During the April 5 McKinley County Commissioners meeting, McKinley County Fire Chief Brian Archuleta told commissioners that the county’s drought conditions have been improving since last year when a firework ban had to be put in place due to the drought conditions.

But now, three weeks later, drought conditions have worsened. In an interview with the Sun on April 26, Archuleta said that the leading cause of the conditions has been the fact that McKinley County hasn’t had any rain and has had a lot of wind.

According to Weather Underground, a website that provides long-range weather reports, McKinley County hasn’t seen any rain since April 13, and that day it only rained .03...

MEAN DRUNK

Gallup, April 11

A Gallup man threatened to harm a relative  and two of her young friends after he’d been drinking.

On April 11, at 11:30 pm, Gallup Police Officers Ryan Boucher, Arron Marquez, and Matthew Standey were dispatched to 609 W. Mesa because a scared child had called Metro Dispatch.

When the officers got to the scene, they met with three young girls who were all crying. Marquez ushered them into his patrol car.

While Marquez was comforting the young girls, Boucher saw a man come from the side of the house. This man was later identified as Robin Deweese, 33, from Gallup.

Once Deweese was detained, Boucher was able to talk to the three young girls, who...

Featured DWI

Cheryl Yazzie

March 24, 10:00 am

DWI (Fourth)

A call came into Metro Dispatch of a drunk driver, Cheryl Yazzie, 38, of Crownpoint, in a drive-thru of a Gallup restaurant, which led to her being arrested for her fourth DWI.

Gallup Officer Jerald Watchman was dispatched to the restaurant and learned the suspect vehicle left the scene. Another call came into Dispatch stating the vehicle was seen in the parking lot of Ellis Tanner Trading Company, 1980 Hwy. 602, before traveling east on Highway 66. Watchman followed the call directions and found the vehicle in the parking lot of Fairfield Inn & Suites at 3510 E. Hwy. 66.

Watchman met the driver, Yazzie, who...

ALBUQUERQUE – Getting behind the wheel of an ATV while he was intoxicated led to one man accidentally killing his grandson.

Harrison Davis, 60, of Mariano Lake, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced in federal court on April 26 to five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in Indian Country. Davis pleaded guilty on May 10.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, on July 1, 2018, Davis was riding an ATV with his five-year-old grandson in McKinley County on the Navajo Nation. Davis was intoxicated at the time, causing him to crash.

Both Davis and his grandson were ejected. The grandson was not wearing a helmet and died at the scene from...