Gallup’s third lockdown will include several changes. One will be a need for face masks.

City Manager Maryann Ustick told the Gallup Sun that beginning May 7all Gallup residents will be required to wear a cloth face covering when they are inside a business, non-profit or government building. That new requirement was just a suggestion by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in her most recent public health order. Now it is mandatory in Gallup.

The mask for customers was requested by Mayor Louis Bonaguidi and announced by the governor May 7. The ordinance will be coming up on the city council agenda May 12.

The curfew will include a lock down of roads for non-residents until May 8 at 8...

A roundabout journey that included a court case has led to the announcement May 5 that the Department of the Treasury will release part of the $8 billion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act fund.

On April 21, the Navajo Nation Department of Justice joined a lawsuit on behalf of the Navajo Nation, to ensure the maximum allocation of the fund to tribal governments.  Recently there had been an announcement that for-profit Alaska Native Corporations were eligible to receive a share of the CARES fund, which would effectively decrease the amount federally-recognized tribes would receive.

On April 27, the D. C. District Court ruled for the tribes, including the Navajo Nation...

There will be a slight interruption in Walmart shopping on May 6.  The store at 1650 W. Maloney Ave. will be closed for a day while a third-party specialist sanitizes the store and associates restock shelves.

“Everything we’re doing is for the well-being of our associates and customers, and in consideration of guidance by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and health experts. When the store reopens on Thursday, we will continue to conduct associate health screen[ing]s and temperature checks, and all associates will be provided with facemasks and gloves,” communications director Tiffany Wilson said.

“These protocols are in addition to the extensive measures we’ve put in...

New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Kathyleen Kunkel has amended the state public health emergency order to clarify some of the steps businesses must take in order to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cloth face coverings for employees will be required beginning May 6 for all grocery and retail spaces greater than 50,000 square feet in size, and all restaurants currently operating curbside and delivery service.

All employees must wear their face coverings in the workplace at all times when in the presence of others.

This is part of the first phase of reopening the state, while continuing to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting on May 11, all essential businesses currently...