelfth, and we are glad you are with us.

We start with breaking news on public safety. ABQ RAW reports that overnight we see another homicide, the one hundred seventh of the year, after a shooting near Central and Jefferson. Police keep that area blocked as detectives interview witnesses, and we feel the weight of another life lost on one of our main corridors. Earlier this week, ABQ RAW also covers a near‑fatal crash involving a bicyclist at Claremont and San Mateo, reminding us to slow down and watch out at busy intersections.

We also see some remarkable work from first responders. Albuquerque Fire Rescue pulls three residents from a second‑story balcony during a house fire on Galeras Street Northwest, and in another call, quickly contains a blaze at a boarded‑up home on San Pedro in the Southeast. Those responses keep smoke from drifting into nearby neighborhoods and spare families from losing everything.

From city hall, the dust is settling on our local elections. KOB reports that Teresa Garcia has conceded the tight District 3 City Council race to incumbent Klarissa Peña after trailing by just sixty‑nine votes out of about sixty‑six hundred cast. That means Peña continues to represent much of the South Valley and West Side, shaping decisions on public safety, road repairs, and housing. New Mexico PBS’s New Mexico in Focus is also looking ahead to Mayor Tim Keller’s third term, talking with former councilors about what it means for crime, homelessness, and transit along Central and around Civic Plaza.

Weather wise, we are cool this morning with clear skies over the Sandias and light winds along I‑25 and I‑40. We stay mostly sunny through the day, highs around the mid fifties in town, cooler up near the Tram and Paseo. We do not expect major wind or rain to disrupt our plans, but it will be chilly for evening events in Old Town and along Central, so we grab a jacket.

On the jobs front, local recruiters say hourly service jobs are still hiring across Uptown and Cottonwood, with starting pay often around fifteen to seventeen dollars an hour, and tech and healthcare openings clustered near UNM, the Sunport area, and along Jefferson. In real estate, Bernalillo County’s assessor tells New Mexico in Focus that valuations continue to edge up, and we feel that in property tax bills and rising rents, especially in neighborhoods like Nob Hill and Westside suburbs along Unser.

Around town, we have holiday shopping and art markets lighting up Old Town Plaza and the Rail Yards, along with concerts and performances at the Kimo Theatre and Popejoy Hall this weekend. City council calendars show finance and government committee work continuing at the Government Center, shaping next year’s budgets that touch everything from park maintenance to library hours.

For schools, several APS winter sports teams are kicking into tournament play, with high school basketball taking ove

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.