A scheduled water outage that will affect parts of East Mesa Avenue will take place on Feb. 16 from 10 am to 1 pm.

The outage will affect City of Gallup Water customers in the following area:

• 700 block of East Mesa Avenue

The City of Gallup is on the lookout for a new city manager.

During a closed session right before the Feb. 13 city council meeting, the council discussed how they should begin looking for a new city manager.

Former Gallup City Manager Maryann Ustick retired in June. Ever since then, her Assistant City Manager J.M. DeYoung has overseen the position as Interim City Manager.

Over six months later, the city is now trying to find someone from the Four Corners region to fill the permanent position. Councilor Sarah Piano, Dist. 3, explained why they weren’t planning on opening a nationwide search.

“We felt that it was best to advertise in the Four Corners region instead of opening [the...

Council approves proposal for nearly $600,000

After receiving multiple grants that helped increase funding, the City of Gallup is finally ready to take the next step on the road to building a new animal shelter.

During the city council meeting on Feb. 13, Planning and Development Director C.B. Strain reminded the council that the city received multiple grant agreements in the past three years, coming out to a total of about $811,000.

Strain noted that 1% of that total, which comes out to about $8,000, has to go to the Art in Public Places program, which commissions visual artists who work across all media to create site-specific installations and unique public art.

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Local leaders unsatisfied with bill

SANTA FE  — The New Mexico Democrat-led House of Representatives rejected a bill that would have guaranteed paid time off for workers to cope with serious illnesses or care for newborns and loved ones on Feb. 14.

Eleven Democrats sided with Republicans, making the vote 34-36.

The failed proposal for paid leave would have eventually provided workers with up to 12 weeks of medical and family leave. The bill also included paid leave guarantee for workers who are victims of stalking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and abuse as they pursue a protection order, counseling, or flee their home.

Employers and employees would have both paid into the...