Staff report Bernalillo County residents in flood-prone areas have until Friday to get their sandbags in a row. Monsoon storms could drop up to 3 inches of rain on the East Mountains and up to 2 inches on the metro area by Sept. 25, county officials announced Tuesday. Wednesday should

By Rodd Cayton It’s time for Bernalillo County’s East Mountains communities to gather and celebrate themselves, as well as check out a local gem’s new look. District 5 County Commissioner Eric Olivas is hosting the annual East Mountain Celebration Sunday at Los Vecinos Park, 478 State Route 333 in Tijeras.

By Kevin Hendricks Young riders ages 3 to 18 can trade reins for handlebars at the fifth annual Bicycle Rodeo, a free event that teaches bike safety in Edgewood on Saturday, Oct. 3. The Edgewood Lions Club, Edgewood Police Department and Boy Scout Troop 640 are hosting the event from

By Kevin Hendricks The Edgewood Lions Club and Sandia Mountain Lions Club stocked East Mountain Food Pantry’s shelves with 1,500 pounds of food and raised $860 for the pantry. The pantry thanked both clubs in a Facebook post this week, calling them “amazing partners and phenomenal leaders in our community.”

By Kevin Hendricks East Mountain and Estancia Valley families can scream, carve and craft their way through October at a haunted farm, library workshops and a town-wide monster hunt. Here’s what’s happening and what to book first. SCARE UP A PUMPKIN: McCALL’S, MORIARTY McCall’s Pumpkin Patch & Haunted Farm runs

by Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Edgewood has a new mayor, and Devon Taylor got the job in a way he never saw coming. The 33-year-old Army veteran and real estate developer said he was sitting in a commission meeting this summer when former Mayor Mike Rariden suddenly nominated him

By Rodd Cayton Repairing Edgewood’s finances will be a time-consuming process, Town Manager Kelly Hamilton says, but the Town Commission and administrators are taking steps in that direction. Hamilton told the Route 66 Independent that town leaders want the public to know what they’re doing. He extended an invitation to

By Rodd Cayton Even if the Town of Edgewood is able to fix its financial oversight issues, Former Mayor John Abrams says, residents are still better off dissolving it and getting their local government services from Santa Fe County. “The town doesn’t have the money to support itself,” Abrams said.

Route 66 Independent — A 1-year-old child died Wednesday after a medical emergency at a Tijeras daycare, prompting an investigation by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and forcing the school to close for the rest of the week. Deputies responded around 12:11 p.m. to New Mexico Early Learning Academy in

By Rodd Cayton For some, Labor Day Weekend is a chance to relax at home with burgers and hot dogs, honoring the progress of the American labor movement. For others, it’s an opportunity to turn the extra day off into a special end-of-summer adventure. Those in the Albuquerque area will

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — New Mexicans on Medicaid should keep an eye out for a turquoise envelope in the mail this week. It contains important information about changes to Medicaid rules coming because of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” as well as resources to help New Mexicans comply

Commentary by Pat Davis, nm.news — During last year’s state legislative session, legislators passed, and the governor signed, a sweeping package of medical licensure and malpractice reform bills to fill what hospital companies and think tanks called “a growing shortage of health care providers.” But new data from the state’s

Corner to Corner by Columnist Diane D. Denish — Farewell Dolly Parton. May you rest in peace and may your melodies ring in our hearts, at our weddings, at our funerals, and all our celebrations where an angel on earth is always welcome. Corner to Corner Diane Denish is a

By Rodd Cayton The Town of Edgewood is righting its fiscal ship, according to Town Manager Kelly Hamilton, with finance manager Amber Sanchez at the helm. She’s turning the Titanic away from the iceberg,” Hamilton told the Route 66 Independent. “She’s working diligently on getting us a clean set of

By Rodd Cayton The Aug. 22 Route 66 Centennial celebration is an obvious reason for Tijeras to party, Mayor Jake Bruton said. “It’s always been in the village,” Bruton said. “It’s ingrained in us. It’s who we are.” Bruton said that while the Village of Tijeras was officially incorporated in

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Edgewood police say their network of license plate cameras exists to catch stolen cars and missing kids, not to watch residents — and Chief Aaron Frost wants the town to know the difference. In a public letter, Frost said the department’s Flock Safety cameras function

Estancia Mayor Pro Tem Amy Lynn May faces two fourth-degree felony counts of unlawfully selling alcoholic beverages, each carrying up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico’s Liquor Control Act. Undercover buys built the case The charges trace back to the Blue Ribbon Bar &

Guest commentary by Paul Gessing — Even during what has been a very busy summer news cycle New Mexico’s recently created universal “free” childcare system has remained in the news. National media cheered the program’s creation and the first-in-America expansion of government, but the true story of New Mexico’s universal

Guest commentary from Jennifer Foote — When skilled nursing care fails, it does so quietly, behind closed doors, away from public view, and at the immense cost of our state’s most vulnerable seniors and disabled residents. Guest CommentaryJennifer Foote is a partner at the law firm of Harvey, Foote &

By Rodd Cayton Veterans in the East Mountains area will have the opportunity next month to find answers and resources they need. The office of House District 22 Rep. Stefani Lord is hosting the Sept. 9 East Mountains Veterans Services Fair, which will bring together several agencies to create a

By Kevin Hendricks and Julian Paras, The Paper. — U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico, toured Roadrunner Food Bank on Aug. 10, warning that federal cuts have stripped food assistance from more than 21,000 New Mexicans, about half of them children, since October. Stansbury said the drop

Another meeting, another fiscal mess. That’s the story Edgewood town staff shared with town commissioners during recent public meetings as they explained in June how the town had failed to collect hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for city services over several years and in July why the town manager had to use

By Rodd Cayton As law enforcement agencies across the country work to bond with the communities they serve, local departments are offering a variety of ways to reinforce that connection on Aug. 4. National Night Out began in 1984 and takes place the second Tuesday in August in hundreds of

By Rodd Cayton Torrance County and the Town of Edgewood are among 17 animal shelters across New Mexico benefitting from a grant program that disbursed almost $2 million. Danette Langdon, the county’s animal services director, said a $125,000 grant will permit construction of a standalone cat room. She said the

By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. New Mexico could leapfrog nearly every other state in choosing the next Democratic presidential nominee. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted Friday to recommend New Mexico as the fourth state to vote in the 2028 primary calendar, putting Hispanic, Native American and border-state voters

Drums of the North and cannon fire return to Edgewood in August when the Pirate Viking Summer Festival sails back into Wildlife West Nature Park for its seventh year, promising two days of history, fantasy and full-throated adventure in the Southwest. The festival runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday,

Mountainair’s Town Council will get a familiar face in a painful moment: Wayne Jones, husband of late Mayor Pro-Tem Gayle Jones, has accepted an appointment to fill her vacant council seat, Mayor Peter Nieto announced on July 23. Nieto said filling the vacancy fell to him under municipal procedure following

Mountainair is mourning the loss of Mayor Pro-Tem Gayle Jones, a fixture of New Mexico municipal government whose career touched three towns, two emergency responder uniforms and, by her mayor’s account, nearly everyone who ever needed a straight answer at Town Hall. Mayor Peter Nieto announced Jones’ death on July

East Mountain families can lock in a free day of bounce houses, food trucks and games while helping stock backpacks for local kids headed back to class. The East Mountain Food Pantry hosts its annual Back2School Bash Aug. 8 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Venus Park, according to

Submitted by Zach Withers Friends and neighbors, my name is Zach Withers and I am the independent candidate in the House District 22 State Representative race. I was born and raised in the East Mountains. I went to East Mountain high school, then earned a degree in international studies with