Following the state’s ruling on House Bill 6 on April 5, Gallup-McKinley County Schools has been given another reason to feel optimistic about district funding.

In a letter dated April 15, Federal Impact Aid Program Director Faatimah Muhammad issued a new determination for FY21 for the State of New Mexico under section 7009(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, revoking a certification issued on Dec. 7, 2020 pertaining to Impact Aid.

As a result, the state is no longer eligible to consider Impact Aid payments as local resources in determining state aid entitlements for FY21.

District Superintendent Mike Hyatt told the Sun this means $24 million slated for GMCS...

ARIDE program helps officers know how to recognize impaired driving

Law enforcement authorities are preparing for Jan. 1, when recreational cannabis will become legal in New Mexico. Police are preparing for the change by investing in DWI training.

Charles Files, the New Mexico Drug Recognition Expert program coordinator, said that the Advanced Roadside Impairment Detection and Enforcement program, which began in 2009, has seen an uptick in officer participation. He explained that the program is a two-day course and that the state offers it 16 times a year. About 250 officers participate in the program each year, and Files said they’ve had about 1,500 people go through the program so...

WATER HEATER FIRE
Thoreau, April 13

A couples’ water heater went up in flames and led them to call the fire department one morning.

On April 13, at 8:39 am, McKinley County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Davis Jr. responded to a structural fire at 22 Johnson Road on N.M. Hwy. 612 in Thoreau.

He arrived around 9:00 am and found a Thoreau fire truck and other personnel on the scene. Smoke was still coming out of a bedroom located at the east end of the mobile home.

When Davis met with the homeowners they said no one had gotten hurt.

The fire was contained. The staff on scene said a water heater near the couples’ bedroom caused the fire. Davis took photos of the house and the heater.

 ...

Orel Begay
Nov. 21, 2020, 8:45 pm
Aggravated DWI

Gallup Patrolman Nicole Diswood was dispatched to South Strong and East Highway 66 in reference to a drunk driver. She arrived at the scene and met the driver, Orel Begay, 33, of Fort Defiance, Ariz., after his vehicle had to be stopped by another officer.

Diswood began talking with Begay, noting he had bloodshot eyes and slurred his speech. He had difficulty exiting the vehicle and then refused to take the standard field sobriety tests. Begay also said he had chewing tobacco he was unable to spit out, so he was unable to give a portable breath test.

Begay was transported to Gallup Police Department, where he was able to give...