Gallup senator cheers vaccination distribution

After publicly decrying Gov. Michelle Lynn Lujan Grisham for her coronavirus vaccine strategy, a local lawmaker now says the state is doing a much better job getting the shots to one of the cities hit hardest by the pandemic.

Sen. George K. Muñoz, D-Gallup, made the comments to the Gallup Sun earlier this week, saying the situation has “immensely improved.”

“Our death rate was actually triple what it was of everybody else,” Muñoz said. “They were giving out vaccines based on population, so it wasn’t quite fair. We were more vulnerable than other people. That’s why, I think, we needed to get it there.”

When he became...

Two COVID waves later, cases decrease at county detention center

McKinley County Adult Detention Center in Gallup has experienced two “waves” of coronavirus infections even as it enlists the help of its inmates to do deep cleanings, according to Tony Boyd, warden of the facility.

The waves occurred in April/May of 2020 and in November/December, but Boyd said as of Jan. 25, there are only two asymptomatic cases and no confirmed symptomatic ones. Fourteen inmates are in isolation “as a precaution,” he added, while three are awaiting coronavirus test results. That all comes after one inmate tested positive for the virus and another died — but only after transferring to...

Gallup McKinley Schools District Superintendent Mike Hyatt says Impact Aid funds for the 2019-2020 School Year could soon be part of an effort to repair and replace school buildings, increase technology access and assist in fulfilling needs in Indian education.

The long-sought funds may be within sight as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Jan. 22 saying the state must return roughly $60 million in Impact Aid credits that were deducted in Fiscal Year 2020. About $24 million of that would go to GMCS.

The governor called on Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-McKinley, San Juan, and Sen. George Muñoz, D-Cibola, McKinley, San Juan, to craft a solution for the longstanding issue and fix...

Student athletes and coaches in Gallup and throughout McKinley County have not played any sports this academic year due to coronavirus, but that’s about to change now that in-person instruction can begin again Feb. 8.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the announcement in her virtual State of the State address on Jan. 26.

That was the same day, the N.M. Activities Association, the nonprofit responsible for regulation of all state athletics, said in a news release that it learned from the Public Education Department that interscholastic athletics/activities can resume Feb. 22. A two-week monitoring period will be required to prove that expansion is not leading to significant...