Jessica Tyler

More drama, nuttiness from APD training academy head

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The husband of the director of the Albuquerque Police Department’s training academy filed a complaint with the Civilian Police Oversight Agency against an APD officer one day after that officer filed an internal affairs complaint against his wife, ABQ Free Press has learned. The complaint against the officer, Sgt. Adam Anaya, was filed on May 10 by Robert Tyler, husband of Jessica Tyler, APD’s training director. Anaya’s lawyer said it was in retaliation for his client having filed the IA complaint against Jessica Tyler. This piece originally appeared on the ABQ Free Press website.

Albuquerque Police Department

Were APD stings aimed at drug users worth it?

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To some, it was a waste of scarce and precious police resources. In what could be a metaphor for the plight of Albuquerque, the May 9 reverse sting drug operation by Albuquerque police officers resulted in the arrest of eight low-level drug users and homeless people, $23.10 in cash, a computer tablet, cell phone, police radio, jacket and colic medicine. For that, police deployed around 15 to 20 officers and support staff for the operation near Central and Pennsylvania Northeast. And considering all the other support services connected with the operation, the reverse sting probably cost taxpayers between $5,000 and $10,000, experts said. This piece originally appeared in the ABQ Free Press.

Albuquerque Rapid Transit
Albuquerque Rapid Transit

ART construction scheduled to start this summer

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Mayor Richard Berry’s administration said Tuesday that construction on the $119 million Albuquerque Rapid Transit project along Central Avenue will begin in late July. The initial construction will take place in the University of New Mexico area between Girard on the east and Cedar on the west, and then in the downtown area from I-25 to 10th Street. The initial ART line will run from Louisiana on the east to Coors on the West Side. The construction team is being led by Bradbury Stamm Construction, and the team “is planning to avoid construction in Nob Hill and Old Town during the holidays and is working closely with event planners to coordinate construction with key events,” the city said in a news release. Whether that construction actually begins will be up to a federal court judge.

News

NM lost jobs in April

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New Mexico’s economy sputtered and sank into negative territory in April as the downturn in the oil and gas industry continued to drag the economy down. The state lost 300 jobs in the year that ended April 30, for a negative 0.01 percent growth rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. It was the first time in several years that overall job growth turned negative, and it showed just how dependent the state’s economy is on the oil and gas sector, which lost 6,400 jobs over the year for a negative 25 percent growth rate. Related industries also shed jobs, including trade, transportation and utilities, which was down 2,000 jobs, or 2.5 percent, and construction, which was off 900 jobs, or 2 percent. Six industry sectors lost jobs and five gained them, according to the BLS figures, which were not seasonally adjusted.

Albuquerque Police Department

APD to sell crack, meth in stings to target users

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The Albuquerque Police Department is in the midst of a 10-month reverse drug sting operation where cops will be selling heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and methamphetamines to people and then arresting them on drug charges. The department is engaged in a “Reversal Operation” whereby narcotics officers will be taking up to two pounds of drugs out of APD’s evidence room and selling it to people on the streets. In addition, APD has asked for, and received, permission from a judge to actually manufacture crack cocaine for the operation. This piece originally appeared on the ABQ Free Press website. In so-called “normal” sting operations, police attempt to buy drugs from drug dealers.

Albuquerque Newsdesk

State cops looking into APD time card fraud

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The New Mexico State Police has launched an investigation into alleged time sheet fraud at one of the Albuquerque Police Department’s area commands. The State Police confirmed the investigation Thursday to ABQ Free Press, but said it couldn’t comment on the details. Sources told ABQ Free Press that the investigation and possible fraud centers around members of APD’s command structure. “State Police recently received information about alleged fraudulent activity within the department [APD] and the NMSP Investigations Bureau is investigating these allegations,” State Police Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said in an email to the newspaper.

ABQ Free Press

After report of layoffs, Intel future in NM still unclear

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Intel Corp. on Tuesday would not confirm or deny a news report that it will cut 215 jobs at its Rio Rancho plant in the coming months. Citing unidentified sources, KOB TV reported that the Rio Rancho plant would lose 215 jobs. But Intel spokeswoman Natasha Martell Jackson said she wouldn’t comment on the report. Related Story: Latest tax break for Intel didn’t stop job cuts

Speculation has been swirling about the fate of the Rio Rancho plant since Intel announced last week that it would cut 12,000 jobs worldwide, or 11 percent of its workforce, in a massive restructuring effort.

KOB

Stuart Dyson retires from KOB

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It’s the mix of bluster, doubt, worry and desperate hopefulness in Stuart Dyson’s voice that causes one to wonder whether the now former Albuquerque TV reporter believes it himself when he blurts into the telephone, “I can say that, after 30 years in the TV news business, I have not become a total functional illiterate.”

Dyson even insists that after 30 years in TV he can still punctuate sentences properly, a claim he makes strenuously and repeatedly, obviously sensing that the person he’s talking to considers the statement to be wild and bizarre fiction from a delusional mind. And then Dyson laughs, and he laughs loud and long and easy and free, because now he is free, free from the daily grind that can tinge every laugh with anger, bitterness and cynicism. On Monday, April 18, Stuart Dyson, who spent 40 years in the news business, and who is a New Mexico news legend, retired. The retirement came both sooner and later than the 64-year-old Dyson had planned. His original retirement date had been set for Feb.

News

Employment at Rio Rancho Intel plant down to just 1,900

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Employment at Intel’s Rio Rancho plant fell to 1,900 people at the beginning of the year, a drop of 400 people from the beginning of 2015, the company said Tuesday. Those lost positions were the result of retirements, relocations and resignations, and not layoffs, Intel’s Rio Rancho plant spokeswoman Natasha Martell Jackson told ABQ Free Press. The Rio Rancho plant had 5,500 employees in the mid-2000s. Intel announced Tuesday that it is cutting 12,000 jobs, or 11 percent from its worldwide workforce, by mid-2017. The company did not give specifics about those cuts and it did not say how they would affect the Rio Rancho facility.

News

Intel to slash 12,000 jobs worldwide

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Intel Corp. said Tuesday that it will eliminate 12,000 jobs worldwide by mid-2017, an 11 percent reduction in its work force. Those reductions are part of Intel’s attempts to transform itself “from a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices,” the company said. The cuts will come “through site consolidations worldwide, a combination of voluntary and involuntary departures, and a re-evaluation of programs,” Intel said. This piece originally appeared on the ABQ Free Press website.