The Gallup City Council discussed and approved a local government road fund application to the New Mexico Department of Transportation at its recent regular meeting.

The application was prepared by city staff as part of the city’s funding strategy for the Coal Ave Commons Construction Project, which has been in the works since last year.

Another part of the application is a resolution of support from the city council, according to Public Works Director Stanley Henderson, who spoke for the agenda item.

“Confidence is high with the project this year,” Henderson said March 26, adding that the city was denied the grant last year because the project was not shovel ready.

Henderson...

Theatre has been closed since last fall

After being closed for repairs since September, the El Morro Theatre is ready to reopen for business.

El Morro Theatre and events center manager Everett Homer announced the news during the Gallup City Council regular meeting March 26.

According to Homer, the stage construction project was finished just hours before the regular meeting and the theatre was being cleaned while the meeting was underway. He added that work on the theatre screen was nearly finished, but was paused once paint jobs began.

The theatre staff is scheduled to finish cleaning and installing projection and audio equipment before the upcoming concert, Homer said.

The first...

Tackling the rise of prescription drug abuse

A conference was held March 9 at the Downtown Conference Center on the Prevention and Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder. It was sponsored by Dine’ Council of Elders for Peace and Synergy Behavioral Health Center.

Opioids are addictive prescription medications which include: Vicodin, OxyContin, Demerol, Percoset, Darvocet, Ritalin, and Amphetamines. Some of them are natural, derived from the opium poppy.  Others are synthetic. The chance of addiction to these drugs is great.

The focus of the conference was to educate participants and the public on the abuse of opioids, and how everyone can assist people who don’t understand that they...

The Octavia Fellin Public Library hosted the third New Mexico session of the Grow with Google tour March 22, an initiative that helps people grow their skills, careers, and businesses by offering free tools, training, and events.

Grow with Google draws on Google’s 20-year history of building projects, platforms, and services to help people and businesses grow, according to information given out at the library. The aim is to help people across America access the best of Google’s training and tools.

Highlights of the initiative include faster job searches on Google, online curriculums to teach digital tools, such as spreadsheets and email, developer training scholarships, and...