The annual joint city and county resolution relating to the Liquor Excise Tax was brought before the McKinley County Board of Commissioners during their Aug. 4 meeting.

The resolution, which allows for the allocation and distribution of LET revenue for FY21, was read by County Attorney Doug Decker.

“It’s been a while now since we’ve had enough money to send out for [requests for proposals] for other services,” Decker said. “Since 2012, the lion’s share of the LET has been taken by the City of Gallup for the detox service and other services.”

The allocation committee, which consists of Mayor Louie Bonaguidi and multiple finance officers of both the city and county, sets...

Two members of Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham’s cabinet and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives wanted to hear the concerns of New Mexicans earlier this week amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

District 3 New Mexico Representative Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. hosted a phone-in town hall with citizens from across New Mexico Aug. 3 with New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel and New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions Secretary Bill McCamley.

Over 7,000 New Mexicans tuned in to the hour-long phone call.

“It’s been over four months since the president declared a national emergency due to the coronavirus, and many of the relief measures put in place by Congress are...

Week ending Friday, July 31, 2020

Global Quieting

The plunge in human activities worldwide in recent months due to the pandemic has brought the longest and most pronounced quiet period of seismic noise in recorded history. An international team of scientists write in the journal Science that the relative quiet has allowed them to detect previously concealed earthquake signals, which could help us more accurately tell the difference in the future between man-made and natural seismic noise. The typically quiet periods around Christmas, New Year’s and the Chinese New Year have been eclipsed by the decline of industrial production, transport and service industries brought on by...

Was it a conspiracy? Wrongful termination?  Inside politics?  Lack of communication?

A complaint filed against Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services by former CEO David Conejo and his management company Healthcare Integrity in U. S. District Court July 23 indicates it was a mix of these and more.

Conejo said July 29 that he could feel the shifting winds at the hospital early in 2020. He said he brought his contract with him to a February meeting and said he “had a sense that … maybe they wanted to make a change in who the CEO was.”

At the meeting he said he offered a couple of suggestions to members of the hospital board.

“You can allow me to finish out my...