Charity haircuts, meals served to those in need

There’s nothing like a home-cooked meal and a fresh haircut on a day when temperatures barely exceed 50-degrees.

At Gallup’s Ho’zho Wellness Center for Personal Enhancement, about a dozen homeless folks could attest to that Jan. 27, having gobbled up beef stew and pastries, water and gotten their hair sheared by barbers and hair stylists.

The haircuts, done by a handful of local stylists, who volunteered their talents, were appended to the ecumenical ministry, “Answer God’s Call Ministry on Mesa Avenue.”

Note: Ho’zho is a Navajo word describing a way of living that includes harmony, beauty, truth and balance.

The...

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council declared 2018 as a celebration of “The 50th Anniversary of Diné College,” at the Jan. 23 Winter Council Session.

A proclamation was signed by Nation Nation President Russell Begaye, Navajo Nation Speaker Lorenzo Bates, Diné College President Charles Roessel and Interim Chief Justice of the Navajo Nation Thomas J. Holgate.

Among those attending the signing were Greg Bigman, Theresa Hatathlie, Felisha Adams, Nelson BeGaye and Tommy Lewis of the Diné College Board of Regents.

“This is an acknowledgement of the 50th anniversary of Diné College,” Bigman said. “Diné College, which was originally called Navajo Community College, was...

The 2017-2018 McKinley County Spelling Bee went for 23 rounds before TaSheena Thompson, an eighth grader at Gallup Middle School, was declared the winner after correctly spelling the word “trespasser.”

The district spelling bee was held at the Kenneth Halloway Auditorium at Gallup High School. Three judges sat at a table front and center of the stage and the pronouncer, Wade Bell, Gallup McKinley County Schools Director of Instruction, sat at the podium left of the stage.

Thompson and second place contestant Jerome Rabaya, a fifth grader from Red Rock Elementary, will represent the district at the New Mexico Spelling Bee at Sandia Preparatory School in Albuquerque on March...

Erika Prendas is Camille’s Sidewalk CafE’s Teacher of the Month

Erika Prendas, eighth  grade language arts teacher at John F. Kennedy Middle School, attended the school herself as a girl, and believes teaching is her destiny.

Now, she has been selected as Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe’s Teacher of the Month.

Hearing news of the win surprised Prendas, but she was even more shocked and delighted that someone had nominated her in the first place. Middle school students are taught by many teachers, so the pool of potential honorees is large, making her selection all the more special.

“I honestly was surprised and thought they were kidding when I was given the news. I was shocked...