Staff, students respond to shots fired call

VANDERWAGEN, N.M. – Staff and students of David Skeets Elementary School initiated a lockdown shortly before 3 pm today due to a call about possible shots fired near the school.

McKinley County Sheriff’s Office received the call at about 2:40 pm, and deputies were at the scene of the school at 1902 NM-602, near Jones Ranch Road, 10 minutes later.

MCSO Undersheriff James Maiorano said "a witness stated" that six to seven gushots were heard coming from the wooded area near the school campus.

"As a precaution the school went into a shelter in place and waited for law enforcement to arrive," Mairorano said."Deputies searched the area and...

Police are still no closer this Tuesday morning to knowing what caused the death of a man and woman discovered in a field Friday.

Gallup Police were dispatched to the area of Pershing Street and Grandview Avenue at 5:30 pm Jan. 17.

The detectives and agents who responded to the scene estimate the duo to be between 50-60 years of age.

Both persons are pending identification confirmation by the Office of the Medical Examiner.

There are no signs of foul play.

A welcoming presence whose light shines on


Lidio Rainaldi, who died last month at the age of 90, was more to Gallup than a returned state senator. Rainaldi was a force of nature across the state and in the local community.




EARLY SERVICE

Rainaldi was born in Gamerco in 1929, the son of Ugo and Rosina Rainaldi. His parents came from Italy in 1915, when his father found work in the local coal mines. Rainaldi graduated from Cathedral High School in 1947.

He attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and was drafted into the U. S. Navy where he served as a yeoman for four years during the Korean War. The yeoman is a clerk who records the ship’s activity.

When he...

Sergeant Padilla-Begay becomes a lieutenant

Family, friends, and colleagues of Gallup Sergeant Melanie Padilla-Begay gathered at the Magistrate Court Jan. 3 to watch as she was promoted to lieutenant.

Captain Erin Toadlena-Pablo spoke about Padilla-Begay’s path through the ranks, and how they influenced one another throughout the years.

“She didn’t want to put in for her testing, and I said, ‘Where are you going to go from here?’” Toadlena-Pablo said. “She’s thinking retirement, but she has a lot of knowledge and abilities that need to be tested, and why not [have] Gallup Police Department benefit from that?”

Toadlena-Pablo shared the memo she wrote to...