The Sun rides along with Officer Hughte on his Dec. 11 patrol

Gallup Police Department Officers continued their open field searches across the city on Dec. 11, in an effort to prevent exposure deaths during the winter months. Recent cold weather has gripped the community, and the recent death of a Window Rock man on the east side of Gallup has been considered exposure related.

Community service aide officers from the police department patrol arroyos, fields, hills, back areas of businesses, rocky purchases and overnight camps that spring up across the city. The black and white vans of the CSAs are a familiar sight on city streets.

GPD Capt. Marinda Spencer said camps erected by...

Commissioners discuss strategies to handle the influx

The Gallup-McKinley Humane Society has one troubling constant: they are always over capacity, with domestic animals – mostly dogs and cats – that are dropped off at the shelter from residents who live on the neighboring Navajo Nation.

Clyde C.B. Strain, city planning director, addressed the McKinley County Board of Commissioners Dec. 12, speaking about the influx of animals.

“There are a lot of strays being dropped off,” he said. “There’s no fee to drop them off.”

Strain explained that the Gallup-McKinley Humane Society makes patrons aware of a suggested $15 donation for animals to “save their life.”

The high...

Animal ordinances, NCI grant money, legal fees also discussed

The Gallup City Council Regular Meeting on Dec. 12 began with a special work session with Jon DeYoung, the assistant city manager. The session focused on proposed amendments to the utility services ordinance for the city.

After the special session, and a short break, the regular meeting began and the council reviewed amendments to an animal control ordinance.

Most of the revisions passed without discussion, but Mayor Jackie McKinney asked for clarification on language that read: “…allow for animals that disturb the peace to be seized or impounded.”

“We are going to have an issue when the neighbor calls and the dog...

A woman pulled from a mid-morning house fire was pronounced dead at the scene Dec. 12.

“[Firefighters] found a person unconscious inside of the house,” Gallup Police Department Capt. Marinda Spencer said. “They weren’t successful in reviving the individual.”

The victim was later identified as Terri Martinez, 52, of Rio Rancho, N.M. She worked at the Gallup Indian Medical Center.

Spencer said the call on the fire, at 608 S. Woodrow, came in Metro Dispatch shortly before 11 am.

First responders were on scene within minutes, and kept the blaze from spreading to other structures.

Office of the Medical Investigator officials arrived on scene to investigate the death.

At...