Unafraid of being seen, heard

Professor Emeritus Dana Chandler has been called “controversial,” an “activist artist,” and a “Black Power Artist,” because since his youth, he has been fighting for social justice and human rights using his most powerful tool: his art.

This point was a primary focus of an artist lecture Chandler gave at the University of New Mexico-Gallup campus Feb. 4. He, along with his daughter who is also his representative,  Dahna Chandler, spoke about his decades-long career.


BACKGROUND

Born in 1941 in Lynn, Mass., Chandler was educated in Boston Public Schools and earned his first accolades as an artist in grade school.

Chandler was an...

A patch of land near Fort Wingate, east of Gallup and a short distance from I-40, is sitting unused with existing fort buildings, constructed around 1862 to house four companies of First New Mexico volunteers. It was their job to help “control and protect” the Navajo.

However, a group of people is hoping to change that and present the fort as a piece of history.

The Old Fort Wingate Task Force wants to transfer 500 acres surrounding the old fort from the control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the National Park Service. Then they want to work with NPS to establish a national, state or tribal heritage site.

Members of the task force spoke with the Sun Feb. 4 about plans for...

The McKinley County Board of Commissioners heard a presentation about their FY19 annual financial audit report by the Albuquerque-based accounting firm Hinkle and Landers, PC during their Feb. 4 meeting.

Finance Director Sara Saucedo said the county received a good audit, or an unmodified opinion, which means all of the county’s financial information for that fiscal year is materially correct.

Saucedo spoke about two resolutions, one of which was the audit presentation where Farley Vener, President and Managing Shareholder of Hinkle and Landers, called in.

The presentation showed McKinley County’s accounting practices were consistent, and there were no proposed audit adjustments...

Finds herself on a path to nowhere

A Gallup police officer’s attorney has filed a lawsuit with the 11th Judicial District Court, claiming the city, the former police chief, and the current police chief violated the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act.

The complaint, which was filed with the clerk of the court Jan. 30, is based on the mistreatment of Rosanne Morrissette while on the job.

This would not be the first time Lt. Rosanne Morrissette has filed a lawsuit against the city and her superiors. Court documents, filed by her Albuquerque-based attorney Thomas Grover, show that over the last three years Morrissette has been targeted by GPD’s top brass in an ongoing...