The city of Albuquerque and PNM teamed up to clear the shoes, teddy bears and even vegetables strung up on Albuquerque power lines, KRQE reports. Crews spent hours removing more than 100 objects from overhead lines, including sneakers, stuffed animals and a pair of squash.
City Councilor Nichole Rogers, who raised the issue at a recent council meeting, told KRQE the dangling debris is more than an eyesore and called it a visible sign of despair in her district. She said experts from organizations that deal with human trafficking had found teddy bears on lines, which can be a sign of prostitution.
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PNM spokesman Eric Chavez said throwing things onto power lines could cause outages in surrounding areas and could also endanger crews. Southeast Albuquerque is now mostly clear of shoes, but Rogers said the fight isn’t over, since the city has a lot to keep clean and debris on the lines should not be one more thing to worry about.
About This Story
Daily Reports is Brant.One’s news roundup. Each day we gather the New Mexico stories worth knowing from newsrooms across the state, sum them up and point you to the source. This one comes from KRQE’s reporting, and their original story has the interviews and full details.
Editor’s note: Updated Oct. 31, 2026. This story is now part of Daily Reports, our New Mexico news roundup, and was revised to credit KRQE’s original reporting. Learn how Daily Reports works in our editorial standards.
