ALBUQUERQUE – Jerry Johnson, Jr., 57, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 161 months in prison for his second-degree murder conviction.  Johnson will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence.



The FBI arrested Johnson in July 2017 and charged him by criminal complaint with murdering a Navajo woman on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.  According to the complaint, on June 26, 2017, Johnson struck the victim in the head with his fist, and then retrieved a knife and stabbed her in the back.  Johnson was indicted on a second-degree...

She disappeared last year

The children of Nery Contreras face a life without both a mother and father. And this rapid change occurred in their lives within a matter of months in 2017.

Contreras, 30, functioned as the sole parent of his two children, Roselyn, 6, and Armando, 2, after their mother disappeared last September. He currently awaits his fate in a jail cell, facing deportation, after being arrested for his second DWI in November.

And it’s unclear what the future holds for their mother, Danielle Rae Vigil, 27, who has been missing for nearly a year. But, there’s hope. Vigil was sighted in Las Vegas, NV, and according to her mom Prudence Jones, her fingerprints were...

NCI STRUGGLES TO GAIN budget approval

The Gallup City Council convened Aug. 14 for the regular meeting and began with action on the contract reopener agreement between the Gallup and the United Mine Workers of America Local 1629.

There are currently 131 city employees affected by the agreement and Klo Abeita, human resources director, said they are all non-probationary employees.

She said the parties came to an agreement Aug. 1, after discussing wage rates and insurance health costs.

The employees will receive a two percent increase that will be effective the first full pay period after council approval, Abeita said, which would be Oct. 8.

“The current agreement expires 2019...

Care 66 cites lack of funding as reason

Community Area Resource Enterprise, also known as CARE 66, is closing the doors to the Lexington Hotel on Sept. 30.

Staff is currently meeting with residents one-on-one to transition tenants to other housing possibilities, according to executive director Sanjay Choudhrie.

Thirty tenants are affected by the closure, most of them disabled, recovering addicts and formerly homeless people getting their lives back in order. Most of them are Native American.

“We hope to have everyone placed by the middle of September,” he said.

The annual budget for Care 66 is $500,000 to provide case management, employment placement, administration and other...