City Council: Board members appointed to ‘job of passion’

At the Gallup City Council’s regular meeting, Jan. 8, the Octavia Fellin Public Library took center stage.

In November, the seven-person Library Advisory Board was established as an official city board.

In remarks thanking community members for their support of the library, Mayor Jackie McKinney pointed out that working on the Board is a “job of passion.”

Last month, at the council’s regular meeting, four people were named. Dr. Janet Tempest, Shawn Nelson Turquoise Man, Duane Yazzie, and Carolyn Kuchera will be joined by this month’s appointments, Barbara Stanley, Thomas Lynn Isaacson and Thomas...

Noon served 23 years with Farmington PD

2019-01-18WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. –  The new Navajo Police Department Deputy Chief was welcomed during a pinning ceremony at the Navajo Nation Museum on Jan. 8.  The new deputy chief is Daryl Noon, who worked his way up through the ranks with the Farmington Police Department.

Born in Fort Defiance and raised in Shiprock, he is Honágháahnii born for bilagáana.  Noon graduated from Shiprock High School and began his 23-year career with the Farmington Police Department not long after.

His field experience includes patrol, SWAT operator, traffic officer, field training officer, training and recruiting, internal affairs and investigation. He was...

Settlement with New Mexico AG brings $1.8 million in debt relief

ALBUQUERQUE – For-profit education company Career Education Corp. CEC has agreed to forgo collecting about $1.8 million in debts owed by 709 New Mexico students, and millions more nationally, in a settlement with New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas and 48 other attorneys general.

The settlement follows an investigation which revealed evidence of unfair and deceptive practices employed at some of CEC’s schools.  CEC agreed to resolve claims against it, but denied the allegations that it:

Used emotionally charged language to pressure students into enrolling in CEC’s schools;

Deceived students about the...

Superintendent Mike Hyatt weighs in

ALBUQUERQUE—Judge Sarah Singleton’s most recent order in Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico makes clear that the court expects a major overhaul of the state’s public school system to bring it into compliance with the constitution and other state laws.

The extensive 600-page “findings of fact and conclusions of law” describes in great detail the need for a multicultural education framework, improved bilingual and English language learner programming, universal and quality full-day pre-kindergarten, sufficient access to extended learning opportunities like summer school and after school programming, social services, smaller class sizes...