What is happening in Albuquerque in the novel, Dorothea Dreams?

In Albuquerque, trouble is brewing in the barrio. Unprincipled land developers, with the local police in their pocket, are using underhanded tactics to buy up a neighborhood which they plan to gentrify at an enormous profit. When the people of Pinto Street protest, a police-instigated riot occurs and one young hothead, Roberto, ends up on the run, his asthmatic little sister in tow. They hijack a bus and end up at Dorothea's, holding her, her friend Ricky (who is dying of cancer), and the busload of art students as hostages.