Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham invoked the New Mexico Riot Control Act, which authorized her to enact temporary restrictions to mitigate the uninhibited spread of COVID-19 in the City of Gallup.

The Riot Control Act authorizes the governor to, for the temporary existence of a state of emergency, prohibit persons being on public streets and the use of certain streets and highways, among other broad emergency restrictions.

The act states in Section 12-10-17 – Proclamation of emergency that “Upon request of the mayor of a municipality or the sheriff of a county or a majority of the members of the governing body of the municipality or county having jurisdiction and after finding that a...

The Navajo Nation has surpassed 2,000 active cases on the reservation. After the numbers were released April 30, the total stands at 2,141 following an additional 164 positive cases.


To date, a total of 12,023 tests have been performed with 8,639 tests coming back negative. These figures are according to the Navajo Department of Health and Navajo Area Indian Health Service, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center.


The 2,189 cases include the following counties:


McKinley County (N.M.): 539

Apache County (Ariz.): 515

Navajo County (Ariz.): 502

Coconino County (Ariz.): 283

San Juan County (N.M.): 213

San Juan County (Utah): 32

Socorro County (N.M.): 21

Sandoval...

In the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic, with shortages of tests and Personal Protective Equipment, re- use, recycling, and making the most of available resources have become crucial to the effort.

Fifteen hand-crank hospital beds, from an old nursing home that was purchased by Rio Arriba County, will be put to new use at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services.

The beds were offered to the hospital, along with sixty 3-D printed N95 masks and 123 gowns.

The masks came from Ryan Proctor in Albuquerque, and printed face shields came from Steve Cox with Northern New Mexico College.

Two anonymous cash donations to the Rio Arriba County Rosie the Respirators face mask...

Small businesses across the City of Gallup are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and measures by the state of New Mexico to help slow the spread of the novel virus.

When Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham announced late in March that non-essential businesses would have to close, Rhonda and her husband Ryan Quintana’s family-owned business, Quintana’s Music and Indian Jewelry on West Coal Avenue, was one of the non-essential businesses that had to shut down.

What’s harder for the Quintanas is that they do not qualify for the two Small Business Administration’s relief efforts; the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

The...